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MG MGF Technical - Replacement Plug Leads

I have seen a number of different replacement plug leads advertised on the web for "F's", and I was wondering if anyone out there has any exprience with these.

Mine seem to be breaking down with signs of shorting onto the rocker cover bolts. Also the leads seem quite stiff and brittle. -I have noticed a very definate hesitation at low engine revs.

Can anyone one with practical exprience make any recommendations as to what are the best HT leads to replcae the OEM ones currently on my car ?

My car is a 1997 VVC with about 60,000km on the clock.

Thanks in advance,


Scott Martin
OZ
Scott Martin

Steve

My VVC was starting to show relucance to start of very wet morings so I get a new set of the red silicone leads from B&G together with new plugs. Car had 18k miles a lot locally.

The car was transformed with instant starting and smoother running. Can't tell whether it was the plugs or leads and frankly don't care!

I went for the red leads for no better reason than they were the most expensive and I therefore assume the best (probably very niave!). However the cost difference over two years seemed very small.

Go for it, you won't be disappointed.

Cheers from a very cold and wet London

Patrick
Patrick

Scott

I echo Patrick's comments, after hard rain my '97 vvc with 50k on the clock would never start.

I bought the 8mm blue leads from B&G and changed the plugs and have never had any rain starting problems since......

-matt
M66 MAT
scott

Matt, your getting confused who you are, aren't you.



Matt

Matt / Scott / whatever you are calling yourself ;)

> I bought the 8mm blue leads from B&G ....

Which blue leads are these, they only sell Red.

BTW, anyone know where to get a distributer and rotor arm for an 'F' from, besides Rover?

TIA


Steve.
SteveCPS

Steve

Don't get confused with B&G's pictures!

They show red on web site, but the 8mm are blue in colour in real life.....

-matt
(identity crisis over)
matt

Competition leads are red ...
Gaz


8.5mm 'Competition' leads = RED

8.0mm 'High Performance' leads = BLUE

on there website both picures they show are
the competition leads, hope that clears things up...

-matt
matt

LOL, thanks guys :).

So after all that, which are better, Blue, Red, Performance or competition? ;)

[Serious Question]

Regards


Steve.
Steve Childs


Hi all,
whats found in the archive and from my own experience ANY colour / brand / thickness is better than the crap ignition cables that are fitted as standard. There is really only one thing to check. NEVER use solid copper ignition leads on the "F". The inbuilt resistance in the inner core MUST be present. This normally is a few kilo-Ohms and often labeld as "resistor cable" , Magnacor or any other trade name. Why ??? Well, with solid copper cables the (very) high voltage and currents in modern ignition systems generate fast rising pulses and heavy magnetic fields that messes up the signals from nearby sensors . This will give hard to diagnose intermittent trouble with bott ignition-timing and fuelling ! There will also be much more ignition noise on the radio and some times even on a CD-player...

Regards, Carl.
Carl

So where do you get these B&G leads from?
What is the web site?
How much are they roughly?
Richard

All,

The leads supplied by B+G are made by magnecor and as such any supplier who has access to the Magnecor catalogue should be able to get hold of them. The main problem with the competition leads is in fitting. The performance leads themselves are alot thicker than than the standard item and fitting them into the guides that run along the top of the engine and down the side to the coil/distributor can be quite tricky. The competition ones may be even harder as they are thicker. I spent about 45mins just trying to get the performance leads into the guide clips. I even couldn't get the spark plug cover (one with the ROVER lettering) to fit properly and eventually left it off.

As regards to which ones are better well ... for brand new leads be it the OE or the Magnecor leads you'd be hard pressed to notice any difference whatsoever. Better leads DO NOT provide more BHP or greater performance. They do however reduce emissions and allow a smoother running of the engine over a longer time period. Material degradation and quality of construction are the main considerations.
The Magnecors will certainly provide a better spark over time in relation to the OE item. As for construction well the Magnecors are far superior and this alone justifies the xtra cost.
Personally I think the competition ones are not worth the xtra money unless you race.

For peak performance don't bother with the platinum tipped - just change the plugs at least once a year.

Gaz
Gaz

Just as a follow on to Gaz's comment.

I fitted the thicker red leads and had no problem fitting them or the plastic Rover cover back on.

I did mine during the Summer and perhpas the warmer temperature made cables more maliable (sp?).. I also did the cables one at a time. i.e. old cable out new one in. This was to ensure there was NO possibliity of getting it cabled wrongly. This also might have made it easier to fit the new cables.

Hope this helps.

Cheers

Patrick
Patrick

How much am I expected top pay for the 8.5mm/8mm magnecor leads?

Would you recommend any other leads?

Where is the best place to order these leads from? Mailorder? (what are some good web sites)
Steve

This thread was discussed between 20/03/2001 and 23/03/2001

MG MGF Technical index

This thread is from the archive. The Live MG MGF Technical BBS is active now.