So, what does this mean? My trailing coil is arcing, and Im pretty sure it cant be helping anything. So does this mean I have a problem somewhere, or is it a relatively "normal" problem, and I just need to insulate some stuff?

~T.J.

Heres where its arcing arcoss. From where the coil to distributor wire goes out, to that terminal to the right:



Heres a shot in the dark to show the arc. Oh yeah, this JUST started too, as in within the last day:

 

bad spark plug wires , bad spark plugs or both

 

Dont say that . The wires are fairly new (few months), and they have dielectric grease on both ends where they plug into something. The plugs need to be replaced, but I dont see how that would affect the coil. Although, now that I look at the pic more closely, it almost looks like the spark is coming out from under the wires boot, weird. I tried plugging it in better, but it didnt do anything.

~T.J.

 

Ditto, replace your wires with some spare one's I know you have lying around and see if that helps. I just might be time for a tune up.

Didn't you take out your plugs a few days ago? One of the plug wires may have snaped on you, sort of the same thing happened to me, I had to keep taking my #1 plug wire off (my toyota) to check compresion and TDC and the inards seperated, the wire still looked.good though.

 

Grrr...Thats no good .

~T.J.

 

Most likely it is a bad coil. Look closely for any imperfection in the COIL wire and boot. I assume it is only 1 coil so you could just swap the coil wires with each other. (swap both ends at the same time so you don't change how they are hooked up) If the problem follows the wire, thats it.... If it stays with the same coil, BAD COIL.

 

By the way, in the picture, it actually looks like there is debri or material on the right side of the coil output, and maybe even extending to the wire connection. If that is what I see , then it is deffinantly bad. It shouldn't be there, it should be smooth. It looks like the ARCH is following the same path in the dark photo. That is what would happen if a crack formed in the coil case. Since it is the trailing side, pull the wire from the ignitor off to disable the coil untill you get a replacement. Your tach will not work while disconnected.

 

Ok, well I just swapped the wires, and the problem seemed to be on the coil, as it did it with the other wire too. The difference was that now that I put them back, BOTH coils are doing it, and the trailing coil is doing it off both terminals now . The leading is only doing it off the terminal on the right as you lookg down on it (the same terminal that the trailing coil was originally doing it from). What the hell, now Im pissed. I dont want to have to buy new wires, I just got those a couple months ago, and I dont have money for new ones anyway .

~T.J.

 

Ok, another update. I just cleaned all around the area that its arcing in to look for cracks or whatever. Didnt find a damn thing, and cleaning didnt make a difference. Looks like my damn wires are no good . I hate this car, but I love it too much to be mad at it . Im just really upset .

~T.J.

 

Good catch T.J. spotting that hazard. Even 'new' wires can be bad when you purchase it. Maybe you can exchange them for another set.
That's pretty close to the battery, which can emit hydrogen gas Fix it quick!

 

Yeah, unfortunatly I dont think that I can exchange them...Its been a while since I bought them, but not so long as to consider them "old". Theyre only a couple months old.

~T.J.

 

Remember Luke, electricity follows the path of least resistance. Once you turn down the path of the dark side, you can never return.....

 

WTF are you talking about ...

~T.J.

 

I think (translating Yoda talk)... that he means... electricity is lazy, so if it can find a shorter path (a short), it'll go there... so if you have something like a carbon trail in a distributor, it'll follow that to ground instead of through the plug wires and to the block to ground...


Jeff

 

Yeah, but I cleaned all the area around there, hows it shorting?

~T.J.

 

Maybe the resistance somewhere else is so high, that the spot where it jumps acrossed is the path of least resistance.

 

Ok, like where? Any ideas?

~T.J.

 

When you swapped wires, was there any damage or burned spot (trail) on the INSIDE of the boot? If so then the boot itself was conducting the charge. If it can't be cleaned off you may be screwed. It still sounds to me like it is the coil, and the arching may have caused a problem with the wire. Also in the picture, there was water. When cleaning the area, dry it very good and also inside the boot. Then use a silicon spray like WD-40 (dries electrical wires, displaces water) inside the boot and the top of the coil. Clean the excess off and try again.

 

It means its a bad coil and needs to be replaced, theres a crack in it somewhere, and its arcing to the post(s)

 

I agree.... you can probably pick a junker coil up for $10 too, just to check to make sure that's the problem before you go out and buy your MSD Blasters...

Jeff

 

I'm wondering if the dialectric (conductive) grease you used may be the source of your problem. If the grease migrated, or you used too much, it could cause the problem you describe.

 

No trail or noticeable burning or anything inside the boots. They still look new. I also cleaned everything, wiped them down with a rag sprayed with silicon, and also the inside of the boots. No change. Its still doing it. I emaild Accel because I was reading on their site about people that were getting replacement wires for their kits because of problems, so Im hoping Ill get lucky. Maybe theyll send me two coil wires for mine. One guy got three new plug wires cause their mounting clips melted or some **** . Anyway, Im also gonna try swapping coils now to see if that helps.

~T.J.

EDIT: If the "new" spare coil I have works, it looks like a good excuse to maybe get new MSD Blaster 2 coils .

 

Im absoultely positive its the coils man, I had the same problem once ....

 

I once had this problem and the car was way down on power, I just took some silicone from a tube and completly covered the boot and where it connected to the coil in the stuff. It solved the problem. Although once I got some cash I went and bought new wires and the car ran way better and made more power.

 

Silicone from like a caulking tube? lol. I thought about using some RTV, lol. I wouldnt know about the power, cause I just looked at some old pics I took when I very first put the damn things on there, and sure enough, theyve been arcing the whole damn time!! Its odd too cause I specifically looked for that at one point when my tach was goofing up (turned out to be a loose wire). Its really weird. Maybe its kinda intermitant? I swear there are days it does feel like it has more power too, or everynow and then for a good couple gear pulls.

~T.J.