Benfolio
04-26-2008, 01:34 AM
Read about it, used some info from the MSD coil write-up, and came up with this cheap and quite easy mod since my stock coil was on it's way out anyways.
The car: USDM 1997 Legacy 2.5GT Phase I 2.5L
The coil: eBay coil from a 2000 Neon. Any '95-2000 will work, but as it's been said the flat pin newer style coil is better because it will STAY plugged in better, has a lock, and with a newer coil you have a better chance of it having lower miles, or whatever. Got mine off eBay for $27 shipped, including the connector and plug wires, which you WILL NEED if you don't want to spend the money on new wires.
The connector you will need on any car, on a Phase I motor you will need the Neon's wires to convert your own or a set of Phase II ('98-'99) wires. If you have a Phase II, congrats, you can skip the next few steps
after taking off the wires.
First thing I did was label the wires by cylinder. Front passenger is cyl 1, rear passenger is cyl 3, front driver's is cyl 2, rear driver's is cyl 4.
Take off the plug wires, and for you Phase I owners that want to reuse your old wires, pull off the boots on the coil end. Easiest way to so this is spray some lube or oil in there, ESPECIALLY on the Neon boots, since they are angled and that connector is gonna be a PITA to get out of the boot.
Step two is take off the Neon's boots.
Once you get them off you'll see how the connector ends are crimped to the wires, and how the lead in the center of the plug wire is bent back along the wire to contact the connector.
Pry apart the crimps and take off the ends on both wire sets. Swap Neon ends onto Subaru wires, re-crimp TIGHTLY, and slide on the Neon's boots, again using lube if needed. I choose to silicone the ends of the boots on, since the Subaru wires are like this from the factory, plus I tore one because I didn't use lube. Whoops.
Okay, now you got your wire set!
Step two (or one for then Phase II motors) is replace the Subaru coil with the Neon coil. Unplug the connector from the engine harness and remove the 4 10mm bolts holding it to the intake.
Cut the connector on the stock coil about halfway down (or whatever you feel comfortable with, I left enough in case it didn't work and I had to re-wire my stock coil to get home).
Cut the Neon coil connector to a good length for splicing.
Now you're ready to splice! I used a quality butt connector with heat shrink tubing, I don't recommend just twisting them together.
The blue wire from the Subaru coil connector goes to the blue connector on the Neon coil. Red to green, and yellow to black. I crossed my fingers when I did it but it was right the first time, thanks to a hint in the MSD topic.
Subaru end
https://sl-i.net/FORUM/images/imported/2008/04/coil4-1.jpg
Neon end
https://sl-i.net/FORUM/images/imported/2008/04/coil3-1.jpg
Next is option for asthetic reasons, but there is always easier ways to attach the coil to your intake...
The Neon coil WILL NOT BOLT to your manifold, save for ONE bolt. And that bolt has to be LONGER than the stock bolts. The size is an M6X1.0X45MM metric bolt. You can hold the coil on by one bolt if you wish, I used one bolt and a couple zip ties for a few days, then fabbed a plate to mount the coil properly. I used a scrap peice of aluminum, and bolted the coil to the plate using the 45MM long bolts and nuts underneath the plate and drilled three holes to mount it to the manifold with three SHORT bolts (M6X1.0X10MM).
If positioned properly the coil will clear everything, and the nuts under the plate will clear everything, especially that little round nub on the manifold near the upper right corner, but just barely. You can always enlarge the holes to move the plate exactly where you need it.
https://sl-i.net/FORUM/images/imported/2008/04/coil1-1.jpg
Plug everything in and start her up!
If you placed the coil like shown in the the pic, cylinder 1 goes to 4 on the coil, 3 goes to 3, 2 goes to 1, and 4 goes to 2. Confusing, I know.
But it worked! Started right up (seemed to crank a little longer than normal), and OMG the idle has smoothed out so much!
Can't tell if there's more power, and haven't filled it with gas yet to do a mileage check (have a full tank), but the smoother idle is worth every penny and the hour it took to do it.
Plus my misfire is gone!
P.S.
If I skipped anything let me know, it's 12:30 at night now and I got to be up at 6 for work. I'll make any adustments anyone can point out.
The car: USDM 1997 Legacy 2.5GT Phase I 2.5L
The coil: eBay coil from a 2000 Neon. Any '95-2000 will work, but as it's been said the flat pin newer style coil is better because it will STAY plugged in better, has a lock, and with a newer coil you have a better chance of it having lower miles, or whatever. Got mine off eBay for $27 shipped, including the connector and plug wires, which you WILL NEED if you don't want to spend the money on new wires.
The connector you will need on any car, on a Phase I motor you will need the Neon's wires to convert your own or a set of Phase II ('98-'99) wires. If you have a Phase II, congrats, you can skip the next few steps
after taking off the wires.
First thing I did was label the wires by cylinder. Front passenger is cyl 1, rear passenger is cyl 3, front driver's is cyl 2, rear driver's is cyl 4.
Take off the plug wires, and for you Phase I owners that want to reuse your old wires, pull off the boots on the coil end. Easiest way to so this is spray some lube or oil in there, ESPECIALLY on the Neon boots, since they are angled and that connector is gonna be a PITA to get out of the boot.
Step two is take off the Neon's boots.
Once you get them off you'll see how the connector ends are crimped to the wires, and how the lead in the center of the plug wire is bent back along the wire to contact the connector.
Pry apart the crimps and take off the ends on both wire sets. Swap Neon ends onto Subaru wires, re-crimp TIGHTLY, and slide on the Neon's boots, again using lube if needed. I choose to silicone the ends of the boots on, since the Subaru wires are like this from the factory, plus I tore one because I didn't use lube. Whoops.
Okay, now you got your wire set!
Step two (or one for then Phase II motors) is replace the Subaru coil with the Neon coil. Unplug the connector from the engine harness and remove the 4 10mm bolts holding it to the intake.
Cut the connector on the stock coil about halfway down (or whatever you feel comfortable with, I left enough in case it didn't work and I had to re-wire my stock coil to get home).
Cut the Neon coil connector to a good length for splicing.
Now you're ready to splice! I used a quality butt connector with heat shrink tubing, I don't recommend just twisting them together.
The blue wire from the Subaru coil connector goes to the blue connector on the Neon coil. Red to green, and yellow to black. I crossed my fingers when I did it but it was right the first time, thanks to a hint in the MSD topic.
Subaru end
https://sl-i.net/FORUM/images/imported/2008/04/coil4-1.jpg
Neon end
https://sl-i.net/FORUM/images/imported/2008/04/coil3-1.jpg
Next is option for asthetic reasons, but there is always easier ways to attach the coil to your intake...
The Neon coil WILL NOT BOLT to your manifold, save for ONE bolt. And that bolt has to be LONGER than the stock bolts. The size is an M6X1.0X45MM metric bolt. You can hold the coil on by one bolt if you wish, I used one bolt and a couple zip ties for a few days, then fabbed a plate to mount the coil properly. I used a scrap peice of aluminum, and bolted the coil to the plate using the 45MM long bolts and nuts underneath the plate and drilled three holes to mount it to the manifold with three SHORT bolts (M6X1.0X10MM).
If positioned properly the coil will clear everything, and the nuts under the plate will clear everything, especially that little round nub on the manifold near the upper right corner, but just barely. You can always enlarge the holes to move the plate exactly where you need it.
https://sl-i.net/FORUM/images/imported/2008/04/coil1-1.jpg
Plug everything in and start her up!
If you placed the coil like shown in the the pic, cylinder 1 goes to 4 on the coil, 3 goes to 3, 2 goes to 1, and 4 goes to 2. Confusing, I know.
But it worked! Started right up (seemed to crank a little longer than normal), and OMG the idle has smoothed out so much!
Can't tell if there's more power, and haven't filled it with gas yet to do a mileage check (have a full tank), but the smoother idle is worth every penny and the hour it took to do it.
Plus my misfire is gone!
P.S.
If I skipped anything let me know, it's 12:30 at night now and I got to be up at 6 for work. I'll make any adustments anyone can point out.