It has been a busy year with the van, work, kids (is that the right order of priorities?)... and I got into a mode of ordering maintenance parts for the van and then sitting on them for awhile until I had time to work on the old buzzard (van not wife). So when the AT began giving my wife some shifting problems and I posted a question, the logical solution was to drain the AT fluid and change the filter (it was a little dirty). That did not help the problem. So when she started to complain (wife not van) that the van was lacking power I decided to put in those spark plug wires that I had been sitting on since June. Well the AT problem is gone, the van runs well and I'm just hoping that the van remains trouble free for the winter. So in hindsight I should have done a full tuneup (set the valves, change wires, plugs, rotor, cap, air filter, oil filter, set the timing) after the head gasket work I did in the late spring. I did all of that except for the wires, duh!!!. I'll try to remember that next year, and to do it yearly. On the spark plug wire issue, I changed out a set that was two piece (wire connecting to a right angle wire and boot that snaps onto the distributor), with a one piece wire set (both Bosch). I found the one piece a little more difficult to get to snap onto the distributor, any preferences /experiences out there? Additionally I have wire protectors (plastic accordion type things) on all of the wires. Is plastic good enough? Especially considering that wires going to cylinders #1 & 2 cross? I would be interested in an explanation on why the replacement of the wires cleared up the AT problem (can't be coincidental, no?) and on any info on the related spark plug wire questions. Thanks! Dan Erlandson Flemington, NJ 1991 Vanagon GL 180k 1999 Passat 1.8L 120k |
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