bhensarl

Okay, so today went to the auto parts store and bought meself a plug wire puller and some dielectric grease (thanks for the tips Indycam). I was supposed to put the grease on before I initially reattached the plug wires, but I think late is better than never so I'm doing it now. I'll update the DIY before I toss it in the DIY forum to include these new steps/tools.

kris,
You can get to the DIY forum using the pulldown menu at the bottom of this screen. Just go down to "Forum Jump", select "Forums", then select "964 (1989-1994 911)" under "DIYs and 'How-to' Archive". If you have any trouble, just PM me and we'll find a way to get you there.
Brian

kris

Okay Brian, I found it. Thanks a lot.

bhensarl

Got all ready to finish the job and realized I don't know quite what to do. Where exactly do I want to apply the grease to the caps? Directly to the electrical connections? What purpose does the grease serve?
Brian

craig001

I just run the dilectric grease on the insides of each sleeve and try to leave a little extra in there. It's easy to wipe down if it spurts out the edges. It will help the connects for "welding" onto the distributor cap. I wish I was motivated to take pics of the stuff when I do it, but I just want to get it done.

Rob McConnell

Hi

I did mine last year and did not know about the grease, may take time to revisit as it cant hurt.

This may help with arcing leads also, I had a problem with this in the past before the dist and rotor change.

Thanks, always nice to see some pictures.

Regards
Rob
91 964 Cab
66 912 Coupe
Jersey,UK

Smokin

Yeah Brian... I'd just use a Q-Tip or something to swirl the grease up into the boot and try to coat everything. Has anyone heard of putting a dab of that grease on the button of the rotor?

Wachuko

Great write up!!

Now... please remove all references to the use of vice grips... that tool has no place in our cars

Thanks again!!

Jeff Curtis

Ditto...good write-up.

One note, the plug wires have markings on them to indicate primary or secondary distributor and what cylinder they are for...that eliminates the need to get the pesky "labeling" tape out. ...check it out, markings are visible in the photo that shows your labeled plug wires.

***Look in the pic where you have the tape on the plug wire boots, look at the "4" you have labeled, nearby you will see "BERU II 4" which indicates Primary (that's what I call it) cap with the "II" and 4th cylinder.***

Just a handy tip.

Also, I didn't read in detail, but got the gist that some are curious of where to get dilectric grease at any auto parts store...they sell it in tiny (and very handy) packets for ~$1...usually the anti-corrosive grease to put on your battery terminals is right next to it.

NOPE...no need for a dab on the rotor or cap "button", just where the plugwire terminals engage the cap terminals to avoid the aformentioned "welding" that we've all surely experienced.

Maybe not a bad idea to dab a little on the screws that hold down the caps to the distributor housing...I've seen those seize up and break off as well.

Anyone out there upgraded to the Kingsborne or Magnecore plug wires?? ...I'm contemplating a change vs. the VERY pricey factory wireset. Some aftermarket items are just plain better, deciding which to use can be baffling.

Eric Kessel

The magnecore site has a FAQ page the mentions only using the dielectric grease around the outside edge of the plug connectors, and not all over the inside. Supposedly too much grease makes it easier for the connectors to pop off the caps.......

Jerry Garwick

Sorry for the basic question. Why does one need to change the rotors and caps?

Smokin

They wear out. The rotor spins around to deliver the spark to your spark plugs. Over time the arcing of spark wears away the contacts of both the rotor tip and the distributor cap contacts, increasing the gap and decreasing performance.

JasonAndreas

If we could get enough people/rennlisters interested it would definitely be worth buying a spool of wire and the proper connectors from Beru and just making them ourselves. One end of the cable is screwed on and the other is crimped with the Beru crimping tool (normally by a lady in Singapore).

Eric Kessel

You can get the screw terminals from the dealer (around 25 cents each from a discount mail order dealer), but the crimp tool is expensive....... I've made up a few replacement coil cables by soldering the screw terminals to the wire...... it's held up for a few years now...... If someone finds the crimper cheap, let me know........

Marc Shaw

I did not know that either and learn something new here everyday. I have never regretted asking a question......now, about my undertray....

Marc

bhensarl

I did in fact notice this, and that's the way I put it all back together. If you look really hard at the picture you'll notice that I didn't even label the secondary leads. But every write up I've ever seen says to label them, so I figured maybe I was the lucky guy whose wires came pre-labeled.

Actually, Wachuko already did (thanks Jaime). His writeup is in the 964 DIY section.

Oh, and while I do believe that vice grips most certainly do have their place in certain types of repairs of our cars, I do agree that they were not the right tool for the job. I'll take that out of the DIY and suggest the correct tool instead.
Brian