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On 10 May 2003 at 22:20, Per Lindgren wrote: > #1 Why does my VWs eat condensors for breakfast? They only seem to last > a few months each... I remember someone said here that they never have > to replace the condensor, but I have to do it all the time. I dont get it. Good question. In 35 years I've never had to replace a Bosch capacitor that has failed electrically. Are yours Bosch? Is there something unusual about your ignition system? What symptoms are you having that lead you to replace them? It is possible that they see a larger voltage if you are setting your plug gap to more than the usual 0.7-0.8mm. If you're doing that, it might explain the failures. Similarly, if you use your plugs too long and let the electrodes get all rounded then this raises the voltage stress on everything, too. > #2 How do I check a condensor to see if it's bad or not? The Haynes > manual says to open the points in the distributor with the ignition on, > and check for sparks. The thing is I have several condensors I want to > check to see if they are bad or not I think they would actually be hard to check without special equipment. I don't know what voltage they are rated at, but you would have to apply a high voltage and see if they leak or break down. If you wanted to send me some of your failures I have the equipment at work to check them, but I would have to guess at a voltage. I can check capacitance, D (dissipation factor), ESR (equivalent series resistance) and leakage at any voltage up to 500V. I could check some of the good used and new ones that I have here, too, at the same time. Russ's guess of 300V is probably reasonable, but I wouldn't mind running one of mine up as high as our tester goes to see where/if it fails.. I've also heard that old ones are better than modern production, but I first heard that way back in the 80s, so it's probably just urban legend. Making capacitors is really pretty standard stuff, so I don't think there is any secret to it. -- ******************************* Jim Adney, jadney@vwtype3.org Madison, Wisconsin, USA ******************************* ------------------------------------------------------------------- List info at http://www.vwtype3.org/list | mailto:gregm@vwtype3.org