Spark Plug Wires and Grounds Question

[03OrangeSVT]

They are the same for both, I have the FRPP wires on my SVT.

[Carrera26]

I don't believe that it's a "longer" spark per se for widening the gap. My understanding is this;

To have a spark occur you must have 2 poles with potential energy (yes, I know that it's probably the wrong term there, but i think y'all get it). Once the potential energy reaches a certain point then it will create the spark because the energy is at a high enough level to overcome the resistance to it taveling through the air. So basically it powers up until it overcomes the resistance, and then once it makes the spark the potential energy is spent.

By lengthening the distance between the 2 points the resistance is increased. Therefore more energy must be created for the spark to occur, and thus when it does spark there is more energy in it, which combusts the fueal/air mix more completely. More energy to drive the reaction.

The whole reason that people buy "colder" plugs is that the materials used in those plugs allow more energy to be released in the actual spark, without requiring more energy from the system. A "hot" standard plug will retain a lot of that electrical energy in the material of the plug itself, which means less is transferred in the spark, whereas the cold plug has more efficient materials that will allow more of that energy to be discharged in the spark. If you know about speaker systems, that resistance in the plug (and the air?) is termed Ohms. IE, that is a 12 Ohm resistor.

This is much the same way the uprated wires work, in that they have less resistance and therefore allow more of the current to flow through unabsorbed (or escape).


Thus concludes my term paper on ignition systems. If any of that is wrong, please remember that I just pulled that right out of my ass as I sat here. Everything seems to work, and the physics all play out very nicely in my head, but I'll include this disclaimer nonetheless.

[Oni]

Ah, I gotcha now. The purpose of the gap is to allow a larger amount of current to be released, whereas if a shorter gap were used, it's possible that not all of the current present would flow across the gap (it might travel back into the system more or less). Everything works like a resistor in the system, and you want the air gap between the node on the spark plug and the ground point on the other end of the plug (grounded by the block of course) to be the largest resistor allowing for maximum energy dissipation at that point, the gap.

And I really don't think there's necessarily anything wrong with the term potential energy since there's still a greater amount of energy at the higher end of a potential gradient, but I think the term is just confusing when relating it to classical physics and mechanics. Sorry, I've been lectured and corrected on that stuff so much in my degree up to this point...

Term paper... ha! You should see some of the posts I've posted on other sites before. I've done posts from 4 to 6 pages long (I actually reached the character limit for the post and had to do two!). I didn't get too many responses either... lazy users. I think you were talking about term paper as in lecturing over technical stuff. I get off on talking about these things... call me weird.

[Carrera26]

^^It's just the "Geek Gene" running strong and true. I love being a geek and I am darn proud of it!

If you really want some seriously geeky conversations that usually spiral far beyond my understanding, try some Nasioc.com or sccaforums.com threads. When you start to use advanced math to explain your way though a slalom, and other people come back with even more complex math to refute it, you know you are in a whole other world....

[jboylan]

I didn't see this mentioned anywhere, but have you done the YRFO reflash for your SVT? I have an 03 and mine used to stall like that, especially under braking at low speed. Sorry, I didn't have time to finish my term paper on ignition systems, but I swear I will have it in by tomorrow.

[Oni]

I did have it done, but you know, I never did confirm it. The car felt so much more responsive and didn't bog as much after I got it from the dealership that I never checked to make sure. I'm sure I'll eventually get a tune for the car since it's legal in STS.

[2004SVTAutoXer]

i got the SCO grounding kit delivered yesterday - great quality.

[WD40]

Originally posted by Carrera26
The whole reason that people buy "colder" plugs is that the materials used in those plugs allow more energy to be released in the actual spark, without requiring more energy from the system. A "hot" standard plug will retain a lot of that electrical energy in the material of the plug itself, which means less is transferred in the spark, whereas the cold plug has more efficient materials that will allow more of that energy to be discharged in the spark. If you know about speaker systems, that resistance in the plug (and the air?) is termed Ohms. IE, that is a 12 Ohm resistor.

Hot and Cold when referencing spark plugs has nothing to do with resistance, nor spark energy.
Hot and Cold refers to the temperature that the tip of the plug can reach.
A hot plug will not allow any heat to escape to the outer metal portion and will run hotter,
while a cold plug will be just the reverse.
A hot plug will have a lot longer insulator nose than a cold plug.
IOW, a cold plug will have more contact between the insulator and the metal surrounding it,
in order to transfer heat and keep it running cooler.

There's got to be a better explanation than what I can do....searching...
Here ya go...>>> Clicky

[Carrera26]

Well, I figured I could be wrong on that part of it, although I believe I am still right on the "gapping " part. Totally pulled the hot/cold plug thing out of my butt. (just so you guys know, I don't do that much, so I'm usually trustworthy I swear!)

I would expand more on it, but like WD40, I can't do any better than the link he provided.

[WD40]

Originally posted by Carrera26
Totally pulled the hot/cold plug thing out of my butt. (just so you guys know, I don't do that much, so I'm usually trustworthy I swear!)

LOL!
Takes a big man to admit his mistakes.
And, I for one still trust your knowledge.