sabresfan

Anybody every try this? I was thinking I should wrap my spark plug wires in heat tape for a little added insurance. I already have sleeves for the boots. Good idea or no?

here's the stuff from autozone

Buy Design Engineering Cool Tape 1-1/2" x 15" 010408 at Advance Auto Parts

here's what it would kind of look like (not spark plug wires but closest pic I could find)

KW Baraka

Actually......a pretty good idea if you have wires close to the exhaust manifolds/headers.

KW

sabresfan

the heat tape is rated for direct heat of up to 400*F
Obviously headers get hotter than this. If the wires wrapped in tape aren't directly touching the headers would this still be okay?

Injuneer

The specs are confusing... one place it says "can handle direct heat up to 400%u00B0F", on the specs page it says "maximum temperature 2,000*F".

Somehow wrapping spark plug wires in metallic based material (aluminum foil outer surface) would almost seem to guarantee the wires will start arcing. Just get more of the woven fiberglass sleeves and locate them where the wires might possibly touch the headers.

sabresfan

Yeah I just noticed that too. I was hoping to possibly extend the life of the wires to keep them from breaking down because of heat. It looks like the kind of tape used on other electrical wires though, but then again they aren't as close to the direct heat of the headers.

So you're pretty sure it would cause issues like arcing versus doing anything good? I'm curious if anyone has actually tried it.

sabresfan

would vulcanizing tape be a better route to go?

Scrub88

This maybe a route to take and have excess material for future use I've used a lot of these products in the diesel world . For various heat protection ..mainly the expandable fiber glass cloth tubing heat shielding material
High Temperature Braided Sleeving

RamAir95TA

The correct way to prevent burning is proper routing, not gimmicky tape.

sabresfan

I realize that, and I plan on carefully routing every single wire. I just had heat tape laying around so I figured I would ask. I feel like any added insurance wouldn't hurt to prevent the continuous heat from the headers possibly breaking down the wires. I don't want to deal with arcing wires in the future.

RamAir95TA

Well like Fred already mentioned wrapping the spark plug headers in metal tape will make any arcing problems you have (or will have in the future) MUCH worse. That's why wires are in an insulator - a rubber or silicone jacket - to keep the spark inside the wire. Any gaps in that insulation and the spark will undoubtedly leap to the metal tape. That's why you see those types of plug boot protectors are made of a non-conductive material like fiberglass - NOT metal.

It would definitely be insurance. Insurance that any arcing in the future would be far worse than without it.

Fatdog2

Bank.