Incredible - problem found. I just went out and started the car in the pitch dark, then popped the hood. The wire set looks like Tokyo at night - arcing everywhere. I was able to accentuate with a mist of water from a spray bottle. It was amazing, as in some instances there were 4 or 5 arcs forming on the same wire. Nearly every wire was arcing in multiple spots. The worst was the coil wire, which of course feeds the others. It's a wonder this car is running at all!

The worst part is that the wires are fairly new. I put them on just 2 years and 32,000 miles ago. They were purchased locally and were supposedly OEM - I believe they are Beru. I'm not taking any more chances. I want to buy the original wires that went on here, since the originals lasted 14 years and the car was running by the time I took them off. Any suggestions on which ones to buy?

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08 W251 R350
97 W210 E320
91 W124 300E
86 W126 560SEL
85 W126 380SE Silver
85 W126 380SE Cranberry
79 W123 250
78 W123 280E
75 W114 280