You can check plug wires for continuity with an ohmmeter, but you cannot
tell if the insulation is failing (allowing spark to jump to metal in the
vicinity). You can visually inspect the wire for signs of cracked or
damaged insulation, and you can look under the hood on a dark night to see
if there is any arcing and sparking going on, but that's about it visually.
The ohmmeter will show resistance ranging up to the 10,000 ohms range -
that is OK. Anything above that means the wire has failed internally.
My rule of thumb is that if the wires are older than about 5 years, it is
past time to replace them. If they have come in contact with a hot part of
the engine (manifolds, mostly), they fail sooner than that.
Dick Benjamin
----- Original Message -----
From: "Larry Noska" <lnoska@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: <mailing-list@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Thursday, April 15, 2004 1:45 PM
Subject: RE: IML: 92 to the dealer
> That's a good question how do we test plug wires? Would an ohmmeter work?
>
> Dads 82
>
> Lawrence R Noska
> lnoska@xxxxxxxxxxxx
> Hauser, ID 83854
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: mailing-list-owner@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> [mailto:mailing-list-owner@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx]On Behalf Of Laurent Daudelin
> Sent: Wednesday, April 14, 2004 11:31 PM
> To: Imperial Club
> Subject: Re: IML: 92 to the dealer
>
> on 15/04/04 00:24, Matt Hopkins at mhoppy@xxxxxxxxxxx wrote:
>
> > Last week the 92 was backfiring, not a good thing. After much
consultation
> > with myself, I decided a trip to the dealer for diagnosis was in order
> > rather than parts replacement at random.
> >
> > As it turned out the major issue was a plug wire. During the $75
> diagnostic
> > check it was determined it needed plugs , wires, O2 sensor and the fuel
> > filter needed to be replaced probably based on mileage. ( it has 59,000
on
> > it now)
> >
> > The total cost for above was in round figures $650 at the dealer. I
> decided
> > to do it myself which totaled $175 including paying $75 to dealer for
> > hooking it up to their diagnostics.
> >
> > Itmes of note-- I bought the parts at NAPA for less than AutoZone.
> >
> > AS Dick Benjamin says about the 80's cars applies to all, check the
basics
> > first.
> >
> > The O2 sensor seem to make a difference in fuel consumpiton, the gauge
is
> > falling a lot slower in these high fuel cost times.
> >
>
> Matt,
>
> I just completed a 2,000 miles trip. I think I would like to do what you
> did, as I had my Imperial 1993 for about 2 months now and I don't have any
> way to know when that kind of service was performed. I now have 89,000
> miles, so I'm assuming it wouldn't hurt to replace the wires, O2 sensor
and
> the fuel filter. In any case, I think the regular maintenance states that
> those have to be replaced at 90,000 miles.
>
> My only question is this: how do you recognize that you have a good set of
> wires? It might be a stupid question, but I've tried a few sets in the
> various cars I used and I've never been satisfied. They all had to be
> replaced well before the time they were due. So, are there any brands that
> you can trust?
>
> Thanks!
>
> -Laurent.
> --
>
============================================================================
> Laurent Daudelin AIM/iChat: LaurentDaudelin
<http://nemesys.dyndns.org>
> Logiciels Nemesys Software
mailto:laurentdaudelin@xxxxxxxxxxx
>
>
>
>
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