Coil pack frying spark plug wires?

[natenkiki2004]

Yep, in the same way a bad coil can burn through an old school distributor cap.

$20 plug wires can have the same effect. $75 dollar plug wires can actually carry 80 Kv without leaking.

Cheap parts = cheap results.

Not say'n you buy cheap parts, just adding that frequently, people cheap out and then struggle to find the problem.

I figured we should start a new thread for this.

I bought the 'premium' line at Napa, the Belden wires which are $36 currently. Being that I've made audio cables before, Belden is a trusted brand in that area. I purchased the set new on April 7th 2014 and had to replace them on March 31st of this year due to 1 wire having gone bad internally (no external burning, rubbing or breaking). Now, 2 months later, I hear a light misfire at idle when warm. Nowhere near as bad as it was before I exchanged the wires but it's an issue that gets progressively worse.

Anyway, how can a coil go bad to fry wires? I've tested mine when cold and hot and the resistance of the primary & secondary coils is right in spec. I don't see how a coil could suddenly increase in voltage and fry wires or is there something else I'm missing.

Forgive my newbie understanding, the Explorer is the first car I've done serious work on and I haven't messed much with distributor setups.

 

[vq5speed]

I don't know about a coil causing wires to go bad never had it happen to me. I upgraded to a DUI coil few months ago. I didn't need new coil I just did it cause it was available and I wanted to increase performance get better gas mileage smoother idle. I also did new plugs and replaced the wires with Denso wires but I could never get the socket end to stay clipped down on the coil it keep popping off.

After a few months I began having a mis-fire at highway speeds. So I planned a spark plug change to Iridium plugs and I changed plug wires again to Moroso Mag-Tune wires they come assembled. I really like these wires the sockets stay clipped down now to the coil. Got rid of the mis-fire and the engine is running better then ever..

 

[FR-425]

I figured we should start a new thread for this.

I bought the 'premium' line at Napa, the Belden wires which are $36 currently. Being that I've made audio cables before, Belden is a trusted brand in that area. I purchased the set new on April 7th 2014 and had to replace them on March 31st of this year due to 1 wire having gone bad internally (no external burning, rubbing or breaking). Now, 2 months later, I hear a light misfire at idle when warm. Nowhere near as bad as it was before I exchanged the wires but it's an issue that gets progressively worse.

Anyway, how can a coil go bad to fry wires? I've tested mine when cold and hot and the resistance of the primary & secondary coils is right in spec. I don't see how a coil could suddenly increase in voltage and fry wires or is there something else I'm missing.

Forgive my newbie understanding, the Explorer is the first car I've done serious work on and I haven't messed much with distributor setups.

You're not missing anything, save a degree in electronics engineering. What I mean is you don't need to know that much to fix your truck.

No way I'm teaching electronics on here. Besides, I charge money for that.

 

[2stroke]

I would say to step up in wire size, maybe even make your own. I make my own plug wires, and its easy. The bad part is the crimp tool is often close to $70, and I borrow one when I need it. I think most plug wires are 7mm, try 8mm.

 

[natenkiki2004]

You're not missing anything, save a degree in electronics engineering. What I mean is you don't need to know that much to fix your truck.

No way I'm teaching electronics on here. Besides, I charge money for that.

You're right. A lot of us don't need to know a lot of the things we do but that's the point of a forum, to discuss and share info. I'm not asking for a college course, just an explanation, a point in the right direction so I can go learn more on my own. You talked like you knew exactly what was happening, so I decided to dig a bit.

I read that having a few windings shorted on the primary side can up the voltage but that doesn't really make sense to me.

A bigger reason of why I ask this is that I know my coil tests in spec despite being 24 years old. If my coil is having issues then many others could too.



I'm happy with the Belden wires. The ends snap on nicely and have 2 holders on the coil pack end. My logic could be utterly wrong though. Just because they make good OFC home audio wire doesn't mean they do good in the automotive market.

 

[2stroke]

I dont work in automotive, I work in manufacturing, but to me, I see little difference between brands of wire. I would think automotive would be similar. Its just wire and insulation, not much you can improve on. To be honest, I don't know much about coil packs. I do know plenty on transformers. A transformer is basically two coils of wire. Its a simple ratio. Say the primary coil has 10 coils, and the secondary has 20 coils. If you input 12 volts, 24 volts comes out. This is a step-up transformer, and I would bet it is what is in a truck. If you short some coils on the primary, say we are running 7 primary and 20 secondary now. That 12 volts input now turns into over 34 volts.

 

[vq5speed]

I do know plenty on transformers. A transformer is basically two coils of wire. Its a simple ratio.

Whats the ratio to get 45,000 volts cause that is what my coil puts out.

 

[Wolfie_85]

I have had wires make a difference. The cheap ones didn't hold up. Within a few months, one broke down from the heat, upon removing it, it looked like it was outside for years. While they might be simple, construction and materials count. I wouldn't buy the most expensive, but the cheapest always seem to not seat correctly, or fail prematurely in some way. Right now, I'm using NAPA wires. They seem to do nicely in both cars. They seat nicely and seem to be well made.