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On 22 Nov 2005 at 9:56, fess wrote: > On Nov 22, 2005, at 6:59 AM, Jim Adney wrote: > > > If you live in any kind of damp climate, you should also buy the > > silicone boots > > which fit over the ends of the bakelite SP connectors. These seal > > moisture away > > from the SP insulator and make a significant difference when starting > > in damp > > weather. I believe these are still available from VW, and I have a few > > of them. > > They are reusable, even if your SP connector goes bad. They are rather > > expensive, but they are one of the most useful improvements VW ever > > introduced. > > There were 2 versions, the early one, which came out in '67, which > > doesn't > > work, and the late one which came out in '71 (I think) which is > > excellent. > 1. I'm confused as to what these are. I have a boot which goes over the plug > wire to SP connector transition. are you talking about a boot that covers the > SP connector all the way down to the plug? I'm talking about a separate part which fits over the SP end of the SP connector and is made from red silicone rubber. You probably don't already have these installed. > 2. I assume if the SP connector airseal flap isn't gone or torn, > then it's in good shape? Yes, as long as it still fits and seals nicely. These often get rock hard in use, but that's okay as long as you are careful to turn them so that they fit and seal properly. > 3. how do you tell if your wires are in good shape? > when would you ever need to replace the actual wire? I replace them if they are so hard that I'm afraid they're going to crack when I bend them, or if they are already cracked or worn thru somewhere. I've been know to replace only one damaged wire if the others are okay. On a car that's having some kind of undiagnosed trouble, I'll often take the whole wireset off and clean all the part, inspecting them as I go. I check the SP connectors for their 1 kOhm resistance, clean them if they are okay, and discard them if they are not. Once everything's inspected and cleaned, I'll swap in good parts to replace whatever I've discarded, clean the dist cap and coil nose, and then reinstall everything. If I take the SPs out, I'll always clean off their insulators, too, before I put them back in. Dirt on any of these parts can be a problem since dirt on an insulator will attract moisture in damp weather, and this can cause the spark to be drained off without ever getting to the SP gap. -- Jim Adney jadney@vwtype3.org Madison, WI 53711-3054 USA ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ List info at http://www.vwtype3.org/list | mailto:gregm@vwtype3.org ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~