Rezal

A few people were wondering why I'm changing my wires, others wondering if they should, and how often?

While I'm not sure if the wires on my car had ever been changed (the car has 70K miles), here's what the two passenger-side lower/exhaust wires look like:


Nice knowing that I had 1.2 gigawatts or whatever arcing across the gap, right below the fuel filter and oil refill tube, huh?

Here's my question:
I found two sections of the wire that had an extra rubber insulation like below:


Having seen the damage in the first pic and having gone through the agony of pulling the wires out (the anguish of putting new ones in has yet to occur!), should I buy some aftermarket rubber tubing and slap those all over the new set which does not have any additional insulation even at the sections where the old one had (these sections don't quite make sense but I would like to think that they were there for a reason)?

In the case of those on the lower valve cover, it would also provide extra shielding across debris since I don't have the engine cover on.

chris walrod

Wow, it was time for new wire alright.. Most times, extra sheathing is to prevent chaffing and/or for heat protection. Its generally a good thing to reproduce what the factory has done. FWIW

Ben in Plano, TX

While having a full rebuild done on my motor I not only had the spark plug wires replaced with new but also had the wiring harness replaced. The condition was not as bad as yours but you can see and feel the degradation in the wiring insulation. The old harness was stiff as a board and the new one is soft and supple - and I got it for $85 thanks to Porsche producing too many 'harness kits' for the wiring harness recall.

Dan V

Rezal, were those worn spots visible from under the car, with the wires still on it? Thanks for the pic, and kudos to you for tackling this job.

Rezal

Yes. Saw it during one of the DE tech inspections. I thought some silicone sealant and electrical tape would help but the conditions in that part of the engine with exposure to road debris and the exhaust heat caused the tape to go brittle and I have no clue where the sealant went.

Dan V

Thanks Rezal.. I was eyeballing those when I was under there doing my oil change -- hope I didn't miss anything.

JasonAndreas

For some reason the rubber sleeves don't show up in the parts catalog but you get two with each wire if you order OE wires from Porsche. Buying a set from Sunset imports was competitive $$$ with the aftermarket OEM but I'm not sure if that is still the case.

Terry Adams

When Bob was putting my motor back together after the rebuild at 120K, he called me and said one or two of the wires looked a bit cracked - probably nowhere near what yours look like. It was a no brainer while the engine was out to go for a new set.

993Maineiac

I just had mine replaced due to some starting and backfiring problems. DJ in Phoenix (Don Johnson) was saying that Porsche now recommends replacing the wires as a regular maintainance item. I think he said that the recommended milage was about 60k, but I could be very off on that. It made a hugh difference in the performance of the engine.

Al

Arrwin

What is the cost of the OEM wires vs. the aftermarket?

Rezal

I got mine from Eurowebparts for around $350 but there problems with the order, billing, etc. plus I think the new prices listed are much higher.

After the pain of pulling these out (remember: I've yet to put the new set in) replacing the wires while the engine is out would be a no brainer! Plug wire R&R makes plug replacement look like a walk in the park.

Ray Calvo

Ouch; danged scary! Considering I've got over 90K miles on mine, might replace the wires for the heck of it.

RE adding additional tubing as noted in the one wire. Concept is sound so long as it fits tight and you don't have a catch basin for water/dirt etc. between the tube and wire, but what tubing do you get? What you might pick up at your local hardware store I don't think would have adequate heat resistance. Automotive vacuum tubing might be better, but gotta find stuff of right diameter.

Adrienne

One of my wires was just like your pic when I replaced at 110k.