check spark plug wires

99 camry 160,000 miles origional spark plugs.

I'm going to replace them.

I want to check spark plug wires beforehand to see if need relaced.

I have digial vom.

In old days after dark you could start motor, raise hood and look for arcing.

Nowadays the headlights come on automatically.

Any way to temp disable headlights to allow visual inspection ?

Reply to
wp51dos
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It's hard to check spark plug wires with an ohm meter. Basically, anything above 100k is "broken" but below that is fine. If the wires are working, why do you want to fiddle with them? I have the same mileage and have never changed plugs, wires, distributor cap or anything. I hit 27+ MPG on the highway. "Ain't broken, don't fix it."

snipped-for-privacy@gmail.com wrote:

Reply to
Stubby

The plug wires should have no more than 25K-ohm per foot. Pull the Head light relay (or the two 15A head lamp fuses) to disable the lamps.

You can replace them on a preventative basis, but unless there are breaks you can still use them at 160Kmiles.

snipped-for-privacy@gmail.com wrote:

Reply to
johngdole

thanks for the reply.

i get 20 mpg around town.

does this sound right?

i don't go on trips

i think I'll just pull the easy 3 front plugs and see how they look.

I changed all 6 > The plug wires should have no more than 25K-ohm per foot. Pull the Head

Reply to
wp51dos

Dont play games , replace them, have you ever checked the rotor or caps carbon tracking, im sure not, replace them. Have you ever checked timing, I bet not, You will get 3-5 mpg better when you learn to care for your car.

Reply to
m Ransley

That's a bold claim. I have never had that kind of reward for replacing anything except parts which made a car run noticeably badly, sometimes not then. Especially these days when ignition components are less critical than they used to be.

Reply to
jg

adjustment a quarter turn and the computer turns it back a quarter turn.

The shotgun approach -- replace everything in hopes that it will fix something is not very sophisticated and is certainly not economical. If your car doesn't run right, diagnose it and repair what is broken.

Reply to
Stubby

On many cars, pulling the parking brake up to the first click will disable the auto headlight feature.

Reply to
timbirr

The computer does nopt over ride timing adjustments, it uses them as a baseline. Thinking the computer does is ignorant of its operation.

Reply to
m Ransley

Timing is also much less likely to have wandered out of adjustment than on older cars.

Reply to
jg

I tried pulling up on hand brake.

no go

lights still turn off & on with ignition

jg wrote:

Reply to
wp51dos

Belts stretch mine was 3-4 degrees off, its a common issue over looked thats hurts power and mpg.

Reply to
m Ransley
20 on a V6 is probably OK.

4 hours for rear bank plugs is a bit long. You should be able to reach all plugs from the driver side, using no more than either 3" or 6" extension (yes, just one at a time) with a spark plug socket and a standard 3/8" ratchet. No need for u-joints on the extensions. You may prefer to remove the PCV valve and hose from the manifold instead of getting the right most plug from the driver side. Shouldn't take you more than 30 minutes. The fronts ones I'd say no more than 5 minutes or

10 if you work slooow ;)

The timing belt does stretch with time reducing mileage and increase emissions. If you do your own work I'd say change it (and the pump, pulleys, seals) at 60K miles. 90K miles is a bit long.

snipped-for-privacy@gmail.com wrote:

Reply to
johngdole

That's almost a belt tooth - if it has stretched that much (and they have steel wire inside), you should worry about the belt not the timing.

Reply to
jg

Today's timing belts do not use steel cords. They are types of kevlar cords. Toyota had years of problems with the 5SFE belt stretching to the point of slapping the timing cover until they updated the belt around 2001(?). So timing belts can strech and they can strech baaaad.

There are of course other cord materials, like the Gates' carbon cord composit belt developed for Harley Davidson. Hardley wanted to put a wider wheel on their bikes, and instead of using metal chains Gates was asked to come up with the world's first commercially successful "carbon cord elastomeric composite belt". It's a thin belt with the strength of metal chains.

While some belts are spec'ed to go over 100,000 miles (like the Gates timing belts in Hondas), I do my own work and would change them out at

60,000 miles. $30 for a big rubber band is cheap (plus other usual parts for a timing job of course).

I have a preference for Gates Timing Component Kits. They include the idler and tensioner pulleys.

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jg wrote:

Reply to
johngdole

That's not surprising since carbon composites are used in place of steel wire rigging for instance, for its higher tensile/lower stretch. My point is if a belt stretches you've got bigger problems than spark timing.

Reply to
jg

Right, definitely. Digressed a bit there. ;)

That's why I like Gates timing kits. It comes with two pulleys, an instruction sheet by All Data, and an excellent timing belt. In fact, when Toyota was trying to figure what was wrong with all those timing belts stretching, they asked techs to replace with only Gates timing belts!

jg wrote:

Reply to
johngdole

When not if the belt stretches your only issue is retarded timing, and its loss of power and milage, checking timing is a 5 minute job.

Reply to
m Ransley

If it has stretched that much it's going to strip, and you can't compensate for changes in valve timing.

Reply to
jg

Yeah, the timing light does tell only what the CRANK timing is, but it won't be able to tell you if the CAM is off relative to the crank because of the stretched belt.

It's been reported that when the belt stretches to a point a tooth will land right on the ridge on the sprocket and the belt will snap cleanly at that point.

jg wrote:

Reply to
johngdole

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