Date:         Mon, 12 Nov 2007 07:36:55 -0800
Reply-To:     Brian Jarvinen <brianvwagain@YAHOO.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Brian Jarvinen <brianvwagain@YAHOO.COM>
Subject:      1.9L spark plug wires; Bosch/Beru content
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1

well I am working through issues on a 1.9L.
When I checked the coil wire, the terminal was
solid blue on the coil end, and fairly loose.
The more I thought about it, I've never
been able to get a good connection there.

One explanation I discovered on Bus Depot's
site - some Bosch wires are now made in Mexico.
This explained a lot, I thought, considering this
coil wire was only a year old and at about 20K miles.
But as usual I thank the Bus Depot for keeping an eye
out on the parts supply chain. I never knew Bosch
was moving parts production like that. I just
assume Bosch = quality.

But when I tried to clean the wire with a brush, the
metal end broke as soon as I touched it. I've been
using these wires through several sets, and though
I really like the spark plug shields, I've never liked
the ends connecting to the cap (a no-post style cap)
You don't want to try disconnecting one when it is
hot, and it is always difficult and I've mangled a few
just trying to pull them off the cap.

So after this latest coil wire was a goner I looked
through my collection of old wires (I always keep
them)
and had two coil wires. Each was a Beru wire, with
different end styles. One would snap perfectly
into the cap, but not the coil. The other would
snap perfectly into the coil, but not the cap. So
I start looking at the coil from my parts van; it has
a 'no-post' style connection. I began to suspect
that the old wire had broken inside the coil terminal
and this was preventing a good connection. So I
finally took the coil off, something I had always
skipped due to the extra work. When I looked at
it, I discovered that it had a post connection in
the terminal! I've owned my van for 187K miles and
always used no-post distributor caps. One of
my vans was manufactured 11/83, the other 12/83
and I assumed they were identical in every way.
But somewhere in that month VW changed the coil
and cap system. Now these Bosch wires seem to
work with either post or no-post connections,
but I much prefer the way the Beru wire just snaps
in to place. I suspect it is the wire that came with
the van (first time I had the cap changed, right
after I got the van, I let a mechanic do it but kept
the wires; though I bought it from a VW shop and they
may have changed the cap style too).

So if you are having trouble getting a good coil
connection you might want to check to see which
type of coil you have. With a mirror you could
probably
look in there easily. I have the part & serial #s of
both
coils if anyone is interested.

So one question is - can I buy 'Beru' wires anywhere?
They seem real nice. I don't want to use the Bosch
style any more. It will be nice to finally be using
a matching cap and coil style.

Also, Bus Depot's site seems to indicate a change
in these wires again in 7/84. Just curious what that
entailed.

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