Early Ford V-8 Club Forum

EFV-8 Club Forum / General Ford Discussion / Sparkplug Wires

Reply to Discussion | New Discussion << previous || next >>

Posted By Discussion Topic: Sparkplug Wires -- page: 1 2     Dolman 07-22-2011 @ 6:53 PM reply profile send p.m. New Member Posts: 177 Joined: Dec 2010 There is no spark at #1 on my '34 which suggests that at a minimum the wire is defective. I have a set of new wires that I intended to install any way. Removed the distributor cap but that is as far as I've gone so far because I'm paranoid and it appears it takes quite a bit of pulling force to separate the contact plate from the housing and I'm fearful of breaking something. I assume that the plug wires make a 90 degree bend inside the housing to insert into the contacts? How do I get at those innards? I've looked in the Yellow Book, the Green Book and the 1933-34 Book, (but not the Good Book) and haven't found any instructions. Henryat1140 07-22-2011 @ 7:18 PM reply profile send p.m. New Member Posts: 110 Joined: Nov 2009 Hello, There is an 'o' ring around the part of the outer cap that protrudes thru the inner cap. Remove the O ring and you can separate the inner and outer caps. But if you have no spark at all, I would think it unlikely the wire is at fault. I'd look for a bad coil or condenser or a problem in the distributor. Dolman 07-22-2011 @ 8:53 PM reply profile send p.m. New Member Posts: 177 Joined: Dec 2010 Thanks for the help. I should have said a very weak spark. The other 7 are about 3/8 to 1/2 inch long when shorted to the head while connected to the plugs. The engine starts immediately so I think the distributor system is ok. Anyway, I hope so. ford38v8 07-22-2011 @ 10:14 PM reply profile send p.m. Senior Posts: 2883 Joined: Oct 2009 Dolman, your wire may have shorted to the inside of your conduit. A test you may try is to remove the conduit from it's mount, hold it with a rubber glove away from contact with the engine, and start the engine. See if the conduit will spark to the engine, which will confirm the short. Another possible is that your distributor cap has a carbon trace from #1 contact to another. Check by eye without touching, this fault will appear as a tiny fine line inside the cap starting at the contact and maybe trailing off without a clear destination. Alan Dolman 07-23-2011 @ 10:50 AM reply profile send p.m. New Member Posts: 177 Joined: Dec 2010 Used one of those contorted picks that dentists use to remove the o ring without tearing it up and got the cap apart. Found no carbon tracks but did find a lot of dirt and corrosion. The socket for #1 is very green. The crimp on connector for the wire does not make firm contact with the resistance varying from .2 ohms to open depending on manipulation of the crimp on. Looking at the picture on Page 20 of the Yellow Book, I note that the gasket between the cap and the contact plate is missing. The rubber boot at the wire input port is severely torn. Obviously a ham fisted "mechanic" worked on it at some time in its history. Anyway, the new plug wires are soldered at the distributor end which gives me comfort. I won't try to clean up the plate sockets and will give C&G another piece of my retirement income. Never saw a hearse pulling a U-Haul. Thanks for the help Alan and Henryat1140. ken ct. 07-24-2011 @ 12:37 AM reply profile send p.m. Senior Posts: 1513 Joined: Jan 2010 I would clean all the contacts on the inner plate till shinny brass. "O" rings can be gotten at any hardware store,bring outer cap with you for good fit. There is a gasket between the 2 caps. ken ct. TomO 07-24-2011 @ 8:13 AM reply profile send p.m. Senior Posts: 7385 Joined: Oct 2009 Be aware that the reproduction inner caps made in Argentina may have contacts that are too long and they will contact the rotor, destroying both the cap and the rotor. Mount the cap on the distributor with the coil off of the distributor and measure the clearance between the rotor and the cap contacts for .005-.010. Tom ford38v8 07-24-2011 @ 8:47 AM reply profile send p.m. Senior Posts: 2883 Joined: Oct 2009 To add to what TomO said, if you find any contact that is too short, it can be lengthened with solder. A bit too much solder won't be a problem as the rotor will shave the solder down. An NOS cap is preferable to a repop, but will probably not quite fit as the plastic shrinks over the years. Don't force it, just file it lightly and it will fit. Alan Dolman 07-24-2011 @ 9:43 AM reply profile send p.m. New Member Posts: 177 Joined: Dec 2010 Story of my life. What seem to be simple solutions frequently become complicated. Thanks for the warning, Tom. I do have to get a new contact plate for the left side. After seeing the crud in the right plate, I decide to look at the left side. Nice and bright contacts but about 1 inch of the flange perpendicular to the horizontal plane of the plate is broken off. It may be ok, the plugs on the left side look good, but it bothers me. Maybe, I'm too fussy. TomO 07-25-2011 @ 8:04 AM reply profile send p.m. Senior Posts: 7385 Joined: Oct 2009 I don't know if the Bob Drake reproductions have the same problem as the Argentine reproductions. Maybe someone has ordered them and checked them out. NORS inner caps sometimes turn up on E-Bay and around here there are a few vendors that sell them. One of them usually shows up at Elkhorn, WI swap meet on Aug 6 and 7. I would replace both caps, but you can clean the corrosion out of the one cap with brass wool wound around a dowel. Tom

<< previous || next >>

PAGE: 1 2

NOTE: YOU MUST BE A REGISTERED USER AND BE LOGGED IN TO POST (and reply to) messages in this forum. If you are a first time user, please click the CREATE A NEW ACCOUNT in the masthead above to register and Log In. After that, all you do is LOG IN to enjoy using this site.

DISCLAIMER: The V-8 Club does no independent testing of any of the opinions, thoughts or suggestions presented in the website on the Forum, in the Tech Tips section, or any section. A reader should consider the website to be a forum wherein differing solutions to a particular set of circumstances may be discussed. Ultimately, the selection of an item for an individual's vehicle must be based upon the independent study of the vehicle owner in consultation with people in the hobby and restoration experts.

EFV-8 Club Forum Home | Back to Home Page | Contact the Webmaster

Copyright © 2009 - EFV-8.org
Powered by < CF FORUM > v.2.1