Spark plug wire problem

I finished my tune-up today, fuel filter,cap,rotor,radiator cap,oil change,pcv valve,spark plugs, radiator flush,tranny flush and refill w/ new filter, and other small things. Everything went really smooth until I got to the last spark plug. On plug #6(the one on the passenger side closest to the back of the engine) I was pulling the boot off the old spark plug and the wire ripped right off the boot, now I need a new plug wire. Can I drive the vehicle for maybe 20 mile round trip without that wire installed until I get a new one?

Why Round trip? cant you put the wire on in the parking lot? i think youll be fine with only 5 cyl

Should be O.K to run 5 cyl.just dont leave broken wire on to arc everywhere

Should be O.K to run 5 cyl.just dont leave broken wire on to arc everywhere

Comon man, you know better than to say something like that. Do you know about a thing call hydrolock?

manwiththeplan88,

Strip the wire back a bit to expose the inner conductive core and push the wire back into the boot so that it makes a connection and give it a good taping just to get you their.

Running with one cylinder not firing will have you introducing gas into your oil and potential hydrolocking that cylinder.

I have to agree with BLT on this one, you could cause a lot more problems than you have now. Can you get someone to take you up to the parts store?

I have had wires go bad like that and all you can do is press the broken part back into where it ripped out of and you will get a good enough connection to get the plug firing.

This is why you always grab the wire by the boot when removing the wire from the plug. Never just pull on the wire.

Ok i just bought a new set of wires. I learned my lesson the hard way, I wont rush a tune-up ever again. Thanks for the help guys.

Just to add to this, you will never hydro lock the engine if you have a missing cylinder - have seen it many, of many times, you won't hydro lock it. What you will do is have poor acceleration, undo stress on bearings, and you will eventually damage your cat. converter because of excess fuel being burned in the converter. Your computer will always be trying to trim the excess fuel as read from the 02 in the exhaust. You will eventually get a missfire code, and possibly a 02 sensor malfuncution code.

Basically if its not an extreme emergency, then its not a good idea to do this.