Mello

My friend took out his washer fluid tank and put the MSD box in its place.

Skip

I agree the various discussions in the past on this have been very confusing (and long, and longer). My final analysis is this (and, this is where folks with other opinions are more than welcome to jump in):

The solid core wire and BERU ends are what should be used on the Porsche 944 engine, regardless of ignition system. I have them - I have the MSD ignition and coil - they work, and I regularly flog my car to its 7000rpm rev limiter ("oops, I did it again"). Other wires will work - to what extent is one better than the other, I do not know.

Here is the only fact that nobody has rebutted [yet]: solid core wires and BERU ends carry the same impedance no matter the length of wire (within reason, don't run them to the trunk). Wound wire impedance is dependant on length - means each plug gets a varying amount of energy - also, wound plug wires are more susceptible to heat soak.

Skip

Dave

Thanks again Skip, you make a good point. Looks like I'll be going for some wires (solid core w/ beru ends) soon, hopefully the stock ones will be OK for a month or two, my wife's getting tired of car expenses.

Tom Pultz

[quote]Originally posted by Skip:
<strong>Here is the only fact that nobody has rebutted [yet]: solid core wires and BERU ends carry the same impedance no matter the length of wire</strong><hr></blockquote>Well... not so sure of that. If you say "resistance" that might be true since the statically measured resistance of any solid core wire will measure essentially zero (which is why the cheap spiral wound wires have a very thin solid core so they measure "good")... but it's a meaningless spec because the voltage does not travel down the center of a solid wire, it is a much more complicated phenomenon due to the high voltages. <a href="http://www.magnecor.com" target="_blank">Magnecor</a> has a lot of useful information on their web site... oh, and they hate the Beru connectors because they say the resistors fail all too often.

Tom Pultz

[quote]Originally posted by Dave:
<strong>my wife's getting tired of car expenses.</strong><hr></blockquote>Ha. You actually tell her what you spend?

Dave

[quote]Originally posted by Tom Pultz:
<strong>Ha. You actually tell her what you spend? </strong><hr></blockquote>
I don't bother with things like credit card bills, that's her job. (I havn't written a check down in the little book thing in 15 years, and I'm not gonna start now)
She's usually good about it, but this month; clutch, MSD & coil, sunroof seal, tools and maybe wires. And that's on top of a new dig camera this week and my printer died last night. Oh yeah, the new kitchen is just about done so I'm starting on the deck right after vacation.

Skip

[quote]Originally posted by Tom Pultz:
<strong>oh, and they hate the Beru connectors because they say the resistors fail all too often.</strong><hr></blockquote>

I know what *they* think, but how about you, Tom?

Never *personally* heard of a BERU resistor failure, but I'm young and have a full life ahead of me

Skip

Dave

Finally installed it all, the MSD has been in for a few weeks but I didn't get around to ordering the wires until Sunday. The wires came today (Thanks Paragon, for the great service) and I put 'em on when I got home from work.

Note to self; let engine cool before changing wires!

I had a flat spot that showed up on the dyno but I didn't really notice "seat of the pants", After the MSD, there's a little more punch up to 3000 rpm, and maybe a little more above 4000, too. Between 3000 and 4000 rpm was the Grand Canyon, something just wasn't right.
New Wires solved that problem, there had been no fireworks display under my hood and as I mentioned earlier in the thread, the ignition wires had been replaced recently. Tomorrow I'll take a few pics of the mount I fabricated for the MSD and I want to get out the meter and test the resistance of the old wires.

Riff

Another thing about the MSD ignition and the Blaster coil is you need to change the spark plug gap from the factory spec. Factory spec. is IIRC .032". MSD suggests .040"-050". I split the difference and went with .045".

Cheers,

daly944

i have the msd 6a ignition mounted behind my battery, my mechanic did it for me, i still have my cruise control. i'll post pics one day soon.

Skwerl

[quote]Originally posted by Riff:
<strong>Another thing about the MSD ignition and the Blaster coil is you need to change the spark plug gap from the factory spec. Factory spec. is IIRC .032". MSD suggests .040"-050". I split the difference and went with .045".

Cheers,</strong><hr></blockquote>

Does anyone know if this makes much of a difference? I put an MSD in too a while back and was a little disappointed that my seat-of-the-pants experience wasn't as positive as Skip's. Maybe my plugs' gaps need to be widened?

Riff

Skwerl-

This made a difference. The energy required to make a spark (jump the gap) is proportional to the distance. If it takes x mount of energy to jump the stock gap, then having excess energy does no good. By increasing the gap, you get a bigger spark but it requires more energy, which the MSD provides. BTW I do not have dyno sheets to back this up, just know that when I did this to my car, there was a difference. She is pulls better down low and throttle response is improved.

Cheers,

Skip

I'll second and third that (installed and tested on two different 944's) - I think Riff and I discussed this offline... after that, I did go out and gap the plugs even more. I am using BERU Silverstone, so I have an even greater advantage... went with .06 and it works great, so far - haven't checked for wear lately. Thinking about switching to BERU Ultra-X - the copper/nickel/silver content in those is near the level of the Silverstone, but with the advantage of multi-tip/multi-path... I still wonder about the need with the increased spark, but some folks 'in the know' have assured me that the only thing I'll notice is an increase in plug life, and a decrease in fuel consumption. We'll see...

Skip [still wunderin' if plugs'is'plugs'is'plugs]