Date: Sun, 12 Aug 2012 20:42:20 -0400
Reply-To: Edward Maglott <emaglott3@GMAIL.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Edward Maglott <emaglott3@GMAIL.COM>
Subject: Re: Burnt Ignition cable end stuck in dist. Cap
In-Reply-To: <50280f10.c750b40a.21d6.765c@mx.google.com>
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Thanks for the good information David. This is the later style
wires, I always hated those early style ones for the reasons you
stated. The break in my wire seemed to be where it makes the 90
degree turn. Way back in 2009 when I replaced the cap rotor and
wires, I got a little boost in my mpg, which has faded away
recently. I suspect I know why now.
Edward
At 04:16 PM 8/12/2012, David Beierl wrote:
>At 02:46 PM 8/12/2012, Edward Maglott wrote:
>>12,000 miles old. I got the end piece out, cleaned up the cap and
>>put my old coil wire back on and now it's back to running fine. I'll
>
>In a sense the mileage is irrelevant. Once you get an arc that
>starts burning the plastic of the cap it can only go downhill from
>there. In practice it may be fine forever or you may have the
>beginnings of an electrical puncture that will reach the outside at
>some inconvenient time. Once the insulation is breached by the
>electrical pressure, it remains permanently damaged - your finger
>will find it even though it may be invisible or nearly so, and it
>will leak if given a chance.
>
>Other than a defective terminal like yours, a wire that's partially
>plugged in is the easiest way for this to happen, and the coil tower
>is probably the most susceptible, because it's out of the way and
>with no visual comparison with other wires, it has a short path
>through the side to the grounded case, and it gets all the sparks
>instead of getting to rest for three out of four.
>
>A good general check on your ignition wiring is to wait for a damp
>foggy cool night and then watch the engine in the dark right after
>you start it from cold. Anything that lights up, shouldn't. A dry
>night may provide additional information, I'm not sure. Certainly
>anything that lights up in the dry *definitely* shouldn't. A
>reverse check is spraying WD40 on cap and wires to see if behavior improves.
>
>You can no doubt save the wire if it's otherwise in good shape by
>putting a new end on it if it's otherwise in good shape. The
>old-style terminals are easy to come by and FLAPS-type wire crimpers
>can crimp them. Modern silicone-covered ignition wires are
>electrically wonderful, but the internal conductor is basically a
>carbon-coated string with little mechanical strength. You have to
>strip it back and fold it over the side of the insulation as you
>slip the terminal on. The newer spring-type terminals are much
>superior and not so inclined to tear off when you remove the wire
>from the cap, but I don't know whether they're available locally or
>only from the Bosch Fairy; and I haven't examined how they connect to the wire.
>
>In all these high-voltage connections, dielectric grease is your
>friend. It seals out moisture and also keeps moisture from wetting
>insulating surfaces to provide an easy conducting path. Bosch says
>to put a thin layer on the ceramic spark plug insulator when
>installing, as well as on connecting towers.
>
>It has been argued here in years past that only Bosch wires were
>good enough for our beloved beasts, none other need apply. I think
>that's based in emotion rather than fact; all modern ignition
>systems require extremely high quality high-voltage wires and such
>wires are available from many sources. Nippon-Denso and NGK are OEM
>suppliers for Japanese automakers just as Bosch are for German ones,
>and it could be argued that they set the standard for Bosch to look
>up to and not the other way around. When I had my '84, before I
>switched to the later-style coil and cap with male terminals, I was
>particularly disimpressed with the $$$ Bosch "single-use" wires
>that would rip off the terminals when unplugged from a Bosch
>distributor cap. First time I'd ever had that problem, and those
>terminals have been around since the '30s, I think. Clearly they
>didn't think hard enough when shifting to their particular soft
>silicone insulation compound (but the newer terminal design is excellent).
>
>Yours,
>David
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