Discussion about Wildcat XX coils
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30 Posts
I'm fighting continuous bad coils as well. I've been thinking about getting rid of the machine for awhile, and this might just be the final straw. I'm not going to deal with constantly worrying about coils. They should last MUCH longer.
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141 Posts
Until we find a better answer, you may want to install additional grounds from the Engine block to the frame (or directly to the battery) and look at the wiring diagram and improve the grounding on the ECU. I have not done this yet, at least for the ECU. My engine is solid mounted, so it should be grounded well, but I will add another ground anyway. My negative goes from the battery, through a cutoff switch, then to the frame. If the switch has even a slightly dirty contact, it might be causing my problem. I do have a couple of rides with the Yamaha R1 ebay knockoff coils and they are working fine. If they go a few more I will pop for the official Yamaha coils for an R1.
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9 Posts
I just had my first coil go bad, 1300 race miles with a stage 2 Speedwerx tune. I have been going back and fourth on what coils to get. Go with oem or spend the extra on the energycoils. Haven't heard a whole lot on the energycoils. Any recommendations?
Thanks.
Thanks.
Joined
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141 Posts
Typically, spending more money on coils (for any type of vehicle) results in no real-world benefit. A spark is a spark, it is hard to quantify "more spark", or whatever jargon they use to say theirs works better than stock. Once the flame front is ignited, how hot the spark is generated is irrelevant. I am trying to get to the root cause as to why these coils are failing only in the XX. Yamaha snow machine owners are not complaining, even with the same engine architecture, neither are water craft or YXZ owners. So, what are the differences? The ECU is the same, but programming is a bit different. Wiring harnesses (power feeds, ground points, etc.) would be different, and in the XX, it has a bit hotter cams.
The ECU detects a misfire, then shuts down the motor, putting it in limp mode. My money is that the XX programming in the ECU is much more sensitive to the misfires. Meaning, the XX will "shut her down" much sooner than other platforms. Or, something in the wiring makes the XX more prone to misfires in the first place. I plan on installing my coils set that was failing every ride the last few rides prior to changing them into my fathers 2018 and see what the result is. He is running an early Speedwerx tune and I am on an Alba. Mine is a race car, his is a normal recreational car. If my coils work fine in his, then it was NOT the coils, but something elsewhere in the system.
I replaced my factory XX coils with cheap knock-off coils built for a Yamaha R1 sport bike. The only difference is the R1 coils do not have a way to bolt them in to the valve cover. I tried to run with them just held in by friction like they are in the sport bikes, but one vibrated off pretty quickly. I built a simple bracket with some aluminum flat bar that goes across the top of them to hold them down. But with a couple of rides before the snow flew and it ran great. Only time will tell. If I go 500 miles or so without an issue, I will order OEM Yamaha coils for an R1 as I am convinced that the knock-off coils I bought just to test the theory are not the best quality.
If anyone knows someone that I can contact directly that knows how the XX computer works, pass on their contact info. I really want to understand how the misfire detection is managed in the XX vs. the YXZ or other Yamaha machines. I will dig into the wiring harness at some point in the future as well.
I know this is not an easy answer to your question, but it is the only information I have.
The ECU detects a misfire, then shuts down the motor, putting it in limp mode. My money is that the XX programming in the ECU is much more sensitive to the misfires. Meaning, the XX will "shut her down" much sooner than other platforms. Or, something in the wiring makes the XX more prone to misfires in the first place. I plan on installing my coils set that was failing every ride the last few rides prior to changing them into my fathers 2018 and see what the result is. He is running an early Speedwerx tune and I am on an Alba. Mine is a race car, his is a normal recreational car. If my coils work fine in his, then it was NOT the coils, but something elsewhere in the system.
I replaced my factory XX coils with cheap knock-off coils built for a Yamaha R1 sport bike. The only difference is the R1 coils do not have a way to bolt them in to the valve cover. I tried to run with them just held in by friction like they are in the sport bikes, but one vibrated off pretty quickly. I built a simple bracket with some aluminum flat bar that goes across the top of them to hold them down. But with a couple of rides before the snow flew and it ran great. Only time will tell. If I go 500 miles or so without an issue, I will order OEM Yamaha coils for an R1 as I am convinced that the knock-off coils I bought just to test the theory are not the best quality.
If anyone knows someone that I can contact directly that knows how the XX computer works, pass on their contact info. I really want to understand how the misfire detection is managed in the XX vs. the YXZ or other Yamaha machines. I will dig into the wiring harness at some point in the future as well.
I know this is not an easy answer to your question, but it is the only information I have.
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9 Posts
That is very interesting. I would assume it's just cheap coils being made.
I would love to know what you find out after all of your testing.
I have been trying to reach somebody at Articcat for months now, no luck.
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