Well, I was working on the ignition last Nov. and installed plugs, wires, cap & rotor, module, pickup coil, and yes a Duralast ignition coil (#C846) $21.99. All worked well for awhile. Anyway, was out running the car the other night and took a look under the hood and found arching under the Duralast coil, and it increased with throttle advancement. The engine also had a very slight hesitation on accelerating from idle. also on futher inspection of the coil I found the plastic windings box was very loose in the steel laminated frame wiggling about 1/32". I figured the coil had to go.

I returned the Duralast coil to Autozone and the counter guy was very helpful and gave me a full cash refund despite the coil being purchased last Nov. Yahoo for them on that one. I then replaced the coil with a MSD Blaster from O'Reilly's at $36.00 (#8226), a really good price. The coil was of the newer style GM Dual Plug replacement Blasters. It mounted well, but I did have to use the included kit of supports to mount it in the original location on the 2.8L. Anyway, no arching now under the distributor and better accelerating from idle with the car in the garage. I have yet to get the car back on the road, but I suppose it should run well.

Not to beat up on Duralast or the cheaper coils, have you guys seen this loose coil mounting much on new coils. I know about the China quality thing I just figured they had been making these coils for years, are they really that easy to screw up in manufacturing?? BTW, when I returned the Duralast coil we looked at some others of the same part number and they were also loose.

Duralast = crap, usually reboxed Wells, usually made in China. And it doesn't help the Fiero ignition system is so failure prone. MSD works well.

Don't know much about Wells but if that is what they sell as Duralast they are no good. At least the coils are no good.

Granted I have only used one Duralast Ign coil before in my van (Ford Aerostar) and it is going on 30k on that coil. I have used various Duralast parts in my assorted vehicles for years and haven't had any problems that I can attribute to replacement part failure. I may be an exception and for the Fieros I have to take into account the harsher environment the engine runs under in choosing ignition parts (I run MSD).

With the exception noted, I find them to be fine for most everyday uses.

Obviously YMMV.

I have used the Duralast Gold brake pads over the years on a S-10 4x4 and they have worked great. Just take them in and swap out every 30,000-35,000 miles. Never had a warranty problem or trouble with rotor wear with them, seem to be ok.

I agree, maybe best to stick with the MSD brand ignition parts for the time being on the Fiero.

quote Originally posted by Kevin87FieroGT: I have used the Duralast Gold brake pads over the years on a S-10 4x4 and they have worked great. Just take them in and swap out every 30,000-35,000 miles. Never had a warranty problem or trouble with rotor wear with them, seem to be ok.

I use those too; even though they're not expensive its great to get free replacements (although there are some on the forum who think such warranty doesn't exist).

Isn't Duralast Autozone's "medium" quailty brand? I'm thinking the cheap one is something like "Valuelast" or something like that.

I think the Duralast is thier higher brand. Not sure where the bottom is. I do know the pads I use are the Duralast Gold's with the lifetime warranty. The coil was listed as Duralast with a two year warranty. Most other coils I have seen are only 1 year warranty at best. Hey, if they make them cheap enough they can easily offer a two year warranty. Replacement would be real cheap, the owner forgets after two years he's put in the Duralast coil, lastly Autozone uses the dreaded thermo paper receipts. Just kidding. They still have the purchase file on record, at least my experience.