Accel Coil upgrade questions
zappa151
03-30-2003, 06:16 AM
I admit I am a novice so if I ask dumb questions please be easy on me. I have a 1993 SIlverado with the 5.7 engine. I am looking to upgrade my stock coil. I was going to get the Accel #140011 coil. I already bought the Accel Cap & Rotor(#8132) but I stayed with the AC Delco plugs. Should I return my plugs and get better ones(Accel)? Also does my truck need or use a "Ballast Resistor"? I was looking at www.mrgasket.com and came across some info stating that it is "recommended whenever a new coil is installed". Also should I upgrade my points, condensers and control module? I changed my wires about 2 years ago and they are of high quality. Thanks in advance for any help you can give.
Alan A
04-05-2003, 01:33 AM
If your truck has the factory installed ignition (distributor) it does not have points - Chevrolet hasn't used them since around 1974. The oem (original equipment manufacturer) ignition does not require a ballast resistor. A resistor decreases the voltage going from the battery to the ignition coil - Less voltage to the ignition = less voltage out of the ignition and to the sparkplugs. Condensers were used in point type ignition ststems. The "condenser" on your oem ignition is for reducing ignition noise that could affect other ignition components and your radio. If your engine is pretty close to stock internally-(compression ratio, stock heads, stock or close to stock cam) I do not believe that you will notice any performance gain what so ever by replacing your plugs with something other than AC. As far as replacing your coil with something else, the oem coil is capable of producing 40,000 - 50,000 volts. Your sparkplugs (depending on gap, # of miles, compression ratio and several other factors) should not require more than 15,000 to 20,000 volts. You still have 20,000 - 30,000 volts in reserve. High compression and/or high rpm engines, exotic fuel engines, etc need ignitions designed for use in those applications. If I were you I would spend my money on something that would make a differance that I might notice.
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