Spark Plug Wires-Fixing Ignition Problems Before They Happen
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- Опубликовано: 2 май 2022
- The choice and routing of ignition wires is often an afterthought, but paying attention to the details in this area can help avoid major tuning and troubleshooting issues down the road.
Here's a quick run through of what we look for and steps we take when setting up the ignition systems on our cars. All fairly straightforward and universal but too often neglected.
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Tony, you need to invest in an external mic. Whenever you turn the camera away from you the volume becomes very muffled and hard for us older Mopar nuts to hear. Great content though. Been a follower since you started. Keep it up.
I was just going to say the same thing. Sounds like you're talking through a pillow.
I like how geniune the videos are and sound
Probably because he had to be camera man on this one because Uncle Cathy didn’t film it lol
You can get a lavallier mic for 10 bucks that clips on your shirt/tee and will sound fine!
I like the Accel wires cause they look nice. For some reason it reminds me of the 70s.
What are they like?
@@andremarini7113
You had to be there.
@@andremarini7113 lots of cocaine and unshaved pubic areas that looked like a freakin jungle.
Nothing like the 80s which was also cocaine fueled but they started figuring out razors by then.
its called inductive coupling. the magnetic field is strong enough to induce the voltage in the other wires. its not necessarily a misfire but rather a crossfire. depending on the firing order it can fire the other plug when a valve is open or in some cases during compression causing a detonation. if the wires must be close its best they cross at a 90 degree angle. best rule of thumb is to keep them spaced apart the width of another wire. also this is why aircraft have flexible metal conduit on the outside . it acts as a shield to prevent misfires and eliminate rf noise. interestingly enough a cop with a good radar gun will know if you are running solid copper core wires.
Remember the old sun scopes and how much information can be derived from the signal at the coil? Newer systems like the one Harley uses can tell mixture and flame front propagation simply by monitoring the resistance of the electrode of each plug. I would imagine these systems are also sensitive to cross talk between wires among other previously unknown anomalies. Good talk
I play my subscription RUclips videos during commercials (when watching my programs on tv), but I put my programs on pause and play UTG when he puts out a video.
That caps a keeper. Back in the day, I always looked for the copper/brass over the aluminum contacts. Always lasted way longer, even with cleaning.
That's true of more modern cars as well. My 1982 Camaro eats the aluminum caps in about 8k miles. The hei power output just melts them.
Always love ur $0.10 (worth way more than everyone else's 2 cents)
Even when I think I know how I do it.... There's almost always something you teach me. Appreciate you sharing your knowledge! (... and confirming my confidence😉)
Tony , I have never committed on any of your videos. I do enjoy your learning from you the old ways of tuning up a engine. I have owned a lot of Dodge trucks but this coming weekend I am buying a 66 barracuda to build with my girlfriend and her son so y'all we have to see me in the comments more often asking questions. Thanks again for the sharing of you knowledge.
I always have saved old distributor caps and rotors and spark plug wires. And they have come in handy many times because a wire got burned through or a cap got damaged (Chevy) because of rough terrain. Thank you for all of your wisdom!!
I bought a classic muscle car recently and stumbled across your videos. You have given me the confidence to learn how the fuel and ignition systems work and looking forward to learn how the other systems work. Also, the way you go about and explain things is certainly a gift or yours! -thank you so much!!!
It's interesting how when Uncle Tony gives you the lowdown on something, even something like plug wires, he covers it exhaustivly. He'll give you his personal experiences, historical and technical background, and ways to judge and troubleshoot the situation. Lots of other RUclipsrs are basically just repeating what it says on the box. Just sayin'.
I agree 👍
You are the Bob Ross of automobiles. Happy little cars.
Guy pulls up to the shop in his El Camino with a small block and glass packs and his problem is an obvious miss. After speaking to him we pop the hood and I take a quick look. Brand new set of wires have been installed and #7 is dangling. Turn it off and grab a set of side cutters and snip off the zip tie holding the wire to the steering column.
Thanks Tony for the information. I use to park in the darkest place I could find crack the hood open and look for sparks.
I did that years ago - - the plug wires were alive with blue energy just drifting around....it has to be REALLY dark.
and spray w water? (before running...)
Wires were always the first thing I changed on a car. Back when leaded fuel was the norm, and plugs needed to be changed regularly, there was lots of opportunity to damage carbon core wires. My go to brand was MSW Silver Beauties, 7mm and black, spiral wound, they didn’t look out of place in a stock (looking) engine compartment.
Never understood in all of my 49yrs of life why the big 3 always used those shitty carbon core wires when there's plenty of other cars that used actual wire in the plug wires and it works without all kinds of interference.
It is what it is ,but in all actuality they really suck.
If I can believe what I’ve read on the internet, you can do serious damage to under hood electronics used in modern cars f you use the solid core wires like Tony is using, or low quality spiral wound wires. The electronics are very sensitive to the magnetic fields. Maybe that’s why they went to coil on plugs.
The thing about spark plug wires near each other is actually pretty simple. Electricity and magnetism go hand-in-hand. Whenever you have electricity flowing down a wire there's an associated magnetic field that surrounds the wire. If you put another wire inside of that field, the field will induce a current (or is it voltage...been 30 years since college) in that second wire. The closer the second wire is to the first one, and the longer they run side-by-side, the stronger the induced current will be in that second wire and the greater the chance that both spark plug will fire simultaneously.
It also has to do with the dielectric constant of the materials around the wire, which can either improve or prohibit the formation of electric and magnetic fields. The insulation of the wires can only insulate so much electric and magnetic field so there will be some leakage. Especially since we're dealing with pulses (although a low frequency), there can also be a resonance with a certain length of wire that can further encourage that leakage
Sounds like it doesn't hurt to use 8mm..
Inductive crossfire
1/2 inch minimum separation and fresh - clean wires. also don't run sequential firing cylinders parallel like Chevy's 5 and 7, a cross-fire can blow the head gasket firing on compression.
Some first gen hemis group the wires together under a cover. This must be bad for crossfire.
I've used old ignition caps for close to 100K miles, just check the contacts, center contact especially and reinstall if it cleans up nicely. and ya, grease that end so they don't stick to the plug. Cheers from Calgary, Alberta.
Hey I am in calgary too, I got a few old caps that did the 200K miles and now make great pen/pencil holders
They sell special pliers for pulling straight boots and the terminal as one. I'm always saying that about everything you handle being a new problem introduced, people skip diagnostics and fire the parts cannon making multiple issues. Popped my hood to see arcs between plug wires before, never dawned on me darkness could be a diagnostic tool.
"Plug wires gotta be right." My OCD replies, "No shit!". You're right in every facet.
Looms are your friend!
You make me proud Uncle Tony.
I've always kept my tune up parts "just in case".
Good video on an important basic. Keep it coming Tony.
I love those wires. I remember setting off car alarms in traffic with those in the 80's.
As a general rule, either resistor wires and conductor plugs or the other way around are the good equation. Some people may prioritize pissing others off, but that's not making your engine better. If you make radio noise, you know what you're doing? Wasting power to give someone else a bad time instead of putting the spark where it belongs.
Love the zip tie wire separators UTG. I`ve been using that for the last two decades on my junk. 👍 Burned a few wires on headers at a track day 20 some years ago, usual thrash to get another pass in when an older guy showed me the zip tie mod.
CAR CULTURE LEADER UTG!!!
I've always liked using Accel copper core wires.
I also used Blue Max copper core.
And I always used Blue Streak points and condensers... before somebody decided to cheapen them up
I used to take blue streak over other electrical parts too. Until they become another cheap Chinese part
Ca r mechanics used to say keep #5 and 7 wires away from each other on v8 Chev. But I guess that applies to Mopar also cause the firing order is the same . Remember them saying that's the worst mis- fire possible. I assumed that since # 7 fires just after #5. If 5 lites off 7 early with fuel in the cylinder, Boom, wtf was that!
The factory routed them far apart, so you are correct on that.
WATCHING YOU PLAY WITH THE PLUG WIRES ON PLAN Z GAVE ME A THOUGHT PLACE A NUMBER OF SMALL O-RINGS ON THE WIRE TO MATCH THE CORRESPONDING CYLINDER NUMBER FOR ERROR FREE INSTALLATION BY ANY ONE 'HELPING'
Mate doin stuff properly isnt crazy its professional and probably the reason we listen to U with the trust and respect what u teach that lil bit more. Thank for takin the time to share. Maybs its got sumik to do with the reason we're mopar . The quality is just that much better. Cheers
you are too good to these guys i hope they really appreciate what you have done for all of them. your a great influencer unclé tony
I've got those same headers on my Cordoba, I'm glad it's not just me that thinks they are a pain to run plug wires on.
Great tips, but it kills me every time you use a car as a table or set a wrench on a fender. Think of the paint Tony. I know the paint isn't perfect on them and a few scratches aren't going to kill anyone, but its not that hard to throw an old sheet or towel over the fender especially when its not your car.
So many mechanics have no compassion for paint. So many body/paint guys have no knowledge of a motor 😄
Like...use a small..piece of quarter inch Plywood....on that deck Lid...has that distributor on it...
just take a few extra seconds, instead of setting it on the fender, set it someplace safe, like on the nice flat surface of the battery, CBS cares
Tony when I was still working I did the same thing with ignition wires, even on regular customer's vehicles. I didn't consider it OCD, it's good practice!
I was looking for the Daddy's garage channel back when he showed that Cadillac off and never found it and was like I guess they don't have a channel yet. Glad to hear it's finally up and going I'll have to check it out.
Oh man UT, I remember the spool of Sparkplug wire we used to keep in the shop back when they were in every parts store you could go to. Just get the boot kit you needed for either headers, or stock manifolds, route them where you needed, clamp on the proper clips Solder if you wanted to, and you were good to go, no burned up wires or boots. Great info Brudda.
I love the adjustable "Plymouth" emblem on the front of the hood. Great idea!
We are one looney away from having open source distributor caps that can be reproduced with affordable equipment, at least for the simpler ones without coils on them... 3D print the case, lathe up some contacts, press fit together, good to go, if it lasts more than a month then it's a success!
Thanks for this video. I have been having Miss fires on my 65 Comet w/a 302. I didn’t know spark cables shouldn’t touch each other. I’ll sort that out tomorrow! Thanks again.
The wires are close enough in the loom that they are exchanging electromagnetic flux. It falls away exponentially with distance, but they are pretty close. But this is much more difficult than you think. Any time a wire has electricity running through it, you will get the moving magnetic field. That is what electricity is.
You put a what in your cup?
@@thehouseofcha1nsaw_ You disagree with what?
Only an issue when they 9re physically next to each other AND next to each other in the firing order. 5 and 7 on most v8s Any other time and you're not likely to have an issue regardless of routing.
Those old Mallory caps holy smokes were those things quality!
I bought a set of Mallory custom cut to length solid stainless steel core wires with Resistor plugs no radio interference in 83 they were the only plug wires i needed!
Thank you for mentoring the caps!
Struggling with plug wires at the moment so thank you !
The spark plug wires... small item that can make big difference. This is great information! @DaddysMoneyGarage are great guys and always up to something fun!
Those yellow wires look so cool! And practical!
UTG spitting truth again !
3:38 can we get a video on how to hook an arc welder up for our ignition?
Great tech session again
Thanks Uncle Tony - great tips
Nice camera UTG 👍 huge improvement in clarity
Thanks for the video. Very informative.
I hope a lot of guys n gals listened up🌘🌒 lots of good pointers. Thanks Tony 👍
Good stuff, UTG!
Accel brand distributer caps still use solid brass terminals & NGK also. I went through the mill with caps without specifying brand at the auto part stores . I would be replacing a cap in 6 months that originally went 15 years & 150,000 miles and now problem solved.
Brass contact caps all the way. The aluminum ones look bad within hours, not 6 months.
Love my old Bosch caps on my '60s SAABs. Never bought a new one ever.
Tony another great video love your content very informative Thanks
Great video. I purchased a MSD wire crimping pliers decade’s ago and I’ve used the H out of them. Now the problem I’ve had on my daily driver a 1977 Buick Regal with the 350 H motor and HEI ignition is spark plug wires and I used Accel blue carbon first . The problem is for any reason if I have to pull the plug end boot , the boot literally glues to the plug; you can’t pull them off without damaging them. Then I had problems with the ends burning out. I did all the tricks. If I didn’t get to it right away then the spark plug fouled. So then I’d finally would replace the wire and plug. This went on and on to the point that I decided to pull all the plugs and replace them and in this procedure find the 2 cylinders fouled out and the rest. I was using Bosh iridium plugs. Then I went to the top of the line Accel wires that are carbon core with the stainless steel outer rap. So far so good. I kept the old set of wires so in the future if I have any problems I can use the old set of wires as a template to make a new set ahead of time; so I’m not spending hours cutting and making wires , they well be ready to go. I literally have to cut the spark plug boot with a box knife to get them off. And I used in the last silicone electrical grease on them but no difference. I’ve come to the conclusion that spark plug wires for me in this application are a one use throw away item. Hopefully the tune up and my low mileage I drive because I’m retired will last for a real long time.
Back in the 80s after a buddy replaced his timing chain his car would not run. Disassembled it twice to check the timing before he swallowed his pride and called for help. Pulled #1 plug to to check valves and distributor at TDC and timing looked good. Shoved the plug into the boot to check spark. Week and missing 2 out of 3 power strokes. With the timing he replaced the plugs, wires and cap. He used the cut to fit accel wires and didn't fold the ends over. He is now a sr. aviation inspector and I don't fly any more.
I'm with ya! I buy 7mm yellow solid copper/core sparking wire on 25 foot spools. I double back on each end and solder the solid wires. I have learned that some wire is not insulated so it can mess up a radio and crossfire but with careful routing that issue is gone. I had a 1953 VW and when I got it it was a damp night and I remember touching the sparking wires and the spark would dance around my fingers. No harm, but spark is lost. From that moment I only got the very best sparking wire I could get. I just did this on a 1978 305 HEI and it makes all the difference. On modern cars it can also make all the difference as it saves stress on the coils. In every motor, new or old, get the very best sparking wires! Great video Bobby
Such good info and your giving it away free? Awesome!
I like the brass caps myself
Thx Uncle Tony
Same here, I must have spark plug wire discipline! I prefer the 300+ Ferro-Spiral race wires.
Great video . But I was getting OCD with those tools on both fenders with no fender mats. Wire routing is important & looks better than spaghetti wires everywhere.
I’m very glad you made this video cause now I can try and get my dad to reroute his spark plug wires he ran all 4 on each side through a heat Shield sleeve and I’m like 1 that looks terrible 2 how can you tell which wire goes to which cylinder you pretty much can’t
5:20 is the Uncle Tony plug wire move!
OH YEA! I once had a misfire because a sparking wire was resting on the side of an alternator and discharging. I could hear it so it was easy to find but I might also suggest that flexible harness around any spots that might touch anything. In the case I bring up here I used fuel hose in that 3 inch spot. Once again thank you. Bobby
I used Packard 440 with Rajah terminals back in my bracket racing days.
A few gems here
Great video
Due to radios in use, I'm all about spiral core wires. But all your tips and tricks apply. BTW, you need to do a segment on Ohm'ing out plug wires ...
I get the idea of spark plug wires getting in the way. But holy cow! You’ve added a ridiculous amount of length to the wires. This increases your total resistance.
Just pull the wires. Your wire management /organization recommendations were excellent. But you want the shortest wires you can get away with.
About connecting, I dip the tip in melted solutionlead and solute.
About the magneticfields and how they might mess with you in a visual way...
If you TIG-weld you must grind the tip of the electrode so the structure of the surface follow the electrode. If just swirling it around to make it rounded and the grooves goes 90 degrees from the electrode you won't be able to weld properly. If there is a magnetic angleholder to close, the weld will try to "reach" for it. I can imagine the margins for the millisekond the spark have to be just right in a cable, and what it might take to get it off track...🤔😅
There's a good video of a experiment showing and explaining hi voltage jumping from wire to wire
Yup I like accel wires I've used the universal set on several vehicles the boots though are a pain and impossible without some kind of lubrication on the boot for passing the wire through I use either pb blaster or wd 40
I remember when I was a teen I was trying to find out what was going on when my car was running. It would misfire and run like poop. I noticed the it would run like poop on days it rained, well I found the problem by wiggling some of the spark plug wires and bam! It bit me…. Holy cow did that wake me up. Not only did it zap my hand but my leg was by the fender and it got my leg, then after I jumped back I hit my head on the hood….that was a wake up call….. so I waited till night time and started the car up and you can see where the sparks were jumping…. It was like a lightning storm going on under there……now by experiencing Thor for the first and second time I take some practice on not getting zapped…….. thanks for the info
straight boots that you can slide up...... then pop the "lock clip" off the metal part
I LOVE EM!
.
usually are the cheaper wire sets however LOL
probably not as sealed up VS water
Heh, a few good reasons! I recently played with the Ignition side of my VEMS EFI re-doing the IGBT's for the Ignition Coils! Found out that these PCB Traces and Connectors and Wires were dealing with 400volts or thereabouts (gotta check datasheets again but not gonna)...!!!! blew up all sorts of IGBT's and a Muffler even! lol, yea... a few Good Reasons, one is High Voltages! and I didn't even get to the Primary Ignition Sparkie Wires, lol!
...
oh, lessons learned for EFI building? space those traces apart. keep all metal away from those traces like using nylon screws instead of metal ones holding the primary connector on the PCB. Conformal Coating!!! I used Heat activated Urethane Conformal Coating to build up layers over those PCB traces and everything else. Now pretty confident if something blows, it'll be that much harder to repair! yay!
My favorite trick to spot bad wires is to find an unlighted area at night and pop the hood to look for arcing wires.
Spray water over the wires and cap
use a test light connected to ground on battery and put a spark plug tester in the wire and use the test light tip and go up and down around the wire and boots
hope your abcess tooth was taken care of tony! had one years ago and they hurt! thanks for another great video!
Tony show the kids how to clean the caps and rotors. I’ll bet there’s a bunch that don’t know what to do.👍✋🏻
That's a good point Laut!
On my 318i use Windsor Ford wires they work great
Years ago my brother bought new carquest stock wires for his 1970 390 Javelin. Opened up the hood at night, and it looked like a fireworks show, with all the sparks arcing through the new wires. Never bought anything carquest again.
This is normal and one can see a problem at night.
My new plug wires are too damn noisy, so I need to replace them for a second time this year... You radio enthusiast will understand my pain!!! 73s.
I had a plug wire go bad on my Jeep once because the upper radiator hose was pushing down on it right behind the boot. By the time I put new wires on, the boot felt limp as I was pulling that particular (#2) wire off. When I slit the boot open, the inner core was hanging literally by a thread to the metal connector. It snapped off just like that.
I like your style 👍
Solidcore wires? Maybe with points ignition and carburetor, but NOT with electric or especially CD ignition and/or EFI. Use good quality resistor wires and plugs.
Solid core wires for me and also my brother worked great with factory electronic ignition and greatly extended plug life and stopped fouling. And saved having to buy new wires once a year. AM radio was hard to listen to above idle, though.
I like to check plug wire with an ohmmeter. Also check the spark plugs with the ohm meter. Cant go wrong. Good video uncle tony
Factory big block wire routers were well engineered, I used to buy tons of them and have fun. I miss grabbing cars that have not been worked over.
I still do the Chevrolet under the motor mount thing. A bit of a pain in the ass to run them but it works great and it's fun having kids look under the hood and wonder how it runs without wires.
I 2nd the mic thing sometimes its hard for us to hear you. Great content thank you
So true on new distributor caps. Paper thin and brittle. One wrong move installing it and they literally shatter. It's sickening. Old ones were beefy.
Buying new ignition parts from a local dealer and their bad right out of the box has gotten to be infuriating.
Especially plug wires and/or distributor caps. They'll be the last thing you suspect might be wrong since you've just put new stuff on there.
Yep. New set of plugs and wires on my 79 camaro and already had issues with one plug wire falling off even though it was secured properly. This happened multiple times.. now I get a slight miss and hear a zap every now and then. Oh well. Guess I'll go with Tony and try a set of those accels. Its got to be better quality than the junk I got now.
Just right. Termination quality, routing are important details. As for false [or poor] sparks, mainly avoid braiding or wrapping wires around each other like a twizzler. Two or three turns and presto: high voltage transformer you didn't plan on.
Pretty sure that spark plug lead crossfiring is mainly seen in silicone leads and is due to the deterioration of the protective coating and the carbon finds a way out and takes the spark with it either to the block or another cylinder via another porous lead...I could be wrong..I doubt it tho.
Tony I’m sure I’m not the only one to say this, but good on you to share the love and success and help your crew foster and nurture new channels. In this day and age it’s uncommon to find people that are willing to share the spotlight - or the paycheck. You’re a good man for helping the fledglings (new channels, not a wise crack to anyone’s age) to spread their wings and succeed. Thanks for keeping it real and staying true to yourself.
ThunderHead289 ran a 302 off a lawnmower carb . You should get him to make one to run on your charger and test that. He said he got 41 mph.
Is it true that you can change the rear main seal on the crank shaft with out removing the trans or motor
look at my video to detect spark leaking plug wires. A lot of people dont scrape the contacts off inside the distributor cap when they should even the tip of the rotor
Could you make a video on how to hook up an ignition coil like the accel super coil with the blast resistor ?
I have a 70 Camaro SS 350.I have a accel dual point distributor in it since 1977. My question is can I use a accel BEI coil on it? Thank you love your videos
I don't think the oil messes with the silicone covers on them like it would have with rubber wires from the 70s or 80s or earlier. I thi k most quality wires are silicone covered or a quality oil resistant rubber these days.
Wonder if you could put a coating on the inside of the distributor cap
You need to try making Diesel injector pipes from a mechanical injector pump, they all have to be exactly the same length. Speed of sound in a fluid...
The Accel hp cap. And super coil were the best
Can you tell me more about this cap?
Does the HP cap: 1 Let you use bigger diameter wires, like 8 mm? 2 Have the contacts farther from the center (big diameter cap) 3. Fit a factory distributor?