would a plug lead cause loss of power

[richard s]

on way home tonight car was really down on power i had to rev it to 3-3500 to get it to set off and when it did it would not pull it would reluctantly rev but exhaust note was very loud and sounded rough and when lifting off throttle exhaust was burbeling so i pulled over tunred it off had a quick look everything looked ok got home and checked plugs to see if they were tight they were but one of the plug leads seemed to pull out of its housing about 10 mm could this be the problem or does it sound like something else
if it is plug leads what are the best replacements
car is 1989 8v gti pb

[dubslug]

if plugs not making contact ur basicaly running ur car on 3 cylinders, does it kinda sound beefy like a rally car??
i would get stadard plugs as well thats te general view from what i can work out

rik

[richard s]

it is running a stainless dtm but i suppose it does sound a bit rallyish minus popping sounds it didnt sound like it was running on three cylinders but drove like it was could a plug lead intermitantly break down or would it just go altogether

[takethefifth]

A plug lead could break down and give a crap spark but from what you said replacing sounds to be a good bet anyway. 

The OEM Beru leads from http://www.vwspares.co.uk/ work very well.

I would check your plugs for any signs that one cylinder is running worse than the others.

It could be that a sensor has gone depending on the engine you run, or developed a crack in your dizzy cap or something. 

[richard s]

found out what was causing problem when i went to try a different plug lead it turned out to be the dizzy even though pinch bolt was tight it could still be turned so removed pinch bolt cleaned it up and refitted after setting dizzy as good as i could and started up
it is now running better than it has for a while just need to print rubjonnys tuning guide so i can set it up better