Got another question if anyone can answer. At the end of summer we took a trip and were burning right through spark plug wires. Put new ones on and not long after maybe an hour we've burned through another. Seems like just one plug doesn't make much sense.

quote:

Originally posted by MatandAng:
Got another question if anyone can answer. At the end of summer we took a trip and were burning right through spark plug wires. Put new ones on and not long after maybe an hour we've burned through another. Seems like just one plug doesn't make much sense.

Same one each time?

I presume you mean burning from an external heat source. Is the wire too close to a manifold?

Could there be a blown gasket allowing a jet of hot exhaust to cook the wire?

I use heat sleeves up close to the nipple end.

The wire is close to the manifold but he's not sure if that's what is causing it. We just replaced the gasket because of the manifold problems we had. Fixed that and then it started burning the same wire everytime. I'll have him try the heat sleeves thanks for the idea Bill.

If you've got a 454, the #8 wire has a reputation for getting burned, especially with headers. Others have noted success with sleeves.

Matt

Ours is a 460 and we have not put headers on it yet! We will try the sleeves and see what happens!

quote:

Originally posted by MatandAng:
The wire is close to the manifold but he's not sure if that's what is causing it. We just replaced the gasket because of the manifold problems we had. Fixed that and then it started burning the same wire everytime. I'll have him try the heat sleeves thanks for the idea Bill.

Something is wrong there. I would check very closely for an exhaust leak blowing hot exhaust on the wire when things are warmed up and the engine is working. I use heat sleeves only to prolong the life of the wires, not to protect from a leak.

A leak can often be detected by putting a layer of aluminum foil over the suspect area. It will cook or blow through in a short time to tell you exactly where the leak is.

I don't know about Fords, but Chevies did not use an exhaust manifold gasket. No gasket to fail, and better heat transfer from the manifold to the head. Any Ford guys know anything about this?