magnecor warranty problems for the LQ1 - Please Read!! - RESOLVED

[pwmin]

disclaimer: im not going to make any conclusions until this is resolved. this problem may have a happy ending, lol.

 

my new $160 KV85 wires are shot in my GP and this is what magnecor said: "this sort

of thing is really a problem inherent with this engine (particularly if the spark plugs are old), which is not covered under the warranty"

 

WTF? that is ridiculous. its might be taylors for me from now on. they were brand new plugs, too.

 

 

edit: conclusions near bottom of second page under subject line "RESOLUTION and conclusions"

 

[Stevo]

I use standard AC Delco wires that are guaranteed for life. As long as I don't buy them from the dealer which oddly has the policy of a 1 year guarantee only.

 

If Magnecor makes plugs for these motors then they have no business saying they warranty their products for certain motors (just don't make them for those engines period). I'd have something to say abou that.

 

What were you using for spark plugs on the wires??? Hopefully not Platinum plugs. Platinum plugs are poison for LQ1's.

[pwmin]

i wanted some red wires and i had good luck w/ the 8mm magnecors in my 96. i know the ac delco 7's are good enough, i just wanted bigger red ones if i wouldve known about the red taylor 8 and 8.2mm wires that are less than $100, i wouldve gotten them instead.

 

youre totally right. magnecor is supposed to have the best wires and warranty in the business (or so they say), so i just cant understand this whole deal. i sent them an email. the original email was sent to alamomotorsports (the dealer i bought them through) and that is the reply they got from magnecor. he gave them his name and address at MC and wanted me to just sent them in to have them fixed. screw that. if im going to pay to ship them and have them repaired, im just getting taylors. there's a lot of people that are going to know about this if they dont send me a new set.

 

the plugs i used shouldnt matter in this issue, since they are recommended in the AC Delco catalog, but it shouldnt matter to them what plugs i used, unless they specify in their warranty. that being said, why are Pt plugs bad for LQ1's? if they are, why would ACD recommend them? im not being rude, just want to know why. i shouldve just got some R42's for it since they dont really need "good" plugs and theyre a bit cheaper. are Ir plugs the same way? i pulled the rapid-fire 12s i had out of there and put in some NGK TR5IX plugs that i had in my rivi for a little while that i took out of it. theyre still in good condition, but i may just order a set of R42's.

[pwmin]

i got an email back from him. he said he needs to see the wires first, but they may warranty them, which is not what it sounded like in the first email. got a little defensive about my not wanting a product from a company that doesnt stand behind their product.

 

update: got the wires sent out today around 530.

[chadz34]

Alright, lets clear this up....91-95 DOHC LQ1 engines DO NOT like platinum plugs. The 96-97 DOHC LQ1 CAME with platinum plugs for the factory. Magnecor should honour the wires, I ordered a KYV85 set from them and am waiting for there arrival. I hope I don't run into any problmes like this.

[Stevo]

From what I understand the platinum plugs fire a lil hotter than what is required in the LQ1. I read that platinum plugs came on later cars but that was during the 100,000km before change idea.

[TurboSedan]

keep us updated. i've never had a problem with the Magnecor KV85 wires on my old GTS or Cutlass and i know my brother hasn't had any problems with them on his 3 Turbo Dodges. i was planning on buying a set for the Regal too.

[pwmin]

keep us updated. i've never had a problem with the Magnecor KV85 wires on my old GTS or Cutlass and i know my brother hasn't had any problems with them on his 3 Turbo Dodges. i was planning on buying a set for the Regal too.

yeah, im waiting for them to get the wires. hopefully tomorrow, but probably thurs. reading over the warranty, they can pretty much not warranty anything. it says something to the fact that they can void the warranty if the car caused the problem, even if everything was working as originally designed. theres no excuse for a wire to cause tracking on a plug after 3 months of minimal use. thats an internal problem with the wire, correct? when i first put the wires on, the sputtering problem went away as well as the falling on its face above 5500. it still runs good at 5500 even w/ the bad wire(s).

 

idk, the first reply i got sounded like a definite "we wont warranty them cuz of the car it was on", which is total B.S. IMO, but now they seem like they are going to do something. i dont know if im going to order anything like that from the internet anymore. i get really good prices at the local speed shop. my dad could order through keystone, but their prices would be higher than through the speed shop, which also ordered through keystone

[99RegalGS]

Wow, I hope you get your plug wires warrantied.

 

The only reason why platinum plugs got a bad name for our cars is because we have the waste spark problem, and 3 of the plugs would wear out line normal copper plugs. That was because they were single platinum plugs. This caused a bad name for all platinum plugs... If you you ran double platinum plugs in our cars there would be not wear issues or the problems associated single platinum plugs..... /end hijack

[pwmin]

just a little worthless update: usps says the wires were delivered at noon yesterday, but no update yet from magnecor i SO wish i knew taylor made plug wires before i bought these. i wouldve been able to get them through advance auto parts. ive got a pretty good hook-up with them plus theyll price match summit and jegs for me, just takes them longer sometimes. my price for AC Delco's is more than the 8.2mm taylors.

 

damnit, and i was going to replace the oil pan gasket this weekend, too.

[pwmin]

emailed them back today and got a quick response...not sure why they didnt lmk what was going on earlier, but oh, well. he said too much dielectric grease was in the boots at the plug end but said nothing about the coil ends. im not sure i completely buy that, but i guess its possible. he said they were going to be tough to fix, but would need to scrape and blow out the ends, but thats all he said. i replied and hopefully i will get a response soon. seems to be much more helpful than was previously indicated in the first email. i may end up just shortening the wires and putting new boots on the coil ends, i just hope i dont have to buy a new set of wires.

[93CutlassSupreme]

Aftermarket plug wires are a waste of money unless you are HIGHLY MODDED, like my CS

[pwmin]

Aftermarket plug wires are a waste of money unless you are HIGHLY MODDED, like my CS

i know, but theyre so pretty actually, the taylors are cheaper than the ACD's, so the ACD's are the ones that are the waste of money

 

got an email back and he said the one boot ends will need to be replaced and all the grease taken out (to both of which he said is not easy), other than that, they are still in great shape. i hope so, since they were only 3 months old or so however, he didnt tell me if they were going to fix them or if they were just going to send them back.

[93CutlassSupreme]

Aftermarket plug wires are a waste of money unless you are HIGHLY MODDED, like my CS

i know, but theyre so pretty actually, the taylors are cheaper than the ACD's, so the ACD's are the ones that are the waste of money

 

got an email back and he said the one boot ends will need to be replaced and all the grease taken out (to both of which he said is not easy), other than that, they are still in great shape. i hope so, since they were only 3 months old or so however, he didnt tell me if they were going to fix them or if they were just going to send them back.

 

Whatever floats your boat. I think black wires look better.

 

 

Hope you get this worked out.

[Brian P]

how much grease is in there? I hope that solves it, but I dunno...

[pwmin]

how much grease is in there? I hope that solves it, but I dunno...

i probably put more on there than needed, but idk either. i didnt think it was excessive enough to cause that. hopefully, theyll replace the end, clean them out and then theyll work.

[TurboSedan]

i think i am going to go with Aurora 8.5mm wires for both of my cars next time. good warranty and i can get them in black. they appear to be very high quality.

[pwmin]

still waiting on final word from them. he said they will replace the boot and either clean the grease out or have me, not sure exactly what he was saying. said they would be out today.

 

you have a lot more options than the 3.4's do. all we get is cheapos (autolite, xact, etc.) or AC Delco, Magnecor, or Taylor (91-95 only). the 10mm PRJ/Taylor look friggin huge on the L67's ive never heard of the aurora's before?

[TurboSedan]

my brother has a set on his Spirit R/T and they look nice, high quality. he's had to have two wires replaced and he was sent two new wires right away (one was damaged in shipping, the other came apart but only because the wrong ends were ordered). here is some info on them:

 

http://www.auroraelectronics.com/Understanding%20Spark%20Plug%20Wires.pdf

 

http://www.auroraelectronics.com/Spark%20plug%20wire%20construction.pdf

 

i wanted to get Magnecor KV85 wires for my GS but i can't find the right part #. i can find the PN for an L67 but only in a Bonneville or Riv, or i can find a PN for a Grand Prix/Regal but only for the L36.

[pwmin]

got your pm. your post cut off the full link, so i cant view either of the pages. magnecor said that the coil end boots were actually bad (said they werent before), so they have to replace them along w/ one of the plug end boots and clean out al the grease. should have them sent out by friday. i sure hope so and that they work when i get them back.

[TurboSedan]

oops, fixed now. hope it all works out with the Magnecor wires! sounds like it will.

[Garrett8]

when i had my 92 LQ1 i ran delco 12's and had a set of accel wires ( i work at oreillys and got the wires for $55) i never had a problem

[pwmin]

i didnt know accel made wires for them. do you know a part number? is it a custom or original fit?

[pwmin]

okay, so i got my wires back. they replaced one of the spark plug boots and replaced three of the coil end boots. i had to clean the dielectric grease out.

 

so, they did fix them for free. i'm glad it wasnt like it sounded like it was going to be in the first email. however, it was a PIA and i had to pay shipping one way and it took a couple weeks from the time i sent them out till i got them back. it was MAYBE partially my fault, though.

 

my conclusion: i would say the magnecor are probably better than the taylors, but i would get the taylors since you have a choice of colors and 8mm or 8.2mm if you can get them through a vendor that would warranty them for you through the vendor and get a new set if anything would go wrong with them. does that make sense?