My '99 550 has a cracked SP wire. shop suggests replacing it and is looking for alternatives to a new kit. So, Is that the "right" fix"? If so, are there better and/or cheaper alternatives to the factory Kit? If I can find the one wire I need, should I just do that one? If I have to buy one bank should I do both at the same time? They are after all 15 yrs old. Any advice would be helpful--thanks
They weren't great wires to start with. I don't think there are aftermarket alternatives but you might ask around. Try Rutlands, GT Car parts and Kingsborne. I scrounged and scrounged once and found enough parts to build a set and by the time I was done I probably had $3000 worth of time in it. If you need a spark plug wire you need 12.
About 3 years ago I bought all the stuff from Kingborne to rebuild my wires. It worked great. Someone recently said that the right stuff from kingsborne was no longer available. I have not checked. But cribbj has a very elegant COP conversion. I have not tried it yet but there are many 550's already running it and I'm making the conversion in a month. Cribbj solution is elegant, heavy duty, and very clean better than OEM robust looking solution yet looks like it could be OEM. The 575 already runs a cop setup so it is not a stretch that the 550 should have one. If you have to be concourse then maybe stick to OEM but if you want better performance and dump two 5lb bricks out of your engine bay go COP.
-> http://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/456-550-575-sponsored-bradan/443690-550-maranello-spark-plug-wires.html
I repaired one of mine and it works and looks fine. I am in Las Vegas too. Give me a call 702-243-6557
Coil on Plug, similar to the 575 ignition system. No high tension plug wires to degrade over time. PM cribbj for details.
To expand on Daves statement, what used to be traditional was a long wire from a coil or distributor to the spark plug. More modern systems often have a coil for each cylinder located on the spark plug eliminating the wire, hence, "Coil On Plug".
Alex- And that means all the spark plug wires do in a COP system is transmit a low voltage signal to the coil sitting on the spark plug telling the coil to fire. On a standard 456 or 550, all the coil energy is transmitted through the plug wires directly to the spark plug. This high voltage rapidly breaks down the spark plug wires.
