SIXSERIESCSI

Went to The Shop, Offered me a Bosch, Anything else out there? MSD Maybe?

Siraniko

iTrader: (13)

standard is another good brand. I never expereince any problem with it.

Jeff20B

iTrader: (13)

I've seen some with the Mitsubishi three diamond logo. There are probably a few other off-brands as well.

The best type to get are the ones with brass leading contacts inside the cap. They don't develope the white crusty stuff like aluminum ones do. I don't know what brand it is, but I've got a new set sitting here that I removed from a bad engine. Looks like someone thought it was a bad cap and rotor, so they installed a new set only to discover the problem lies elsewhere. Their loss, my gain.

ray green

iTrader: (14)

I've noticed that the brass ones hold up better too, but can't figure out who makes them (except, I think, the ones you get at Mazda, which cost way too much). Anybody know who is currently manufacturing the caps with the brass contacts?

Blake

The only ones with brass contact that I have seen lately are OEM. I dont know why you say they "cost way too much"...$45 for a cap and rotor pair is hardly expensive. They pay for themselves in better fuel economy and smoother running, let alone longer life.

Jeff20B

iTrader: (13)

I'm glad that at least the leading contacts are brass since you don't use the trailing contacts with DLIDFIS or most other direct fire upgrades.

jfachner72

Who cares when you use the 2nd gen coil upgrade. I wish I could get rid of the cap and rotor all together and screw the trailing plugs.

Jeff20B

iTrader: (13)

You could. You can take the cap off and leave it off on a leading direct fire ignition system. The trailing plugs wouldn't fire, but who needs 'em?

ray green

iTrader: (14)

OK, I've got to ask. Don't the trailing plugs do something? I've noticed that without them my car runs pretty good, but a little rough and without as much spunk as when they are working. And what about gas mileage, won't that go down without the trailing plugs?

Or, to put it another way, is direct fire THAT much better than the stock set up? And if so, why do all rotaries, as far as I know, use trailing plugs?

And yeh, with even a good aftermarket rotor and cap selling for less than $20 at the local parts store, I think the Mazda price of $45 is too high. I could also tell you about the $191 I saved today on tune up and brake parts for my Mazda Protege 5 ($101 at autozone vs the $292 price tag at Mazda). I love my brothers at Mazda, but not that much.

Ray

Jeff20B

iTrader: (13)

Some rotor housings were available without trailing plug holes machined. They were just undrilled there. Meant for generators and other non-vehicle use.

Ray, my experiences with upgrading the leading to direct fire proved to me that it really is THAT much better than stock. Then I went as far as wiring in a switch to kill trailing while driving and couldn't feel a difference in every conceivable driving situation, from starting to low speed driving, part throttle cruise, and floored going up a steep hill. Trailing made no difference at all.

There was another guy who tried some dyno runs experimenting with trailing and he concluded that the power difference, if any, was well below the dyno's margin of error of +/- 2HP or something.

Trailing isn't worth upgrading, but if you can find a cap with the brass contacts on leading, use it and reroute the trailing plugs through the leading part of the cap when going with a leading direct fire ignition upgrade. Why not, right?

ray green

iTrader: (14)

OK, so now I need to learn what "DLIDFIS" means and how to do it. The good news is that RX-7 buddy Mike has done this, I'll buy him a beer and pick his brain.

Now a cap with brass on only the leading could be hard to find. How about an all brass one that you don't have to pay the Mazda price gouge for?

Thanks Jeff

Jeff20B

iTrader: (13)

The one I got off the dead engine had brass only on the two leading contacts and of course the carbon button is carbon and spring loading like normal. The three trailing contacts are aluminum. There's no wear on the carbon button or the middle of the rotor.

I don't know how much they cost since the one time I ever bought one was in '97 and it had aluminum contacts.