Ceramic cap HT leads, plug fitting
Discussion
king f
Moving on from the anti-seize on plug threads debate incurable plug sniffers beware... if you fail to replace the crushable washers after inspecting your plugs you are likely the find a lose plug or two at a later date. And if you inspect these loosened plugs you'll very likely see carbon will have crept up the threads which will definitely increase resistance and may even be enough to induce a misfire.
Of course the diagnostic equipment we use to fully analyse the performance of an ignition system is not a multimeter but an oscilloscope because things are happening so fast you'll never record whats going on with a multimeter, admittedly it was a long time ago now but I was trained on a Sun MEA 1200-4 machine which looks like a relic these days but trust me it was proper state of the art at the time
.
These old Sun & Krypton tuner machines were a brilliant bit of diagnostic kit that gave you all your essential HT KVs and coil behaviors as a wave form on their inbuilt oscilloscope screens, but they cost thousands back in the day and were the size of an industrial washing machine.... so big in fact you had to wheel them about the workshop!
I have to say I'd love to have access to an old Sun machine aain, nowadays they are cheap to buy because they are prehistoric tech no one wants anymore but that doesn't mean they are any less useful than they were back in the day. Sadly I just dont have the space for such a big lump of a thing but fortunately big leaps forward in technology in the last 30 years means these days for you can buy a Hantek 1008C 8CH for just £85.00 thats the size of a book, it connects to your laptop by USB and using the provided software your PC becomes something even better than an old Sun tuner machine.
It's not a Pico scope a professional might use but at just £85 the Hantek 1008C 8CH is an affordable automotive oscilloscope making it ideal for the home mechanic and a scope really is a fantastic addition to your diagnostic kit. I say better than those old but excellent Sun/Krypton tuner machines I was trained on because you can put the Hantek and your laptop on the passenger seat and go for a drive to simulate the same load conditions that stimulate a misfire while logging the waveforms produced by up to 8 coils and and fuel injectors.
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Hantek-1008C-8CH-PC-USB...
Some higher end aftermarket ECUs actually come a scope feature built in, indeed even at the budget end you get this super useful feature with the Canems ignition only ECU. Sadly David Hampshire chose to omit it from his fuel and spark ECUs so I'll be investing £85.00 in a Hantek 1008C 8CH oscilloscope as I really miss the features I enjoyed when I had access to a Sun MEA 1200-4 machine.
Of course the diagnostic equipment we use to fully analyse the performance of an ignition system is not a multimeter but an oscilloscope because things are happening so fast you'll never record whats going on with a multimeter, admittedly it was a long time ago now but I was trained on a Sun MEA 1200-4 machine which looks like a relic these days but trust me it was proper state of the art at the time
.These old Sun & Krypton tuner machines were a brilliant bit of diagnostic kit that gave you all your essential HT KVs and coil behaviors as a wave form on their inbuilt oscilloscope screens, but they cost thousands back in the day and were the size of an industrial washing machine.... so big in fact you had to wheel them about the workshop!
I have to say I'd love to have access to an old Sun machine aain, nowadays they are cheap to buy because they are prehistoric tech no one wants anymore but that doesn't mean they are any less useful than they were back in the day. Sadly I just dont have the space for such a big lump of a thing but fortunately big leaps forward in technology in the last 30 years means these days for you can buy a Hantek 1008C 8CH for just £85.00 thats the size of a book, it connects to your laptop by USB and using the provided software your PC becomes something even better than an old Sun tuner machine.
It's not a Pico scope a professional might use but at just £85 the Hantek 1008C 8CH is an affordable automotive oscilloscope making it ideal for the home mechanic and a scope really is a fantastic addition to your diagnostic kit. I say better than those old but excellent Sun/Krypton tuner machines I was trained on because you can put the Hantek and your laptop on the passenger seat and go for a drive to simulate the same load conditions that stimulate a misfire while logging the waveforms produced by up to 8 coils and and fuel injectors.
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Hantek-1008C-8CH-PC-USB...
Some higher end aftermarket ECUs actually come a scope feature built in, indeed even at the budget end you get this super useful feature with the Canems ignition only ECU. Sadly David Hampshire chose to omit it from his fuel and spark ECUs so I'll be investing £85.00 in a Hantek 1008C 8CH oscilloscope as I really miss the features I enjoyed when I had access to a Sun MEA 1200-4 machine.
Just need to claim OP status please
My original question was about ceramic caps but in reality I would be interested in any reasonably heat resistant angled cap leads. I did think about buying angled caps and fitting them to a standard set of Lucas leads but having investigated this they are mostly 'screw-on' type caps and I'm uncomfortable with that method of termination. Also these NGK and similar replacement caps appear to have springs, etc. inside leading to multiple opportunities for continuity failure.
Are there any angle cap lead sets of reasonable quality out there?
Example photo
My original question was about ceramic caps but in reality I would be interested in any reasonably heat resistant angled cap leads. I did think about buying angled caps and fitting them to a standard set of Lucas leads but having investigated this they are mostly 'screw-on' type caps and I'm uncomfortable with that method of termination. Also these NGK and similar replacement caps appear to have springs, etc. inside leading to multiple opportunities for continuity failure.
Are there any angle cap lead sets of reasonable quality out there?
Example photo
Hantek may have uses for DIY Dave but in a proper automotive environment its a POS 
it lacks proper filters and suffers with noise badly no support and forget using all 8 channels you cant and the software is often buggy I know people that have tried these 
its cheap for a reason and amongst many things a scope needs to be is resilient to noise and have decent software these possess neither , you dont get these issues with Pico, AES,Snap-On etc 
I still have my Sun 4 gas your right robust bit of kit .................. 
it lacks proper filters and suffers with noise badly no support and forget using all 8 channels you cant and the software is often buggy I know people that have tried these its cheap for a reason and amongst many things a scope needs to be is resilient to noise and have decent software these possess neither , you dont get these issues with Pico, AES,Snap-On etc I still have my Sun 4 gas your right robust bit of kit .................. Edited by Sardonicus on Tuesday 21st May 10:37
bobfather said:
Just need to claim OP status please
My original question was about ceramic caps but in reality I would be interested in any reasonably heat resistant angled cap leads. I did think about buying angled caps and fitting them to a standard set of Lucas leads but having investigated this they are mostly 'screw-on' type caps and I'm uncomfortable with that method of termination. Also these NGK and similar replacement caps appear to have springs, etc. inside leading to multiple opportunities for continuity failure.
Are there any angle cap lead sets of reasonable quality out there?
Example photo
Old skool 'screw to lead' type plug boots are really designed for copper core HT leads which will play havoc with your tacho and ECU, you can't use the screw on boot with modern EMI suppressed spiral wound carbon core leads so they are really a non-starter.My original question was about ceramic caps but in reality I would be interested in any reasonably heat resistant angled cap leads. I did think about buying angled caps and fitting them to a standard set of Lucas leads but having investigated this they are mostly 'screw-on' type caps and I'm uncomfortable with that method of termination. Also these NGK and similar replacement caps appear to have springs, etc. inside leading to multiple opportunities for continuity failure.
Are there any angle cap lead sets of reasonable quality out there?
Example photo
However, just use good quality leads with properly heat resistant plug boots like you get with MSD Super Conductors then put basalt socks over them and all the issues become a thing of the past as does the need to use those dreadful extenders.
The MSD plug terminals are bendable, so you can custom create the perfect plug boot angle for each header tube thus avoiding any contact, which is they most critical rule you must obey!!!!
I actually run my leads forward which seems to work best, especially on the O/S where those pesky heater pipes really don't help ensure good HT lead to header pipe clearance.
Gassing Station | Chimaera | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff