Hi guys,

Today I noticed that one of my spark plug connectors was loose.
I removed it and noticed that the pin is broken.

Please see the pictures below for better understanding:

This is how it should be:
[URL=http://www.mediafire.com/view/3qhot5gwbr1193u/IMG_20200701_141217.jpg/file][IMG]https://www.mediafire.com/convkey/468f/3qhot5gwbr1193u4g.jpg[/IMG][/URL]

This is the broken pin
[URL=http://www.mediafire.com/view/04zsk5552zq8upo/IMG_20200701_141120.jpg/file][IMG]https://www.mediafire.com/convkey/e35b/04zsk5552zq8upo4g.jpg[/IMG][/URL]

All the wires are otherwise perfect, so I would avoid spending 100.00$ if I can fix that little pin.

Do you have any suggestions? I wouldn't know where to find something like that.

Thank you!
Alex

Fabricate a new part - find a piece of plastic or nylon the height of the broken clip - drill holes until you get a nice tight fit, then cut the outer with a jewelers saw.

Find someone who makes plastic models.

Wrap the area that the clip covers with several layers of tape that does not stretch - such as the clear packing tape that has nylon threads that you cannot break.

Wrap the area with copper wire the thickness of the clip - apply a light coating of epoxy so that you can remove the coil if necessary,

Wrap the area with a spring of the proper diameter - perhaps you can screw a spring on.

Dear Metallo,

Hope you're well. Go to www.rockauto.com . I'm sure you'll find a set of wires that fit, but cost w-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-ay less than $100.

Hope this helps.

Yours faithfully,

Spook

Hi Spook,

Yes, I use rockauto when I find the OE part, but they do not appear to have Bougicord for my P/N 271483, I am in Canada, things are more expensive here and I cannot find Bougicord here, for whatever reason.

Thank you!
Alex

Worldpac Canada is a Bougicord distributor. They carry a number of ignition wire sets to fit our Volvo engines. They're strictly wholesale with a number of distribution centres and local warehouses across the country. You can order through a friendly local auto shop with a Worldpac account, including many Volvo dealer parts and service counters who can assist with parts selection.

Autopartsway.ca is an online e-tailer that gives you access to Worldpac stock, although their catalogue doesn't offer everything that Worldpac carries and ships direct from the closest Worldpac distribution centre having stock, not from local warehouses. Their catalogue is moderately okay at fitment selection, but poor at listing OE part numbers and cross references. Shipping is free on most orders over $100. I've been using Autopartsway.ca for years and have had no problems, although I'm very careful to triple check the part description using other sources to make sure I'm getting the needed part. Autopartsway even has a Canada Day 10% off sale for you on at the moment if you act today.
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Dave -still with 940's, prev 740/240/140/120 You'd think I'd have learned by now

Dear Metallo,

Hope you're well. I didn't expect the Bougicord part to be available at Rockauto. I did - and do - think they should have plug wires that are identical to the Bougicord units.

I wasn't able to view the photos you posted. Even so, I don't think Bougicord wires' terminals are shaped differently from those on any other wires, that will fit spark plugs made for use in the B230 engine.

While the wires may vary as to construction - conductor materials, insulation, sheathing, etc. - I think the terminals should be identical.

See: https://www.fcpeuro.com/products?keywords=271483 . There are several choices, including Bougicord. I'm sure FCP will ship to Canada.

I've never understood why shipping costs to/from Canada are far higher than for an equivalent distance in the U.S. I realize fully that Canada is a separate country, so distances are reckoned in kilometers. Even so, for the same distance, it seems Canadians must pay for more for postage.

Hope this helps.

Yours faithfully,

Spook

Hi,

Yes, FCPEuro is typically my first choice as I live close to the borders with Maine and I get it fast, generally, shipping is included.

Shipping to Canada is always expensive so I get my stuff shipped to my US mailbox.

Anyways, I found what appears to be a better price at https://www.autopartsway.ca/partlist.cfm?volvo/1995/940/t/2.3l-l4/bougicord/ignition/secondary-ignition/spark-plug-wire-set/pagenum1/tabs

However, as David mentioned in his post, autopartsway is poor at listing OE part numbers and cross reference, in fact, I cannot verify if the genuine P/N 271483 is actually matching W01331903857 mentioned in the above link.

My engine is a B200FT as my car is European.

Even using the 6431, which is the Bougicord reference provided by FCPEuro, there is no matching in the autopartsway site.

If I look at this site, https://www.autohausaz.com/pn/271483 - the Bougicord P/N does not match the one in autopartsway :(

Alex

As I'm sure you're well aware, it's bad enough trying to get cheap parts into Canada from the USA without getting nailed for brokerage fees, but it's a whole lot worse you're being in a mild pickle with North American parts catalogues with you having a European B200 rather than a North American B230 (whether B230F/Regina, B230FD/LH2.4, B230FT/LH2.4 or even B234F/LH2.4). Even worse, having a 1997 940, two years after 940s were last made available here, although the S90/V90 carried on for a couple of years where the six cylinder 960s left off.

1995 is likely a good reference year for you as both the NA engine (B230FD) and turbo engine (B230FT) used Bosch LH 2.4, not Regina. I admittedly only did a cursory look, but it would seem your B200E uses the same wire sets as some (not necessarily all) of the B230F configurations. Your head uses a rear cam mounted distributor like the 940 B230Fs, so distances from the distributor to the plugs will be the same (or extremely close) for all such SOHC configurations (a 16-valve DOHC head would makes things different). It appears your coil is similarly mounted on the right, passenger side, cross brace, so the coil to distributor wire should be of similar length. It would also seem yours is a Bosch car, not Rex-Regina, so again very equivalent to a 1995 940 for parts catalogue purposes.

With all that in mind, I would feel fairly safe in assuming that ignition wires for any 1995 940 B230FD/FT with Bosch systems will fit your B200E engine, in fact any year of 940 B230FT turbo as they were always Bosch. If you want to be more exacting in your seach, determine the Volvo p/n's for your engine (from European parts sites if needed) and check the fitment listed against the later 940 B230 engines in the same catalogue so you can do lookups for them in the aftermarket catalogues. I also see some Bougicord sets sold in the aftermarket come with two coil wires, a short and a long one, so that gives you even more options. Note that there are separate Volvo p/n's for the four plug wire set, the single ignition coil wire and the whole kit of five wires.

All this discussion about resistor and non-resistor wires shouldn't matter a whole bunch for a 1997 car in catalogues. By then everything had long been spec'd for resistor plug (WR*, BPR*) and non-resistor wire systems. As Phil noted, resistor plug systems use bare threaded plug stems and non-resistor ignition wires (distinguished by having an internal cross spring clip grip, not just a simple collar grip). Any provided threaded aluminum stud sleeves that come with resistor plugs are for connecting to the earlier resistor type wires, which if used would simply double the resistive noise supression effect. There is no great crime in using resistor wires with resistor plugs, it's just not optimal ignition strength. What matters most is having at least some resistive effect to reduce radio interference, and then mostly for the early radios, later antenna amplifiers generally being less susceptible to interference, but anything with in-window antennas generally being more susceptible to interference. Note that in-window antennas were only used in the later 940 wagons, later 140 sedans/wagons and a few early 240s. Eveything else used a fender mounted antenna or an A-pillar mounted antenna (or C-pillar in early 740/940 wagons).

[I no longer have the luxury of being able to edit this post for typos or if something strikes me later, so hopefully others will chime in with any needed corrections.]
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Dave -still with 940's, prev 740/240/140/120 You'd think I'd have learned by now

Hi Dave,

Yes, I am aware of the differences between the NA and EU 940s, however as you found out, and luckily for me, I never had issues as most of the parts are the same.

I use VIDA and I can see whether a P/N is the same on a '95 230FT and my '97 200FT, so I am sure about the spark plug wires.

I ended up buying the genuine Volvo ones, $103.50, this is because the guys at Autopartsway have very poor information on their site and very poor service.
I booked a call with them for Monday at 01.30h to verify if what they are selling matched the Volvo P/N 271483, but they never called me.
The day after, they replied to the email I sent to them on Sunday by saying that the Bougicord I was referring to, was the correct one.
What a pity they were too late, due to their bad service, they have lost a sale and I have lost money. Sad but true.

Anyways, when I plugged in the new wires to the distributor cap, I discovered that one connector is oxidized:

https://www.mediafire.com/convkey/7f14/5ynn7gn0vjue0yk6g.jpg
https://www.mediafire.com/convkey/cd0f/gonebe2nme2g06w6g.jpg

If I remove the distributor cap, do you think it is possible to clean properly that connector?
If so, which liquid should I use? Would CRC too aggressive for that?

Thank you,
Alex

Any suggestion on how to clean that connector?

Thank you,
Alex

Maybe pack some coarse grade steel wool (rock wool) into the socket, grip it with needle nose pliers over the stem and turn it around to scrub as much of the surface corrosion off the stud as you can. Then use spray contact cleaner to flush it clean -repeat the whole process as needed. Now if the stud is badly corroded or pitted then maybe forget it and use this opportunity to treat it to a new cap and rotor, Bosch (Volvo OEM) brand of course preferred by most of us. Purists might want to use some kind of anti-corrosive coating on the stem you just made bare, like a DeoxIT product. Do be sure to seal out moisture so this problem doesn't return using a good wipe of dieletric grease inside the rubber boots to seal to the distributor cap stems and plug ceramics. Dielectric grease is sold as spark plug protector/lubricant, Sil-Glyde being a common brand (avail @Cdn Tire). No Volvo toolkit should be without it.
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Dave -still with 940's, prev 740/240/140/120 You'd think I'd have learned by now

Hi Dave,

Thank you for your advice, much appreciated.
I am now going to remove the distributor and begin with the cleaning :)

Alex

That’s a pretty sad looking distributor connection. If you can clean it up with spray contact cleaner and something a bit abrasive like a wire brush, then great. I’d be thinking that distributer already has a fair few miles on it and is likely due for replacement. Whatever, going forward you should be using a good wipe of dielectric grease (spark plug lubricant) inside the ignition wire boots to get a good moisture barrier when seated on the nipples and plugs.

As for Autopartsway.ca, proof again you get what you pay for in the way of price, customer service and shipping convenience. Near as I can figure, they’re only able to sell heavily discounted Worldpac parts compared to your local auto supplier by virtue of keeping their volume high and overhead low. When I need parts and am trying to save a buck, I pursue all options, from my local Volvo dealer, local import indie shops, local jobber supply houses, local auto wrecking yards, numerous well regarded import e-tailers on both sides of the border, all the way to ebay, Amazon and Aliexpress from China. Just as an example, my most recent purchase was for distributor seal kits that Volvo doesn’t even list, found under my encouragement in out of province Worldpac stock through my local Volvo dealer, only the second time I’ve ever gone through my dealer in the past 15 years and I was happy to give them the business as they were willing to keep their markup low, plus the parts guy was working from home under Covid guidelines and happy to talk to a Volvophile.
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Dave -still with 940's, prev 740/240/140/120 You'd think I'd have learned by now

... make that a new distributor cap, not a whole no distributor, geez I miss not being able to edit posts here...
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Dave -still with 940's, prev 740/240/140/120 You'd think I'd have learned by now

Spook, Wires made to fit non-resistor plugs use a plug connector that fits over top threaded "stud" of the spark plug while those made for later spec resistor plugs have a simple springy split tube fitting over the "cap" of the plug. - Dave

Dear Volvo From Heck,

Hope you're well. I presumed that any wire set listed as suitable for a B230 engine - which it turns out Metallo does not have in his car - should fit a factory-original plug.

If an owner chooses to use a newer type of spark plug, then plainly wires suitable for that plug need to be installed.

Yours faithfully,

Spook

"If an owner chooses to use a newer type of spark plug, then plainly wires suitable for that plug need to be installed."

I'll second that above. The OE Bougicord wires are made to match to OE spark plugs. If an owner chooses non-OE plugs like NGK coppers or iridium the fit is a bit loose ie the metal end caps of NGK is smaller than OE. Because of this I stopped using NGK plugs even though it works ok in B230 engines. Another thing, their internal resistor value is different - NGK about 4.5k to 5k ohms while OE 10k to 15k ohms.

Amarin.

Hi Alex,

This is the reason you don't throw anything out, and keep mounds and mounds of junk. You reach for that old wire set you replaced 5 years ago and strip off the spring clamps to replace when your new one breaks. Otherwise...


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Art Benstein near Baltimore

I only changed them once, 20 years ago, I do not keep junk in the grage for 20 years.

Do you think those clips can be found somewhere, like Fastenal or so?

Alex

"I do not keep junk in the grage for 20 years."

I do. Maybe it is time you started. Then again, money is less messy to store.

"Do you think those clips can be found somewhere ...?"

Yes, go to any auto service shop and ask. Ask nicely. They will give you some old wires. Fastenal?? Nah.

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Art Benstein near Baltimore

I can try an auto service shop, but the connectors are different for any other car and I doubt they will have something similar.

In my area, this is the only 940 in the whole Canadian province and junkyards have no cars older than the year 2000.

Cheers,
Alex

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Art Benstein near Baltimore