1995 Jetta doesn't run in rain

In the dark (or dim light), look for arcing under the hood. Look around the coil(s) and the plug wires. If you don't have high humidity during your test, you can make your own with a fine mist.

2.0 engine? What Tom said................ first mist with water at the spark plugs SLOWLY working your way along the spark plug wires, distributor cap and then to the ign coil........and when you replace the ign coil (ign. transformer) ONLY buy one from the dealer, or the exact same brand. I have yet to see another brand last longer than 12 months and some don't even last 1 week! OR you can possibly reseal the ign coil with some 5 minute epoxy. ;-)

Yes it is the 2.0 engine.

I did some digging and I have spark coming from the ignition coil. Initially I didn't see any sparking, but after I missed it I saw some at the distributor cap but was unable to repeat it when I tried again so I'm not exactly sure where the spark was coming from.

I'm thinking I'll do a cap and rotor since they are cheap. Is there any type of water shedding sparay or grease that I can use for this as well?

Thanks again!!

Jeff

I didn't realy missed it ... I mist it. ;)

Yes replace ALL ign components, spark plugs & wires, cap and rotor but your problem is................ ..................that ign. coil/transformer. ONLY buy it from the dealer or get the EXACT same brand part.

Shhhh OR take off the ign coil and reseal it with 5 minute epoxy if you want the cheap $5 fix. ;-)

BTW I have bought new Bosch spark plug wires for the watercooled VW engines and have had problems with some sets so I opt for other brands, such as STI brand wires. NEVER had a problem with STI yet.

Mileage may vary! ;-)

Me too, the "Bosch" wires you buy at your FLAPS are not the ones that came on your car OEM. This was close to 10 years ago but I had done a "tuneup" on my old Scirocco and then took it in to a shop when it started running like crap two months later. You guessed it, I should have just left the old wires on there!

nate

If you want to try something like that, look for dielectric grease. I like the tube.

butyour local parts store will probably carry it. I had success with an arc tracking from the base of an insulator toward ground, by forcing the dialectic grease into the emptied insulator and pressing long and hard to drive grease into the inferred crack in the insulator. I then just put the spark plug wire thru the grease back into place.

This was on a car with a rather expensive 3-coil pack and no distributor. Replacing a distributor cover or even a single coil would be the better solution, and not all that expensive.

Note that when a spark has been burning a track for a while, that track can get more conductive somehow. So that argues for the replacement. But if you can clean and dry an area, if a bead of dielectric grease can increase the distance a spark would have to travel, it may be sufficient for you.

Some have also reported success with epoxy glue. It's up to you how much messing around you want to try. Since the failure doesn't generally leave you stranded, you might want to consider cheaper alternatives.

Incidentally, maybe you want to check your high voltage wires with an ohmmeter. If one is open (more than 100,000 ohms) it could contribute toward the tendency to arc by letting the voltages go higher than they would ordinarily. Replacing the wires anyway just due to age wouldn't be a bad idea.... but where do you stop?

I didn't see any arcing from the ignition coil area - only around the distrubtor cap.

NOBODY around here carries Bosch parts ...

The plug wires were replaced by her boyfriend last year with some el cheapo brand from pep boys.

I think I used some blue silicone wires from Techtonics on SWMBO's Corrado; all other cars have had OEM (never replaced.) no problems with any *except* for the one set of aftermarket Bosch. The OWM ones are pricey, though.

nate

I also have positive experience with

Maybe your part is

I hate when what should be a reasonable brand name sells junk. I have not had to change the wires on my TDI. What should I look for?

Wires? Let us know if you find any...

Well I think for your TDI one brand is about as good as the next! lol

Usually in the larger cities you can purchase the parts you need without paying dealer prices, but you do want to get good parts. Maybe you can order online all the parts that you need.

So what is wrong? Cap, rotor, wires, spark plugs, ign coil or what?

OK first I saw you post this......................

then you posted this.......................

I was testing to make sure that the distributor was receiving a spark from the ignition coil. I meant that I am getting spark from the coil to the distributor cap. I was getting arcing where the spark plug wire snaps onto the distributor cap.

Sorry for the confusion.

I replaced the cap and rotor and there intially was arcing at the post on the cap where the ignition coil wire connects but I reset it and it appears to have stopped.

Due to the non-bosch parts could there be a problem with another brand sparkplug wires snapping onto a different brands distributor cap? I suppose anything is possible.

I'm still going to replace it all with bosch stuff.

Any additional thoughts?

See others comments about Basch plug wires not being as good as the factory wires.

I had a set arc at the coil and make a mess of the coil. I replaced the wires and the coil due to the damage.

Are there any other sources for the OEM wires besides the dealer? Who manufactured the OEM wires?

Thanks again!

Jeff