Screamin deamon coil pack

[fourwheelford]

I was thinking of upgrading my coil pack to the screamin demon one from stuffforyourranger.com but I have a couple of questions about it.

1. It says I can gap my plugs to .60-.65, is this true?
2. Does it actually work better than a stock coil pack?
3. Do I need to run special plugs? I already have good plugs from when I did my tune up 2500 miles ago.

Thanks everyone, any info from you guys that run these things would be great, or if you just know something about them, I don't care info is info

 

[Sasquatch_Ryda]

Why do you figure you need a new coil?

Spark is spark. You are not going to gain anything other than a light wallet from installing an aftermarket coil.

 

[Big Jim M]

Ditto Sasquatch

Spark is just spark! If you are wanting to spend some money, spend it on some nice hanging dice for your mirror! At least the dice can be seen..a new coil won't make any difference and cannot be seen by anyone including the driver...
When will guys learn! ANY spark is the same as any OTHER SPARK..no matter what the ads say there will be no gain..not even a small bit.
Big Jim

 

[fourwheelford]

I assumed that but I wanted confirmation, thats why I usually ask these question before buying anything.

 

[mixwell]

I wouldn't waste my money on a new coil pack.. I actually saw something on Spike TV whe if you angle the spark to favor the exhaust valve it supposed to make a difference and they come with "crush" rings so you can tighten them to face the exhust valve... as far as gaps go, normal setup should be about .46 gap on the plugs from what I recall. As far as performance I doubt you will notice a diff in a new coil pack.

 

[Big Jim M]

Howdy mixwell

I wouldn't waste my money on a new coil pack.. I actually saw something on Spike TV whe if you angle the spark to favor the exhaust valve it supposed to make a difference and they come with "crush" rings so you can tighten them to face the exhust valve... as far as gaps go, normal setup should be about .46 gap on the plugs from what I recall. As far as performance I doubt you will notice a diff in a new coil pack.

The gap pointing at the exhaust valve is to start the spark flame away from the intake valve when the timing is at 40* or so at very high rpm. The thought is to keep as much of the flame inside the chamber as possible before the intake valve closes. No reason to bother with the process when the rpm is at or below five grand.. as it serves absolutely no purpose.
Big Jim

 

[JP02XLT]

The process is called plug indexing, it works very well in High HP applications. Good kits have may different thickness of plug washers to correctly position the electrode by the thickness of the washer, You also need to know how deep the plug is into the squish area. You would not want to over torque a plug in an aluminum head to to get the plug where you wanted it.

I seriously disagree with the statement "spark is spark" Ever seen one of the old Chanpion plug testers? They have an inspection mirrior to view the plug firing under variable air pressure, increase the air & watch the spark fade off, sometimes snuff out, same thing happens in a cylinder. Agreed you need something else, more compression, fuel etc along with more spark for added power. I personally like to have the hottest spark I can find for any performance engine, will a coil alone make a difference in a DD. I have seen many Chevy TBI trucks benefit in HP/TQ & mileage from nothing more than a coil change. Seems the GM HEI units wave a marginal coil at best & tend to fade fairly fast.

JP02XLT

 

[Big Jim M]

The process is called plug indexing, it works very well in High HP applications. Good kits have may different thickness of plug washers to correctly position the electrode by the thickness of the washer, You also need to know how deep the plug is into the squish area. You would not want to over torque a plug in an aluminum head to to get the plug where you wanted it.

I seriously disagree with the statement "spark is spark" Ever seen one of the old Chanpion plug testers? They have an inspection mirrior to view the plug firing under variable air pressure, increase the air & watch the spark fade off, sometimes snuff out, same thing happens in a cylinder. Agreed you need something else, more compression, fuel etc along with more spark for added power. I personally like to have the hottest spark I can find for any performance engine, will a coil alone make a difference in a DD. I have seen many Chevy TBI trucks benefit in HP/TQ & mileage from nothing more than a coil change. Seems the GM HEI units wave a marginal coil at best & tend to fade fairly fast.

JP02XLT

Howdy JPO
Nope! You haven't seen any vehicle that was running normally benefit from a coil change! You may have seen a badly running engine benefit from a coil change...however replacing a bad coil with ANY new coil would make a difference. Installing the OEM coil would have done the exact same thing in all instances.
Coils make sparks.. ANY spark does the exact same thing as ANY OTHER spark. The spark lights the fire.. It does it at the zack same time as any other spark. Once lit the fire itself is what spins the engine.. As long as there IS A SPARK.. where it comes from matters not.
Big Jim

 

[JP02XLT]

If you have ever worked on any Chevy HEI dist for higher rpm You would have a different idea on spark and coil strength. I am not talking about replacing a poor running,missing etc coil situation. I did the swap the SD coil on the Ranger and got a smoother (less idle flucuation) (25-30 rpm) checked with the scanner / scope. Would a new Ford coil done the same as the SD, Yes there is the possibility, Maybe it would have been the same as the original, I did not have a new factory coil to try.
Everyone has an opinion & thats what these boards are for, Air them all. I do have a test for you if your willing, I will let you grab any Ford coil on a Ranger, then grab the coil on my other truck, its a Jacobs, Pro Street ignition. I had it at a local shop using there O-scope & one of my good friends, a Mechanic there leaned under the hood across the fender well & got into the coil, it buckled him straight to his knees & he could not stand up for 15-30 seconds, He likened it to be hit by a truck & total muscular failure. We called the Medics & they checked him out, he was fine. In 25+ years as a prefesional ASE wrench he had never seen nor felt a hit like that. The offers on the table, I am sure you can tell the diff.

PS: I really would not want you to grab the Jacobs Coil, seen it 1st hand & its bad.

JP02XLT

 

[fourwheelford]

I also saw that plug indexing episode

 

[Big Jim M]

As a matter of fact

If you have ever worked on any Chevy HEI dist for higher rpm You would have a different idea on spark and coil strength. I am not talking about replacing a poor running,missing etc coil situation. I did the swap the SD coil on the Ranger and got a smoother (less idle flucuation) (25-30 rpm) checked with the scanner / scope. Would a new Ford coil done the same as the SD, Yes there is the possibility, Maybe it would have been the same as the original, I did not have a new factory coil to try.
Everyone has an opinion & thats what these boards are for, Air them all. I do have a test for you if your willing, I will let you grab any Ford coil on a Ranger, then grab the coil on my other truck, its a Jacobs, Pro Street ignition. I had it at a local shop using there O-scope & one of my good friends, a Mechanic there leaned under the hood across the fender well & got into the coil, it buckled him straight to his knees & he could not stand up for 15-30 seconds, He likened it to be hit by a truck & total muscular failure. We called the Medics & they checked him out, he was fine. In 25+ years as a prefesional ASE wrench he had never seen nor felt a hit like that. The offers on the table, I am sure you can tell the diff.

PS: I really would not want you to grab the Jacobs Coil, seen it 1st hand & its bad.

JP02XLT

I do know a thing or two bout them chevy coils. I adapted one to my Jeep a few years back.
As stated before coils build up energy until they have enough to jump the gap to ground. When a HUMAN grabs the wire the gap gets LARGER and the coil builds and builds..more and more energy until it can find a way thru the person to ground.. All coils will get one to his knees if he isn't well grounded.. With a good ground one gets a big surprize anyway.
My posts here aren't opinion. I keep those to myself. My posting about coils is pure fact...nothing else. Sometimes it hard to convince folks that believe the coil advertisements...but I try anyway.
Big JIm

 

[Bob Ayers]

The aftermarket ignition components (Screamin Demon, MSD, etc.) are not reliability tested like the OEM ignition components. ALL US auto manufacturers
requires their electronic component suppliers to go through the reliability tests
called out by the SAE.


This is what happens without proper testing:

http://forum.aempower.com/forum/index.php?topic=18210.0

 

[mjonesjr]

I like the Screamin' Demon on my '97 4.0. It worked well and allowed me to increase my plug gap without any problems.

 

[Runnin'OnEmpty]

The increased plug gap is the key here; that's what gives
better performance. And a higher voltage/joules rated coil
will fire a wider gap, so it's true that a performance coil
combined with wider gaped plugs will give more performance.

In thumbing thru some 3.0 specs, I see the plug gap spec for pre-06's
is .044", and the gap for post 06's is .055". That tells me Ford
has a better coil for the later models (possibly COP?)......

 

[Bob Ayers]

The increased plug gap is the key here; that's what gives
better performance. And a higher voltage/joules rated coil
will fire a wider gap, so it's true that a performance coil
combined with wider gaped plugs will give more performance.

In thumbing thru some 3.0 specs, I see the plug gap spec for pre-06's
is .044", and the gap for post 06's is .055". That tells me Ford
has a better coil for the later models (possibly COP?)......

No, it's a function of the spark plug, and combustion chamber design, not the capacity of the coil......if you look back, (pre-06) the 4.0L had a gap of 0.055, the 3.0L had a gap of 0.044,
same coilpack! The 06's and newer 3.0L use "fine wire" platinums.