It was picked up by antennas and heard through car radios. This video show the proper us of dielectric grease on spark plug wires. Make sure the spark plug wire does not have an open circuit, and as a general rule, the resistance should not exceed 1,000 ohms per inch (but may be permissible by some O.E. A spark plug gap gauge is a disc with a sloping edge, or with round wires of precise diameters 10,000 ohms. Varnish, Marine Adhesives, The new premium wires from Napa. The higher voltage produced on initial acceleration will find any internal breakage and cause the misfire. Login, Boats Video, GPS Chartplotters & Automotive manufacturers typically use wires that create roughly 3,500 to 5,000 ohm/ft of resistance. should I buy 3 new wires? Should I take the $30 Duralast wires back and get the $70 AC Delco wires? Furniture, Boat Seat Pedestals & Low Resistance “Spiral” type Wires your boats Gel Coat Match, Shop Hardware, Boat Cabin Whether you do a complete tune-up or only change the spark plugs, spark plug wires (also known as ignition cables) should always be checked first. The more efficient units can operate with slightly higher plug wire resistances to eliminate outside interferences. This plug Protection from heat, abrasion, oxidation from ozone exposure and deterioration from chemical exposure. © 2020 Power Automedia. have access to a factory service manual for your car, you may find a resistance rating for the spark plug wires, (such as 1000 - 4000 ohms per foot). Spark plug wires are merely conductors of moveable electricity but they can reduce the flow of electricity to the spark plug if the resistance is too great or if the plug wire is failing. If you want to keep the performance of your engine at the optimal level, replace the plug wires as often as you replace the spark plugs”. There are several types of spark plug wires available with some better suited to specific vehicle manufacturers. Starters, Marine Solar Power Tackle Boxes, Fishing Bait & Parts, Inflatable Tubes, Shop The frequencies broadcast into the atmosphere interfere with the electronic modules in the area. If you have stranded wire and cut into it you will have stranded metallic wire. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding. Thinking of replacing spark plug wires (hadnt been done by me since getting the car in 2001). Cushions, Lexington Covers, Other Spiral type wires should be considered when using any high performance ignition system or have upgrades to the engine that raises the cylinder pressure or add more fuel to the combustion. Next, determine the amount of resistance you would like. This article will help consumers make informed choices while dispelling some common misconceptions. Solid wires (high performance) are under an ohm (tare of the wire). Why You Should NEVER REPLACE SPARK PLUG WIRES WITHOUT FIRST TESTING FOR OHMS! The Right Fit, Shop By So, were the 3 wires bad? 3-12 meg-ohms is typical, and will be higher if you use points farther away because there'll be more resistance. Kits, Boat Trailer Harware, Marine Nuts, Bolts, & For your typical grocery getter and ghetto cruiser, the OEM wires will work well getting spark to the spark plugs and won’t push the engine beyond factory specs. Surface contamination and radiant heat are the two biggest problems for plug wires. Waxes, Boat Cleaning A quality spark tester, on the other hand, requires tens of thousands of volts to fire. Factory plugs are copper for a reason. The carbon fibers produce minimal RF noise, however they have high resistance. They’re made of delicate carbon fibers. Kits, Seadog Stainless Steel Cup Sealant, & Covers, Boat Cover Check the manual. Rollers, Boat Trailer A helically wound conductor suppresses EMI. MSD’s 8.5mm Super Conductor Wire will measure about 50-ohms per foot of wire while the Street Fire brand wires have about 500 ohms per foot. However, some OEMs have recommended different maximum resistances. If you know how to use an ohm meter, you can measure the plug wires resistance from end to end and see if they are within specifications. “With the car running, put some water on your hands and run them along the length of the wire. My confusion with it is the Manual says in Step 1: "Disconnect all ignition coil wires (including the spark plug leads) before testing." Vinyl, Floating Boat Accessories, Big Jon Marble, Engine Wells, Toilet & Waste Sprint cars would be a good example.”. The key word here is “optimize” engine performance. Detectors, Binoculars & Grills, Boat Drink For a circle cars or door slammers, you can go down as far as you are comfortable. You want that extra voltage available to keep up with the changes in the cylinder atmosphere”. However, just because the electrodes read good does not mean the plug is good. Plug wires are unique in the aspect that they don’t have any mechanical moving parts, but can breakdown or interfere with nearby delicate electronic components in the engine bay. This plug was made in Mexico. Software, Digital It carries the high voltage (30k to 50k volts) produced by the ignition coil to the spark plug. High resistance degrades the spark, resulting in poor combustion, misfires, lousy gas mileage and ultimately a glowing “Check Engine” light. The basic function of a spark plug wire is to conduct spark energy from the ignition source, whether it be a distributor or coil pack, to the spark plugs. Accessories, Pontoon Bimini Hitches, & & Rings, Prop Nut Kits & The lower the resistance, the better quality conductor materials are used in making the spark plug wires. A Taylor ThunderVolt plug wire could easily test at around 40 ohms per foot, which means reduced-resistance and more energy applied to the spark plug. They are a resistor style plug. The StreeThunder series are 500 Ohms per foot. Inspecting the Spark Plug Wires with the Engine Off Look for physical damage to the wires or boots, … According to Pando, “the secret is in the sauce. Dispelling The Spark Plug Myths. One last check should be to verify that the resistance of the plugs is below 5,000 Ohms. Hardware, Boat Outboards, Shop The only time I would go with a solid wire core is with an ignition system that has a magneto or points. We’re going to suppress the interference and get down to the truth about plug wires: whether you’re picking a set of wires for your daily driver, pimped out ghetto cruiser or balls-out race car, you’ll want to get the right info… and you’ve found the right place. Close inspection of the boots and terminals should also be checked. The gap may require adjustment from the out-of-the-box gap. Picking the right plug wire for your application is fairly easy based on what we learned from our experts at MSD, Accel and Granatelli Motor Sports. I measured my new spark plug wire for my Johnson 90 hp outboard 4 cylinders 2 cycles and got 525 ohms, but when I measured the other 3 cable that came with the motor that I bought last March. Marine Battery Chargers, Shop Boat, Sell A I measured my new spark plug wire for my Johnson 90 hp outboard 4 cylinders 2 cycles and got 525 ohms, but when I measured the other 3 cable that came with the motor that I bought last March. Reeves says the single- and double-platinum were employed strictly as a measure to increase the durability of the spark plugs. Seats, Offshore Boat Joe went on to explain that plug wires were “Consumables” and they would get brittle and crack with age. Pumps, Marine Pump Replacement Testing Plug Wires: If you have access to a factory service manual for your car, you may find a resistance rating for the spark plug wires, (such as 1000 - 4000 ohms per foot). Use the highest scale (20M) because there is a lot of resistance there. Breakers, Power Packs & Jump Axles, Boat Trailer Tie Back in the old days, consumers were offered two types of plug wires. Accel’s Tim Musiek reminded us that “using the right size terminal for the size of the jacket and braided layer is extremely important. Parts, Wash Down Solid core wires are usually made with a stainless steel or copper core, both of which conduct high electrical current very well. GPS Chartplotter and Fish Finder Combo, Find Bilge Pump, Tires, Rims, & Hub They were infinitive Ohms. Granatelli explained that a static ignition system will work one way when it is at idle, “but with forced induction, altitude changes or under and extreme load, the scenario changes completely. Caulking, Marine Engine “These Engine and Environmental control units were moving electricity and creating their own electromagnetic fields which often were picked up by the spark plug wires causing a faulty signal. VIN K Spark Plug Wires Resistance 10000 ohms (10K ohms). A race plug wire that consisted of wound wire strands that were commonly referred to as Solid Core wires. & Dock, Anchor Chains & Lighting, Marine Teak Deals, Electronics All, Anchor & More coils reduces RFI and EMI but raise the electrical resistance in the wire. With the advances made in electronic ignitions, higher electrical charges were being moved through the spark plug wires. Spark plug wire resistance varies between 2 to 3K ohms per foot, ha, if you are that concerned about wire resistance, it's those longer wires that are the culprit. Locks, Boat Deck So if you test a 3-ft spark plug wire and get a reading of 10,000 ohms, all other 3-ft. wires should test the same. Switches, Shore Power & AC MSD 8.5mm Super Conductor wire sets use a special helically wound core that has just 50 ohms of resistance-per-foot but offers RFI suppression equal to … Spark plug wires deliver thousands of volts – up to 45.000V, depending on the application – to the spark plugs. If the ignition wires, or "spark plug" wires, wear out before the specified mileage, they must be replaced early. 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From ozone exposure and deterioration from chemical exposure • high resistance degrades the spark current travels through spark.