S1 plug well flooding

[woody]

With the recent heavy rain, my car has repeatedly suffered the plug wells flooding causing it to run on any number of cylinders randomly. I assume other S1's also suffer from this; what can be done? Short of sealing the plug cover with silicone (not somthing I'd recommend) I can't see much. Do S2's suffer as well, and is the S2 system transferable to the S1 ( I beleive they have one coil per cylinder/two cylinders depending on age)?

Partco are getting me new leads in tomorrow as the ones they had didn't look like they'd be a good seal in the head either.

[steve_weegie]

Woody, the S2's have a top cover that bolts down onto the cam cover to protect the 2 coil packs underneath. So, to put this cover on an S1 you'd need to get an S2 cam cover and the top cover to go with it too. It would likley fit straight on, but you'd need to make a blanking plate for the cam position sensor that the S1 doesnt have.

Could you not make some large platic washers that would clamp round the HT leads and act as a spark plug "sombrero"?

[graeme]

Whatever you do, don't fork out £££ for the Magnecor red leads only to discover the seal is worse than the OEM leads.

[woody]

Whatever you do, don't fork out £££ for the Magnecor red leads only to discover the seal is worse than the OEM leads.

The ones Partco had earlier looked as if they'd have no seal at all; they are getting me a set with another part number tomorrow, so we'll see.

Steve: I suspect there may be a bit more to it than just using the S2 coils etc... some re-wiring may be involved?

[steve_weegie]

Steve: I suspect there may be a bit more to it than just using the S2 coils etc... some re-wiring may be involved?

Aah, I was talking about just using the cam cover and top cover with the usual s1 dizzy drive.... Converting the S1 to use the S2 HT system would need a bit more work.

I say a bit, but i really mean quite a lot as the ECU has now way of deciding which coil pack to fire - thats the old skool dizzys job on the S1

[woody]

Steve: I suspect there may be a bit more to it than just using the S2 coils etc... some re-wiring may be involved?

Aah, I was talking about just using the cam cover and top cover with the usual s1 dizzy drive.... Converting the S1 to use the S2 HT system would need a bit more work.

I say a bit, but i really mean quite a lot as the ECU has now way of deciding which coil pack to fire - thats the old skool dizzys job on the S1

A good point well made there Steve, although it'smaybe possible with the EFI (branded) unit the 160 runs. I see what yopu mean though, the plugs are much better sheltered than on an S1.

[steve_weegie]

Could be an interesting project with the EFI ECU..... Until i looked at the price of their mapping software You could almost buy an entire emerald system for what they want!

Still, it might be worth a quick call to them, even if its just to see if the ECU is programable with their current software. You might find they could supply an older software version for your ECU cheaper....

Cheers,

Steve

[robin]

The S2 shield is not infallible either, though I've had no bother, others have had some problems. The best blanking plug to use for the cam position sensor is a cam position sensor You would need to muller the cover a bit to make a big enough hole to bring in the HT leads (the S2 just brings in a couple of small diameter wires with all the HT gubbins being under the cover).

Lots of people do just run a bead of silicone up the long edges of the spark plug cover insert, and that does seem to work for them ... when you unscrew the cover it'll either just pull off, or you'll need to run a blade or steel wire up each side to cut the silicone.

Cheers,
Robin

[Scottd]

....Lots of people do just run a bead of silicone up the long edges of the spark plug cover insert....

That's what I did, been problem free.

[thinfourth]

Exactly the same problem with the 7 probably worse due to even worse engine cover

2 lengths of duct tape and job done and easier to remove them silly sealer