hush777 Posted October 7, 2005 Share Posted October 7, 2005 My step son got a 85 wagon to do some work on and knowing my history with subarus called and asked for assistance, I stopped by after dark last nite and he was showing me what it did. Carb-ed wagon, would not pick up from an idle.... just sputtered a bit then got going. While he was showing me this, I did it and he noticed spark jumping around at the cap, at the plug boots and along the length of the plug wires, any where that they were need metal..... O.K. need new cap, rotor, wires and plugs. Got it all today and found out the cap and rotor aren't the right ones... (my parts guy didn't here me when I said that I needed ND not hitachi), so in go the plugs (bosch platinum) and on go the wires...... stopped back this evening and same damn thing...... Spark jumping all over the place..... OK now this is not making any sense.... I had gotten a new set of Bosch plug wires for my gl-10 so I grabbed them and we threw them on...... Same thing Spark all over the place..... He is going to get a cap and rotor tommorow to eliminate any spark jumping inside the cap.... but I don't think that is it. Any one ever have this problem?? Any thoughts, short of a .45 caliber solution? Hush Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NoahDL88 Posted October 7, 2005 Share Posted October 7, 2005 could be your disty if the timing jumps around. I'd also go with the 1.39 NGK cheapie spark plugs, work better then the high priced ones. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TomRhere Posted October 7, 2005 Share Posted October 7, 2005 You're right, it doesn't make sense. Got arcage from the plug wires even after swapping on a 2nd new set???!!??! Don't think cap/rotor would have anything to do with it, but wouldn't hurt to change them when you get the right ones. May not have anything to do with it really, but check the wiring of the coil for correct polarity. I've seen engines do some wierd stuff cause coil was wired wrong. But can't say that I've seen arcage because of it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cougar Posted October 7, 2005 Share Posted October 7, 2005 It sounds to me that the ignition pulses are looking for a good ground. The arc isn't going to the plug gap because there is a break in the ground to the coil. Check to make sure there is a good ground to the engine block and the coil body and the bracket has a good ground connection to the block. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nipper Posted October 7, 2005 Share Posted October 7, 2005 Just as an outside shot .. after the new cap and rotor, clean the wires of all dirt, wipe them down etc. Check the coil tower for any cracks. What brand of ignition wires did you buy? nipper Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hush777 Posted October 7, 2005 Author Share Posted October 7, 2005 Checked the grounds at the engine, body and starter mounting. All looks good. New cap and rotor and still the same. Left him with a couple coils to try. Still baffled by this one. New plug wires were autozone, second set were bosch. Hush Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nipper Posted October 7, 2005 Share Posted October 7, 2005 ok second set is good, first set are not up to par. So you are still seeing stray voltage leaking from the wires? Have you looked at it at night, all lights off, to see if there is some common point of leakage... nipper Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hush777 Posted October 7, 2005 Author Share Posted October 7, 2005 Still getting leaking but it wasn't dark yet so I can't say where for sure. Was leaking all over the place though. Hush Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nipper Posted October 7, 2005 Share Posted October 7, 2005 ok .. im almost out of ideas... Last question before we slaughter a chicken and start chanting over the engine. Are the wires properly routed in thier holders? Sometimes if the wires are crossed, sitting on top of eachother, or EEEKKK tied together, you can generate electrical charges, and this would cause missfire, leaking, lightning inder the hood. in the meantime ill find a chicken. nipper Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cougar Posted October 8, 2005 Share Posted October 8, 2005 You can't just look at the ground connections and know they are ok. You need to test them with an ohmmeter to be sure of the condition. The high voltage is looking for a ground. If plugs were grounded to the coil body like they should be you wouldn't have the leakage like you have. The lowest resistance would be through the plug gap. The problem may also be in the coil itself. If you have a spare to replace it with I would try that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snowman Posted October 8, 2005 Share Posted October 8, 2005 Better that testing with an ohm-meter is to do a voltage drop test while current is flowing. With one probe on each side of the ground, you should read no more than .5 volts while cranking the engine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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