Serious engine problem, related to NEW Dynatek ARC-2

[NightRider97]

Hey guys, this is really a follow up on my previous post about my ignition problems after installing my COP setup and a new Dynatek ARC-2 ignition module.

Well I replaced my spark plugs with some new ones similar to what I'd had in there, but the store only had V-Power BKR6E-11's instead of my normal NGK BPR6E's. I was assured that there is no difference with the plugs minus the V cut electrode (which is a total gimmick, I know) and that these take the smaller socket. So if anyone knows of any problems with these please let me know.

Anyway I put those new plugs in and it seemed to run great, except I could hear a minor miss after a long drive (say 20 minutes or more), I could hear a quick "cut" here and there from the exhaust tone.

Here comes the real kicker. So I drive it a few times without any issues, and it seems the ARC-2 added a ton of bottom end torque, but having any more issues with it it seemed I was good to go.

Well I let my mom drive the car yesterday and she called me up saying the CEL was on and that the car was kinda bucking as she was driving along. So I decided that I'd go and look at the car wherever she was. I get there and check the CEL with me logger and it read "Cylinder 2 Misfire Detected". Which is the same cylinder that threw a code the last time I had a cylinder misfire, but that was when I was running the COP setup straight from the igniter.

I don't understand why its always the same cylinder, but anyway that's not the point of the story.
So I decided I'd drive the car home, and so I started on my way out of town (lots of stop lights on the way out of town) and I noticed right away that the car had absolutely NO POWER. I mean I killed it pulling out onto a street and almost got hit, started it back up and had to rev the engine up to 2700rpm to even get it to take off. I had to do this at every stop light on my way out of town. UNTIL, I stopped at one stop light and when I barely started to push on the gas it backfired two pops out the exhaust. Completely scared the crap out of me, and my mom was like, THERE IT GOES AGAIN, THAT'S HOW IT WAS RUNNING FOR ME! I was like, WTF what do you mean that's how it was running for you!

At this point I was already on my way out of the parking lot and into the street and so I tried to take off down the street and it just started popping, and popping and popping. So I tried accelerating and it just popped and popped, I got it up to 2200rpm and then it just like hit a brick wall and it just refused to go any higher. It started blowing a rich cloud of black smoke out the exhaust and just popped louder and louder.

I pull over and shut the car off, fearing the worst, timing belt had skipped a cog or something. I check it out and the belt is tight. So I do the only other thing I could really easily do, I unplug the ARC-2 box and plug the COP setup straight back into the factory harness. Fire the car back up and it ran just fine! WTF?

Dynatek wants me to send my box back to have it tested. I just want to run this by you guys first to find out if it may be an issue with my car. But it doesn't look good for the ARC-2, since it cured the problem when I unplugged it.

 

[yokotabrat]

Sounds like you're on the right track. An A-B-A test is usually best where you swap the ARC-2 back in after the COP fixes it to verify the ARC-2 still causes the problem, but as long as you don't, and never have had, that problem with just the COP, it sounds like it's bad.

I'm not familiar with the ARC-2, but are there any settings that could potentially be set incorrectly? Have you made sure you don't have a boost leak just to be sure (unlikely since it runs with the COP, but you never know). Good luck. Hopefully you just got unlucky with that one ignition amp. What matters now is how they take care of you if it does have a problem.

 

[NightRider97]

Leave it up to me to get a bad one.

 

[kicker91laser]

What ever happened with this?

 

[ramsack]

i would like to hear more about what happened with this. i just got a used one and my car won't run worth anything with the dynatek. it misses at idle, if i rev the engine it just misses and backfires. new plug wires, plugs, and coil, too. i have it wired so the ecu triggers it and there is no more power transistor. it's set at re-strike and std. coil. if i put it on single spark it gets worse. my car runs awesome with stock ignition, there should be no reason stronger spark would make it run like ass to the point where i cannot move the car.

 

[motomattxxx]

I have a feeling that that box is not set up for the resistance of the c.o.p. coils.

 

[NightRider97]

Hey guys, sorry I don't get on here much, I really should frequent this forum more than I do. Anyway, here's an updated to this problem. I have the same problem again, except this time I had such a serious miss/knock/backfire before I could pull the car off the road that I'm pretty sure it blew my head gasket. I have an oil leak and water is disappearing from the radiator.
Anyway back to the ARC-2, I have about 5000mi on it since I got it back from Dynatek the last time and over the weekend it started doing the same thing again. Its like some circuitry inside the box starts messing with the timing, then the thing starts dropping spark all together, then it changes the timing so far that the motor backfires because of premature or delayed ignition.
To be honest I'm getting sick of having issues with this thing and I'm about ready to buy an MSD and give that a try. Right now I'm running on my COP setup connected to the coil driver, the car runs better like this than it has ran with the ARC-2 in several thousand miles.
I purchased a Dynatek wiring harness so I don't understand how it could possibly be wired incorrectly.
I've had nothing but problems with this thing since I've had it, first melting plugs then the box itself crapping out, then back to melting plugs again, now the box took another crap.
Please lets atleast start some sort of discussion on this so we can figure out my problems PLEASE.

 

[ramsack]

Dynatek wants me to send my box back to have it tested.

this is most likely the answer to your problems.

maybe it's also other things in your setup ignition setup that are causing this. my dynatek has kept my plugs cleaner than what they normally would be. i am using stock coils though. maybe you should get rid of the COP since the dynatek makes the stock ignition way better anyway. with your COP it's still waste spark. maybe your COP coils have some kind of circuitry inside that only like inductive ignition signals and the dynatek is a CDI?

 

[constant_proj21]

I'd agree with ditching the COP and using the stock wires and coil. I've never had a good experience with COP's (evo's are a different story). I don't get why people still use them, when there's so much info saying not too.

 

[NightRider97]

Why do evos run so well on them but our cars don't? I thought that the engines were the same up to the Evo 8. I much prefer the cleaner look of the motor with the COP setup. The spark plug wires were always a problem point. I'm using 300M coils but thats what all the top end COP setups use so I don't understand how they could have different circuitry in them.

 

[NightRider97]

Someone please explain to me why COP's are supposedly so bad when every new modern car comes straight from the factory with them. My COP setup was built professionally by a company that is now a supporting vendor judging by the fact that they have an ad at the top of the page. I purchased this COP setup before they were a big name but I highly doubt our superiors here that run the forum would allow a vendor to sell products to members that did not function.

 

[ramsack]

we told you to try stock coils not to knock COP but to try to isolate a problem. no one thinks COPs are bad when done properly (CDI). you're not going to get much help with this because most people stick with stock ignition and will totally ignore this thread. i wish i could help more but you should try troubleshooting. it sounds like you just have some crazy timing advance going on.

 

[kid_19440]

I have in the past seemed some people who are running agressive timing to have a bit of issues with the stock coils. I am running a mines ecu at the moment with very agressive timing and have been having the same issues you are talking about but with the stock coils. I am switching to the 300m cop with the dynatek box in about a week. I will post what happens.

Have you upgraded your injectors and pump?