Spark plug arcing - how much is normal?

Replacing spark plug wires is normal maintenance.

Avoid it! Yes fix the car the correct way and replace the needed parts.

Woodchuck (stv snipped-for-privacy@yahoo.com) wrote: : Avoid it! Yes fix the car the correct way and replace the needed parts.

: > Carl

.... or save your money to buy gas instead.

None of the above is 'normal', and good quality spark plug wires seldom fail.

Arcing is almost always caused by dirt on the surface of the wires and or distributor cap. remove them and clean them thoroughly with a good detergent and water. Once they are clean, dry them with paper towel and then warm them in an oven just enough to get rid of residual moisture - ie. no more than about 90 deg. C - and reinstall.

IF the distributor cap has had arcing aling the surface for an extended time, it may have burned in some carbon tracks (often mistakenly described as being 'cracked'), more often on the inside than outside but can be on either.

Once this is done, try your 'run it in the dark' test again. IF, and only if, you still have arcing with everything *clean do you need new parts.

[My 'escape' clause follows] It may be that the spark plug wires available now, or used by VW from the factory, are of vastly inferior quality as compared to a few decades ago when I was an active 'British and european auto' specialist mechanic. If that is the situation, ignore all of the above - but try to find some wires that are not junk.

Ben F.

Today I pulled each wire, swabbed it in 409 type cleaner, swabbed it in clean water, then swabbed it in Armorall. I also swabbed each boot's interior with an alcahol soaked Qtip. After reassembling it all I started up after dark and the light show is over. I juste saved $70 to put in my tank instead of spending on new plug wires.

---------------------------------------------- Posted with NewsLeecher v2.0 RC2 * Binary Usenet Leeching Made Easy *

To test your repair, spray a fine mist of water on the wires. If it continues to run the rejoice. If not be cautious the next time you're driving in rain.

My guess is within a few weeks you will pay that $70.00 and then it will be fixed right.

Joseph Meehan (sligojoe snipped-for-privacy@hotmail.com) wrote: : you are nuts wrote: : > Today I pulled each wire, swabbed it in 409 type cleaner, swabbed : > it in clean water, then swabbed it in Armorall. I also swabbed each : > boot's interior with an alcahol soaked Qtip. After reassembling it : > all I started up after dark and the light show is over. I juste : > saved $70 to put in my tank instead of spending on new plug wires.

: My guess is within a few weeks you will pay that $70.00 and then it will : be fixed right.

Some people just can not accept the voice of decades of experience when it conflicts with their unnecessary spending of money. :-)

Seriously though, if you want to play it really safe, spend the $70.00 for those new wires. If you keep the VW long enough or get tired of cleaning the wires from time to time, there will - someday in the future - be a time when the cleaning will no longer be the cure. .... so put the new wires in a corner of the trunk and use them *only when the cleaning fails to help ..... or mention them as a bonus to the next owner when you sell or trade the car.

(And spend all the other $70.00's that you save on the purchase of ever more expensive gasoline!) :-)

Ben F.

ps. If I had the time I would tell you some stories about driving in rain that had stopped a lot of other cars (with newer wires), or the time that I won a bet by turning a garden hose on my engine for three minutes and then starting it up without a sign of a miss, or the car (with four year old wires) that I drove in all kinds of weather with the engine hood removed, .... or several other similar experiences that give me the confidence of my recommendations. :-) I was too poor for new cars or money wasted on things that needed only a bit of attention - rather than replacement!