Plug wires

[95metro]

Originally Posted by Compaq888

I hate bosch stuff, my plugs and wires are now NGK, it's much better quality than bosch.

I find statements like this to be somewhat unfounded. You are approving of one manufacturer and saying everyone else builds junk. How about some tests to prove it?

I have no affinity to any particular brand and I'll buy either what's on sale or what I know has been tested and works the best. As for spark plugs I have no clue if the $1.50 AC Delcos are any worse than the $8 Bosch +4s when it comes to the Metro's FE. I just bought the +4s because I didn't have to worry about gapping them...and they were on sale...and they just look cool...and I can say I've got +4s in my car...

[thisisntjared]

Originally Posted by Compaq888

I changed most of my ignition components it looks like it improved my mileage a bit. I changed the spark plugs, spark plug wires, distributor cap, distributor rotor. I hate bosch stuff, my plugs and wires are now NGK, it's much better quality than bosch.

thats the general consensus at honda-tech.com as well.

its been dyno proven that for the money ngk is the best. the wires cost less than those from honda and so do the plugs. also its been proven that the ngk wires really are the best with exception to msd which ranked the same performance wise but costs more.

ngk plugs are $10 for 4 and the wires are $40 for the set(4). uber cheap and good quality.

[95metro]

Originally Posted by thisisntjared

ngk plugs are $10 for 4 and the wires are $40 for the set(4). uber cheap and good quality.

Which plugs are they specifically? I'll have to see if I can find the NGK wires around then...I haven't changed those since I bought the car and I don't know how new/old the current wires are.

[zpiloto]

Originally Posted by 95metro

Which plugs are they specifically? I'll have to see if I can find the NGK wires around then...I haven't changed those since I bought the car and I don't know how new/old the current wires are.

When you change them out if you have an Ohm meter could you see what they are? It would be interesting so see how much the resistance has changed.

[thisisntjared]

Originally Posted by 95metro

Which plugs are they specifically? I'll have to see if I can find the NGK wires around then...I haven't changed those since I bought the car and I don't know how new/old the current wires are.

i got ngk blues like 2-3 years ago. i believe i got them from nopi.com. the plugs are the standard v-power plugs that napa will give you.

[95metro]

Originally Posted by zpiloto

When you change them out if you have an Ohm meter could you see what they are? It would be interesting so see how much the resistance has changed.

You bet. I'll check the old ones and the new ones and perhaps I'll continue to test the new ones every few months.

Originally Posted by thisisntjared

i got ngk blues like 2-3 years ago. i believe i got them from nopi.com. the plugs are the standard v-power plugs that napa will give you.

Thanks. Yeah, I know the ones you mean now. I got the same ones at NAPA for an old Corolla I had for a short time.

[GasSavers_Ryland]

from what I've read the Bosch +4 platnim plugs don't tend to work in Honda's, because they tend to work best with traditional plugs that are indexed, the Bosch +4 plugs are side gaped (correct term?) and platnim is not as good of a conductor as copper, but it will conduct longer, and under harsher conditions, a platnim plug will not foul, or wear out, so it will work "ok" for a really long time, but never work exelent.
I've had champion plugs fail more times then I can count in Japanise engines, so I tend to avoid mixing countrys, if I owned an amarican car, I would put amarican parts (unless a single part was proven to work better) and the same goes for Japanise cars, I tend to lean twards NGK for replacement parts, and for VW's we use Bosch parts.

[zpiloto]

My plug wires have about 30,000 miles on them so I borrowed a Meter and checked the resistance. The meter was set on 20K and the values were :

#1 3.70
#2 3.38
#3 2.11
#4 2.15

The longest length is about 27 inches. I know nothing about electricty or multimeter. Do I take it that the worst wire is 3700 OHMs? According to the manual I can go to 16K ohms per 40" which seem like a lot. The cars running good but info is appreciated.

[95metro]

Originally Posted by zpiloto

Do I take it that the worst wire is 3700 OHMs?

Resistance increases with the length of the wire so the shortest wire should have the least resistance the longest, the most. Spark plug wires need very high resistance since they pass voltages in the tens of thousands of volts (relatively low amperage).

For your manual to suggest 16k Ohms in 40" is basically an ohms/meter reading that works out to 4,877 Ohms/ft.

All of your wires appear to be reading far less than that. If your 27" wire is the one reading 3.7k Ohms then it is 1644 Ohms/ft. All of your other wires should tally in near that number.

[zpiloto]

Originally Posted by 95metro

Resistance increases with the length of the wire so the shortest wire should have the least resistance the longest, the most. Spark plug wires need very high resistance since they pass voltages in the tens of thousands of volts (relatively low amperage).

For your manual to suggest 16k Ohms in 40" is basically an ohms/meter reading that works out to 4,877 Ohms/ft.

All of your wires appear to be reading far less than that. If your 27" wire is the one reading 3.7k Ohms then it is 1644 Ohms/ft. All of your other wires should tally in near that number.

Ok thanks I've got it now.