My car has been slower in the last few week . So I checked it today .The wire by the egr valve is shot again .It's been replaced like a month ago ! The shop did it cus i thought it was something else and at the time I did not have time to mess with it , but anyway .What can I do to stop this wire from frying and I have another plugwire that has white powder coated on the inside of it , I think its the plug next to that one and the end of the sparkplug is white .Then inside it so coated with white that when I took it off it was blowing around in the wind .These 7mm wires on it , I have a set of 8 mm wires , will this hurt to run one 8mm wire and the rest 7mm , cus I dont know if i will have time to make them all today ....Thanx as always guys , Wayne

 

ok , i just took the plug out , the one with the white stuff on the end .It has oil on the other end and is cracked in the middle , you know cracked on that hard white plastic part .this does not look good guys at all

 

oh , and theres also oil on the side of the head it looks like , its next to the exhaust manifold thats the part that does not look good ! Wayne

 

Ok is your valve cover leaking? or is it a seal? Sounds like V/C.
Will it hurt to run 1 8mm not really. do what needs to be done to keep it running. Now to protect them it sounds ghetto but it works. Metal clothes hanger placed descretly in the bay to tie the wires away from the heat of the EGR. I would not particularly trust the plastic ties, they may melt so the metal does fine.
The breaking of the one plug suggests detonation. Very bad. May have a bad knock sensor. CHECK CODES AND FIX ASAP.

 

Just as a precaution I put Dialectric grease on all my spark plugs and wires. can submerge the engine and I still got spark.

 

Thanx Camaro hunter . I was so mad at the time I kept thinking damn head gasket .Then I realized .No thats the valve cover its coming from .Ok im ganna run 1 8mm wire and the rest 7mms heh I dont think I have time to mess with this valve cover plus Im still under warranty on it I think . So i'll take it in to the shop mon . Thanx again . Wayne

 

what is detonation ?

 

Take one empty cofee can.
Add nuts and bolts, a few, about 8.
Rattle the can.
If you hear that sound while driving, you have detonation occuring in your engine, while under a load (going up hill, passing some one, etc.).
Comprende?

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Chat Soon,
KED85
Karl
1985 Firebird 2.8 to 3.4 swap project for Smog Happy LA, CA

 

Is it the rubber boot on the number 3 plug by that metel shiield??? i had that problem went throuh many sets of wires i found that the MSD wires worked good 30 bucks at PAW and the Crane Cam wires also worked good too never had any problems with both sets also stock wires were fine but who wants stock

 

 

then second one , im about to get heatshields for them .Sometimes I think I just need the V8 on the freeway , Im passing people doin 85.Speed limits 70 , i usually keep it on 75 or 80.It takes an hour to get to school on the interstate I'll do 90 to pass up an 18wheeler , i hate those things I cant stand for someone to pull in front of me either when theres not enough room , you'll be sure i'll get down on it a little then , but not to hard . maybe this kinda driving has still reeked havic on the engine and causes detonation huh ? but what is the noise ( what would be the nuts and bolts in the coffee can noise ? Thanx , Wayne

 

The one by your EGER is actualy the the third one
heres how the engine goes from the back forward
5 6
3 4
1 2
And the EGR is by the third one. The heat sheields dont do a damn think i bohgt a whole set of them from GM just to have the Sparkplug wire melt in them about 200 miles away form my house at 11pm got to drive hom on 5 cylynders.
Oh ya i forgot to ask what year engine and what size do you have??? Im referin to mine so there might be somethin i dont know about different years mine is a 91 3.1

[This message has been edited by FAST RS (edited November 23, 2001).]

 

yeah hehe , i was not thinking of firing order , i was just counting them 1, 2, 3, heh .

 

I HATE the EGR valve , I wish I could go outside right now and rip it off, throw it out in the street and run over it !!
I dont wanna take a chance of causing engine damage with running without it .Wayne

 

What's a bad knock sensor ?
Wayne

 

Detonation, or pre-detonation, is when the air fuel mixture detonates before the piston reaches full compresion. The piston is still fighting to go up but the explosion is trying to push it down. It causes a lot of extra strain on the engine.

I just lost all 3 wires on that side of the engine to heat for the second time. This time I ran them around the wire harness to keep them from getting fried. The EGR will still heat up the boot of the #3 plug wire, but it doesn't seem to phase it much. I think it's just far enough a way, and there's not much you can do about it.

 

OF COURSE THERE IS ALOT YOU CAN DO TO PREVENT BURNT PLUG WIRES!

No one has ever used plug wire separators?

They cost about $1 from the auto stores.

I have installed Accel 8.8 wires on my engine.
Not a single problem, burnt wires or anything. I use plug wire separators to prevent any problems.
It is such a simple solution.
Unless you are using wrong application plug wire or shortest possible plug wires for your ignition system, I honestly can not figure out how you are ruining the plug wires.


------------------
Chat Soon,
KED85
Karl
1985 Firebird 2.8 to 3.4 swap project for Smog Happy LA, CA

 

I agree with ked, thats why I suggested the clothes hanger(Temp immediate cheap fix). I did that for about 6 months cause I forgot about it then put in separators. I burned up 3 twice before I figured it out and put on the wire then seperators.

 

Well the shop that fixed the wire lastime , when I thought it was the egr valve again , did put a plastic clip to move it away from the manifold , that wire is the only problem I have .All the rest of my wires are fine ....Well I think they are , on the boots of the end where they wires connect to the distributor is it normal for the metal connectors to be burn some where they connect to the distributor ? Some of them are burnt and others are not .Thanx guys , Wayne p.s. What makes the (bolts and nuts sound in a coffee can noise ) I know its detonation but what is that noise ? ..

 

also , it was the boot that was bad , cracked , not the wire itself , dont know if i mentioned that
Wayne

 

now its making a light pinging sound ...whats ganna happen next ?

 

FYI the heat shields GM sells dont do anythign but Arc the spark off the block and they still didnt fix my problem. Knock sensors arnt fun to you gotta take the starter out and its right there it was like 35 bucks at autozone for the sensor

 

I might just go pick me up a ecm code reader tommorrow . They have them down at the parts store about 2 miles from my house . Looked at one today , it was the $30 Karl has .Kinda stupid not buying it huh ? while im having trouble lol .I guess I was just thinknig well sence this is a new motor , its warranted .but maybe not this part .I think Im ganna swing on down there tommorrow and pick me up a code reader . This is prabably a stupid question , but would this code reader give me codes to egr , if I have a leak or problem there , or bad knock sensor ? Im starting to think that Im crapping out that #3 plug wire b/c of a leaky or bad egr valve .Sence I have had the car sence 95 I have not went through 2 plug wires like that in 2 months ,NEVER .And I was thinking its the boot thats crapping out , I go to pull it off and check it and there it goes , big crack ! ...Wayne

 

Hi Wayne,
You need new plug wires.
You change wires then start going forward to find other problems.
Because, I'll bet, the other problems may go away.
Get the Crane ones from that web site for $10 if still available. Get new wire separators and go to it!
Make it look right.
One plug wire bad, so are others, too, I'll bet.


------------------
Chat Soon,
KED85
Karl
1985 Firebird 2.8 to 3.4 swap project for Smog Happy LA, CA