Anyone ever have issues with aftermarket plug wires ?

I was having some driveability issues after just one year of using these Kingsborne Red plug wires only to find some God aweful thick crusty rust on wire contacts and the coil pack contacts. Cleaned up the posts on the coil pack and put my OEM wires back. Now runs perfectly smooth.

I detail my engine bay regularly, have a GP DDM diverter with an excellent seal to the bonnet, and my MINI is always garage so I can't be getting all that much rain water in there. I also noticed that when I remove the OEM wires from the coil pack you can hear some suction and a "pop" . When removing the aftermarket ones, I don't get that same tight of a seal so looks like to me these are not fitting as tight ?

Thing is, all the previous miles running the OEM coil pack and wires, I only had slight aged petina on the coil pack/wire contacts and never any thick crusty rust like this.

These plug wire contacts looked like they were burried in dirt or in salt water for 100 years.....

 

Have a multimeter? If so check the ohm level of the wires...
just a guess, but i thinking the wires were not making 100% contact...created some extra heat (the extra voltage of the screamen deamon+pulzar((still using it right?))). Heck, that, wide plug gaps too....need more amp to jump the gap...so harder to push current...
my aftermarket boots on my wires (also kingsborne) are snug...tight last time i looked...a bit older than yours perhaps, but fewer miles i suspect.
Perhaps the guy assembling the wires was having a bad day...the connection if you have ever used the universal cut to length wire kits is pretty simple...but easy to get a less than 100% perfect connection i bet.
Back when i got my wires i think i remember they said they used the same plug ends as the oem (same manfacture)...but they also sold the wire in bulk...possible you got them from a 3rd party with differsnt connectors?
Good to hear it was only the plug wires....reading the title i thought your car had cancer...rust bubbles!! Few...that would have neen a shame. Just too good looking of a car!!

 

LOL, yeah no body rust

But if you get a chance, could you pull the boots off your coil pack and give them a look see ? I have read other posts where just the #3 gets connection becomes tarnished or develolps rust residue. But in this case all but one of them were terrible.

 

Try using some CRC 2-26® Multi-Purpose Precision Lubricant.

http://www.crcindustries.com/ei/cont...x?PN=02005&S=Y

 

That stuff looks quite useful thanks !

But I was under the impression that dialectric grease and alike was only to be used on the spark plug ends of these wires and not on the coil pack connections ?

 

You have information that I have no knowledge about. Maybe a specific post with that topic to NAM would yield information from the MINI gurus out there. I just changed my daughter's battery on her Jeep and applied this stuff liberally to the battery terminals to try to stave off the inevitable corrosion that seems to happen.

 

This is what I purchased.

But I can't find anywhere on the package as to who manufactured them ?

 

The corrosion seems epidemic to mini's....
Perhaps some odd quirk of the desgin or setup....it seems folks have the issue regardless of coilpack type/wire brands....heck my oem pack and wires were replaced pretty early in my cars life due to corrosion...

 

Any idea what brand wires these are Tim ?

They look like Walmart specials....

I went to Kingsborne web site. Seems odd they wouldn't put their own name on the package ?

 

Just replaced with brand new coil pack/rubber gromets and wires. OEM set up right now.

Changed out the plugs for a new set of NGK #8's 2 step colder re-gapped from .028 to .035.....Old #8's plugs looked very good. Running AOK now

Still would like to know who makes red wire set above ?

 

I think that is the oem kingsborne pack...no frils, but shows the lifetime warrenty..
i know mine were not in fancy "consumer" retail packaging, but pretty basic industry stuff... ut seemed like a good buy...in my case still is i think.
When i orded mine from the kingsborne website, they had color/ wire diameter options...i think the red was one option.

 

Yes that is Kingsborne packaging.

 

ok thanks.