spark plug wires

all right...earlier tonight i got some 10.4mm spark plug wires...these things are massive compared to my old 7mm....now my question is.....when i'm idling and turn on defrost or A/C my rpm's get lower and my lights dim A LOT compared to before....earlier my car almost stalled lol....is it because of these huge ass wires drawing so much power or something?

Try doing an ohm check on the wires to see if they are within tolerance... They should be in the chiltons/hayes manuals.

shouldnt thincker wiresr have lesser resistance per unit/area due to there being more wire?

I have a set of 10.2 mm triple core wires and have had no problems.. I believe they would be more suited if you had an aftermarket coil and or a MSD ignition box that gave you more spark.
The wire does differ though... they have something like wire winding sizes... it changes its resistance and stuff.
I had seen a website awhile ago that explained it better than I can but can't remember what site it was.... sorry

http://www.mgbv8.org/ignition_system.htm
that might help...
Or This....................................
Open Circuit / Heat Resistance
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. manufacturers' specifications). To check, perform the following steps:


1. Remove the spark plug wire from the engine.

2. Using an ohmmeter, measure the resistance of the spark plug wire from terminal end to terminal end. If no reading is observed, the spark plug wire has an open circuit.

3. Measure the length of the spark plug wire in inches. Divide the resistance reading by the length of the spark plug wire to determine ohms per inch.


If I found it at one time you should be able to te he he!!!!!!!

shouldnt thincker wiresr have lesser resistance per unit/area due to there being more wire?

Yep, provided that the wires are made of the same material, the wire with the larger cross sectional area will have less resistence. If I remember from physics class :uhoh: , resistence (in ohms) = (Length (in meters) * Resistivity (all materials are different)) / Cross sectional area (meter^2)

they may just be shitty wires... why the switch from the stockers?

in my book it says that on a 1995-98 2.0L turbo the resistance is supposed to be 22K ohms for all 4 wires. Also wires with excessive resistance will cause misfiring and may make the engine difficult to start in damp weather......

i went to the 10.4mm wires this last weekend and i love them... evertime someone asks to see the motor they about shit their pants when they see the wires! they are huge... but i have never had any problems with mine, i switched cause i was having a major misfire so i swapped them out cause i got them for cheaper than i could get stock wires for... so i bought them, to complaints here!