Dizzy cap center contact and rotor

At about now, your dizzy caps can suffer cracks and need replacement. At the very least, the rubber boots are shred to hell. The wires are also stiff as tree branches. The plug extenders would not last this long without replacement either. The replacement of that whole thing is preventive maintenance.

New ignition wires are expensive but there is a DIY procedure to make your own wires and eliminate the extenders in the process. Dizzy replacement caps are fairly affordable for a Ferrari. Boots are $60 each. Get a new set of spark plug spacers. They are unlikely to withstand the removal process.

 

Just ordered new carbon buttons/spring for the distributor caps From AW auto parts in New Jersey. They were the cheapest I found and company is very reputable. Dave Helms in Boulder Colorado? Can rebuild your ignition wires way cheaper than buying new or being stuck with aftermarket. Ordered new wires few years ago and was sent after market. The rubber boots did not seal over the holes properly so they got sent back. Just an FYI Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

Ozone, the spark ionizes the air and generates ozone, over time that breaks down the plastic combined with thermal cycles. All dizzy ignition systems suffer this, is just far cheaper on mass produced vehicles for replacement parts. On one of my old mercedes the cap fits to a base plate with an 'o' ring for an air tight seal, not so much for water protection but to keep a lower oxygen environment to reduce ozone production, that's the theory anyways.

 

Just replace everything, plugs, wires , connectors , cap and rotors, the car is 30 years old, give it what it needs, dont worry whether or not someone else did it. These cars are the best mass produced machines that Ferrari has ever made, with that being said, get used to the upkeep, its inevitable . My 89 has 103 K miles, and it wants for nothing, being that I did every possible preventive ( cap rotors, plugs etc), and non preventive maintenance such as the starter and alternator ,clutch and accelerator cables, and the list goes on and on. And if I were you, I would start collecting everything parts wise that are going to need replacing in the future ,( such as the motor mounts / shocks / bushings ) before the parts get even more expensive than they already are (.Ferr parts gave me excellent prices on all the parts that I needed for my car including all of the suspension parts OEM Konis as well ).

Thank you

 

I just visited AW AutoParts in Eatontown, NJ about an hour ago. I spoke to Tracey, their in-house Ferrari expert. She travels to Italy on a regular basis to source parts...her inventory of 328 parts, in particular, is very impressive. She gets her 328 ignition wires from Italy and promises me they are the highest quality available.

Be advised that if you buy the parts directly from AW (732-542-5600) you’ll get a better price than what’s shown on ebay.

Alan
N.J.

 

AW auto parts treated me terrific Just to clarify my earlier post, the aftermarket plug wires I was sent was from a West Coast distributor and not AW auto parts.