91 Chevy 5.7 Burnt Plug Wires? H E L P ! ! !

[knjwells]

1991 Chevrolet V8 5.7L 350 EFI Automatic 4X4 Regular Cab HEI

What other damage could a couple of burnt spark wires have done since it is still messing up after their replacement?

I just put a good used distributor, new wires, new cap, new plugs and new roto in my truck. It has been running like a champ for about 2 months. I messed up and didn't attach the wires properly in the guides from #1 and #3 and they laid against the manifold and burnt through. I found this out by the speratic missing that didn't happen all the time and happened with no "pattern" so to say. SO I replaced those wires and thoroughly checked the others along with the cap and rotor as well. But I still have a slight misfire about every 4-5 rotations on the distributor. It's like it just doesn't send a spark to one of the cylinders and causes it to stumble, but only for a second. At a red light while in drive or in reverse coming out of a parking spot you can tell it more - kinda like a little chug every so often. Running it down the highway you'd never know it. There are no codes flashing and no difference in any meters on the dash.

Could these two grounded out wires have caused any damage to anything else? I am lost here because the inside of the cap just has a little bit of white on all contacts and there is no damage to the rotor at all. Could this have done something to my distributor, coil, or voltage regulator? Could it have fried something in the ignition module? I always heard they either worked or not and that was the same with the coil too.

Any help with this will be greatly appreciated. Thanks for your time either way.

[MT-2500]

Originally Posted by knjwells

1991 Chevrolet V8 5.7L 350 EFI Automatic 4X4 Regular Cab HEI

What other damage could a couple of burnt spark wires have done since it is still messing up after their replacement?

I just put a good used distributor, new wires, new cap, new plugs and new roto in my truck. It has been running like a champ for about 2 months. I messed up and didn't attach the wires properly in the guides from #1 and #3 and they laid against the manifold and burnt through. I found this out by the speratic missing that didn't happen all the time and happened with no "pattern" so to say. SO I replaced those wires and thoroughly checked the others along with the cap and rotor as well. But I still have a slight misfire about every 4-5 rotations on the distributor. It's like it just doesn't send a spark to one of the cylinders and causes it to stumble, but only for a second. At a red light while in drive or in reverse coming out of a parking spot you can tell it more - kinda like a little chug every so often. Running it down the highway you'd never know it. There are no codes flashing and no difference in any meters on the dash.

Could these two grounded out wires have caused any damage to anything else? I am lost here because the inside of the cap just has a little bit of white on all contacts and there is no damage to the rotor at all. Could this have done something to my distributor, coil, or voltage regulator? Could it have fried something in the ignition module? I always heard they either worked or not and that was the same with the coil too.

Any help with this will be greatly appreciated. Thanks for your time either way.

Re check dist cap and rotor and check dist shaft for side play.
Is the coil putting out good hot blue spark?

[knjwells]

Cap and rotor are spotless and I've got a good blue sprak from the coil.

[2000CAYukon]

How long did you drive it with the bad plug wires? It could be that the ECM needs to relearn fuel trims after the wires were fixed. It may take a few days of driving for the relearn.

If you don't see an improvement, you should have it scanned to see how the ECM thinks it is running.

//2000CAYukon

[swingline]

i would have to ask where you got just two plug wires because they are sold new in sets.

leads me to believe those two wires are the culprit.

[j cAT]

Originally Posted by knjwells

1991 Chevrolet V8 5.7L 350 EFI Automatic 4X4 Regular Cab HEI

What other damage could a couple of burnt spark wires have done since it is still messing up after their replacement?

I just put a good used distributor, new wires, new cap, new plugs and new roto in my truck. It has been running like a champ for about 2 months. I messed up and didn't attach the wires properly in the guides from #1 and #3 and they laid against the manifold and burnt through. I found this out by the speratic missing that didn't happen all the time and happened with no "pattern" so to say. SO I replaced those wires and thoroughly checked the others along with the cap and rotor as well. But I still have a slight misfire about every 4-5 rotations on the distributor. It's like it just doesn't send a spark to one of the cylinders and causes it to stumble, but only for a second. At a red light while in drive or in reverse coming out of a parking spot you can tell it more - kinda like a little chug every so often. Running it down the highway you'd never know it. There are no codes flashing and no difference in any meters on the dash.

Could these two grounded out wires have caused any damage to anything else? I am lost here because the inside of the cap just has a little bit of white on all contacts and there is no damage to the rotor at all. Could this have done something to my distributor, coil, or voltage regulator? Could it have fried something in the ignition module? I always heard they either worked or not and that was the same with the coil too.

Any help with this will be greatly appreciated. Thanks for your time either way.

yes...the Plug wire arcing to ground usually damages the ignition module....

as you now know proper routing of the wires is very important as even heat damages the CORE....

also with an ohm meter measure all plug wires for the correct resistance....new wires are usually defective....

[knjwells]

two single wires sold at the zone....autozone.... still could very possibly be the "culprit"

[RahX]

Have you checked to make sure those plugs aren't fouled?

[76vette]

If you think the wires are leaking just get your vehicle to total darkness. Start the vehicle you should be able to see arcing from the bad wire. Just don't get caught in any moving parts.

[knjwells]

I have checked the plugs and they seem to be perfectly fine. I also made the mistake of listing this as an HEI distributor, and that's not what this is. It has a seperate coil and no vacuum advance. Thanks for your help.

[knjwells]

it's been a few days and no change. So last night I disconnected the battery for about 10 minutes and hooked it back up. Seemed to do the trick until I put a drag on the motor (in reverse with the brake on). Then the little tremor came back. Starting to think it's a bad distributor as this is kinda what I replaced it for in the beginning.

[RahX]

are you sure you got the wires on right? 5-7 are easy as hell to get swapped on accident.

[knjwells]

You're right, it is very easy to do so, but I have checked that repeatedly and they are correct. Being that the issue is with #1 and #3, they kinda sit across from one another so it's easy to see where they go. Plus I have a very visible "1" wrote on my cap from the initial install of the used distributor and it drove perfectly immediately after that.

I know from what someone said that this could have done something to the module, but could it have an effect on the pick-up coil? Could it have burnt/arced out a spot where that turns causing it to be bad or partially bad only in that position inside there? It's gotta be something basic because it is not a major malfunction that is shutting down the motor, and it gets worse when the truck is not moving... like at a red light or with the brake applied going in reverse.