By Leslie on Thursday, July 12, 2001 - 03:51 am: Edit

I was at a local speed shop hunting for tools and parts, and happened to notice a display board sitting on the counter. It had 8 different brands of wires, and an ohmmeter so that you could check the resistance of each. Magnecor was the worst of the bunch.

So I asked the guy at the counter (note: not a 4x4 shop, didn't even go into the Disco inquiry) about Magnecors, saying that I had heard a bit about them (referring to here). He said that they're better than stock wires, of course, but more expensive than the other 7 brands, and didn't do as well.

SO.... why are the Magnecors preferable on a Disco than another brand?? Or are the others better, but don't get press?

I've a hunch that maybe Magnecors list a set as being for Rovers, whereas the others don't bother to include them in their catalogs. (Don't know that, just hypothesizing) Shouldn't it be easy enough to figure out which sets cross-reference to the Magnecor set? Or am I missing something??

-L

By Codger on Thursday, July 12, 2001 - 04:24 am: Edit

Good point: before getting on this board, I never heard of Magnacore. I have been fooling around with cars for over 20 years and have found most of the US brands of wires to be pretty good. If there is no listing for Disco, then you can always make your own from a univeral set or cross reference to another make that has similar length wires that fit your cap. 65 Buick comes to mind, with the 215 V8, but check the book. IMHO, most guys are wasting their money going with the bigger Magnacore or any other brand of wire, without increasing sparking ability. This is not a race engine that is going to run at 8500 rpm: it is a truck and what you want is to get the spark to the plugs using a wire that doesn't impede the spark too much.

By Ron on Thursday, July 12, 2001 - 04:48 am: Edit

Here is why:

The stock wires and especially the connectors suck. They get wet they arc. Magnecors don't and their connectors are better. Yes you can cut and make wires but magnecors are premade and set upi for LRs and have been tested on LRs and work. I too believe 8.5 hipo ones are overkill.

Ron

PS I think the buick had the dizzy in the center as opposed to offset as teh EFI 94-95 discos did (put same as carbed and hotfire RRs pre 87)

By Leslie on Thursday, July 12, 2001 - 04:56 am: Edit

Ah...

So the Magnecors are better for an off-road truck because of the quality of the casing, not becuase of the current carry... makes sense, as a hot-rod isn't planning on sloshing through puddles.

I'd assume that Magnecors are available for the non-dizzy versions of our LRs?

Cheapest place to buy them??

-L

By Tate on Thursday, July 12, 2001 - 04:59 am: Edit

Magnecors are available for 96+ DIs. I got mine straight from Magnecor for around $50--check there first. They had a "deal" going for Rover owners a while ago. Dealer wanted $110 for stock wires...

By Ron on Thursday, July 12, 2001 - 05:01 am: Edit

Buy direct or I heard Nathan may carry them:

boatbuggy@aol.com

www.magnecor.com

Ron

By Ron on Thursday, July 12, 2001 - 05:04 am: Edit

L,

Never really considered current capasity so much as the ability to get it there under bad conditions (dirt water immersion etc.) I think the old stock ones are so poorly shielded they arc and crossfire which is why new magnecor seem to make the trucks run better. Just my opinion and experience nothing more.

Ron

By Leslie on Thursday, July 12, 2001 - 05:14 am: Edit

FYI...

http://www.magnecor.com/magnecor1/specialoffers/offers-rover.htm


Darn skippy! Good enough reason for me.... it's nice to see a manufacturer recognize the existence of Land Rover w/o being a Land Rover specific business.

-L

By Leslie on Thursday, July 12, 2001 - 05:27 am: Edit

And also, in response to my initial comment about the MSD display board:

http://www.magnecor.com/magnecor1/frequent.htm#4.1

Dudes, these guys have it covered!

-L

By Jeff Bieler (Mrbieler) on Thursday, July 12, 2001 - 05:27 am: Edit

Leslie,

I haven't tried other wires in the Discovery yet. I wasn't looking to change plugs and wires until the spring.

As for the quality of Magnecor, I wouldn't put any faith what so ever in the board you found at the parts store. Who built the board? Were the wires available all spec'd for the same vehicle? Were some wires newer then others? So many variables and so many ways to skew results...

I don't have an answer to your question, but I don't think the info you got gets you any closer either.

Jeff

By Leslie on Thursday, July 12, 2001 - 05:30 am: Edit

Guess we're posting at the same time...

The board was an MSD display board, as addressed on the Magnecor site.

These guys even have a page on their name: http://www.magnecor.com/magnecor1/spelling.htm


-L

By Ron on Thursday, July 12, 2001 - 05:31 am: Edit

these guys have it covered!

Yes they are very nice and knowledgable, responsive etc. The only known problem was when a LR tech installed a set wrong (hard to get on and the boots seal so well you often get air pressure which pops them off so you have to squeeze the boot while installing, no biggy) and a check engine light came on when one wire popped off so genuine wires were installed.

Ron

By Ron on Thursday, July 12, 2001 - 05:32 am: Edit

L,

I think that last one is for me. I have misspeeled it on discoweb like at least 6 times.

Ron

By Blue Gill (Bluegill) on Thursday, July 12, 2001 - 06:34 am: Edit

stock wires do suck - just had mine replaced by dealer at 60k service a couple months ago, and I traced misfiring and stalling problems to bad wire connections (splashing off-road and particularly delicately hosing engine compartment).

By Rich Lee on Thursday, July 12, 2001 - 06:02 pm: Edit

I bought Jacobs for the 95 Disco and 8.5mm Magnecors for my wife's 91 Rangie. Both wires
immediately improved throttle response and idle. Also, neither vehicle threw "misfire" codes
any more. The Jacobs did not fit in the OEM wiring seperators and eventually, the outer
silicone sheathing started to tear too easily (temp fix is blue silicone seal). Even the (overkill) 8.5 mm Magnecors fit in the OEM holders and they have less radio noise than either the OEM
wires or the Jacobs. They have more resistence than the Jacobs, but much less than the
OEM wires (new or old). They seem to work as well as the Jacobs, sound better and are
easier to install. If I were to do it again, I'd get the 8.0mm Magnecors over any other wire.

By Mateo on Friday, July 13, 2001 - 06:27 am: Edit

I recently bought some Magnecors for my 96 Disco. When I called up Mcor, they said that I should run the 7MM, and not bother with the 8.5 or 8MM. Said 7MM would work fine, and the others would make now dif. The lengths were precut to match the Disco to a T!