Now many of you know I love to DIY not because of the money saving aspect, but moreso the learning aspect. I am always interested in the how's and why's on solutions even after they have been developed.

Anyway, a while back I bought myself a set of D585 coils and built my own ignition solution. There were a few steps to the process:

1. Create/Source a bracket
2. Create/Source wires
3. Create/Source harness

1 and 2 were easy enough and 2 was something so basic that there are DIY's all over the place on them. I have created ignition wires enough times to know the do's and dont's.

Anyway, looking around the web you will notice that everyone has their own ignition solution, and a lot of people use the RX8->LS2 harness provided on ebay.

So you might be asking yourself (sorry for the name drop Charles..hope this is ok), why does BHR's harness look different to the following ebay one:



I read a bunch of threads here and remembered CRH always saying that something wasn't good about the harness, but I could never pinpoint exactly what the problem was....

Well recently I started having wierd surging issues at higher rpms. I started looking at everything, maf, intake, exhaust, etc etc etc. Eventually i worked down to ignition, replaced my solution with the OEM. I took a close look at my custom solution and here is what i found...




So what is that? ... it isn't a cut in the wire ... but more of a burn mark with some slight discoloration...... and the location (near the coil boot) is a dead givaway to the answer .... 'Arcing' . There is at least one of those spots on each of my wires.

So what does that mean? Electricity will always jump to the strongest ground source which is why it is always important to have a good ground, even moreso than having a stable power source. Looks like the ground to this harness just isn't adaquate ... and it caused what i assume is arching from the wire to the engine block.

Now I know I am going to get critisized for choosing my own DIY solution over a proven vendor .. but I am not at the least bit upset ... in the end I learned what I set out to learn... I answered 'why' and hopefully this does the same for anyone else looking to design their own solution vs buying an already available one.

 

Glad you found the source of the problems that have been plaguing you

Good info for the DIYers out there.

 

Thanks for posting .

Have not had issue with my E-bay wires . Then again , I did shorten up the ground wire and run another ground back to the battery.

 

Yea i had the ignition ground going right to one of the wires that came off the negative terminal, but i think the issue here is that it is far too long and too thin to be effective.

 

FWIW i shortened mine right down and connected it to the bolt just behind the coil bracket . Then ran a thick (can't remember the guage) wire from there to the battery. Had that setup for a couple of years now and it's been fine.

 

Paimon, I had a similar situation with my set up using this harness. I got it off a member here along with nearly brand new Delphi LS2 coils for only $45 shipped. I also got MSD wires that were already made specifically for this application from a friend on this forum for a steal.

My car ran really strong for about a week; then I slowly started to notice a decrease in performance in the higher RPMs past 6K. I can't jump into conclusion that the harness caused the problem, because the coils themselves could have also been a contributing factor.

I returned to stock ignition and everything is good again. I don't care if I get criticized either for attempting to do a DIY on this; I didn't lose much money and had a bit of fun experimenting and working on this project.

Once my ignition is due for replacing, I definitely got the BHR setup next on my mod list.

 

Strange, I have mine running straight to the negative terminal of my battery, haven't had an issue in almost 3 years now. Still good info to know should any hiccups pop up.

 

Helpful info. Thanks.

 

paimon.soror

What brand of ignition cable is that in the photo?
If you are getting arcing through that cable I would suggest that you change to a better quality ignition cable.
Cut it in half and see what the inner cable is made of? It looks to me like the insulation on that cable is of very poor quality or has broken down under load.

Rotaman

 

MSD cable 8.5mm Super Conductor

maybe that's the reason they refer to the brand as "My Spark Died"

 

I would certainly think that the MSD should be a good ignition cable.
Did you buy it from a reputable supplier? Could it be a Chinese copy?
If you plug that Ignition cable into a coil and fire up the coil, place the arcing mark near an earth point and see if you can actually see it arcing out to the earth point through that mark.
I have had that very thing happen to me along time ago when I was using some cheap brand of ignition cable on my RX2.
I was using high powered coils and the ignition cables just burnt out the side and was earthing to the engine block.
You would probably have to be in a shed to be able to see the arcing, somewhere a little bit darker.

Rotaman

 

Paimon, I'll have to check the plug wires I bought from you last year. I dont seem to be having the same problem. I made a DIY yukon kit as well, but didnt buy the ebay harness. I cut the old mazda plugs off the engine harness and hard wired the GM connectors in. I also have the ground ran to the battery terminal.

 

Glad you aren't having issues with the plug wires. Honestly I dont think they are the real issue. They are pretty beefy wires and many use them in more demanding situations without any problem. I think the problem is moreso the ebay harness. Some people are using it without a hitch, but I have been reading about some people having some random issues.

 

I am having a mid range power issue, which I believe is the SSV sticking which I'll be cleaning this weekend, but will also check the ignition while I'm at it. But like you said, I dont believe the blame is on the wires.