Spark Plug and Wires... What to look for

[LotusS4S]

What should one look for when determining if they need new wires or spark plugs. The car seems to run fine, BUT I could be accustomed to noises, or conditions that were already there long ago..

BTW- I do not like where the spark plugs are in our 4cyl... It just seems like they are small buckets to hold water.. VERY dirty around that area..

Ed

'95 S4s

[Ray]

Hi Ed

If you are changing your spark plugs at the normal service times then it highly unlikely that you need new plugs in between. If one of them starts to play up, then you will know because the engine will only be running on three cylinders all or part of the time and as you say it runs fine.

As for the leads/wires again if they have gone bad then this would give bad running. How ever some times when the leads start to break down they can give intermittent problems that might not be noticed. With this in mind check that all of the connections to the plugs and distributor cap are clean and that the leads them self are clean and free from grease. Then find your self a nice very dark place,and with the engine running have a look at it. If the leads are starting to break down there is a good chance that you will see sparks around them as they try to track to ground.

Hope this helps

Ray

[LotusS4S]

Thanks... Yes, your reply did help. I checked in my dark garage, and #4 plug was showing a bit of spark in the dark.

Ed-

[s4simon]

I bought my car @ 40k miles, and a couple of months down the track I was inspecting the plug leads a found chaffing where one of the leads was rubbing against the heat shield (near the turbo). It had actually rubbed down to the metal. It wasn't actually causing a problem with the running of the car but I changed the leads anyway (kept the old set).

It just seems like they are small buckets to hold water

Small buckets of water is okay - It's the small buckets of oil you have to worry about.

[Paul C]

Small buckets of water is okay - It's the small buckets of oil you have to worry about. 

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Don't scare people!

Ok, it's not ideal, but loads of Esprit have a bit of oil down there from the

tower or covers leaking, i've mopped a little bit out of mine out a couple of

times and next C service i might well get it sorted... until then it's fine with

me as i know where its from, where it's going, and how to stop it.

Not many oil leaks you can say that about!

[Blue4Ice]

Sorry to hi jack a bit but I have just bought some new plugs from spark-plug.co.uk (NGK standard jobies). They seem to be a different size to the original (I havent been able to get the original out yet due to the size difference). The new ones are 14mm where as the old I assume are 10mm?

Also the new ones seem to have two pieces of metal at the top and not the usual one over the core of the plug. Am i making sense? lol and if so is this correct?

Ta

[docf]

I bought a set of plug wired from rdent for $40. When in doubt just replace them.. 30 minute job at the most.

[sanj]

Sorry to hi jack a bit but I have just bought some new plugs from spark-plug.co.uk (NGK standard jobies). They seem to be a different size to the original (I havent been able to get the original out yet due to the size difference). The new ones are 14mm where as the old I assume are 10mm?

Also the new ones seem to have two pieces of metal at the top and not the usual one over the core of the plug. Am i making sense? lol and if so is this correct?

It sounds like you had a different set in your car, what you describe sounds like the new ones are the correct part.

[rens914]

I bought myself new leads from www.magnecor.co.uk

if the injectors and leads are in the car for about 15 years you'll have to change them.

yust stick to the original spark plugs

grt Rens