moparado

I hate that coil pack on the 2000s and 2001s.
Makes a simple spark plug replacement more frustrating than it needs to be.

Been reading articles on how to replace the coil pack using a Dodge Viper coil by modifying the coil pack control cable.

Wondering if anyone here has done that and whether its worthwhile or not.

andrewmp6

Honestly its not really worth the swap to me.And a replacement coil rail has came down on price lately.They run 50 to 70 bucks on rockauto which is dirt cheap to me.

moparado

Thanks for the reply.
Yeah, starting to think it might not be worth the effort and expense.

I was also interested with any performance difference between the coil pack and the Viper coil. From what i read, the specs. are just about the same for both. Looks like no one here has done the conversion though.

Its not so much the replacement cost of a bad coil pack, but the hassle of changing plugs. I'm still running the original coil pack with some 326,000 miles on it.The control cable connector is a PITA bear to get to. And one time one of the pack boots missed the plug causing me to remove the pack and do it all over again.
IMO, that 2000/2001 coil pack is one of the worst ideas Jeep came up with.

Changing plugs on my old '94 xj was a quick breeze. My 2000 xj, not so much. I just changed plugs on my 2014 Jeep Patriot which uses individual coil packs/cylinder. Took me about 15 minutes.

Maybe instead, i'll just lengthen the coil pack connector control wires to easier maneuver it way out of the way without disconnecting the connector.

Ralph77

I researched it a little when I first read about it awhile back. Did not see the sense in replacing a working coil pack to do that. On my '00 I never disconnect the connector. I am able to get it out of my way more then enough to get at the spark plugs without any problems.

moparado

Ralph, yeah i do exactly that now a days but the air conditioning stuff always interferes for an easy 'n quick plug install. Also concerned about wear and tear on the control wires with all pack maneuvering. Tried disconnecting the connector once and i don't want to do that again if i don't have to.

Dumajones

Yep..its not really worth it from all the reading Ive done. One thing if you like the ability to check spark individually I could see doing it
I liked doing the plugs on my 95 over the 2000, just because of ease. But once I got rid of the AC,boom super easy on the 2000.

I think I read somewhere,,now I might be wrong. The coils have too short a charge time about 1.5mS compared to about 3.0 mS for the rail coil,,if someone knows chime in.. Ill go look around but im kinda lazy right now..lol I might later
Never mind..it was if you use the ford coils as the mod not the Dodge viper coils..The Ford have the sorter charge.

Redsnake

I've done that swap on my '01 XJ. While there's really no performance gains that I could 'feel'... it makes the engine bay look SO much cleaner and spark plug access is SO much better. I did it a couple years back and have had zero problems (knock on wood) and would do it again if I bought another '00 - '01 XJ. To me it was well worth it. Your mileage may vary...

There's a thread on NAXJA showing the details but I couldn't seem to find it... I'm sure it's there and a good read if you're interested in doing this.

moparado

Hey thanks Redsnake. I knew someone here had to do the conversion!

I think if ever i have any extra time on my hands, i'm gonna go for it.

If you're still here, how did you re-wire or adapt the stock control cabling to the Viper coil? That seem to be the only sticking point.

Redsnake

Found my other post... Check out this thread w/pics and a lot of information. Hopefully this will give you an idea and how-to if you decide to do this to your XJ.

http://www.naxja.org/forum/showthrea...il+pack&page=4

moparado

Thanks Redsnake for that link.
I like seeing plug wires instead of that goofy coil pack! Call me old school.

My next question was gonna be where did you mount the coil but the link answered that too. Nice install. Great pics.

Think i'm gonna go for it next Spring.

moparado

FWIW
For anyone else interested in this conversion, here's another thread link titled 'Good bye coil rail'. Is the one that got me started on the conversion.

https://www.jeepstrokers.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=2756

Redsnake

We had the same motivation... Ha. Only I saw his original thread on NAXJA...