Ford Coil Pack on VR6 with Pics.

[GardenSnake]

Hey Im a Newbie and felt I should share some knowledge of swaping a Ford EDIS 6 coil onto the VR6. Like alot of VR6 owners I started having Misfires. Knowing that the VR6 Coil is prone to failure I had no desire to buy a Brand New VW coil, Espicially for $330 at the local parts store. First I tried to cover it with epoxy that fixed some of the misfiring but not all of it. I saw a million GM Coil Pack swaps and the extra bracket and extra wiring to make them work, then I came across one guy who used a Ford EDIS 6 coil. Me being a Ford Guy at Heart It didnt take me long to Decide what I was gonna do. This swap is alot more straight forward and Stock Ford EDIS Coils are cheap and Never Fail. I picked up the Used Ford coil wiring plug and stock Ford plug wires off of a friends of mines Thunder Bird SuperCoupe.

Here are some pics.
Everything

Ford Coil vs. VR6 Coil (note the bad epoxy job on the VW coil, ha)

Almost fits right on there

Ford plug soldered on and shrink wraped

Ford Terminals on Stock VW wires

Finished Coil

Wires and Coil

Finished

Modified by GardenSnake at 12:24 PM 1-28-2009


Modified by GardenSnake at 12:29 PM 1-28-2009

[Eric D]

Congrats! As you know its been done before.

http://www.gti-vr6.net/library..._pack/

[GardenSnake]

Yes, that was the only other guy that I have seen do it. And since there are a million write ups for the GM coil packs why not have two for the Ford Setup? Also he is using a different style ICM and Coil Base, as well as he didnt convert to the Ford Style Terminals either.


Modified by GardenSnake at 12:35 PM 1-28-2009

[Eric D]

When you look at the MSD pic with the ICM, look carefully and you'll see my (C) copyright.

That was me that made the original wiring diagram with the 6 MSD coils, this was done in response to a question another member had.

He was intrigued by this set-up, I have nothing to do with this one, nor is he using the VR6 ICM.

So I made this diagram below for the forum member. With this diagram, others have chosen the 3 MSD coils and have made brackets. I have not made a cent off this, nor do you see credit given. As long as my name isn't erased from the diagram, people will make the connection. No pun intended.

[need_a_VR6]

The car with the 6 MSD coils was BogeVR6's car, it was on Haltech and it ran a MSD DIS4 and a MSD DIS2 to drive them.

[eurobred]

Quote, originally posted by Eric D »

When you look at the MSD pic with the ICM, look carefully and you'll see my (C) copyright. That was me that made the original wiring diagram with the 6 MSD coils, this was done in response to a question another member had. He was intrigued by this set-up, I have nothing to do with this one, nor is he using the VR6 ICM.

i'd love to run a setup like this on my VRT
looks way clean

[need_a_VR6]

Quote, originally posted by eurobred »

i'd love to run a setup like this on my VRT looks way clean

$60/ea for coils and about $600 in DIS boxes will get you there.

[Boost112]

Quote, originally posted by Eric D »

When you look at the MSD pic with the ICM, look carefully and you'll see my (C) copyright. That was me that made the original wiring diagram with the 6 MSD coils, this was done in response to a question another member had. He was intrigued by this set-up, I have nothing to do with this one, nor is he using the VR6 ICM. So I made this diagram below for the forum member. With this diagram, others have chosen the 3 MSD coils and have made brackets. I have not made a cent off this, nor do you see credit given. As long as my name isn't erased from the diagram, people will make the connection. No pun intended.

Well thank you very much for figuring this out... it has helped alot of the people in this community... here's to you...

[imdubbin]

Quote, originally posted by Eric D »

Congrats! As you know its been done before. http://www.gti-vr6.net/library..._pack/

Doesn't matter if it has been done before, it is a job well done. Clean and precise, and well thought out. Did you ask him if he took notes on the other one, or did you just assume he had no imagination of his own?

[mjkuwp]

I got the later model Ford coil pack - ~2003 model from "nobody" and the Ford unit works ok, ... but..

I am still missing 1 pair of sparks. If I rotate the wires from the lower half of the OEM coil pack that go to the Ford unit the bad pair moves around so I know that the problem starts prior to the Ford unit.

I guess I would issue a caution to only try the Ford repair if you are dealing with the arcing wet coil pack problem - not a total misfire.

I do have few questions... how can I tell whether my ECU is the problem or the lower portion of the OEM/Beru coil pack (is this what people call the ICM?)?

Can anyone recommend a good test light? Does someone offer an LED lamp as opposed to an incandescent?

I have checked a lot of things against each other to attempt finding a difference between the 3 outputs. For example, I checked resistance to ground on the 2,3,4 terminals of the engine harness. I checked resistance and continuity through the 'ICM'. nothing appears different until I actually hook up the plugs and check for spark... in which case I get only 2/3 of the plugs firing.

btw, the OEM wires do fit directly onto this later model Ford coil pack and the mod is quite straightforward. I'm sure I would have had no problems had I done this mod many years ago before my ICM? or ECU went so bad.



Modified by mjkuwp at 6:17 AM 12-1-2009

[nobody...]

Quote, originally posted by mjkuwp »

I do have few questions... how can I tell whether my ECU is the problem or the lower portion of the OEM/Beru coil pack (is this what people call the ICM?)?

from what i gather, its your icm. you gotta have a known good icm. thats just from reading all the ignition mod threads i found here and elsewhere. it really is a cool alternative to beru packs simply because of the price difference. all except for icm issues. seems the beru icm is a fragile POS

[ricardo]

Quote, originally posted by nobody... »

from what i gather, its your icm. you gotta have a known good icm. thats just from reading all the ignition mod threads i found here and elsewhere. it really is a cool alternative to beru packs simply because of the price difference. all except for icm issues. seems the beru icm is a fragile POS

x2 try another ICM

[DTMVDUB]

Quote, originally posted by Eric D »

Congrats! As you know its been done before. http://www.gti-vr6.net/library..._pack/

True...but this one is much cleaner. Looks very OEM.

[ricardo]

that looks more "stock" which is what Im looking for

can you show the ICM to ford plug diagram?

thanks

[GardenSnake]

The Car runs perfect now. I believe the Ford coil pack is a little stronger (higher voltage) than the VR6 coil as well. Since those pictures I have switched to lower resistance 8mm Taylor wires. My stock wires were going on 119k and I didnt trust them.

Here is a diagram you asked for. Its not real pretty but you get the idea. Also the ICM is labeled with these same notations so you can match them up as well as Eric D has them shown on the ICM in his diagram.

[.therealvrt]

nice
how does the car run with this? smoother? starts fine?

[youlostme21]

You happen to know the part #
I work at a FLM dealer and my parts guys is a dick about giving him Part#'s

And as far as Kv goes, is it comparable to stock vw or higher?


Modified by youlostme21 at 4:46 PM 1-28-2009

[GardenSnake]

The Part Number for the Ford Coil is DGE456. I dont know if you care but you can get a New ACCEL coil for $50-$60. Probably cheaper than a Brand new Ford Motorcraft coil from a dealership.

[97vr6blu]

That's f'n cool man - thanks! This is probably the route I will go - I noticed a crack in my coil body when re-assembling my GTI. And yes, you can pick up the new Accel coil off ebay for $55 shipped. Could probably get the wires from a junk yard cheap to have the factory ends, too.


Modified by 97vr6blu at 11:18 PM 1-29-2009

[Boost112]

Quote, originally posted by 97vr6blu »

That's f'n cool man - thanks! This is probably the route I will go - I noticed a crack in my coil body when re-assembling my GTI. And yes, you can pick up the new Accel coil off ebay for $55 shipped. Could probably get the wires from a junk yard cheap to have the factory ends, too. Modified by 97vr6blu at 11:18 PM 1-29-2009

found the ford accel unit on jegs for like $90... jegs makes one as well for like $80....

Modified by Boost112 at 3:02 PM 3-30-2009

question is what is the best way to do the wires.... how do you crimp the ends on to the vr6 wires... do you need to solder them on? can i just go down to discount and get the ends or is a junk yard better? any suggestions?


Modified by Boost112 at 3:13 PM 3-30-2009

[Lord_Verminaard]

This is cool! A question- with the ford packs, you don't need to fool around with resistors or other junk like you do with the GM DIS coils?

Brendan

[Eric D]

How about the 2001-03 Windstar coil pack?

Looks like the coil towers might fit with the VR6 wire ends.

Here is a Windstar wireset. Looks like Bremi/Beru etc ends, but I can't really tell from the small pic.

[o2bad455]

Has anyone been able to confirm/deny if this Windstar coil pack uses the stock VR6 plug to coil ends? That would be cool!

Quote, originally posted by Eric D »

How about the 2001-03 Windstar coil pack? Looks like the coil towers might fit with the VR6 wire ends. Here is a Windstar wireset. Looks like Bremi/Beru etc ends, but I can't really tell from the small pic.

[CorvetteKillerVr6]

The MSD 8224 coils are waayyyyyyy better
40 000 +volts to each plug.

just spend the money and stop screwing with Ford stuff......

after all you own a Dub dont u,

not some ***** Focus

[ricardo]

cost me $65 all together with a stock look, not much need to modify stuff and the car definitely runs better now........ just another alternative for the coilpack...lets not get into sticking with brand specific stuff now

[Salsa GTI]

Quote, originally posted by CorvetteKillerVr6 »

The MSD 8224 coils are waayyyyyyy better 40 000 +volts to each plug. just spend the money and stop screwing with Ford stuff...... after all you own a Dub dont u, not some ***** Focus

Because msd stands for

M=my
S=spark
D=died

The msd stuff is ALL GARBAGE period.......
and ford windstars are Nissan Quests with blue ovals stuck on them

[KilroyVR6]

Haha i had a ford focus and the engine blew twice. I just bought my vr6 and within 2 weeks i had to take it to the shop 3 times now... fighting with the ignition coil pack. Got it replaced for free but the car still stalled out as if the coil pack was still messed up. Obviously that wasn't the whole problem, but i def saw the cracks in it

[ricardo]

Quote, originally posted by Eric D »

How about the 2001-03 Windstar coil pack? Looks like the coil towers might fit with the VR6 wire ends. Here is a Windstar wireset. Looks like Bremi/Beru etc ends, but I can't really tell from the small pic.

so I found one of those coilpacks and the cable fits the only problem is the "tube" of the coilpack is too long... nothing a little bit of trimming would fix.. now the order of fire has to be figure out

[Nevaeh_Speed]

Quote, originally posted by ricardo »

so I found one of those coilpacks and the cable fits the only problem is the "tube" of the coilpack is too long... nothing a little bit of trimming would fix.. now the order of fire has to be figure out

Any luck on this? it would be cool if you didn't have to swap the ends... But either way this is a cool mod.


Modified by Nevaeh_Speed at 9:48 AM 9-14-2009

[manfredwerner]

Quote, originally posted by Eric D »

How about the 2001-03 Windstar coil pack? Looks like the coil towers might fit with the VR6 wire ends. Here is a Windstar wireset. Looks like Bremi/Beru etc ends, but I can't really tell from the small pic.

i got all the parts for coil repair with exactly this kind of coil from a mustang 3.8l. i hope this will work out.

[Nevaeh_Speed]

Quote, originally posted by manfredwerner »

i got all the parts for coil repair with exactly this kind of coil from a mustang 3.8l. i hope this will work out.

Keep us informed on this coil. Should work, I was looking at one the other day, and all you would have to do is cut the connection point on the coil down to match a VR6 coil , hoop up the wires like said before and you should be set. Now for mounting you might have to get creative.

[manfredwerner]

Quote, originally posted by Eric D »

How about the 2001-03 Windstar coil pack? Looks like the coil towers might fit with the VR6 wire ends. Here is a Windstar wireset. Looks like Bremi/Beru etc ends, but I can't really tell from the small pic.

I did this conversion today! this is the best thing i did to my b4! this coil came of a 2003 mustang, 3.8l. the plugs for the coil fit right on, no trimming of the towers was needed, i didn't have to swap the ends! but don't forget to lube the towers with special grease. the order of the firing is the same as in the old style coil in the beginning of the post. the coil cost me 35 with pigtale and the ign wires shipped of the junkyard. GL!

here http://www.car-part.com

Modified by manfredwerner at 10:36 PM 10-16-2009

[Nevaeh_Speed]

Quote, originally posted by manfredwerner »

I did this conversion today! this is the best thing i did to my b4! this coil came of a 2003 mustang, 3.8l. the plugs for the coil fit right on, no trimming of the towers was needed, i didn't have to swap the ends! but don't forget to lube the towers with special grease. the order of the firing is the same as in the old style coil in the beginning of the post. the coil cost me 35 with pigtale and the ign wires shipped of the junkyard. GL! here http://www.car-part.com Modified by manfredwerner at 10:36 PM 10-16-2009

Its good to know the newer ford version works.

[slefain]

Quote, originally posted by manfredwerner »

I did this conversion today! this is the best thing i did to my b4! this coil came of a 2003 mustang, 3.8l. the plugs for the coil fit right on, no trimming of the towers was needed, i didn't have to swap the ends! but don't forget to lube the towers with special grease. the order of the firing is the same as in the old style coil in the beginning of the post. the coil cost me 35 with pigtale and the ign wires shipped of the junkyard. GL! here http://www.car-part.com Modified by manfredwerner at 10:36 PM 10-16-2009

Probably a stupid question, but did you re-use the stock VW plug wires, or did you you Ford wires? If you used Ford wires, what year/make/model did you use? Sorry for my stupid question, I just want to make one stop for parts.

[ricardo]

since I had to change sparkplugs I gapped them at .033 and they work great... Ford guys gapped them at 0.42 so technically so can we?