Like that stray cat you just can't seem to get rid of. I bout the accel shorty spark plugs for a touch of added clearance after noticing that my spark plug boots were way too close to the sanderson block hugger headers I installed. No help, they were still too close, I had arcing, and on one bad occasion, a FIRE. Wrapped the headers, after putting a couple coats of paint on them. That seamed to fix both the heat issue on the wires/boots, AND the arcing issue. And everything was good. For about...6 months. Drove to work today, ran fine. On my way home, however, it ran like crap. At first, I thought it might have been the temp...it was 70 or so when I left, but 50 when I came home. I have not driven this car in any sort of cold since the top end rebuild, so I thought, hey, maybe it's cold manners have changed drastically. But after getting off the interstate, at idle, it starts to pop every now and then...not major backfire, but enough to be heard. Sure enough, I get home, pop the hood, and the usual culprits, 4 and 5, arcing, and throwing off my idle something fierce.

Now, I KNOW the problem is the headers. But I can't afford to replace them, I'm out of a job right now. So, I'm thinking of buying those DEI boot protectors...surely it can't arc through THAT, right? I never thought it would be able to arc through the wrap...but alas.

Anyway, for those of you reading this wanting to mod your motors, the first, and best, is the exhaust. And take it from me, don't go cheap. Buy coated headers, and avoid the many many issues I am having. The extra 150 bucks is totally worth it.

 

want a cheap but ugly fix? go to the junk yard and find a gm car with a series 2 3800 in it.. take the boot protectors off of it. they have a tin heat shield around the boot from the factory. trim the boot to fit. I have been doing this for years to work around this problem.

 

kevin,if you want to try those metal boots for your plugs pm me with your address and I'll send you a few to try,ok Mike

 

How do those metal boots work? Do they just snap on around the rubber normal boots? How much heat can they take, and do they block any heat? I am leery of having metal boot protectors, because metal conducts heat, and heat melts the spark plug boots...

And granted, I have the headers wrapped now, I'm just not up for taking chances after my first fire...

Are they aftermarket, or are they standard on some cars? I'm trying to get an idea of what these things are...thanks, guys.

 

have your headers ceramic coated... it was the only for for me... p

 

MSD makes high temp plug boots (red). They worked good for me, but I did also put in a dimple in the pipe. Even with the dimple the standard ones would burn up and short after a while, these have lasted 2 years with no problem.

 

I'm trying to do everything BUT put a dimple in the pipe...despite it's cheap cost, these headers are pretty thick...and now, they are wrapped, lol. Dimple = LOTS OF WORK

 

Yeah, I hear you. If you want the p/n of the high temp boot I'll post it when I get home. In fact if you want one to try, pm me your address, you're not too far from me.

 

MSD p/n 8852. Hi Temp Boot

http://www.summitracing.com/parts/MSD-8852/

 

When you are getting arcing through the wire insulation, through air, and through header wrap, that implies that that path through those three things is an easier path to ground than through the plug cap connection and gap. That sounds like a problem.

I would try closing your plug gap a little and also checking to see the quality of the boot terminal connection, especially since it is only happening on two cyliners.