[DENCOUCH]

Motor was running pretty poorly today while I was out shopping with the wife. The sound it made, and the response of the motor told me I had a bad miss or a dead cylinder.
When I arrived home, I began pulling plugs. The second plug I removed was wet and sooty. This was not good

The thoughts of a holed piston, or a flat cam lobe raced through my head, and I was thinking that perhaps I should not have recently spent a couple hundred on some tools I wanted, as now I might need that cash for parts, Bummer. :drunk:

I examined the plug wire from the dead cylinder and found that the insulation had cracked and burned through, and was shorting against my headers.

My question is this;

Is there any way to know if the plug wires I am buying will be long enough to route them away from the headers? I began running the plug wires, and every time, it seems like I end up with some that are too short to finish the job!

How can I tell how generous the length of the wire kit is, other than "buy then try"..

 

[cjperotti]

I've learned two things about buying plug wires. Never purchase any from Advance auto and don't buy the cheapest wire sets you find. Spend the extra bucks for a good set.

 

[eric32]

Depending on what motor you have. I have gotten some already made custom made plug wires for my sbc 350's and other cars I have and got good quality wires from the autoparts stores not cheap ones and they have always gave me the correct length with a little left to spare and they have always worked well. Or you can get a universal sets of plug wires and get the cutters you need and you can cut them to length. What motor do you have? If its something commons summit or jegs should have some nice options for your car. Hope you can find something good.
Eric

 

[T-bucket23]

You can alway buy a custom kit and make them up to the length you need them.

 

[DENCOUCH]

Thanks fellas for the advice. Allow me to tell you what I came up with.

I found out that plug wire sets come in several flavors;
1. generic for V8's.
2. over the valve cover.
3. under the exhaust manifold.

I did not know that :drunk:

I picked up a wire loom as well. Burnt insulation is now a thing of the past.