When spark plug leads need replacing..

[locote]

What is the life expectancy of leads in a DC2.....
Once they start to let water in when a motor is degreased(low presure spray),
that pretty much tells ya they need replacing???

[civiceg9]

when your leads around 7yrs-10yrs, plastic hardens, starting not to secure the spark plugs etc.
Shouldn't be spraying water directly at the plug area anyway.

[locote]

they are 10yrs old i might get some new 1s then....
i stole my gfs, they 6 yrs old so they might be on they way out to.

[locote]

http://www.xspeed.com.au/shop/product_info.php?cPath=33_104&products_id=433

would these be a good buy????
9.0mm leads.... they claim Hp gain, im guessing you would just reclaim lost Hp from having old worn out leads...

[EuroDude]

Do a resistance check on the leeds using a multimeter (cant remember the resistance value) and replace them if they are bad. If the plastic is damaged then change them.

My original 93 civics leeds were fine, the resistance was ok and in good condition but I changed them anyway a few months ago just because I felt like they needed changing. I didnt notice any performance increase at all.


And remember to always cover the leads and dizzy when degreasing. You dont want degreaser in the holes because they can short the sparkies and cause problems.

[locote]

where do you attach the earth wires on the leads in the link i posted???

[civiceg9]

Aftermarket 8mm or 7mm leads are merely providing additional insulation, and do not increase the electrical capabilities of the ignition system.

You can put a $3XX 9mm NGK Blue Cable in your engine, but you most likely won't feel any gain in power as your coil pack will not produce any more energy then it suppose to perform. What you want is a high resistance cable which would offer excellent conductivity, the essential function of a cable.

The best is OEM for Honda (but is expensive) or some big brand such as NGK and DENSO who manufacture to manfacture specs if not better.

There was an article in Temple of VTEC Asia
where they test various leads

find it here it is :thumbsup:
http://asia.vtec.net/beystock/tuning/plugcable.html

[locote]

i might wait till tuesday and buy honda leads then

[iamhappy46]

Top Gun 8.8mm leads(and ALL thicker leads) actually have less lead resistance due to the thicker cabling used. Normal leads do not have the current flow potential that thicker lead have. Stock ones are OK but on a modified car, every thing counts.

The car will idle smoother and produce a stronger spark for more power/torque.

Consider it this way, if you have a really big stereo amplifier in your boot, would you run 8mm thick speaker wire to power it or 4 gauge wiring??

Top Gun 8.8mm Leads are around $120rrp but it should be easy to pick them up for around $100.

[locote]

The Xspeed ones a are 9.0mm so they will have even less resistance.

do you need to earth the leads???

[iamhappy46]

No need to earth the leads. Some brands have inbuilt capacitors(like Magnecore) to make the voltage peak for maximum spark.

The X-Speed ones using the earth leads usually have a 40,00Km life expectancy but the Top Gun ones have a 100,000Km life.

I used Top Gun leads on my GF's ED Civic and they made a BIG difference over the 37,000Km leads that came with the engine...

[locote]

umm
ill c what the availability is like on top guns here in perth.
i think i was quoted 120 for 8.8mm not long ago

[iamhappy46]

OUCH, Retail + freight sucks

Upgraded leads are worth the $$ though ;)

[locote]

i ended up getting the xspeed ones..
My plugs where really black!!!!
They are NGK iridiums so i wont change them just yet.

I squirted them with throttle bod cleaner and water dispersant as well as the plug ports in case and water leaked in.


usualy when ive done that before it takes ages for the car to start and when it does it idles like a dog for like 3 mins...

but this time it started within half a second of turning ignition and it only idled rough for bout 5 secs.

i think the leads where on the way out lol.

i got these even cheaper 145$$

i rang honda and theirs were 230$$ not in stock in WA

and Top Gun 8.8 wher 160 and werent availeble in WA either.




heres a pic of wat these look like

http://img162.imageshack.us/img162/9093/engbay6cb.jpg

[Nuttz]

so did u notice any performance gains?

[CUL8R]

ok well i know for a fact that my boot to cyl 1 is ***t and i have bad ignition problems, at WOT sometimes the car just drops a cyl (prob cyl 1, its totally random(but only during WOT), usually happens after a big shock to the system eg. hitting a bad bump whilst pulling really hard) . when this happens i usually develop a misfire, and sometimes even the emmisions engine light comes on.
i think i need to get a new setup, so im thinkin ill go NGK but who on this site is best at sourcing them for myself? i currently run stock boots with upgraded low resistance leads but i think the issue is with the boot to cyl 1. had the leads changed thinking itll help the cause but just delayed the issue a bit.

so yeah NGK, how can i source these leads?

[CUL8R]

pm sent to civiceg9

[locote]

havent realy driven it since
im on a extraordinary licence so ill have to wait till tuesday to drive.
It goin on the Dyno on tuesday and getting my safc2 retuned properly this time.
Ill post my dyno results then.
its felt a bit more responcive but i havent realy pushed it to tell u if theres a power gain or anything all i noticed was it starts in 1 go, and it idles perfect as opposed to before.

In my last track outing my times were higher and my term speed was down.
there was too much moisturre in the leads then and my plugs were all rusted up when i pulled them out.

[micky_d01]

The ground wire is the wire that grounds the block to the chassis. This is because the after the spark occurs, the electricity goes into the block from the spark plug. In my opinion, upgraded wires won't produce power gains relative to a new pair of stock wires. If you increase diameter, sure you lower resistance - but honda have taken cost vs gains into account when they desinged their leads and their relative diameters with there ignitions. So no, theres very little HP to be gained when you upgrade wires (replacing old ones will - but new honda leads are sufficient) without upgrading ignition (Coil Pack, Distributor, larger diameter coil wire, etc). And whatever small gains are avaliable, you must weigh that up against cost. Remember, theres power wires within the ignition itself (highly insulated coil wire) that are designed to be in harmony with the stock plug wires. Think of it this way, if you upgrade the river flow downstream of a dam (the dam being the coil wire, downstream river being the plug wires), is there going to be gains in water flow? So you must first upgrade the ignition as well as the plug wires before you will see real HP gains that are worth the cost.

All in all, unless you dramatically increase the amount of fuel to be combusted in each cylinder (like in High boost situations) then a performance ignition won't give you a smoother burn than the stockies have already been designed for. Because the stock ignition and wires (when new) already perform to the point where benifit is negligible when compared to cost (in <130HP situations).

[iamhappy46]

Less resistance from upgraded leads, means more electricity is available at the spark plug electrode = bigger spark = bigger 'bang' = more power from burning more of the fuel:air mix.

PS: The 'ground' wire is part of the ignition leads capacitive 'charge' to help boost electrical power into one big hit, so the ground wires work. Do you know what a capacitor is?