Question on Nology Hotwires Ground

[Jtt84911]

Hi Fellow Pelicans,
Read a number of the many spark plugs//wires threads and it appears the consensus on the Hotwires (particularly the extra spark & power claims) is very negative versus positive.

I bought and installed them several years ago (84 3.2 motor) so question isn't should I or shouldn't I.....my question is related to the braided ground wires.

Correct my if I am wrong but I assume attaching the ground wires to the top rocker arm cover bolts does not provide a true ground. If so.....QUESTIONS are:

1-What's the Net effect of using these wires without the proper ground?
2-Are they less effective than the stock Beru wires if not grounded?

Car runs very well. Plugs (Bosch WR 7DC) always look great when I change them. Have my barely used (ie 20-25k miles) Beru's which I'm thinking about putting back on.

Thanks for the input guys!!!!
JT

[Bob Kontak]

Originally Posted by Jtt84911

1-What's the Net effect of using these wires without the proper ground?

Porsche installed the braided wires to combat the airbox blowing up on the CIS cars - massive backfires - pop goes the weasel.

They thought the secondary wires were talking to each other when juice was on the way to the plugs. They were wrong. Not that it does not help in some instances, but it is not the answer. Proper tune, vacuum leak eradication, etc is the answer.

Nology special zapping power. Pfffft. I have a set in my "extra box" Bought them new. Do they suck? No - not at all. Are they a detriment. No. Are they the answer to unleashing hidden HP? No.

I would advise against the Beru's for improvement.

Just my 2 cents.

[Jtt84911]

Let me throw something out on the table. If I grouped the braided grounds and connect the group to one of the legitimate ground points on the car.....would it make a difference??

Would I see/feel a difference versus the cover bolts???

Thanks JT

[HawgRyder]

Ground is ground.
However....for true suppression, most electronics equipment only grounds the shields at one end.
Grounding at both ends can create ground loops (bad for signals).
In this case...the shield ground will touch the metal parts of the engine at various places...so one end grounding is kind of moot.
The shield is there to reduce signal spikes from the individual plug wires from getting into the trigger wires to the CDI.
Length of wire...shields...and various other things can help.
The best advise....keep the grounds short...ground the shields as close to the source of the spikes as possible (coil and distributer)...also...of all the systems I have seen...I don't remember one with a shielded wire from the coil to the dist...but I may be wrong.
Bob

[Bob Kontak]

Originally Posted by Jtt84911

Let me throw something out on the table. If I grouped the braided grounds and connect the group to one of the legitimate ground points on the car.....would it make a difference??

Would I see/feel a difference versus the cover bolts???

Thanks JT

OK - I stand corrected. I just looked at my Nology wires. They do have a ground strap. Sorry.

Ground strap is meaningless. The end.

Get outside now, it's 10:35 PM. Start your car, let it idle. Turn all the lights off, wait 5 mins for your eyes to adjust and look in the engine compartment for a light show.

Arcing can be an issue and will be picked up by light adjusted eye.

[Bob Kontak]

Originally Posted by HawgRyder

I don't remember one with a shielded wire from the coil to the dist...but I may be wrong.
Bob

Agree.

[wwest]

Porsche fixed the problem by adding a manifold inside the airbox that routes the idle injected fuel down each of the six intake ports rather than having it pool in the bottom center of the airbox.

The ground braid acts as the second plate of a capacitor thereby lowering the risetime of the HV pulse, not horribly bad, not good, plus useless since crossfire was never the problem.

[Bob Kontak]

Originally Posted by wwest

The ground braid acts as the second plate of a capacitor thereby lowering the risetime of the HV pulse, not horribly bad, not good, plus useless since crossfire was never the problem.

+1 What Willy says.

[Jtt84911]

Bob(s) and Willy- Thanks for the replies!

Bob K- Have to circle back to you because the root of my question was whether the questionable ground (cover bolts) was reducing or hampering the performance of the wires......and you are in essence saying forget the ground cables.

Need to ask....Why would they be such a prominent part of the design/construction if they didn't serve a clear purpose??

JT

[wwest]

Originally Posted by Jtt84911

Bob(s) and Willy- Thanks for the replies!

Bob K- Have to circle back to you because the root of my question was whether the questionable ground (cover bolts) was reducing or hampering the performance of the wires......and you are in essence saying forget the ground cables.

Need to ask....Why would they be such a prominent part of the design/construction if they didn't serve a clear purpose??

JT

At the time the thought was that crossfire was the cause of backfiring that blew up the airbox.

[Jtt84911]

Ground cable and location in question (forgot to upload earlier)

[Bob Kontak]

Originally Posted by Jtt84911

Ground cable and location in question (forgot to upload earlier)

Perfectly fine.

Did you try the night time sparking test?