Craddock

Last weekend my car decided that it would not start up at all for any reason, and after I did all of the other tests it ended up being the distributor. I traded out the distributor, cap and rotor, and the coil just for good measure since it's as old as the previous two. So after I traded it all out and got everything hooked back up it wasn't running worth a ****. I thought "Oh no, I didn't put the distributor back on right" but I looked under the hood the wires are arcing like crazy. The distributor went in without me forcing it so I'm guessing I put it in on the right notch. The part the crank pulley hooks to was in the way for me to force it on and I had to put it on in a sort of "L" angle with my arms and it slid right in. I tried a few times that it didn't slide right in so I'm guessing I did it right.

Anyway, I traded in the wires for new ones figuring the old ones had seen better days and that was all it was. They had seen better days, and my car is running a little better now, but they still arc like crazy. Arcing from around the coil and about 4 of the plugs. Can they just not handle the new distributor or what is it I'm looking at here?

Guest47904

Why didn't you replace the plugs since you did all the rest?

Craddock

Because I put in new plugs last summer and I pulled these and they weren't bad. I've been under it for the past 6 days because it seems to break something new every day here lately.

seawolf06

What brand wires are you using?

Craddock

I've been using autolite professional for the past two years, but the opti was on the car when I bought it. I just put that new one on last weekend and they aren't cutting it now.

Just want to make sure, if the opti gear was off one tooth would it cause the wires to arc like that?

seawolf06

I think your arcing wires problem is just a problem with the wires. That can't be caused by something else that I know of.

Granite00

If the opti was off a tooth, the timming would be off. Arcing doesn't have anything to do with timming. Arcing is a problem with insulation or carbon tracking. If your previous wires were acring, they can leave carbon tracks. Those tracks are conductive and act like a bridge. Electricity will always take the easiest path and in this case it sounds like it's easier to arc than it is to fire the plug.