Am I missing something here?  I thought the 1.9 L heads provided a higher
compression ratio.  If so, and if they provide greater clearance between the
piston and the spark plug, how is this accomplished?

Mike
Houlton, Maine

>I don't know if there is a problem. You just have to wonder why VW
>recommended them for 85 and then not for 86 and later. Maybe with the 2.1L
>there may be a problem with the longer tip protruding further into the
>combustion chamber causing the plug tip to overheat and start the
>detonation process. Just maybe! I have seen broken spark plug tips in a
>number of different engines over the years. If the combustion process was
>able to break a tip, think what it can do to the pistons.
>
> Dennis
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: Frank Condelli <RAlanen@AOL.COM>
> Date: Monday, January 10, 2005 6:13 am
> Subject: Re: Broken Spark Plug Electrode/Tip
>
>> In a message dated 10/01/2005 12:07:00 AM Eastern Standard Time,
>> LISTSERV@GERRY.VANAGON.COM writes:
>>
>> I agree  that the W7DTC is a bit longer, but I have been running
>> them for
>> years on my  Vanagons as well as any Vanagon I have worked on.  So
>> while they are
>> longer, I do not think they are too long to the point that the
>> piston will
>> hit  them.
>>
>>
>>
>> Another weird story !  I have been using  the W7DTC in my '87
>> Westy for well
>> over five years, maybe longer, I'm not about  to do a search on
>> that trivia,
>> and all of my customers vans with 1.9 & 2.1  engines have them.  I
>> have never
>> seen one single problem with these  plugs.  Well, not true, I just
>> rememberedthe story of a customer who  installed them himself and
>> over tightened them,
>> breaking the bond between the  porcelain and the metal base and
>> could not find
>> the bad engine running problem  until changing the plugs.  The
>> engines run
>> better and the plugs last longer  than any others I have tried.
>> So where is the
>> problem with them being too  long ?  Maybe the engines you have on
>> Long Island
>> are different then the  ones I see up here in Ontario.
>>
>> Cheers,
>>
>> Frank  Condelli
>> Almonte, Ontario, Canada
>> _BusFusion_ (http://members.aol.com/BusFusion/bfhome.htm)  a VW Camper
>> camping event, Almonte, ON, June 09 ~ 12, 2005
>> '87 Westy, '90 Carat &  Lionel Trains
>> Member: _Vanagon List_ (http://www.vanagon.com/) , _LiMBO_
>> (http://www.bcn.net/~limbo/) , _IWCCC_
>> (http://www.westfalia.qc.ca/)  & _CCVWC_
>> (http://www.ccvwc.ca/)
>> Vanagon/Vanagon Westfalia Service in  the Ottawa Valley
>> _STEBRO/Vanagon Stainless Steel  Mufflers_
>> (http://members.aol.com/Fkc43/stebro.htm)
>> _Frank Condelli &  Associates_
>> (http://members.aol.com/Fkc43/busindex.html)or
>> http://frankcondelli.com