Hey all,The motor in my bf xr8 has become slugish, struggles to move, makes a mad ticking noise (sounds like tappets) now and when it is dark outside, i lift the bonnet start the motor and i can see a spark going between the rocker cover and head. Would that be coil packs? The car is coming up to 115000 km, it must be true what they say, buy them new and get rid of them before 100000km. I don't know much about new cars, i'm use to driving old falcon/mustang V8's. Nothing like this thing.

sounds like a bad or cracked coil to me.
easy fix , car off
*carefully unplug coil , by pressing the tab on the side of the connector and pulling from the bottom of the connector (not the wire )
*if coil has a bolt ,unbolt it .i dont think xr8s do
*pull coil off the spark plug
*push in new coil onto spark plug , some people use dielectric grease
*if coil has a bolt ,bolt it back down carefully not to tight very easy to strip
*plug it back in . all done
it maybe a damaged wire but i dont think a damaged wire spark would jump to your rocker cover.

spark between the rocker cover and the head? 0_O

is it both covers or just 1 side? Are your covers loose or something? Is the car missfiring or just sluggish

Thats weird never heard of that before (wouldn't think that'd be possible), i'd have expected a spark to travel between the coil pack/stalk (bit going down onto the plug) and the rocker cover tube it slides down......

Start with pulling your coil packs out (under the 2 little covers on each cover) and see if any of them are cracked/worn/etc. I'd check the plugs while your in there too. Spark might be tracking to the rocker cover rather than through the spark plug on certain coils

[edit] ^^ Beat me too it Don't think the 8's have bolts, but be careful with the wiring plugs, they get a little brittle from the heat after a while, the little tab that you push down can easily break off with little effort, luckily they're pretty tight and you can just push it back on and the lid will hold it in place, atleast it did on one of mine

Thanks for the tips, its only on 1 side and it was miss firing than became really sluggish, i'm gonna have a play right now and see what i can find.

thanks again guys, went and had a look and the plastic around 1 coil has melted and was arcing on the head, took the coil of, runs better, it'll run even better tomorrow when i replace them all

Good to hear, gonna run like a dream when its got those new coils on it