• Welcome to the Contour Enthusiasts Group, the best resource for the Ford Contour and Mercury Mystique.

    You can register to join the community.

Coil on plug question

So I talked with my electrical engineering buddy that at work today (used to work for Honda for 8 years, did work on the Acura MDX). Anyway he told me that if I could find a solid state relay that can handle the switching frequency of ~135Hz then theortically it should work. However in his opinion if he was doing it he would just swap in the ECM out of the car that I pulled the engine from and be done with it.

So that said I found a company and spoke with a rep and they do have a solid state relay that will work, but they are not cheap. They go for $60 a piece and we would need 3 to make things work. On top of that they do need heat sinks and they are not water/salt proof so an enclosure would need to be made.
 
so I think I'm still confused... when we're talking about parallel or series, we're just talking about the signal wire, right? all of the 12v wires would be parallel right?

so how does the coil's signal wire being wired series cause a drop in spark if the 12v feed is the same?

also, on the parallel/fried driver topic, shouldnt it be possible to jump in resistors for each of the three circuits to replace the resistance lost via the parallel coils?

I'm not sure I really get how the signal wire causes the coil to release it's charge...

like, the coil is basically a big capacitor, right? not really a coil like a choke or a transformer right?

lots of help here would be great, my plug wires are going to hell and I have a mint 04 harness in storage.

also, if somebody could help me find the male counterpart connector to the TAURUS coil pack connector so I could make mine plug and play, that would be great. I know the mustang maf connector is supposed to be the solution for a contour coilpack, but unfortunately I swapped in a taurus coil pack and dont want to have to find another stock connector and hack even more of the wiring harness off to redo it.
 
KAOS_3.0 said:
so I think I'm still confused... when we're talking about parallel or series, we're just talking about the signal wire, right? all of the 12v wires would be parallel right?
Click to expand...
no. if you wire it in series then you have 1 power wire going into one coil, then out and into the second coil, then to the coil driver. if you wire them in parallel then each coil has its own power wire and the mating pairs get spliced together to go to 1 coil driver.

so how does the coil's signal wire being wired series cause a drop in spark if the 12v feed is the same?
Click to expand...
the 12v feed wouldnt be the same if they are wired in series, it would go through the first coil, then through the second coil, then to the driver. this obviously means you have more resistance in the circuit. more resistance, with the same voltage, means less amperage. since the coil is basically a transformer, it means less spark.

also, on the parallel/fried driver topic, shouldnt it be possible to jump in resistors for each of the three circuits to replace the resistance lost via the parallel coils?
Click to expand...
its not just having them in parallel that can fry the driver. having them in series can do it as well, since you would have doubled the resistance in the circuit. in the case of running them in parallel, it would be possible to add in a resistor, but IIRC it would be a .3 ohm resistor which is not exactly easy to find.

I'm not sure I really get how the signal wire causes the coil to release it's charge...

like, the coil is basically a big capacitor, right? not really a coil like a choke or a transformer right?
Click to expand...
the driver is just a ground switch and the coil is essentially a transformer. dont know if you can figure it out from there but if not i can explain.

lots of help here would be great, my plug wires are going to hell and I have a mint 04 harness in storage.

also, if somebody could help me find the male counterpart connector to the TAURUS coil pack connector so I could make mine plug and play, that would be great. I know the mustang maf connector is supposed to be the solution for a contour coilpack, but unfortunately I swapped in a taurus coil pack and dont want to have to find another stock connector and hack even more of the wiring harness off to redo it.
Click to expand...
cant help you with the connector styles but you might try Bill Jenkins. I know he doesnt work in parts anymore but im sure he could help.
 
KAOS_3.0 said:
so I think I'm still confused... when we're talking about parallel or series, we're just talking about the signal wire, right? all of the 12v wires would be parallel right?

so how does the coil's signal wire being wired series cause a drop in spark if the 12v feed is the same?

also, on the parallel/fried driver topic, shouldnt it be possible to jump in resistors for each of the three circuits to replace the resistance lost via the parallel coils?

I'm not sure I really get how the signal wire causes the coil to release it's charge...

like, the coil is basically a big capacitor, right? not really a coil like a choke or a transformer right?

lots of help here would be great, my plug wires are going to hell and I have a mint 04 harness in storage.

also, if somebody could help me find the male counterpart connector to the TAURUS coil pack connector so I could make mine plug and play, that would be great. I know the mustang maf connector is supposed to be the solution for a contour coilpack, but unfortunately I swapped in a taurus coil pack and dont want to have to find another stock connector and hack even more of the wiring harness off to redo it.
Click to expand...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solid_state_relay


BTW a new set of wires from Tousley Ford is $55. Get those and be happy.
 
why replace your watch if it tells time....in this instance, even the noble utilized Ford's Wastespark method...it does work for every single one of our purposes...OEM in good shape that is...

I have been interested with the COP thoughts though, i will sit back and watch...

Scuba
 
KAOS_3.0 said:
wow, 55 is cheap, advanced quoted me something in the 70's. 55 is for 02 taurus wires right? not contour wires?
Click to expand...
+

Why would you use 02 Taurus wires on a Contour? Unless you have a 01-02 Cougar with the new style coil pack you'd get your normal 2.5L plug wires and use your normal 2.5L coil pack. If you have an issue with the intake hitting the coil pack then you are SOL and need to look into relocating the coil pack.
 
Blackcoog said:
+

Why would you use 02 Taurus wires on a Contour? Unless you have a 01-02 Cougar with the new style coil pack you'd get your normal 2.5L plug wires and use your normal 2.5L coil pack. If you have an issue with the intake hitting the coil pack then you are SOL and need to look into relocating the coil pack.
Click to expand...

yes, I converted to the new style coil pack that came with my 02 engine. did this for two reasons: first, the new style pack mounts right up to the oem bracket, second, the taurus wires fit around the taurus engine just like they would stock in a taurus.

any idea what taurus wires run?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top