Thread: Progress last night on the 468...

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Some of you made some suggestions on my problem of burning plug wires, etc. and I wanted to give the group an update. After replacing all my plug wires the Nova still wasn't running right, and I could tell it wasn't hitting on some cylinders. I decided to hook up a timing light and check each wire to see if it was firing as it should. (Maybe there was an easier way, but this worked for me). Cylinders 2,4,6,8 were all firing regularly. Cylinders 1,3,5,7 were all screwed up - firing only on occasion. This happened to be the side where the wires were burning before. I went and bought some of the Accel header plugs and replaced 1,3,5,7, even though the plugs had been replaced about a month ago. Amazing! Every cylinder started firing and she's sounding better than she has in months. I guess it goes to show that a burnt plug wire can cause a plug to foul in very short time.

I guess what I learned, and someone please correct me if I'm wrong, is that a plug wire won't show as firing unless the current can travel down through the plug and make a spark. Sometimes the "School of Hard Knocks" is the best teacher. (At least I'll remember this lesson).

Thanks everyone! Now I'm back to replacing some exhaust gaskets...

that is a very true statement, the plug is the source of ground the voltage travels to, and ultimately the block.. without the ground, the voltage wont leave the coil, until its built up enough pressure to break through the resistance and make it to the ground.... same thing that happens at the higher rpms when an ignition cuts out, the coil cant build enough power to break the resistance and fire, so it will start misfiring.