the facts may not lie, but there might be another side of the story too.
there really isn't any plausible mechanism for a certain spark plug type,
per se, to cause a bad coil.

were the plugs replaced along with the coils on these vans?

it is well known that most coils reported as bad are actually ok. fouled
plugs, improperly gapped plugs, bad wires, bad or wet cap/rotor are more
likely culprits. with two or more items changed at once, it can be hard to
say which one, or if both, were at fault.

dan

On Sat, 12 Jun 2004 01:46:10 -0400, Eric Zeno <vw4x4@FYI.NET> wrote:

>The fact do not lie....   I've had a dozen or so Vanagons that had bad
>coils with the single electrode plugs in them. No one could say why
>but the coils was replaced to get them running.   G O   F I g U R E
>                           I can't ether./.....
>
>            Eric                   86-VW4x4
>            vw4x4@fyi.net          86-SS Syncro
>            Pittsburgh, PA USA     1936-Chrysler
>                                   92-Jetta GWC
>            www.fyi.net/~vw4x4/vw4x4.htm
>
>On Fri, 11 Jun 2004, David Brodbeck wrote:
>
>> Chris S. wrote:
>> > I put single electrode plugs in my Vanagon - engine runs OK.
>> > I put Bosh +4 plugs in there - engine runs wonderfully (much better
than
>> > just OK)
>>
>> I won't argue with you about that.  I just refuse to believe, as someone
>> claimed earlier, that single-electrode plugs will cause the ignition
>> coil to fail, seeing as the system was designed when they were the only
>> type of plug available!
>>
>> --
>>
>> David Brodbeck, N8SRE
>> '82 VW Diesel Westfalia
>> '86 Volvo 240DL wagon
>>