What Spark Plug Wires Should I Buy

[c3po]

I have a friend who wants me to get some universal wires, he says he can help me put them on and that since you do the length of wire yourself it is neater and a better fit.

He said the pre made wires for headers that go over the valve covers are o.k., but sometimes you get a wire or two that are just to long.

He also pointed out that with the universal wires you can easily slide the sleeving over the wires.

 

[Rhymingmechanic]

Is there any sort of warranty through Accel or Jeg's? Maybe you could get a replacement wire through one of them.

I like the Taylor Spiro Pro wires. They seem like good quality, and the ends have a positive feeling connection but are easy to get on and off. I used them on a '70 Pontiac and an '87 Caprice, both with MSD ignitions. The Chevy had stock manifolds, so I can't comment on the fit wit headers.

 

[c3po]

They had a 90 day warranty, I am going to check the connection on the wire, and add some dialectric grease. The guy at Jegs said if the connection is not right you can get an arc at the path of least resisitance, he might be right.

I drove the car all day yesterday and it was fine, last night was cold and rainy, moisture might have gotten on the area where the spark plug sits on the cap, I think that is called the terminal.

 

[Whimsey]

Any preferences for COP (coil on plug) wires for Ford V-8 trucks? I have a 2002 F-150 with the 4.6 V-8 with about 40,000 miles and it runs great. The plugs are original, loosened and retorqued once but will change them in the spring due to overall age. At that time I'm going to replace the COP wires.

My wife has a 2005 Explorer with the 4.6 V-8 and at 45,000 miles she developed a miss in 2 cylinders. The factory wires were cracked and shorting . Though the plugs were in real good shape

.

Ordinarily I go for OEM/Motorcraft replacements but 45,000 miles on factory plug wires that are not explosed to exhuast heat, OHC, seems short. Any good brands or bad brands I should look for with my 2002 f-150.

Whimsey

 

[ikeepmychevytoo]

AC Delco / Packard

For HEI that is a little different than the rest with high voltage and for the 80's GM wire routing partially depending on those bigger longer OEM boots to keep skinny wires away.

 

[Challenger71]

voting for Magnecores. Nothing but the best performance from them. Excellent EMF shielding.

 

[kaboom10]

Accel electrics are junk. I had 3 COPs go out in a matter of 5k miles. The injectors are great(so far). Should have gone with MSD if you wanted performance wires IMHO.

 

[c3po]

I changed my wire and it was still running funny, then I checked the spark plug and it was fouled.

I went over to my mechanic buddy and he showed me where the wire was bad and said that the bad wire made the plug go bad.
There was no oil on the plug, but I will check the other plugs just in case.

 

[ffracer]

Originally Posted By: Whimsey
Any preferences for COP (coil on plug) wires for Ford V-8 trucks? I have a 2002 F-150 with the 4.6 V-8 with about 40,000 miles and it runs great. The plugs are original, loosened and retorqued once but will change them in the spring due to overall age. At that time I'm going to replace the COP wires.

My wife has a 2005 Explorer with the 4.6 V-8 and at 45,000 miles she developed a miss in 2 cylinders. The factory wires were cracked and shorting . Though the plugs were in real good shape

.

Ordinarily I go for OEM/Motorcraft replacements but 45,000 miles on factory plug wires that are not explosed to exhuast heat, OHC, seems short. Any good brands or bad brands I should look for with my 2002 f-150.

Whimsey


Wow, I'm surprised. The Motorcraft OEM wires I had on my 4 cyl Ranger (8 wires) have been the best I could find, but are very expensive new. I have had very poor luck in the past with Autolite on a few cars. Simply do not last or fit as well. This is with Autolite plugs sometimes, too!

Taylors were pretty good on my racing car, but never used them on a road car.

 

[Audi Junkie]

I usually save old or junked sets so I can refit single wires when needed. My friend's Audi had at least three kinds before we got those BOSCH. Can't you just test them for resistance?

 

[kingrob]

Originally Posted By: ffracer
Originally Posted By: Whimsey
Any preferences for COP (coil on plug) wires for Ford V-8 trucks? I have a 2002 F-150 with the 4.6 V-8 with about 40,000 miles and it runs great. The plugs are original, loosened and retorqued once but will change them in the spring due to overall age. At that time I'm going to replace the COP wires.

My wife has a 2005 Explorer with the 4.6 V-8 and at 45,000 miles she developed a miss in 2 cylinders. The factory wires were cracked and shorting . Though the plugs were in real good shape

.

Ordinarily I go for OEM/Motorcraft replacements but 45,000 miles on factory plug wires that are not explosed to exhuast heat, OHC, seems short. Any good brands or bad brands I should look for with my 2002 f-150.

Whimsey


Wow, I'm surprised. The Motorcraft OEM wires I had on my 4 cyl Ranger (8 wires) have been the best I could find, but are very expensive new. I have had very poor luck in the past with Autolite on a few cars. Simply do not last or fit as well. This is with Autolite plugs sometimes, too!

Taylors were pretty good on my racing car, but never used them on a road car.


The Motorcraft wires for me, as I pointed out earlier, don't last very long as far as factory installed is concerned, but the OEM replacements are top-notch.

Autolite plugs can be hit or miss. They're often maligned, I think, for no good reason. My old Maxima, before it got very old, got to where it only ran on Autolites. Autolite wires, I've determined, don't have a very long life compared to the other similarly priced brands.

I had a three year old set of Taylor's develop a case of dry-rot, something I was surprised happened on them. I used Taylor's years back and aside from the fact that they didn't last as long as Accel's of the same vintage, they were still a decent wire. I've since quit using Taylor's and Accel's.

 

[kaboom10]

Originally Posted By: Whimsey
Any preferences for COP (coil on plug) wires for Ford V-8 trucks? I have a 2002 F-150 with the 4.6 V-8 with about 40,000 miles and it runs great. The plugs are original, loosened and retorqued once but will change them in the spring due to overall age. At that time I'm going to replace the COP wires.

Any good brands or bad brands I should look for with my 2002 f-150.

Whimsey


As far as a brand of COPs I have had 3 Accels go bad and my local repair shop says the stockers go out also. I had my plugs replaced at 30k to make sure they wouldn't stick in the heads or blow out. Don't forget to use a little anti-sieze on the plugs before instlling along with dilectric grease in the boots.