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[Paul M]

I bought a set of Bosch plug leads for the V6 vectra, since they don't make a set for the V6 Omega and I figured they'd probably fit. However I got cold feet and didn't want to risk stripping half the engine to replace the leads only to discover the Vectra ones are too short or whatever. So I bought a set of Omega leads that jseaman from here had used for only a few hours so I had a fall back.

Decided to compare them, both in length and in connectors. The slightly dirty ones are the Omega leads, the shiny black clean ones are the Bosch Vectra ones.









As you can see, the connectors are identical on both ends, and the length of both sets of leads is pretty close too, with a few of the Vectra ones being slightly longer which is unlikely to be a problem. So I'm pretty confident Vectra V6 leads will fit, I will know for sure once I get round to fitting them. As you can buy Bosch ones, which are of known good quality I can't see why anyone would ever pay stupid money for VX ones which are unlikely to be any better than the Bosch stuff. It's entirely possible the VX ones are actually manufactured by Bosch and rebranded GM (as the spark plugs are), with their obligatory 500% markup of course .

[JasonH]

Good job there. I've been waiting for you to get to the bottom of this  

[TheBoy]

How much were they?

I would sooner fit Magnecor from Mtek than pay a fortune for GM ones....

[Marks DTM Calib]

How long is the plug cap.......I just measured a Genuine one and its 113mm...

Its no the lead elngth that worries me, its the plug cap length.....as I have seen a few now where the lead is forced to a funny angle due to it being short......and it might be that the second hand ones are also wrong (judging by the way the tail has formed) so worth checking to make doubly sure...

The genuine ones seem to be made by a company called Beru in Germany....

[Markjay]

According to the Bosch catalogue, the Omega 2.5/3.0 leads are B143, your's are B162...  

[Paul M]

These are for Vectra 2.5 V6, Saab 9000 2.5 V6, 3.0 V6. You can't actually buy the "proper" Omega ones listed, I looked all over the place to no avail.

Bosch are about £40 IIRC, loads cheaper than £120 magnecors, let alone £160 VX  

[Paul M]

How long is the plug cap.......I just measured a Genuine one and its 113mm...

Its no the lead elngth that worries me, its the plug cap length.....as I have seen a few now where the lead is forced to a funny angle due to it being short......and it might be that the second hand ones are also wrong (judging by the way the tail has formed) so worth checking to make doubly sure...

The genuine ones seem to be made by a company called Beru in Germany....

I'm getting damn close to 113mm, +/- 1mm due to measurement accuracy. Of course the only way to find out for 100% is to try them, and that time will come soon enough

Need to make sure I've got all the bits n pieces first, cam cover gaskets for starters as I want to do the lot (HBV, stat) in one go.

[Dave-C]

If I may say, they look spot on to me! I changed mine a while ago, can't remember the make, but they were a known make, they were about £50 trade, cash...   Mine too were slightly longer in length, this is easily lost en route, the plug insulators too were slightly plumper and a few mm longer, NO PROBLEMS on my 3000cc V6.

Also,  We live close to a Lucas manufacturer, I once had new leads for my 24v Scorpio Cosworth, from a friend who actually made them, their ends were slightly plumper too, I enquired about this, was told, manufacturing process involves very high pressure air to expand the rubber ends, cable inserted the air turned off and the rubber shrinks around the HT wire etc, a good tight fit will alter after a few miles of heat.

Hope this helps someone..


Dave C

[Marks DTM Calib]

I have made some enquiries about the genuine ones via a distributor....watch this space...