e: Try to avoid direct contact w

2021/05/21

Note: Try to avoid direct contact with metal parts of the vehicle when checking for shorts., Remove a spark plug wire from any plug. resistance wires spark moroso plug ultra racing low degree straight Archive - Nick, Turns out, solid core wires were indeed installed, so I purchased a set of Flame-Thrower low resistance wires from Pertronix I carefully removed the old solid core wires and disconnected (unscrewed) the Champion spark plug ends , I cut them to length and stripped about 3/8 to 1/2" of the insulation to leave the carbon core exposed. Come join the discussion about performance, modifications, classifieds, troubleshooting, maintenance, and more! 100 ohms is a very very very small resistanceit will be there. conductor spark 5mm resistance msd plug wire feet low super What is the purpose or application of solid wires? Our problems started after our new engine was bolted in our truck and the engine was run at idle a few times to manoeuvre our race truck inside our race shop or when the beast was loaded on or off our race car transporter. '03 Khaki Rubicon , Warn bumper , 8000lb winch, Rocky Road 2" Lift, 1" BL, Canyon Crawler rear bumper, 255/85r16 BFG M/T KMs, 3/4inch spacers up front, JKS Quicker Disconnects(2.5"-6"). Typically measuring 5000 ohms when new many quickly deteriorate to infinity, but surprisingly they often continue to work. I suggested to Kevin that I thought the longer leads running to the front cylinders could have a much greater resistance than the shorter leads (Half the length) that feed the rear cylinders and that the longer leads are resulting in poor spark at low revs, but could be working ok at higher revs. If you have lower resistance wires then you will have higher current flow through the wires. The hot plasma of the spark ignites the compressed fuel/air mixture that is just waiting for any excuse to explode.

All rights reserved. The next two spark plugs (2 and 3) were removed and found to be black with carbon, (not quite as bad as 1 and 2) and the rear most plugs (5-8) were a nice Tan colour as we saw on the Dyno. Spark plug ends, rotors, distributor caps and yes buttons, etc. Simply attach or hold a meter probe on each end of the cable and read the total resistance on the meter. In a single 12 inch length of Super Conductor Wire there is only 40 - 50 ohms of resistance! However, some OEMs have recommended different maximum resistances. That said, I have driven tens of thousands of miles with an in-distributor electronic ignition and copper core wires. Those who know about ohmsplease share your th. So, in this case, high series resistance is a good thing, high voltage is a good thing, and less current is a good thing. The instructions for mine - admittedly its older, dont say anything about the wires. The meter said no continuity. I remember reading an article on the Magnecore site saying that resistance is not the MOST important item to consider when choosing plug wires. Most distributor caps sold for Jaguars today have a brush that has 5000 ohms. The voltages read fine, 14 volts alternator voltage. Solid core wires have a copper or stainless steel conductor and generate excessive Electromagnetic Interference (EMI). For all 7 spark paths). A good spark will be blue-white and will be plainly visible in daylight. type ignition as in three coil fireing the six plugs.He said it is a coil on plug type setup so in theroy there should be 6 coils in that rail. I also have copper wires on my S1 with Pertronix for years. Like Geo Ive run many miles with a Pertronix ignition and copper wires. None. Every time we put in a new set of plugs, the engine was FINE when driven hard, but when driven at low speeds, moving the truck back and forth to car shows and events, and around our property, the front four spark plugs would simply foul up after 10-20 minutes of low speed driving. The reason for the high resistance plug wires and plugs is to keep current to a minimum.

You want the LEAST resistance possibleso you can have more electric spark energy. I bought some Accels once that were over 600 ohms per foot. The following errors occurred with your submission. This EMI can create confusion with electronics and ultimately damage them. The high resistance of the wires keeps the actual current flow very low but still presents 1000's of volts of voltage potential to the spark plug gap. Show me why that is so if it is. Learn more about quality spark plugs, find your car part, or find where to buy your auto part today. Should I be able to get continuity and a resistance reading from the distributor end of the wire to the spark plug connection? It should help with figuring out the spark plug wire being used on your engine.

They want to see at least about 100 ohms in the secondary circuit to help slow down and extend the spark.

Anyway, lower allows more voltage to the spark plug and that is the goal. I removed the Champion end and tested for continuity from the screw to the spark plug connection and did not get a reading there either. I would have NEVER believed that a set of plug leads could have caused so much frustration and so many headaches to my team. If the car ran for a season, then I speculate the failure is not your high tension wiring to each cylinder.

Did it fail from the use of copper wires? Some other voltages were on the wire the meter was not picking up. The brand new leads I was running on the Small Block were indeed new, but a Brand and Type I had never used before. I investigated further and pulled at the tiny wire strands. Run low resistance:get close and side by side to that brand new BMWand blow all its electronics!! Scott Bryce - Owner Proformance Motorsport. To prepare the new wires, I cut them to length and stripped about 3/8 to 1/2" of the insulation to leave the carbon core exposed. Turns out, solid core wires were indeed installed, so I purchased a set of Flame-Thrower low resistance wires from Pertronix. After a restless nights sleep (ask my wife) tossing and turning thinking I have solved one of the worlds greatest mysteries, at the crack of dawn I jumped in the car and headed straight to the nearest speed shop to grab a set of MSD Spark Plug Leads to confirm my findings and get the engine to idle without fouling plugs once and for all. I feel obliged to take the stairs, And why would they, as the Pertronix Ignitor is not connected to the ignition wires, it just triggers the coil to work, Yes but, the load on the ignition coil reflects back through the coil to the the primary winding (think transformer) to the Pertronics igniter. Its not necessarily about making sure the ignition doesnt interfere with your radio. As to the spark plug caps, WCX600 - IME the new ones are notoriously unreliable. As others have stated, including you, there are sources of resistance in the secondary system. and electrical stresses. Tom Das others have noted there is plenty of resistance in the combination of parts, including oft installed supressors, so that zero resistance is of course not a possibility in the entire ignition system, and close to zero for the wires is a goal for points distributors: the wire will have some small resistance, but without doubt, no more resistance is needed to be added in the primary wires.

The resistance should ALWAYS be measurable, so there is definitely a problem somewhere in the new wires, Champion ends, or the distributor-side wire ends. The failure is NOT in the wires, it is in the Pertronix itself. I then grabbed 3 month old, super duper low resistance, Brand XXX racing plug lead (I have not mentioned the Brand - it makes my blood boil) and cut it in half to look inside. http://www.pertronix.com.au/ignitor3.html. Same with the coil I suppose. It all sounds kewl, but no. Tom. Let no one misunderstandthis discussion is about WITH the Pertronix. I also have many brake components that came with warnings of the dangers of DOT5 - which I also ignored. DO NOT USE SOLID CORE WRES WITH ELECTRONIC IGNITION!! The Fora platform includes forum software by XenForo, http://www.msdignition.com/pdf/tech%20b top_10.pdf, TJ Suspension and Steering, Tires and Wheels, VerticalScope Inc., 111 Peter Street, Suite 600, Toronto, Ontario, M5V 2H1, Canada. But in reality, it does not matter. Perhaps you will believe the Pertronix Ignitor installations instructions: WARNING!!! Click here to search for Mopar cars and parts for sale. I purchased a set of Flame-Thrower low resistance wires from Pertronix. ULTRA NARROW DIFFERENTIALS - TECHNICAL VIDEO, Reverse Drive Quick Change Transfer Case with Under Drive for 4WD Trophy Trucks, COAST TO COAST - RUNNING DIFFS BACKWARDS OR UPSIDE DOWN. Solid Core wires do not suppress any Electro Magnetic Interference (EMI) which will interfere with electronics or rev limiters on your vehicle. The VAST majority of electronic ignitions will be damaged by use of solid core, non-resistance wires. I changed the plugs one more time and when we took the truck for another test session. Not sure what I am doing wrong here. Crank the engine and check for a good spark at the spark tester gap.. Attach the spark tester to the distributor end of the coil wire. Privacy Statement - Problem with nonshielded type wires and low resistance plugs is they create higher EMF `s(electromagnetic fields) and while modern ignition systems are mildly shielded they can cause havoc with the computers reading millivolt and milliamp signals and can produce "dirty" power throughout the electrics. My favourite is the sign at the foot of the escalators on the London Underground:- Dogs must be carried. Plug Wires, Taylor,accel,magnecor,and Msd Wires. The conductor is wound extremely tight around a special centre core. Problem was no spark. Are we speaking about a different system to the usual Pertronix trigger? I had a few arguments with one race shop owner who kept asking me Why do you specifically want an MSD leads when my Brand XXX Super Duper Race Lead are even better? He wanted to show me chart after chart to explain to me that the resistance per foot of his Brand XXX leads were lower than the Resistance Per Foot if the MSD leads I had asked for. Wire insulation thats damaged by head can allow voltage to jump to the ground rather than jumping the gap at the bottom of the spark plug. THEY CAN AND WILL FRY THE COIL DRIVER ELECTRONICS. I have included some more Info re the MSD Super Conductor leads from the MSD Website below: The MSD 8.5mm Super Conductor Wire is "the" performance wire.Engineered from the inside out, the 8.5 offers everything you have ever wanted in a wire; incredibly low resistance without electronic interference! After screwing the first Champion spark plug end into the wire, I used an ohm meter to test the resistance from the distributor end to the spark plug connection. I wish they would manufacture them with out the resistor as they are convenient to use, but as of a few years ago they didnt. By the way some high resistance wire will NOT send the small tester 1.5 V battery current along a several foot length, so you get no continuity light. It simply sounded different - just like it did on the engine Dyno. But I also noticed when I got the meter lead near the primary coil wire, I noticed a small spark jumping. Not changing the gap is fine if they are consistent however I found that perhaps due to shipping that the gaps were all over the place. If there is a regular spark, problem is rotor or distributor cap. If you do not understand it, here is a link to a discussion a while back: Anybody that knows me will understand my absolute passion to get to the bottom of something and I just had to know what was wrong with this questionable lead (And the other three leads that were are causing the my spark plugs to foul up with carbon. Do Not Sell My Personal Information -, By logging into your account, you agree to our. We immediately noticed a dramatic increase in throttle response, much more low-end power & torque and the engine absolutely screamed at high revs. If you are running original type points distrubutor you want as close to zero resistance as possible. Contact Us - its not likely caused by his choice of solid wire. Did anybody know that till I told them? Keep in mind PerTronix ignitions need carbon-suppression, or spiral-wound wire: If a spark is present, the problem is probably in the distributor cap, rotor or spark plug wires. (We are all told at school that rubber is after all an insulator right?). What are your Spark Plug Lead Conductors made of? Will low resistance spark plug wires and a high output coil make, F54 :: Clubman Stock Problems/Issues (2015+). Its very important to verify that your spark plug wires are compatible with the ignition system, or any on-board electronics in general. The outer sleeve that surrounds the conductor assembly is just as impressive. Purchase a brand of ignition components that you know and trust (Not some new brand that comes from china in a shiny box with a comparison chart). Do contact me via Private Message if you want to discuss more. Solid metal (copper, tin-plated copper and/or stainless steel) conductor wires are still used in racing on carbureted engines, but can cause all sorts of running problems if used on vehicles with electronic ignition, fuel injection and engine management systems, particularly if vehicle is driven on the street and damage to some original equipment and aftermarket electronic ignition and engine management systems can occur. Now onto the high tension wires Its important to keep an eye on your spark plug wires to avoid subsequent engine issues. Therefore I suggest to take the spark plug lead from the coil, leave it connected to the coil, unplug it from the distributor cap, put the end about 1/4 inch from a ground, like against the cam cover, and crank engine. Note the failures were not immediate. Which Is Better? Besides, everyone knows the red ones are "faster". To say a little more on that, I find that both of those numbers that you gave are considered relatively low. They have some there that are 500 ohms per foot. Ray I couldnt agree more that you should run resistance in your system - it works better, but it doesnt need to come from the wires. 2022 DRiV Incorporated. Knowing the main nearby high voltage was the secondary, checked into it and realized the previous mechanic had gotten rid of those cheap resistance wires and installed a good set of copper wires- to provide a good spark. We replace the plug wires on this with OEM wires, along with those on all his other similarly failing engines and the stray spark to the volt meter disappeared, as did the module failures. Ray I dont dispute that you need suppression particularly in a modern car, but Im just answering the writers question on failure of his ignition system - its not likely caused by his choice of solid wire. Using silicone lubricant spray, I snaked the wires back thru the conduit to the distributor. Higher resistance in series means less current for a given voltage magnitude - ohms law, so Bradlybob is correct. spark plugs you get better MPG and more power. We checked the ECU parameters, Air Fuel Ratio, Computer Settings, we changed coils, checked our ignition wiring, checked our fuel pressures, checked compression we checked everything and found nothing. Pertronix says no solid core wire, but they dont tell you why. Something about EMF. This has been more than adequately proven by the failures on this forum alone, let alone countless others. After many months of annoying black spark plugs, Proformance Motorsport recently changed our Spark Plug Leads to the Awesome MSD 8.5mm Super Conductor Leads. My first thought was the primary circuit was for some reason drawing too much current. I was super excited and Kevin was feeling a bit smug knowing it was he that had suggested the lead or leads in the first place. The copper core also allows the copper washer end of the wires (on a distributor with screw-in connectors) to be solder which makes for a neat & secure connection. He would replace the module, then about a month later, the module would fail. I gather you have the distributor cap with the screw on connectors. cap is probably about 5000 ohms. Nick. So I was checking voltage and currents at the coil with a meter. Lowest is best. (Dont you hate it when one of your mates pops around and solves your 3-month problem in a few seconds)? ng Demon coil and low resistance spark plug wires. If you lower the resistance too low(IE: battery cable) you will transfer more amperage which will, melt plugs among other things. As the electromagnetic field collapses in the coil the voltage at the plug gap rapidly increases to the point where a spark will jump across the gap, sort of like getting the crap shocked out of you after walking across the carpet and touching the door knob (high voltage, low current). You clearly did not read the Pertronix recommendations I posted. The issue is that most primary wiring now has many thousands of ohms resistance for modern highly computerized cars and .that is the point I am making. and can tell you what the gap to rotor magnet should be. We also used to sell tons of Pertronix modules. I suppose I got into the copper core preference from using them on my Triumphs as the distributor cap connections are the pointy-screw variety and do not work well the the silicone/carbon variety of wires. Any guidance would be appreciated. Lower resistance plugs will result in LOWER firing voltage and lessened spark energy. Ahhhthanks for the link.

Much to my surprise (After spending quite a few of my Race $$ on this high quality set of Race Leads), the plug lead I was holding in my hand had an inner core that I can only describe as a tiny 2.5mm black flexible rubber o-ring stretched out straight. Resistor wires will work just fine, and will also NOT create radio interference around your car. The low resistance results in less loss in spark energyso more reaches the spark plug. Ohm specs for MSD and Taylor wires. It would be an idea to check resistance before you assemble wires to the distributor. If I am understanding how you are measuring, yes you should have resistance, often about 1000 ohms per foot, but it does depend on your wire. Whats y'all take--04 rubi stock.

But I can only imagine they would cause lots of rf interference. Whilst I appreciate that Kevin is a very smart business person, a race engine builder he is NOT, so I initially shrugged off his Silly idea suggesting to Kevin that all four front cylinders are playing up and the chances of me having Four Dead leads in a single batch were pretty low because the plug leads were brand new only 3 months ago. As pointed out you can get the resistance elsewhere - for example the brush in your dist. There should be a regular spark as you crank. Solid Core Wires: You cannot run Solid Core Spark Plug Wires with an MSD Ignition Control. Later on, we had the same failure on other engines that had point systems converted to Pertronix. Use what has worked for you in the past and if you are new to this sort of thing or if you are ever in doubt, use what millions of racers use worldwide - grab a set of MSD leads and relax knowing that any future engine misfires or headaches will NOT be caused by the spark plug leads! With the engine running, move the test light along the length of each spark plug wire. This is necessary due to the aging of the spark plug wires from exposure to extreme temperatures (hot and cold), engine chemicals (oil, grease, coolant, etc.) JavaScript is disabled. Being an electronics engineer, I understand that a low resistance lead will result in greater spark at the plug, but I thought how the hell is electricity ever supposed to travel down this black rubber stuff? If you have lower resistance wires then you will have higher current flow through the wires. The MSD 8.5mm Super Conductor Plug Wire is available in Universal Kits and Bulk Lengths. So then, what typically causes cold start bogging / sputtering for the R53. You sound like you have six of them and they are connected to the electronics in your distributor. This winding procedure, combined with a Ferro-magnetic impregnated centre core, produces an extremely effective Electro Magnetic Interference (EMI) "choke". I measured the leads and the resistance was low as suggested by both manufacturers. Spark plug wires most definitely will affect the primary circuit. Imagine the electrical system you would need to have to if you were using more current and less voltage to generate a spark. I could go on, but I wont. A good friend of mine Kevin happened to be visiting our race shop whilst I was again busy changing my spark plugs (for the 6th time in a few short months) and asked me if the problem could be a spark plug lead. An aerial is often made from a length of wire. The content contained in this article is for entertainment and informational purposes only and should not be used in lieu of seeking professional advice from a certified technician or mechanic. If you did not see a spark, remove the coil wire from the distributor cap. Abrasion damage When spark plug wires rub against engine parts, particularly sharp edges, it causes cuts and breaks in the insulation. Manuf. Resistance is not the most important detail to be concerned with when choosing spark plug wires.