3.0TFSI tune up - coils and plugs

B8 S4
#1

My engine is 5 years old and has 41,000 miles on it. It’s been tuned for about 13,000 miles or so (since April 2013). The factory maintenance schedule says replace plugs at 6 years but with tuning I think it’s prudent to shorten the interval.

I’m going to go with NGK brand OEM replacement plugs, at the same spark temperature as stock (not colder). I’m also going to replace the coil packs but instead of OEM I’m going to use plasma coils made (overengineered) by this guy from Japan. I can get a set of six for about $950. What I hope is that it prevents the occasional misfire at high RPM.

[quote]The IP Coils are the ignition coil with a high power amplifier built in to it. The IP Coils produce 4 times more spark energy than stock coils and also generate an ultra fast multi spark discharge of 10 sparks up to highest RPM. The spark amperage is increased 100%, allowing the spark to reach many more molecules and therefore accelerate the ignition and combustion process. This is extremely important in forced induction applications but also improves the performance of normally aspirated engines.
[/quote]
http://ignitionprojects.com/products/ip-coil/audi/ip-coil-audi-s4-1

http://i57.tinypic.com/5ma7a.jpg

#2

That coil pack is really cool, though I’m not certain the benefits are as magnified on modern direct injected motors.
And curious to know - on the logs, does “misfire” = an actual misfire, in the timing sense, or does “misfire” get recorded if there is detonation? Having better coil packs will not assist with detonation.

#3

http://www.audizine.com/forum/showthread.php/380963-review-2-Okada-vs-rev-D-vs-rev-R-coilpacks-Bosch-FR6DTC-vs-NGK-5238-spark-plugs

http://audirevolution.net/forum/index.php?topic=786.0

#4

Just saw the AZ thread you posted above.
That’s really cool. But now I’m curious about that test. Were the stock coils also brand new in that test?

#5

[repost from vendorzine on 4/14/2014]

In the interest of transparency, the computer logged two faults the last two times I went out on track (January 12 and March 1). I can’t tell if the timestamps are in GMT, because I wasn’t on track at 6:49 AM although I was awake and likely driving to the track. I also wouldn’t have been on track at 12:46 PM but my car could have been on the dyno at that particular time.

The tricky part about this is I haven’t used the car hardly at all in the last few months. The first reading from Jan was @ 33,408 miles and the second was @ 34,245 miles. I literally drove the car home, parked it for a month or two, drove it to the shop for a checkup, and drove it to another track.

At the least it seems like I should do a tune up and replace the air filter. Anything else I should do here?

http://i58.tinypic.com/jk9kzm.jpg

#6

Let us know on the coil packs. Not too sure they are going to be able to provide any better performance then stock but it’s worth a shot.

At this point a good fuel system treatment and a good look at replacement of the fuel filter wouldn’t be too bad.

Take off the pcv system and inspect that as well.

Both the fuel system and pcv system can be part of the missfireing issues as well

#7

[/quote]
Right on!

Also, spark plug heat range doesn’t refer to the temp of the spark.

#8

hey look everyone…it’s jake!

#9

curious if those coils would eat up spark plugs faster as they are providing way more power to them.

#10

What!? Where!?

#11

In theory you would rather have more energy then less. The plugs should last longer due to them being able to have a stronger charge and this will help them get to cleaning temperature quickly. That’s one of the main killers of plugs is plug follow.

#12

Boom.

http://tapatalk.imageshack.com/v2/15/03/06/4f8718a1306dda41794e2501e5e45793.jpg

#13

no they werent, thats why I think we concluded that they weren’t worth it, based on the gains of those plugs brand new vs the old stock ones.

#14

The throttle feels responsive, but I expect it would with a tune up. Hard to say how much I can attribute that to coils. For me this is mainly about an engine insurance policy track use. I’d like to avoid misfires and hopefully I never need to buy coils again.

#15

I would really like to see how this helps miss fires. But there is that question that would normal coil pack updates have give the same results.

#16

Allegedly the failure/error rate on an Audi coil is much higher. I’m running the 100 octane tune all weekend at the track, and on Sunday afternoon I’ll VAGCOM check the car to see if it threw any misfires.

#17

That would be interesting to see. Running higher octane is always smart to do at track events the only thing is that the higher octane might be less prone to miss fire. Unless last time you were at the track you had in race gas as well.

#18

Recently replaced all my plugs with these about a month and a half ago:

NGK (2668) BKR8EIX Iridium IX Spark Plug

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001B6VUTM/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o08_s02?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Was running fine until last week. Got a missfire on Cyl 3 during a high reving (4-5k) downshift. Pulled over, shut the car off turned back on and good to go.

Figuring I may have not gapped the plug properly I checked Cyl 3 and it was at .32 (which is what the others are at) so that wasn’t the issue.

Drove around last week and happened again, same cyl. Replaced the coil with the backup I have and continued on.

Now today again cyl 3 throwing a misfire code, wondering if maybe that plug is bad? Without cross flipping is there a way to tell by looking at the plug (more for my knowledge, I don’t mind flipping plugs to see if it comes up)?

Here are the codes from two of the CEL’s, cleared after each time:

Address 01: Engine (J623-CGXC) Labels: 06E-907-551-CGW.clb
Part No SW: 8K5 907 551 E HW: 4G0 907 551 A
Component: 3.0l V6 TFSIH07 0002
Revision: --H07—
Coding: 0A250034052608060000
Shop #: WSC 06208 000 00000
ASAM Dataset: EV_ECM30TFS0218K5907551E 001002
ROD: EV_ECM30TFS0218K5907551E.rod
VCID: 38743B7783494EE196F-806D

3 Faults Found:
6352 - Cylinder 3
P0303 00 [036] - Misfire Detected
Intermittent - Not Confirmed - Tested Since Memory Clear
Freeze Frame:
Fault Status: 00000001
Fault Priority: 2
Fault Frequency: 1
Mileage: 93752 km
Date: 2015.04.19
Time: 18:34:29

7948 - Cylinder Disabling
P130A 00 [044] - -
Intermittent - Confirmed - Tested Since Memory Clear
Freeze Frame:
Fault Status: 00000001
Fault Priority: 2
Fault Frequency: 1
Mileage: 93752 km
Date: 2015.04.19
Time: 18:34:30

9662 - EVAP System
P0456 00 [096] - Very Small Leak Detected
Intermittent - Not Confirmed - Tested Since Memory Clear
Freeze Frame:
Fault Status: 00000001
Fault Priority: 2
Fault Frequency: 2
Mileage: 92634 km
Date: 2015.04.12
Time: 08:16:36

Readiness: 0000 0000

#19

Even plugs in terrible looking condition can still be fine. If you pull the plug and inspect it depending on what you find There might be clear signs of failure. Something like your situation seems like it would be more of a possible injector issue.

If you want to pull the plug and post it. I would be happy to let you know if anything stands out to me.

#20

On my S3 8P I had same errors. It turned out to be faulty Injectors. It was totally random, sometimes under boost, sometimes not. They found 2 that where acting up. Changed the set and no problems.