beware of Beru Plug Connectors

[47silver]

i installed a new set of Beru connectors.
about 2 months ago i replaced the spark plugs.
when i reinstalled the plugs i had a miss.
when i investigated in found that one of the beru plug connectors came apart and the resistors in the connector were laying inside the cylinder head. I was able to retrieve them with a magnet and scope. i pulled the wires and replaced with the old porsche ceramic. and forgot about the Beru.
The otehr day i replaced one of the porsche with a Beru and when i pulled off the wire again the connector came apart. Luckily the resistors did not fall out.
the pictures show the connector, and boroscope screen shot of the plug with parts of the connector still on the spark plug
I was lucky as the resistors could have fallen into the plug hole if i did not notice.
garbage .

[lsf911]

Wow, disappointing.
Thanks for posting to let others know

[manbridge 74]

I’d rather install an old set found in the back of the shop than the newer stuff. Looks the same but not constructed like the original sets, at least for today’s aftermarket wires.

[wgirardot]

Originally Posted by lsf911

Wow, disappointing.
Thanks for posting to let others know

I had connector failure at the dizzy with my new Beru wires right off the get go. Very disappointing and expensive. I replaced with Clewitt

Bill

[OSC911]

Originally Posted by wgirardot

I had connector failure at the dizzy with my new Beru wires right off the get go. Very disappointing and expensive. I replaced with Clewitt

Bill

I has this exact same issue with a brand new set of Beru. Bought a set of Clewett leads and haven’t looked back. Awesome product.

[AG81]

Just replaced my set with new Beru...... zero issues....so far. Will be paying very close attention.
Thanks all.

[47silver]

the new ones worked fine but when you remove them they come apart, i pried straight up usig one hand and they still come apart
poor design or maybe they are built for one use and throw away.

there is a post on here about restoring the old ones and removing the resistors so that would be what i would recommend

has anyone any experience with the german made ones that are supposed to be correct?

[pmax]

Counterfeit perhaps ? Where did you buy them from ?

[Jonny042]

I recently bought a set of Beru and they were missing the guts from one connector, the knurled brass socket that receives the plug was loose in the box! And no other resistors or parts so who knows.

I sent them back for another set and they seem ok, after reading this post I tried removing and replacing them, thankfully no issues. They have a nice positive "click" onto the plug, but then that could be the problem. I plan to test them with the ohmeter before firing up the motor.

[47silver]

i bought them last year so will have to check where i bought them. they came in a beru box that looks authentic.

[manbridge 74]

I have recently installed one Beru set from SSF for a customer but no issues noted yet. The wires from Porsche are crazy expensive. Some time around 1986-87 they bumped up the juice to 30 kilovolts from like 20KV previous and this IMO makes life tougher on these wires.

[Jonny042]

I played around a bit more with these (easier to torture them to failure now than 6 months from now when I can't return them. So far, so good. However, a little trick that may help..... first, here is the bit that will/can/may pop out of the plug connector :



I tried popping this on and off a brand new NGK plug and found that it was not terribly easy to do. I tried a tiny bit of moly assembly paste on the tip of the plug and it seemed to help a bit, but what really helped the most was to give the plug connector a bit of a twist while pulling it off the plug. This reduced the effort considerably when I pulled the wires off the plugs and should prevent the wires from coming apart

One other thing I noticed was the tip of the plug seems to be very soft aluminum. I wonder if the spring clip wire isn't forming a groove in the soft aluminum and making it extra difficult to remove the wires and consequently causing them to come apart?

[NYNick]

This just worries me. I JUST got my Beru set delivered and paid $100 for them. WTH? Do I install or return them? Geez...

[Mahler9th]

I have been hearing more and more stories of supply chain polution/counterfeiting. One that comes to mind is a story I heard from a shop owner about Behr expansion tanks in a BMW application.

I don't usually care where something is made. I care how something is made.

It seem advancements in technology and logistics may create a growing challenge with fakes.

Not saying that this is the case here, but I wonder about it.

I have been involved in many cost-reduction efforts, including sourcing from emerging areas.

I feel that counterfeiting is different.

[manbridge 74]

Originally Posted by NYNick

This just worries me. I JUST got my Beru set delivered and paid $100 for them. WTH? Do I install or return them? Geez...

I would fully check them out by plugging a spark plug in an out a few times. Make sure ends are on well, maybe ohm them for kicks. Be gentle on install and use a dot of dialectic grease on end of plugs. Probably not that big of a deal as maybe Beru tightened up on their methods and previous issues were part of a certain batch.

[Jonny042]

Originally Posted by Jonny042

I played around a bit more with these (easier to torture them to failure now than 6 months from now when I can't return them. So far, so good. However, a little trick that may help..... first, here is the bit that will/can/may pop out of the plug connector :



I tried popping this on and off a brand new NGK plug and found that it was not terribly easy to do. I tried a tiny bit of moly assembly paste on the tip of the plug and it seemed to help a bit, but what really helped the most was to give the plug connector a bit of a twist while pulling it off the plug. This reduced the effort considerably when I pulled the wires off the plugs and should prevent the wires from coming apart

One other thing I noticed was the tip of the plug seems to be very soft aluminum. I wonder if the spring clip wire isn't forming a groove in the soft aluminum and making it extra difficult to remove the wires and consequently causing them to come apart?

Just an update on this - Beru plug wires are absolute f$%#*&^@ing grabage. Don't bother.

Started to pull may plugs to inspect them after fireup and 2 out of three on the left side fell apart, even after twisting them to remove them. Tomorrow I'll be fishing around in the general vicinity of the #2 plug with an inspection camera looking for the remains so they can't fall in the plug hole and wreck my new motor.

So unhappy about this....

[icarp]

I had the same outcome on a 67 911 I was working on . It took me 4 hours to get the 3 faulty plug wire debris out of the plug area . Sticky substance in a wire and a mirror , got them after total frustration
Ian

[HaroldMHedge]

I've had problems with the Beru connectors for my 87 as well. One tore apart while trying to remove it from the distributor cap. Originally posted in Carrera Spark Plug Wires?, Posts 94 and 95.

Originally Posted by HaroldMHedge

Bringing this back to life since it concerns the Carrera Spark Plug Wires.

While working on my 87 Carrera today one of the distributor plug wire connectors came loose. It does not look like the connection shown in Post 83 above.

This is a replacement Beru plug wire set. The spark plug end of the wires have the threaded connector shown above.



Has anyone else seen this connection and what do you think is the best way to reconnect it?

Originally Posted by HaroldMHedge

Looked more closely in the boot and found more of the fitting.



The connection seems to be screw on at the cable and press fit to make the 90 degrees to the distributor cap.

[Jonny042]

Originally Posted by icarp

I had the same outcome on a 67 911 I was working on . It took me 4 hours to get the 3 faulty plug wire debris out of the plug area . Sticky substance in a wire and a mirror , got them after total frustration
Ian

Yeah, I know what I'll be spending my afternoon doing........ not to mention trying to find an alternative.

I'm wondering if the Beru replacements for the plug ends (part #90160930900) are any better than what comes in the kit. They are available separately.

[47silver]

If you have a good shop vac, get a small diameter hose that fits in the sparkplug recess and attach it to lthe shop vac i put a coffee filter on the large end taped the smaller hose to it and was able to vacuum out the parts and catch them with the coffee filter