I bought a 95 astro van last year, with 250k. Runs perfect except in miserable damp weather, it has a had time starting. So I replaced the wires and plugs and it all seemed ok, but now I can't start again in miserable damp weather. I see sparks all over (jumping from wire to wire, wire to engine) when cracking over, even though they are properly spaced on the guides. Are these wires (Canadian Tire) that bad or is there something else making it miss? I have about 15,000km since I put them on.
wires sparking!
Nov 14, 2003
5 Replies
I can't say for sure about CT wires, I bought wires from Twilight Zone that failed after about 1000 miles. Wires looked good, but inner conductors became brittle. Go to a speed shop and buy a good set of wires, or use factory replacements.
Looks like you bought poor quality wires.
They shouldn't be leaking after only 7-8 thousand miles.
Stick to the major brand wire manufacturers, Belden, Standard Ignition or Delco.
Stands to reason that if the OEM wires made it to 250k, they are probably of pretty high quality. Go to dealer and buy a factory wire set, and end this misery.
Jerry
One thing you can try if you can get it, is Krylon Battery Protector. It's a spray plastic coating that's made for battery terminals. It works better for sealing ignition components. You spray it on the wires and the distributor cap with the wires attached. I did this years ago and it solved a similar problem on a VW bug. Good luck.
Spudston
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