ignition wire replacement

IAN · 02-01-2002, 07:31 PM

How often do you guys replace ignition wires?

I have a 72T with a 2.4. I can't find a record of when they were last done on my vehicle....

thanks,
ian

Doug Zielke · 02-01-2002, 07:42 PM

When they glow in the dark!

Early_S_Man · 02-02-2002, 04:47 AM

Ian,

What Doug is referring to is 'Corona' effect -- a bluish glow sometimes visible around the wires in a darkened garage or moonless night with the engine running. There can also be arcing to ground from pinholes or cracks in the black Hypalon insulation of your OEM wire set.

The ends of your wires unscrew from the wire, and the individual wire lengths can be replaced very cheaply with bulk, wire-cored spark plug or ignition cable -- make sure it is a NAME BRAND, such as Belden,, Packard, Delco, Autolite, etc. Don't even bother with unbranded wire from China! 7 mm silicone bulk cable is my preference, but it is getting hard to find.

After disassembling your old cables, be sure to test the ends with a multimeter for continuity. The distributor ends should read either 0 or 1000 Ohms, and the Beru spark plug connectors should read 3000-4000 Ohms. Good luck!

makaio · 02-02-2002, 06:42 AM

Warren,
Pardon my ignorance, but is it possible to just test the resistance from the end of the Beru connector to the distributor connector? Or is it mandatory to take them apart to check?

Early_S_Man · 02-02-2002, 08:01 AM

Matt,

No, there isn't any problem testing end-to-end resistance, but my assumption was that the wires were being rebuilt, so testing the ends seemed logical after disassembly.

makaio · 02-02-2002, 08:10 AM

Thanks Warren!