motionbroker

Thanks so much guys. Your responses have been printed out and will hopefully provide a good road map for moving forward in solving these problems.

The much shorter spark duration of the nology wires could (at least in my gut feeling) lead to a timing issue. I will also try swapping the plugs back.

I really appreciate all of your input. Its kind of scary to be in Thailand with a complex vehicle like this and have to deal with sorting out these kinds of issues without people who you at least speak the same language with.

I learned a lesson about changing too many things at the same time. My intentions were noble but I should have taken a more cautious approach.

svp928

I'm with Bill- the plug wire swap may be the main culprit. They didn't do anything else that would cause this, did they? Check the wire routing and see if a couple are crossed. I do not know how sensitive these ignition systems are to plug types, but I've had experience with BMW's not running well on anything but what the Factory specs for plugs type (i.e., silver vs platinum) Also, Rngtrtl has a point- there may be air in the cooling system, adding to problem...
Good luck getting the dealer to help..

Rob Edwards

I swapped plug wires 3 &5 at the distributor cap after my intake R&R and wondered why the car ran so poorly during my test run around the block- Lumpy idle, droning exhaust note, low on power. I checked the ICM for lit LED's but nothing. Then I checked the plug wires. D'oh!

Mrmerlin

The 928 coolant system DOESNT NEED to be burped, it has a self bleeding system, the only part that will hold air is the heater core to fill this part make sure that the coolant bottle is atleast half full the heater temp control is opened fully and the fans are cycling then drive the car for about 5 miles this will purge the air from the heater core and the rest of the sytem will self bleed through the top of the radiator and the top of the water bridge, both of these lines should be routed so they are on a steady rise to the coolant tank if not then rerout them, this will make the self bleeding system work the way it was designed

motionbroker

Well she seems to be running great now.

I believe the main culprit was the Nology silver plugs. The dealer swapped out both the plugs and the plug wires and the car ran fine. We then put the nology wires back in and it was still fine so it must have been the plugs.

jcb928 made the right call but thanks to all of you for your great input.

MB

Bill Ball

Those must be some bad plugs. I've run all kinds of plugs and not seen any difference. What plugs did you end up with?

Charley B

On the other hand, that same procedure would have had the same result if, as Bill suggested, there were plug wires crossed. Assuming they got it right on the second set of wires. Then again, they couldn't have sold anymore parts that way. Sorry, when it comes to dealers, I'm just a sceptic.
$5 says if you put the old plugs in, it will still run fine.

docmirror

Drat, I had a whole write up on ignition, but then I went back and read the first post, and according to him, they didn't touch the ignition(see list), so I scrapped it. Only after inferring that the ignition parts were swapped does the ignition come in for attention. Glad it's fixed. Keep it away from the dealer.

motionbroker

Agreed about the plug wires potentially being crossed.

Unfortunately in Thailand the dealer is the least of many potential evils. They actually are not bad guys at all but a lot of the mechanics are pretty young and were probably in grade school when my car was built so the experience level is not quite ideal.

Nonetheless happy to have the car running well again.

Thanks all