Spark Plug Extenders - Who Makes a Good One? | FerrariChat

Spark Plug Extenders - Who Makes a Good One?

Discussion in '308/328' started by moysiuan, Oct 27, 2019.

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  1. moysiuan

    moysiuan F1 Rookie
    Silver Subscribed

    Nov 1, 2005
    3,628
    Canada
    I installed new wires and extenders on my Mondial 3.2, and have had in two instances after hitting a pothole the extenders slightly pop off the spark plug and cause a major misfiring.

    When I look at my old original extender, the retaining clip is much more robust, compared with the newer one I had sourced from Kingsborne in the US a few years ago for my spares inventory. Anyone know where I can get a replacement that has the better quality more robust retainer clip on it, I don't want to purchase from elsewhere if they are all made the way the Kingsborne one is, hard to imagine different suppliers for this type of component even ones in the yellow horsey box. For now using a couple of old ones, and of course they were located in the more difficult access bank of cylinders.

    Comparing OEM dist caps and rotors, it is clear that the reproduction parts are not of the same caliber. Must make a habit of inspecting parts more carefully before assuming all is well before installing.
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  2. BigTex

    BigTex Seven Time F1 World Champ
    Owner Rossa Subscribed

    Dec 6, 2002
    79,143
    Houston, Texas
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    Bubba
    That s interesting.....I'm sure OEM was Magnetti Marelli?
    They are not an expensive part, although eight can add up

    There have been nightmares with after market caps and more often the rotor.
     
  3. yelcab

    yelcab F1 World Champ
    Consultant

    Nov 29, 2001
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    San Carlos, CA
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    Mitchell Le
    Nobody makes a good one. I suggest you replace them with special wires that do not use extenders.
     
  4. Milkshaker0007

    Milkshaker0007 Formula Junior

    Sep 22, 2012
    428
    Midlands,uk
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    Paul
    i'm currently using super performance ones at the moment, only about 8 months old in use so hard to tell how they will behave down the line.
    look good copies aesthetically.
    replaced due to misfire on one cylinder under acceleration
     
  5. Brian A

    Brian A F1 Rookie

    Dec 21, 2012
    3,079
    SanFrancisco BayArea
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    1983 US 308 GTS QV
    It is my opinion that the Kingsborne extenders are considerably better than the OEM ones.

    Your photos show just how much smaller the Kingsborne spring is that holds the extender onto the plug. The spring on the OEM extenders is so large that it is a major point for arcing and burning holes through the extender. The Kingsborne redesign solves this problem.

    The Kingsborne extenders are very tight and require a very hard push onto the spark plug. You can feel it slide over the threads of the plug when pushed on fully. There is no way a Kingsborne extender will be dislodged from the plug just by hitting a pothole.

    Properly installed, extenders are better than any other method in keeping the conductor absolutely centralized down the spark plug tunnel.

    … If it is any consolation, initially I did not push my Kingsborne extenders on fully and experienced the same misfire problem you did.
     
  6. Freddie328

    Freddie328 Formula Junior

    Jul 29, 2013
    290
    Herts, UK
    Full Name:
    Richard
    Do you guys know what the correct resistance through extenders and leads is supposed to be?
    I bought a set of leads some time ago and think its time to check them.
    I seem to remember that I changed them as some read open circuit, but can't remember what the values were supposed to be.
    This is for an 88.5 UK spec 328.
     
  7. moysiuan

    moysiuan F1 Rookie
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    Nov 1, 2005
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    Canada
    Good to know the smaller spring has some technical merit. But in my case, the extenders are not that tight a fit on all the plugs, the spring load just does not seem that strong. I am in Toronto, and you would not believe the potholes that we have here, and the correlation between a big hit and a plug misfire was in my two cases pretty clear. But in any event, I have carefully reseated all of the extenders, and shall see if the problem resurfaces again.
     

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