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Ignition wires
Ok, I am now having the week from hell... Is there a reason that my fairly new BERU braded ignition wires would be shocking me when I touch them??
How often must these be replaced?? They also give off a mild light show when viewed in the dark at idle... Thanks, Alex in NJ 79 911 SC |
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11-01-2003, 03:55 PM
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Join Date: Nov 2000
Location: Upper Back Bay Newport Beach California
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You should replace them every Three years or so. on the 84 and later you run the risk of frying the Computer when the errant spark grounds thur theFI injector wire. When that happens its New computer time. Steve
www.ottosvenice.com |
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11-01-2003, 07:10 PM
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Even new Beru cables will tend to short out quite easily due to a very poor design, no resistance in the wire and lots of resistance at the plug ends which tends to make it very favorable for the spark to short out at the wire wherever a path of least resistance presents itself, like your hand.
You might try some other options as presented here: which spark plug wires?? Cheers, Joe Garcia Rewood PCA since 1976 (former tech chair) 86 Carrera |
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11-01-2003, 07:20 PM
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I don't like or use Beru wires..........Ron
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Ronin LB '77 911s 2.7 PMO E 8.5 SSI Monty MSD JPI w x6 |
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11-01-2003, 08:04 PM
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The current leaks to ground because the cable insulation isn't good enough; either that or the source voltage is pretty darn high. Quality cable should handle the voltage produced by any high energy ignition system.
The fact that a spark plug cable uses a low resistance conductor (e.g. real wire) in and of itself has no bearing on causing a potential leakage path. The only way radio suppression cables could reduce potential arcing is through their use of a high resistance conductor (non-metallic core) to reduce the voltage applied to the spark plug gap. But that's a little counterproductive in a performance engine. Joe, I meant to add some clarification to that other thread too. Sherwood http://members.rennlist.org/911pcars |
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11-01-2003, 08:07 PM
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Alex, I just bought brand new Beru wires and they shocked me and my wrench the first month I had 'em. Best way is to rebuild the stock shielded ones and reuse them. Usually, the connectors go bad and can be replaced. I just went back to my stock ones with new connectors. Funny, since I cant return the Beru's (I dont think), I used the connectors off of them to replace the ones on my old wires. Now I have a whole set of connectors and seals for my old wires
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Matt '82 911SC Targa! |
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11-01-2003, 09:08 PM
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Quote:
If a reduction of voltage applied to the spark were true, your high resistance Beru plug connectors would end up reducing the voltage to the plug which they clearly do not do. The key here is noise suppression, not voltage reduction. Cheers, Joe |
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11-02-2003, 05:40 AM
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Funny I just read an old thread on braided wires. What I walked away with is that they are junk. They were intended to eliminate the problem with air boxes exploding, but that obviously didn't fix it. Magnecor is the answer. I bought new braided for my car two years ago and they will be replaced for next season. I've had intemitent problems at startup with the engine running rough. Turns out it was the new wires.
Tom
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Ice Green '77 Targa 3.6 w/ Steve Wong chip One Way To Get More Horsepower Is To Get A Bigger Horse! "I couldn't find the sports car of my dreams, so I built it myself" Ferdinand Porsche |
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11-02-2003, 05:49 AM
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The need to put a warning on all Beru ignition cables like "use at your own risk" or " risk of high voltage shock likely" or "dangerous at any distance."
Joe |
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11-02-2003, 06:03 AM
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I have magnecors on my SC and I like em, but I picked up a used set of OEM wires last week and I plan to use the beru connectors and good ole 'merican wires to try and make my own set a la budget style.
I'm curious how much it will cost to make a good set of wires to replace the big buck oem wires. |
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11-02-2003, 06:33 AM
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The connectors are the worst part of the Beru loom.
Stephan
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11-02-2003, 06:38 AM
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Sammy, those Beru connectors may not be a good idea because they may have too much resistance and are designed for non resistor copper wire. The good ole 'merican wires use non resistance connectors, meaning, your car may not run with the Beru connectors on carbon core suppression wire.
Joe |
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11-02-2003, 06:43 AM
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I've read something like that before but hadn't measured to verify yet. Basically the only thing I want fron the stock wires is the connector housings, I can replace all the connector guts with more contemporary components. I just need something that fits down on ther holes and seals the air, and that fits the dizzy cap.
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11-02-2003, 06:55 AM
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<Insert witty comment> 85 Targa Wong Chip Fabspeed M&K Bilsteins and a bunch of other stuff. |
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11-02-2003, 08:41 AM
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I checked all the OEM style wires for resistance, all were right around 4700 ohms except for one, the beru connector goes from 12,000 ohms to open depending on how I play with it.
These wires are OEM style with metal sheaths but are made by Karlyn industries. The beru connectors are part # BELO 6/3-2 They are different than what I've played with before, these have a male thread on the wire and a female thread on the connector. The connector has some sort of epoxy on the top. Anyone ever have one of these apart? |
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11-02-2003, 12:12 PM
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Quote:
A bunch of small parts that press against each other.. it seems the little parts connection develope resistance......Ron
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Ronin LB '77 911s 2.7 PMO E 8.5 SSI Monty MSD JPI w x6 |
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11-02-2003, 12:17 PM
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Quote:
Joe |
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11-02-2003, 01:47 PM
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Ok...So which ones are the best and lease costly?
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11-02-2003, 01:58 PM
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The OEM style wires I'm playing with have little or no resistance I think, I'm getting about 1000 ohms through them after i remove the spark plug end connector but It looks like that resistance is coming from the distributor end connector.
If I can get these beru connectors apart without destroying them I can modify them so that they don't have much resistance and I can splice them onto standard resistance wires. Only problem with that style of wire is that it has more resistance the longer it gets so the long ones will have more resistance than the short ones. Prolly why Porsche designed the oem wires the way they did. Not sure if that makes any difference but the Porsche engineers and way smarter than I will ever be. My magnecors are looking better all the time
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11-02-2003, 02:22 PM
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What I don't understand is why any wrench would want Beru wires when Magnacore 8.5 are available.. huh............Ron
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Ronin LB '77 911s 2.7 PMO E 8.5 SSI Monty MSD JPI w x6 |
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11-02-2003, 02:26 PM
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1979 Porsche 911 SC 3.0 
