spark plug wire issues

[Huw Powell]

> Got some good old Audi spark plug wires for the 84 4ksq today, pulled an
> old one off and the wire separated from the plug connector, good thing I
> have new ones. The problem is the connection at the distributor is
> different than the old ones, the old set up has a female connection on the
> wire part and the new wires have a male connection, I see a problem.

there are two styles of wire and cap out there, which I think are also
completely compatible.

the early wires have a formed tube like piece of metal at the end, which
basically acts as a "male" in that its outer face mates with the cap
contact surface.  These early caps simply have a roughly 5 mm hole with
metal at the bottom and all around the sides.

the later wires look much more "male" but act more as "females" in that
they have a more complicated looking terminal with a hole in the center
which grips a little stud like thing in the bottom of the contact hole
in the later style cap.

the later style caps are recognisable by the fact that two of the plug
towers are taller than the rest and they come with a built in black
sheild with a metal contact at the clip location to ground them.

they get mixed and matched a lot...

coils and coil wires went through a similar evolution, too.

-- 
Huw Powell

http://www.humanspeakers.com/audi/

http://www.humanthoughts.org/