plug wire maintance today I got a question

[chevyn0va1]

I was bored today and decided to check my plugs and wires. I was a little puzzled why my continuity tester didn't beep when I went from one side to the other of the plug wire. However on that scale (lower then 200 ohm scale) I got these readings. Are these readings ok?

on 8mm wires
#1 wire measured about 28" ~ 1.88 ohms
#2 wire measured about 27" ~ 1.78 ohms
#3 wire measured about 24" ~ 1.68 ohms
#4 wire measured about 19" ~ 1.56 ohms

Plugs were gapped at .054 (ford says .052 -.056)
Plugs looked good nothing noteworthy

I followed Alvin's advice and cleaned the wires and visually checked them for and bad signs. Applied some dielectric/silicone grease on the plug boot. Also I hit the plug threads with anti seize.

Any idea why no beep from my tester? When I touched the test leads together I got the beep.

[A. Souphound]

Originally Posted by chevyn0va1

I was bored today and decided to check my plugs and wires. I was a little puzzled why my continuity tester didn't beep when I went from one side to the other of the plug wire. However on that scale (lower then 200 ohm scale) I got these readings. Are these readings ok?

on 8mm wires
#1 wire measured about 28" ~ 1.88 ohms
#2 wire measured about 27" ~ 1.78 ohms
#3 wire measured about 24" ~ 1.68 ohms
#4 wire measured about 19" ~ 1.56 ohms

Plugs were gapped at .054 (ford says .052 -.056)
Plugs looked good nothing noteworthy

I followed Alvin's advice and cleaned the wires and visually checked them for and bad signs. Applied some dielectric/silicone grease on the plug boot. Also I hit the plug threads with anti seize.

Any idea why no beep from my tester? When I touched the test leads together I got the beep.

Chevyn0va1,
You should be taking readings on the meter's 1K (1000 ohm scale).
Wire disconnected both ends, and readings taken with one lead at each end of the wire.
Readings should not exceed 7k (7000 ohms) per foot of wire i.e.
#1 = 16.3K
#2 = 15.7K
#3 = 14. K
#4 = 11. K
Don't get your test leads in the dielectric grease, it's an insulator.

[chevyn0va1]

Originally Posted by A. Souphound

Chevyn0va1,
You should be taking readings on the meter's 1K (1000 ohm scale).
Wire disconnected both ends, and readings taken with one lead at each end of the wire.
Readings should not exceed 7k (7000 ohms) per foot of wire i.e.
#1 = 16.3K
#2 = 15.7K
#3 = 14. K
#4 = 11. K
Don't get your test leads in the dielectric grease, it's an insulator.

maybe thats why I wasnt getting the beep didnt think about that grease. when i moved to the higher scale I wasnt getting a reading so thats why I stayed at the low scale.

Tonight I opened my hood and looked for spark leakage and on occasion (un re creatable) i noticed spark jumping out of the boots on some of the wires. Is this something I should address? replace? If replace any reccomedations?

Also if a wire is 2 feet the resistance shouldnt be more then 14 k (14,000) ohms is what your saying right?

[A. Souphound]

Spread a thin coating of dielectric grease (insulator) on the inside of the boot after you cleaned them. That should stop any arcing.
Your math is correct. NOTE: Wire resistance per foot is not the same for all cars, the 7K MAX/Ft. figure came from the Ford Escort car manual.
TIP: Now that you have your wires nice and clean put some Armor-all on them to keep them that way.

[chevyn0va1]

Originally Posted by A. Souphound

Spread a thin coating of dielectric grease (insulator) on the inside of the boot after you cleaned them. That should stop any arcing.
Your math is correct. NOTE: Wire resistance per foot is not the same for all cars, the 7K MAX/Ft. figure came from the Ford Escort car manual.
TIP: Now that you have your wires nice and clean put some Armor-all on them to keep them that way.

Well i did that with the grease but when I did I squirted it in a circular motion then stuck it on the plug thought that would be enough is there something I did wrong?

Thanks for the resistance check. Do you think I didnt get that beep on my meter because too much grease on the connection?

BTW I thought of that armor all trick because I do that when I detail my nova on cruise nights. works nice.

[A. Souphound]

Originally Posted by chevyn0va1

Well i did that with the grease but when I did I squirted it in a circular motion then stuck it on the plug thought that would be enough is there something I did wrong?

Thanks for the resistance check. Do you think I didnt get that beep on my meter because too much grease on the connection?

BTW I thought of that armor all trick because I do that when I detail my nova on cruise nights. works nice.

As long as you didn't get the dielectric grease between the metal connector and the sparkplug you'll be O.K. Grease between those two will increase resistance, and could cause a mis-fire. Don't use too much dielectric grease, just put some around the inner edge of the boot.
'Beep' on your meter.....I don't know how 'your meter' is supposed to work. I use several meters but none have this feature....Just you rich guys can afford all the 'Bells, and Beep's'

[chevyn0va1]

Originally Posted by A. Souphound

As long as you didn't get the dielectric grease between the metal connector and the sparkplug you'll be O.K. Grease between those two will increase resistance, and could cause a mis-fire. Don't use too much dielectric grease, just put some around the inner edge of the boot.
'Beep' on your meter.....I don't know how 'your meter' is supposed to work. I use several meters but none have this feature....Just you rich guys can afford all the 'Bells, and Beep's'

The "beep" is just an audible sound indicating condinuity. For instance checking for a broken wire.

[Jim@HiTek]

chevyn0va1: Do you think I didnt get that beep on my meter because too much grease on the connection?

I would say no, not the grease. It didn't beep because the resistance of the wires was above about 80 ohms. Most meters only beep if the resistance is less then that. No beep at all on the higher ranges.

Jim@HiTek

[chevyn0va1]

Originally Posted by Jim@HiTek

I would say no, not the grease. It didn't beep because the resistance of the wires was above about 80 ohms. Most meters only beep if the resistance is less then that. No beep at all on the higher ranges.

Jim@HiTek

oh ok great thanks for pointing that out.

BTW after noticing some arcing last night I got to thinking that I bought lifetime plug wires so I returned them to autozone and got a new set and put them in following Alvin tips and the car defiantly runs better now. Strange part is I didn't even have any symptoms at all

[Jim@HiTek]

That's becuase you were looking at high voltage leakage. This would be seen as a soft blue spark as opposed to a strong yellow spark (or somewhere in-between).

Of course it could/would lead to something symptom wise down the road, but normally weak leakage doesn't affect the engine or operation, because the plug is still getting enough juice to spark it at the right time.

But if there is visible stray arcing to frame, time to get new plug wires, or really clean the old ones. Just not an emergency.

Jim@HiTek

[chevyn0va1]

Originally Posted by Jim@HiTek

That's becuase you were looking at high voltage leakage. This would be seen as a soft blue spark as opposed to a strong yellow spark (or somewhere in-between).

Of course it could/would lead to something symptom wise down the road, but normally weak leakage doesn't affect the engine or operation, because the plug is still getting enough juice to spark it at the right time.

But if there is visible stray arcing to frame, time to get new plug wires, or really clean the old ones. Just not an emergency.

Jim@HiTek

yea thanks sounds right to me. Seeing how they were lifetime plugs and I had nothing else to do it worked out good for me.

[A. Souphound]

Originally Posted by chevyn0va1

yea thanks sounds right to me. Seeing how they were lifetime plugs and I had nothing else to do it worked out good for me.

O.K.......you didn't close the 'Loop' with feedback....
What were the resistance readings on the old wires.....that you replaced?
What was the resistance readings on the new wires...?

All the best,

[chevyn0va1]

Originally Posted by A. Souphound

O.K.......you didn't close the 'Loop' with feedback....
What were the resistance readings on the old wires.....that you replaced?
What was the resistance readings on the new wires...?

All the best,

those numbers before I gave were for the old wires I cleaned the ends of the plugs so that they had none of that grease on them.