Wondering how hard it is to change the wires only ?? Any benefit on an '02 with less than 16k highway miles ?? Would like the added color but do not want to pay someone to install something so trivial. Are there any other wires that are suggested or just a waste of time and money ???

 

Kinda depends on what you're looking for. The stock wires will hold up just fine for quite a long time. If you would like a little color and perhaps a slight quality upgrade, the GM hi-po's will work well too. The C5 plug wires are extremely easy to change. Just pop off each of the coil covers (bottom side first) and you have easy access to all of them. To remove the driver's side coil cover you just have to do a minor bit of maneuvering to work it off around the braided fuel line. Very easy job. HTH

Robert :)

 

I have them but I changed mine while I put the headers in....Their red color is a nice touch.Like said above fairly easy to change.

 

:iagree:

 

any better performance ??? Whats the difference from standard wires other than some red coating ?? Fitchners says it increases spark, but is it a real world difference, or more in tune with higher mileage older Vettes ??

 

Killrwheels
If your wires are good, you more than likely will NOT gain anything. If you listen to the AM radio and have poor reception because of RFI and EMI interfearance from the wires (cracking and popping) then that may be a reason to upgrade. But for a noticable performance gain, I would have to say NO! My stock wires lasted 55,000 miles and would still be inplace if the GM service tech would have less careless.
I answered a post just last night and I will cut and paste the response here for you to read:
(QUOTE)
Randy
The origional sparkplug wires are made up of a fiberglass type core that is impregneted with a carbon material. This is what carries the voltage to the sparkplug. In a very high voltage situation the voltage travles on the outside skin of the conductor and not through the wire.

If the wire is stressed and that carbon core is damaged it will break and burn through. As time goes by the gap at the break gets larger and larger until the wire will no longer be able to deliver the spark. You will some times see this as a miss under heavy engine loads or high RPM.
The reason that the wires are constructed this way is to control RFI (Radio Frequency Interfearance) and EMI (Electromagnetic Interfearance)
In the case of the damaged core, the wire starts to radiate both. You can hear it on the AM band of your radio as cracking and poping which increases and decreases with engine RPM. A good set of wires will surpress most all of this interfearance.

To tell if your wires are bad, you will need to remove the wires and inspect the insulating jacket of the wire and both end boots. There should be NO rips tears or burns. The material should be soft and pliable. Grease and dirt will damage and break down the soft silicone outer jacket and boots.
Next, get an OHM Meter and measure from end to end on the wire. The carbon core has resistance. If your wire is good it will be in the range of 200-600 OHMS.

Mine origional wires (55,000 miles) were 333 -350 OHMS on the GOOD wires and 2-3 MEG OHMS on the 2 BAD wires. One of the bad wires was really close to the PCM and Throttle Control Module. When I repositioned the bad wires on the other side of the engine, my spurious codes and reduced power problem stopped happening. I now have NEW wires and no more weird codes and NO more reduced power!!

The reason I had bad wires was a careless GM mechanic! He must have damaged them during some warrenty work that I had accomplished!

If you need any more help, please let me know.

BC


[Modified by Bill Curlee, 9:08 AM 11/16/2003]


[Modified by Bill Curlee, 9:09 AM 11/16/2003]

 

If you decide that you need to change the wires or remove them for testing, Try this prior to removing them. To remove them properly you should twist the boot on the sparkplug to break the seal and any adhesion it will have on the plug. You will not normally be able to just pull it straight off the sparkplug. Once you twist it it and free the boot, it should just pull off. Pull the wire off from the BOOT and NOT the wire. If you yank the wire you risk the chance that you will break the carbon core and the wire will be toast!

BC

When you put them back on, yopu should apply some silicone LUBE on the boots to prevent sticking and to help keep out moisture.

 

I just replaced plugs in the 98 last night (Delco Iridium) and wish I had replaced the wires as well. I scoured the forum yesterday morning, and decided replacing the wires was unnecessary unless I had reason to believe they were faulty. Some of the wires are hard to remove, and I had to really tug at a few (even with the twist)--so I will replace them to be cautious, even though the car fired up fine and seems to run great. If I'm gonna dig back in and check resistance with a VOM for comfort, I might as well just replace the wires and get rid of those nasty looking metal boot covers.

I had the original Delco platinum plugs, and they looked great after 55K. Iridium plugs likely won't buy me anything, but you only live once.

Of course, having some red under the Torch Red hood won't hurt, either
:thumbs:


[Modified by LivinTheDream, 3:37 PM 11/16/2003]

 

I purchased the Magnecor 8.5 wires that I could still use the metal heat shields with! They provide good heat shielding and if you shine them up they dont look that bad!

BC

 

I like the Magnecors too. One tip regarding using the silicone grease in the boot: After pushing the boot onto the coil, I hold the boot on while I "burp" the boot with my other hand. This lets trapped air out. The silicone grease provides such an airtight seal that if you don't "burp" the boot, it will try to slowly slide down the coil insulator. A small pocket type scredriver works well.
Hey..."burp the boot". Isn't there a song in there somewhere? :rofl:

Robert