Originally Posted By That Ozzy Guy If not then: leads have small cuts which is causing the arcing and lowering the resistance. Is that possible, could cuts and poor dirty connectors lower the resistance of the whole lead?

George think of Current as water, If you have a big diameter pipe water can flow easily make it smaller and it is difficult to get good flow.

Resistance can be caused by dirty connections and possibly cut or poor condition wiring.

BTW I'm still learning when it comes to electronics.:classic:

Yeh, volts dont run anywhere, they only thing that could be said to run is current. Voltage is the potential for current to run between two points.

I would bet that the arcing is being caused by deteriorated insulation. This would definitely allow the electrons to jump from the wire to ground. All wire insulation materials will deteriorate over time, although the silicone type seems to be fairly durable. I really doubt that you would get any arcing if you installed a new set of wires. BUT, I can't afford to guarantee it. Always hedge your bets. Victor.

george if you leads are cracked or cut and you can see arcing they need replacing

Dirty connections and cuts or cracks will actually increase resistance which as such increases the current needed to produce the spark so if your ignition only has so much current leaving the coil the higher resistance lowers your spark at the plug

If you can see arcing then the lead has had it the arcing is the spark or pulse taking a shorter path to earth than through the lead so if any spark is getting to the plug i is reduced

Mick

The thing about Gold Rings as stated by Z kid is that Gold has a high conductivity rating higher than most other metals this is great for circuits but it can't be used because it's so damn expensive.

Just thought I should mention that.:classic:

Learning to use a multi-meter is a good thing,but even if you had gotten the readings that the factory spec'd that doesn't prove absolute.You are testing using just barely enough voltage to run the meter.The actual voltage the coil produces is thousands of times more powerful.Think of it as trying to pressure test a firehose by pouring a cup of water thru it.The fact that the water pours out the other end means the path is there and thats all.

Just for that are interested, I changed my leads with a set of Magnecor 10mm and the difference is unbelieavable! Starting the car the first time with the new set scared me. I pumped the gas with about the same pressure as I would normally and the engine came to life with a great big roar revving out like you wouldn't believe. My old leads were really really bad, some not even making full contact!

The guys that fitted the leads were a great bunch and yes, I know it was expensive but well worth it and they even came with a 10 year warranty.

Haven't tested the resistance yet but I'll do that this weekend and post up the results.

George:

"If it ain't broke, don't fix it."

That's an Americanism for you. That is, the car works, you get good power and you don't get any arcing. Why muck with it? Just to prove that the resistance of your new wiring is close / same / different (and why) than what the book says? Don't forget that the specs on the car ARE 30+ years old. Has technology changed in that time period?

Bottom line, if you see arcing in your spark plug leads....CHANGE THE LEADS.

But I wouldn't go removing, testing, and replacing the leads JUST to check their value.

2¢

Well, I didn't do it for the sake of it. The leads were shocking mate. The main coil one wasn't making contact so the sparks were jumping, some contact points were green, some white and one wasn't even connected at all.

Good advice anyway so thanks.:classic:

Basically it says that the amount of electrons going THROUGH a wire (current; I ) is inversely related to the opposition (resistance; R ) of the wire's composition AND directly related to the amount of strength (voltage; V or E )

So the MORE power (Voltage) you apply to a given circuit the more Current you will get limited by the Resistance inherent in the material.

Hope this helps

Enrique

Actually it's not the electrons going through a wire, it's the holes.

Bob