Ignition and silicone lubricant spray

For the battery terminals I use water + baking soda solution with a wire brush. Is the same technique OK for the ends of the spark plug wire? I would hate to damage the cable or the distributor.

Dealership told me that the original Bosch ignition cables for my '98 golf are no longer available. The ones they now stock still cost $100 though.

uhhhh what is wrong with a new distributor cap and BOSCH rotor? ;-) I use Di-Electric Silicone Grease but not the silicone spray. Isn't there a warning about spraying silicone close to some of the sensors?

You did not indicate which engine you had but from your information it should be the 2.0l engine. There are some wires sold on Ebay that should suit your purpose. Item # 180104600507 (Beru is a very good brand and so is STI) Not sure about OBX Item # 170100291118

Also check places out like

silicone spray used to coat high voltage wires is different than silicone lube. check this url for wd40 products like yours.

if the cap and wires show this much wear on the connections think about the wear on the wires insulation itself.

I didn't realize they were different things. The link you point to is exactly the one I have. It suggests use on the distributor and ignition, but I had never heard about this before which is why I ask.

Increasingly I'm thinking the ignition cables should be replaced. Although I don't see any sparks jumping in the dark, I seem to have the symptoms of insulation wearing out and the wires just getting old.

snipped-for-privacy@aol.com wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@news.epix.net:

Could you please clarify, are you saying this "silicone spray" you linked is ok for use on the wires, or should it not be used on wires?

I was pointing out the lube is different than the spray. There are discriptions of both the lube and the spray on that site along with their uses.

I see. This has confused me, because the distributor in Canada has relabeled the package to fit extra logos on the bottle. So on the web site, the correct one is that yellow can. When I bought the yellow can, its label says SILICONE with lubricant underneath (not spray).

The distributor told me this one I have is the same contents as the one called "silicone spray" on the web site, they just changed the text to make it fit. Kind of questionable. What is the convention here, if the can is the same colour do I have the same material?

Another question about these chemicals ... on the actual spark plug contacts and distributor contacts, and inside the boots, I have applied dielectric grease (like the one used for battery contacts). This seems great for preventing corrosion and keeping the boots from sticking. Presumably I should avoid having silicone spray and dielectric grease in the same place right? Is it correct that the dielectric grease goes internally (on the contact) while the silicone spray is used on the exterior of the boot?

According to your distributor , yes.

As long as the actual electrical connection is "made" the gease and spray just isolates that connection from air/moisture and prevents corrosion.

Dielectric is NON CONDUCTIVE ( stops the flow of electricity ). Around the connection is a better phrase than ( on the contact ). When you apply grease to the connecting points before the actual connection is made , you're hoping that ( and is usually the case ) that the mechanical force of the connection pushes the dielectric off of the actual electrical contacting points. Dielectric grease does NOT make the connection better electrically , it just protects it.

snipped-for-privacy@aol.com wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@news.epix.net:

Thanks for the clarification. I was wondering about that last night and trying to figure it out with a friend... I kept hearing that dielectric grease reduces resistance at a metal/metal contact, whereas I know the term dielectric means insulator. Out of curiosity I used my multimeter to test the resistance of a bit of goop, and it insulates (very high resistance).

So as you say, the dielectric grease is pushed off of the metal-to-metal contact point. It reduces the resistance at a contact point by preventing corrosion, since it displaces air and repels water.