I finished putting in my Taylor otvc spark plug wires in my 93 z28 this weekend and I could feel it missing a little. So I went to autozone and picked up a spark tester. I tried it out on a couple of wires and they were arching erratically. I was wondering if having a bad connection where the wires plugged into the opti could cause this to happen.

 

Anybody know what the voltage of the spark should be? I just want to make sure I'm using the tester correctly.

 

Between 20000 and 50000 volts depending on the type coil being used.

 

Well I'm assuming my coil is stock, and I'm getting consistent sparks at 30k, so it sounds like that's not my problem.

Thanks for the help

 

Looks like the coil is putting out correctly then. I hope you get your issue solved soon. Good luck.

 

Did you run your wires completely parallel to each other? Or did you cross one over on each side? Also check to see if you have burn marks from headers, and open your hood while it's running at night to see if you have any cracked plug insulators.

 

The drivers side wires are parallel. Not so much on the passengers side though.

 

The spark in a wire can cross fire or jump to another plug wire due to mutual induction and I believe the driver side is where it's an issue due to the firing order.

 

I'll go ahead and double check the drivers side wires just to make sure. I appreciate the help.

 

If that doesn't fix it, it sounds silly, but check the connections at the plugs. Too many times did I think all of them were snapped on, and one just wasn't quite there. Another thing about spark jumping at the wrong time. I know with distributor caps on Stab type distributors they can actually carbon track inside the cap and cause the spark to go to another cylinder. Just some food for thought.

 

Was it missing BEFORE you installed the Taylor wires? Did you check the resistance of each wire before you installed it?

I'd second the suggestion that you check for a loose plug boot/end. Also check for corrosion in the Opti terminals.

Did you re-use the metal boot shields?

 

Its been missing for a while now. When I had my hooker long tube headers put in I was having issues with my wires burning, which is why I decided to get the otvc kit. I checked the ohms briefly after I crimped each wire, and I believe they all had the same resistance or slightly less as the wire each one was replacing.


I know that the plug end of the wires are on tight. I will go ahead and check for corrosion on the opti terminals, but I was wondering would I get a consistent spark at 30k volts if that was the problem?

The boots I have are just the rubber ones.

 

Also don't forget the coil wire from the opti too as those can corrode on the terminal ends. Injuneer might be able to correct me on this, but I believe it's about 5-7k ohm per foot of wire is one "spec" I've heard for plug wires. Also, check for continuity on the primary and secondary coil of the ignition coil.. The resistance on the primary side should be <5ohm and the secondary 5k-10k ohm and neither of them should be grounded,

 

The Taylor 8mm Spiro-Pro wires are 350 ohms/foot. The Taylor Thundervolt 50 wires are 50 ohms/foot. The MSD 8.5mm SuperConductors are 40-50 ohms/foot. The Taylors should have had significantly less resistance than the stock wires.

The stock LT1 wires have metal boot shields over the rubber boots. Some people have had problems reusing the metal boot shield on aftermarket wires.

 

I have the 8mm Spiro-Pro wires and I cant remember exactly what I read or what scale I had the meter on, but as soon as I get a hold of another volt meter I'll be sure to check that out. When I pulled the old wires out there were no metal shields, but the wires were Bosch, so whoever changed out the stock wires before me must have tossed them. Will that be a problem if I don't have the boot shields?