Well about 15000 miles ago I bought the screamin demon coil pack, live wires and some brisk spark plugs.[burnout] And actually, I think I may have gained some power, Engine felt more peppy.(I have a mac shorty header, flex tube, ud pulleys, and the above). But 2 weeks ago my car died a horrible death that ended up costing me $175 for the new alternator and the cost of new focus sport wires to fix. [scream] My alternator died and at the same time the coil pack melted itself....destroying the live wires... Has anyone else had this problem? Or even heard of this problem?
I have heard of this problem about the screaming demon and livewires. Others have had this problem. I havent heard of some1s alternator dying tho. I wish i could help but im not the brightest[idea] crayon in the box when it comes to that stuff.[nutkick] I would of recommanded msd coil and wires, but o well[~]
That sucks....I've heard bad things about the screamin' demon coil pack, but I have the msd coil pack and wires that massive speed system.com just came out with and no problems with them. I highly recommend them. The stock coil is a POS IMO, it fell into pieces when I took it off, and I was extremely gentle on it.
Yeah I figured. I put about 100miles a day on my car and just wanted a beefier set of wires. Everywhere I look it seems the only way to do that is to go msd.
What does how far you drive have to do with wire size?
Stock and even the cheapest Autozone replacement wires will work just fine.
FYI, the jacket size has nothing to do with wire quality or EMI suppression ... Silicone has no EMI suppression properties.
Just considering how many miles I put on my car and how I drive my car, I feel like it would be a good idea to upgrade what I can instead of just getting oem. That and I can be a bit vain as to what under my hood looks like. I am also planning on getting a tune at some point.
I see the blue wires, I was just under the impression bigger is better when it comes to electrical. Less resistance in the wires, more power able to be pushed through. Most of the threads I checked out spoke of smoother idle, and better running at higher rpms. Also a quick image search showed me the cover, thank you.
Center of the wire stays the same for this type, the covers can vary.
Without getting deep into it, standard spark plug wires are a resistance type with carbon impregnated fibreglass as an electrical element. 1k ohm/ft. IIRC.
Actually works to both reduce radio interference and make a better spark by forcing electrical potential to build more before discharge across the plug gap. Resistor spark plugs OR resistor wires are used for all applications stock, not just automobiles.
Odd types like many Motorcycle ones do have actual wires inside the insulation layers, but are paired with resistor plug caps or spark plugs.
For your car the core of a plug wire is a carbon element that IS the resistor. That has an insulating layer around it, and an outer jacket for protection (same for all plug wires). Some insulators don't have a separate cover, molded of the same material throughout (may be thicker).
UNLIKE other wires where you get different thicknesses of wire for different loads, plug wires are all alike. Not a LOT of current to deal with, but high voltage to insulate so it doesn't arc to ground where it shouldn't.
A nice strong insulating layer can resist damage better, but in normal use they don't wear out from rubbing on things that often.
The most common problem is from removal when the wires get yanked on instead of handling them by the end connectors, damaging them internally (pull loose from connections more often than damaged wire).
Advertising is advertising, everything is the best until you read the next package.
No-one is saying the MSD setup is trash, it's just a case where good enough IS good enough and 'better' isn't much of a gain. No gain in performance for anything you'd do, stock is good through around 500 HP (or more) without troubles in these.
Flamethrower doesn't light a cigarette any better than a match.
In this case the difference isn't at that level, but the result is the same.
Yep, making sure there's a good, dependable spark is where the search for 'better' ends here.
Plug gaps are chosen to be as large as possible for a good, solid spark - and smaller than maximum for dependability over time as the plugs wear.
If you check N/A vs. turbo for the Focus you'll see smaller specs for gap in the current turbo cars, smaller so the spark can jump it in more difficult conditions (high boost creates higher compression for increased cylinder pressures).
In both cases the resistance to the spark adds up the SAME for the extreme case where it's hardest to jump the gap.
It's the way the electrical potential to make the spark works, needs some resistance like the gap before you will get a decent spark. Takes milliseconds to build up to that potential given some resistance, without the large gap to jump you get a much smaller spark slightly sooner.
A TINY gap might make too small a spark to light the mixture in the cylinder consistently, that's like using a sparker (torch lighting tool, the wheel/flint on a lighter) for that proverbial cigarette.
OK well I do appreciate the info. Seeing a lot of numbers in that thread. Most of them are talking about platform or cop plugs. Autozone system pulled up Iridium as the stock plugs for mine. I got the NGK IX Iridium. Guess I'll try .057 and go from there.
If you're trying those (not stock for the car) be VERY careful even checking gap.
Fine wire electrode type you're not even supposed to gap them normally, need a wire gauge type feeler & care in checking for approx. the correct gap as you can easily damage the plugs.
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