Magnecor UK plug wires > Junk!

[Juha Vane]

I bought a set of Magnecor KV85 8,5mm spark plug wires for my 356, tought they are good. After some time started to have misfiring and running problems,
checked about everything and finally when "everything" else was done, changed spark plug wires. Misfiring gone.
The cables was new, less than 3000km on them and I sent them back to Magnecor so they could check them.
Magnecor told me that the cables has been "subject to moisture" and the spring that hold the cable to plug was corroded and broken.
The cables was some months in my heated garage without any excessive moisture, but I drive my 356 also in the rain.
Magnecor wanted me to pay for the repair & shipping, but after some bitching they agreed to change the 2 springs and send cables back, "excellent" warranty.
When I got the cables back I stuck a spark plug with thin insulator in the boot and the springs are loose in the cable terminals.

Be very careful with Magnecor spark plug wires, they are junk.

This photo I got from Magnecor.

2019-09-11 Broken band - rust.jpg (159.86 KiB) Viewed 611 times

[David Jones]

Juha, I tested the magnecor wires 20 years ago on a race car engine for a Formula Vee and on the dynamometer they showed a net gain of zero but they did not misfire but they were new out of the box. Lucky for me it was a customer engine and he paid for them. There is not much on the aftermarket that you can just bolt on in a few minutes that can make any real discernible difference in my view. Modern plugs and a CDI or a way to eliminate the points condenser being one exception on the ignition system.

[Martin Benade]

I wouldn’t ever expect a power gain from plug wires, but they should at least reliably fire the plugs for a couple of years.

[Juha Vane]

I was not looking or expecting some power gain, my existing wires was old and a mix of cables.
The red cables added a little color to the engine bay and I just wanted a set of good ignition cables.
But what I got was badly made cables that created massive misfiring and problems.
Frankly I can't understand why the spring is so poor material that it corrode in less than a year?

[Fred Winterburn]

I find it hard to fathom how a slightly loose plug fitting would cause the CDI to misfire. The spring clips may have been faulty, but I suspect the problem with those wires lies elsewhere. Most likely a broken conductor somewhere. I would think the insulation is high enough quality. Was the ignition misfiring in both CDI and Kettering? If so, which had the worse misfire? Fred

I bought a set of Magnecor KV85 8,5mm spark plug wires for my 356, tought they are good. After some time started to have misfiring and running problems,
checked about everything and finally when "everything" else was done, changed spark plug wires. Misfiring gone.
The cables was new, less than 3000km on them and I sent them back to Magnecor so they could check them.
Magnecor told me that the cables has been "subject to moisture" and the spring that hold the cable to plug was corroded and broken.
The cables was some months in my heated garage without any excessive moisture, but I drive my 356 also in the rain.
Magnecor wanted me to pay for the repair & shipping, but after some bitching they agreed to change the 2 springs and send cables back, "excellent" warranty.
When I got the cables back I stuck a spark plug with thin insulator in the boot and the springs are loose in the cable terminals.

Be very careful with Magnecor spark plug wires, they are junk.

This photo I got from Magnecor.
2019-09-11 Broken band - rust.jpg

[Juha Vane]

Fred, I have to apologize. Have not installed your CDI system I bought some time ago. Had to have my distributor checked and it took so long that I bought
a 123 distributor and used it with the Magnecor cables. Magnecor told 2.2kOhm/ft and when I measured them the resistance was OK. The misfiring was not
constant, but there was a lot of it. After finally changing only the the plug wires, no misfiring.

[Fred Winterburn]

Ok then, I've attached a sketch showing how the 123 ditributor hooks up to the CDI. Back to the wires, I have a friend that had a 1971 Mercedes with spiral wound suppression wires of unknown manufacture. They were cheaply made. When I dissected the lead from the distributor I found the conductor had burnt away in three places over roughly 2 feet of length. We didn't replace all of the wires, just that one and it mostly solved his misfire. I replaced it with a left over piece of Taylor Spiro Pro suppression wire that I had. We really should have changed all of those crappy wires. This wire set was something put on by a previous owner. His car was running with the original Bosch transistor-switch inductive ignition triggered by points. Fred

Fred, I have to apologize. Have not installed your CDI system I bought some time ago. Had to have my distributor checked and it took so long that I bought
a 123 distributor and used it with the Magnecor cables. Magnecor told 2.2kOhm/ft and when I measured them the resistance was OK. The misfiring was not
constant, but there was a lot of it. After finally changing only the the plug wires, no misfiring.