So I call JEGs today to ask about coil packs and the guy tells me that the stock coil packs deliver 60,000 volts. Accel and MSD are like 45,000 volts. Is this guy yankin my chain or what? Why would anyone get an aftermarket coil pack then? he said the only thing that would improve my ignition system was a MSD 6A ignition box which i believe would help but the whole first part sounds fishy. I was tellin this guy that I was prolly gonna throw on a larger throttle body and he said that wasn't gonna do anything. again fishy. So whats the truth about coil packs, ignition boxes, and a larger throttle body. I know i've been askin alot of questions but I don't wanna get something that isnt worth a flip. O yea i did order some iridium spark plugs and 8.5mm wires. Thanks in advance for the input as always.

 

well im not sure what you plan on getting out of the spark plugs and wires cause its not gonna be much of anything. hotter spark maybe.

 

i plan on either getting new coils or ignition box or both

 

hmmm... strange... your vehicle needs a great amount of voltage that is needed in order to ignite the spark plugs and triggers the fuel burning in the combustion chambers.. if yours only needs 45,000 volts, then your plan of getting new ignition coil is of good choice... like mercedes ignition coil that best suits my mercedes. looking for your appropriate ignition coil will not find any difficulty in starting the engine of your auto.

 

i've heard that GMs waste spark coils out perform the msd coils also. there is an easy and FUN way to check your coils if youre worried about them. it takes about 40k volts to jump a 1" gap in open air. if you take off both the plug wires from one coil, the terminals are about 1" apart. hmmm... sounds like even known good coils could use 'testing' when ya think about it that way..... so wait till its dark out and have a buddy crank your car over so u can enjoy the light show. from the ones i've seen i'm guessing they have alot more than 40kV, they dont just make the gap, but theres a pretty serious arc. now i think most cars will start and run on 4cyls, but i dunno how fast it'll set a code, and i'm sure the converter wouldnt like all the extra gas..... but its fun to do.

 

I can't verify the voltage of the aftermarket packs, but I do know that most of the "pros" skip them for the Monte and the GP. The stock packs function great and they are incredibly reliable. The aftermarket ones tend to defect out more. The only real advantages I can see are: cost less than stock if replacing, brand name recognition (equivalent of stickers on car), and to dress up your engine to match color.

This is something I really don't ever plan on upgrading.

Not sure what you were asking about the throttle body as it was kind of thrown in there, but a larger TB will allow in more air and hence go faster.

 

as far as the ignition box, the msd takes you from inductive ignition to capacitor discharge ignition. with inductive the coil is charged or saturated at battery voltage and then suddenly turned off, when the field quickly collapses it produces the secondary (high)voltage to send to the plug(s). with CDI the coil is switched on with 400-500volts and secondary voltage is produced as the electrical field quickly expands. with inductive ignition it requires more time for the electrical field to become saturated so that it is able to produce full voltage. so if you have one coil for 8 cylinders at high rpm, the field cant saturate fully and secondary ignition voltage drops. however CDI, creating the electical field as it powers up the coil, takes much less time. allowing for multiple sparks at low rpm (MSD = multiple spark discharge) and full voltage at high rpm.


personally, i wouldnt touch the ignition on our cars unless youre very heavily modified and are having ignition issues.