Coil 220 Electronic

[Marknewbie500]

A previous post stated that the ignition coil marked 220 electronic was cheap and nasty. Was this an original fit item from TVR or is this an aftermarket product fiited as a replacement?

Cheers

[tahiti450]

How topical! I am going to give the P&J a treat by replacing the dubious COL 220 coil with the pukka Bosch PRC6574 (available at a very reasonable price from LR direct - about £40 including P&P having orfdered one about 5 minutes ago). The COL 220 is an original fitment from TVR when it seems that they have changed their supplier ( i think Unipart and Bosch were the regular fitments) and by all accounts this item is "not the apex" in terms of quality. Quite a few people have posted about oil leaks and finding that the thing sloshes around when shaken indicating loss of cooling oil. In my case I find that the engine doesnt pull as cleanly as it might when cool and seems to reqiure a bit more cranking before firing than I would like. The latter makes it particularly prone to flooding when its cold in the winter, and if it doesnt fire first time I have to grovel around in the footwell removing and replacing the fuel pump relay for 10 minutes before it will fire. This happened several times over the winter and was responsible for multiple expletive episodes. Its due a new set of B7ECS plugs as these have done about 6K now, so I am interested to see how much difference that and the Bosch coil will make.

[tvron]

Do you have contact for Land Rover Direct please

[snorky]

originals were made in turkey and cost TVR about £2 each...

[crazycraig]

Abit like tahiti450, I replaced mine back at the end of last year and got mine from www.mm-4x4.co.uk/ for £35.25.

[theaxe]

Hi Craig - that site is hard work, which LR model is the Bosch coil under?

[d50cyx]

www.lrdirect.com/

£42.71 including P&P - that seems to be the best price following a quick search on Google

[tahiti450]

d50cyx said:

www.lrdirect.com/ £42.71 including P&P - that seems to be the best price following a quick search on Google

Yup that's the fella !

[d50cyx]

I knew I was inept, but this is ridiculous....

Ordered the new coil, which arrived two days later - perfect! Beautiful day, so thought I'd simply swap it out - I mean, how hard can it be?!? Hunt round the tool shelf and find adjustable spanner. Can't get any purchase on the nuts, so it's off to Halfords for socket set. Except that the old coil has leaked so much oil everywhere that I can't get a proper connection, so no sparks and won't start. 20 minutes later, I've managed to get a spark, so off we go. Half an hour later, get there (road closures due to stabbings - nice area that I live in then), and spend £60 on nice shiny socket set. Get home, and of course the engine is now too hot to get anywhere near. Another half hour.... and...
I can get the top bolt moving, but it's siezed to the nut. For which I need a spanner....

At this point in time, I realise why I take it to the garage to do anything. I've spent 3 hours cursing and swearing and getting nowhere....

Ah well, at least it's a nice day

[d50cyx]

Ah ha! Have it sussed now - the trick is a pair of 11mm spanners and lots of patience. That and a magnetic screwdriver for retrieving the washers that you drop into the strange crevasses....

Sum effect - nothing, but I like to think of it as a preventative measure

[That Daddy]

That coil is even cheaper from EURO CAR PARTS,if its a good BOSCH part no, they can get it.Ive recently got one for mine & it was in stock.Changed the crap cheapo coil that can cause problems.

>> Edited by That Daddy on Sunday 23 April 12:07

[tvron]

I have just received alleged Bosch coil from Land Rover Direct AKA Roberts County Vehicles. Box Looks ok but parts made in Brasil by Robert Bosch Limitada and against the part No PRc6574 it says "manufacturers part Number used for reference purposed only"
I am suspicious that this is a pattern part

Does anyone know ?

[blujay10]

tvron said:

I have just received alleged Bosch coil from Land Rover Direct AKA Roberts County Vehicles. Box Looks ok but parts made in Brasil by Robert Bosch Limitada and against the part No PRc6574 it says "manufacturers part Number used for reference purposed only" I am suspicious that this is a pattern part Does anyone know ?

Hi Mine just arrived too so I wondered if you had fitted yours and if it was ok? The one I have certainly looks and feels heavy enough!
Anybody else fitted one of these?

[tvron]

No I have not fitted yet as I wanted to know of anyone who could confirm whether original or pattern part beforte wasting time fitting
Did you think yours ok ?

[blujay10]

I have just spoken to the guys i got mine from (BeamEnds ltd) and he says they are genuine Bosch parts now produced in Brazil. The bit about Manufacturers part no's used for reference only is a standard wording.
I'm going to try to fit it this weekend, but I think I'll keep the old one just in case. My Chim is nearly 10 years old and has a coil fitted in 2002 with part number PRC198. Seems to work ok but thought I would change it before it started causing problems.
I'll let you know how I get on.
James

[tahiti450]

tahiti450 said:

......... I am interested to see how much difference that and the Bosch coil will make.

Hi again,
further to my previous -( as above...) I carried out the following rather limited piece of experimental work whilst giving the ignition system a general service. This is based purely on the subjective impression of how easily the engine fired up from cold having replaced / cleaned various ignition components.

1. Replaced old "220 electronic" coil with new Bosch PRC 6574.
Result: possibly slight improvment in time to fire-up.

2. Fitted new set of NGK B7ECS plugs (previous set at about 6k miles),
result: no perceptible difference.

3. Removed and cleaned distributor cap, carefully removing deposits from all terminal posts and cleaning the rotor arm,(both tip and centre contact).
Result: Marked improvement in willingness to fire.


So interestingly of all the interventions in this rather unscientific experiment, cleaning the dizzy cap seemed to give the greatest improvment in start up (so presumably spark strength). To an extent this is not surprising as it is the jump through air from the rotor arm to the terminal posts on the cap that probably represents the greatest resistance in the circuit and if the posts are crusted with oxidised aluminium I would expect this to produce a substantial loss of spark energy at the plug.

I also took the opportunity to check the ignition timimg, first having confirmed that the timing marks on the crank pulley were accurate - dial-gauge with extension probe through number 1 plug hole and onto piston crown. There are many reports of inaccurate timing marks but mine proved to be spot on. Timing values were also spot on (vacuum disconected) at 12deg BTDC at 800 rpm and around 28 - 30 Deg BTDC from around 4000 rpm. Slightly disappointed by that as I was hoping to find it slightly less advanced and get some very cheap extra bhp by advancing to what is suggested as the optimal timing on the 4.6l engine, no such luck!
Overall the engine is running noticably smoother, especially at idle, starts more readily and pulls more cleanly throughout the rev range. I may treat her to a new set of leads but the general opinion is that the Lucas originals are very good and in my case seem to be functioning ok.

[blujay10]

Changed mine at the weekend and it seems to have made a difference.....Starts,runs and pulls much better at low speed.
Bit of a tricky job though! I lost count of the number of times I dropped a washer or a nut. Most important tool is a long magnetic screw driver! Also I changed the mounting bracket to the one on the car which made refitting a lot easier.
Overall, i agree with earlier posts, it seems to have made a difference and as a preventative measure I would say worth doing.
By the way the one I took off rattled and had a part number of DLB198, so I dont know where that came from?!?

[ATG]

Chim wouldn't start up a few months back. Problem was actually arcing through a crack in the distributor cap, but while rooting around I noticed the king lead plug on the coil was full of oil, so thought I'd replace the leaking coil before it eventually died. And what a pain that was. Fannied around with spanners for a while, got fed up and took a hacksaw to its bracket with suitable bits of oily rag stuffed under it to catch the debry. I feel a letter to Ester Rantzen coming on ... "Dear Ester, Why oh why oh why did they mount the coil like that? ..."