Yay! I smoked a plug wire….
Thread Starter
Burning Brakes
Joined: Oct 2019
Posts: 845
Likes: 526
From: Colorado Springs
Yay! I smoked a plug wire….
I’m the chucklehead who could quite seat the plug wires on two occasions, but I finally got them seated, only to have the wire on cylinder #6 touch the header pipe. It only took about 10 minutes of driving to burn through the insulation, then it was idiot light city on the dash. I recognized the faults from my previous f@ck ups, but the CEL remained lit. I installed the wires, started the car and cleared the persistent P0306 code.
Chevy wanted $42 for a single wire and it wouldn’t be in until Monday, so I bought some slightly longer (about 3”) wires (from O’Reilly) for $52. Of note, the resistance on the OEM plug wires varied between 2150 and 2350 ohms, which I thought odd. The cheap replacements had a much tighter tolerance and measured between 580 and 590 ohms. Lastly, the angle of the wires on the plug side were about 75 degrees vice the 45 degree angle on the OEM wires. The increased angle resulted in pushing the plug wires further from each header pipe.
One last tip for removing and installing plug wires - take off your shoes and climb in the trunk. It helped immensely.
Chevy wanted $42 for a single wire and it wouldn’t be in until Monday, so I bought some slightly longer (about 3”) wires (from O’Reilly) for $52. Of note, the resistance on the OEM plug wires varied between 2150 and 2350 ohms, which I thought odd. The cheap replacements had a much tighter tolerance and measured between 580 and 590 ohms. Lastly, the angle of the wires on the plug side were about 75 degrees vice the 45 degree angle on the OEM wires. The increased angle resulted in pushing the plug wires further from each header pipe.
One last tip for removing and installing plug wires - take off your shoes and climb in the trunk. It helped immensely.
Race Director
Joined: Jan 2014
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From: Fulshear, TX
Ouch! That sucks. Sorry for your troubles... But sounds like you maybe got better spark plug wires in the process. Which one's exactly did you buy? I know people swear by the ACDelco wires, but in my experience I don't see how they are anything special compared to many of the performance aftermarket offerings. They are just your typical mass-produced OEM wire that you would find on a truck or anything else.
Racer
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Pro
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From: Crosslake, MN
Pro
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From: Crosslake, MN
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Race Director
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From: Fulshear, TX
Melting Slicks
Joined: Aug 2006
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From: Tampa Bay, Go BUCS!!!Go Rays!!!Go Lightning!!!
St. Jude Donor '12-'13-'14
I’d be interested to see a dyno/HP tuners comparison with the two sets of wires. It would seem the 1ohm wires would fire hotter than the OEM 2100ohm. Would that be enough to effect the tune or would the ECU correct for it? If the ECU corrects for it then you could argue the differences in resistance were irrelevant (or could you).
Drifting
Joined: Apr 2022
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From: Melbourne Florida’s Barrier Islands
I’d be interested to see a dyno/HP tuners comparison with the two sets of wires. It would seem the 1ohm wires would fire hotter than the OEM 2100ohm. Would that be enough to effect the tune or would the ECU correct for it? If the ECU corrects for it then you could argue the differences in resistance were irrelevant (or could you).
Pro
Joined: Mar 2021
Posts: 627
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From: Virginia, Lynchburg-adjacent
I’d be interested to see a dyno/HP tuners comparison with the two sets of wires. It would seem the 1ohm wires would fire hotter than the OEM 2100ohm. Would that be enough to effect the tune or would the ECU correct for it? If the ECU corrects for it then you could argue the differences in resistance were irrelevant (or could you).
Thread Starter
Burning Brakes
Joined: Oct 2019
Posts: 845
Likes: 526
From: Colorado Springs
My guess is people believe lower resistance equals greater spark, therefore a more complete combustion and perhaps more power. Me, I went cheap. Time will tell if I need to pay for that one OEM plug wire because the "cheap ones may fail prematurely...."