aftermarket coil packs for 3.4tcd? impressions? results?

[34T]

has anyone experimented with aftermarket and/or performance coil packs for this engine? Any results or impressions?
I will want to go to a turbo next yr so an increased spark will be preferable if it 'actually' is a real result of getting an aftermarket setup.
I have heard mixed reviews (but only a few, at that) regarding this topic so more input might be more help in deciding.
thx!!

[Lyle's GTP]

The only guy's here who have done it, wanted new coil packs and used it as an excuse to buy them. No body has anything bad to say about them other than cost. But if you compare them to GM prices you might as well buy aftermarket. MSD has them for our cars, they also have a DIS-4 computer controlled ignition amplifier that will work also. It has all kinds of timing retard options for using a boosted application as well as alot of other cool features. The guy's here that have used it have made no HP claims but said it gave them better gas mileage so it must work.

Lyle

[34T]

thanks Lyle
any guys using this MSD setup then, with BOOST?????
THAT would be interesting!!
thx!

[RacerX11]

Nobody has anything bad to say about them, other than don't buy the Accel coils. Several people have had bad luck with them failing, and have gone back to the stock GM coils.

Marty

[4spdz34]

make your own msd wires, i made them and i measured the resistance of the stock wire it was 14k ohms(this is the longest wire and its gm and was less than a year old) and the one i made from msd wire in the same length was about 380 ohms. that will give u alot more spark

[Mitch DOHC]

i have the jegs DSI coils and saw a small improvement in gass miledge.. ther wernt that expensive at all i think they were like $99 dolers for all three

[Lyle's GTP]

Do you have plug wires? I highly recommend Magnecor, alot of pro shops that sell them say that they prefer them over MSD wires. But they do tend to cost more.

Lyle

[Mitch DOHC]

if u were talking to my Lyle..... i have the stock plug wires but am fixing to go with a aftermarket set.... as soon as i get the money.. probably the Magnecor ones

[Lyle's GTP]

Good Choice. Making a custom set of MSD wire's seems kinda pointless when you can buy magnecor's that are just as good, if not better than MSD anyway.

Lyle

[Anonymous]

The Magnecor wires are very good, but they come with a big price tag. But cheap in the long run because they are lifetime wires.

MSD DOES NOT make coil packs for the 3.4L, they make them for the L67, aka 3.8 SC. But the 3.8 SC coil packs will bolt on to the 3.4L and work. RedZMonte was doing this to his MC Z34 I believe after he compared the MSD packs on his L67 Lumina to those of his Monte.

[4spdz34]

The Magnecor wires are very good, but they come with a big price tag. But cheap in the long run because they are lifetime wires.

MSD DOES NOT make coil packs for the 3.4L, they make them for the L67, aka 3.8 SC. But the 3.8 SC coil packs will bolt on to the 3.4L and work. RedZMonte was doing this to his MC Z34 I believe after he compared the MSD packs on his L67 Lumina to those of his Monte.

ummm all gm dis coils of that model are the same so it makes sense they would work.

Good Choice. Making a custom set of MSD wire's seems kinda pointless when you can buy magnecor's that are just as good, if not better than MSD anyway.

Lyle

aren't the magnecor like $200? and for me to make msd wires it cost $40. hmmmm......almost seems worth it to buy magnecor.

[34T]

Yeah....... I checked the Magnecor website and the LIST (I know - "list"....) was something like $214 or so......
It would be nice to know there is a difference........ anyway; I have brand new stocker replacements by Bosch; also a lifetime warranty, but will switch if there is going to be a perceptible difference at some point..... And yes also re; the coils; the wreckers all say the coil packs are the same thing across the board.......

[Mitch DOHC]

to build a set of msd wires where did u get the boots and did u use the weirdo stock style long ass plug boots or did u use something else..... and once again all the DSI coil packs are the same here is a Quote from jegs where i bought mine. "Bolts directly to the stock coil locations. 4-cylinder requires 2 coils, 6 cylinder requires 3 coils and 8-cylinder requires 4 coils. Fits 1987-01 GM DIS systems. Will not fit LS1/LS6 engines with individual coil packs." clearley L67 falls in that catagory

[brian89gp]

make your own msd wires, i made them and i measured the resistance of the stock wire it was 14k ohms(this is the longest wire and its gm and was less than a year old) and the one i made from msd wire in the same length was about 380 ohms. that will give u alot more spark

Not really. You are measuring resistance with usually less then 1V. When you take into consideration that the voltage going through the wires is around 45,000V things take another spin. At that voltage the current is no longer traveling through the thin wire spun around the core but along the outside circumference of the spun core as a whole. This is why solid core wires are so much better, you don't have this coil of a core that the current must jump across.

And no, we can't use solid core wires cause they cause all sorts of interference with other electronics

For the stock DIS system, it is fairly good for what it is. Upgrades are available but not really needed.

[jmgtp]

I made MSD wires. Not for performance reasons, but because I could do it for very cheap. ~$40. I used the old boots from the stock wires. The MSD wire is 8.5mm so it took a lil coaxing to get it through the stock boots but a larger boot wouldnt fit in the plastic retainer that goes through the cam carrier to reach the plugs. The wires I made have been in service for over 2 years with no problems. The previous wires I had were the $20 autozone ones, and they always had a problem with skipping at idle. So needless to say, the idle cleaned up and smoothed out and the engine *seemed* to rev a bit smoother (in neutral just goosing it). The MSD wires did have much lower resistance than the ones I pulled out, I believe the longest one I had measured about 60ohms (msd claims 8ohms per foot for their superconductor wire so their claims seem valid from what I measured) but like Brian said, they probably didnt do anymore for performance than a new set of stock wires would do.