Plug wires

[John Hofstetter <hofs@domain.elided>]

>
>Would you believe that Dad has already suggested this??  I will give it a
>shot, since I don't have anything else to try.  I have spark going in to
>the dist cap, and spark coming out, so the dist should be good.  I dunno.
>I will try new plug wires since it is the only thing that I haven't
>replaced ignition-wise (except the distributer and points and coil).  Like
>I said, the plugs are good, the cap is (relatively) new, along with the
>rotor.  
>So, anyone have p/n's for 8mm plug wires?  Something I can give to
>CarQuest?  NAPA is 1/2 hour drive away....  TIA. 
>
>
>Dan Felix

Dan,

As you will gather when you read Tom's description of his Honda and its 
plug wires, plug wires can make a heck of a difference. This is 
especially true for Radio Resistance wires used to allow radios to work 
with a minimum of static. They often appear to be in very good shape 
whereas they may not work at all. If you have an Ohmmeter, you can test 
the wires before you replace them. They need to be around Tom's 25K ohms 
or less, in order to be judged OK. The Bosch book that John L. had me 
reading had a specific suggestion for each foot of plug wire, I think, 
but I loaned the book out and I can't remember the number. 25K ohms will 
do. 

You may want to consider a generic set of wires of good quality for a 4 
banger. One end of each wire already has the spark plug connector on it, 
and you cut the wire to length, put the rubber seal over the end of wire 
and attach the connector that goes into the distributor. You will 
probably need the terminal tool to do this, but that tool will stand you 
in good stead for several more lifetimes (if internal combustion engines 
survive that long). 

I find that using the generic sets of plug wires lets me get good quality 
without worrying about whether or not there is a specific set still made 
for my Scout. The truth is that sometimes sets designated for Scouts and 
lots of other vehicles aren't really the right lengths anyway, and you 
may end up cutting them to length and putting the new connectors on. Out 
here, the Accel brand of plug wires seems to be the cheapest high 
performance wires, but I know nothing about them as I've always used 
Jacobs or Mallory. 

FWIW
John H.