Spark plug wire replacement options...
06-30-2003, 10:10 PM
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Spark plug wire replacement options...
I would like to replace my puney 7mm Mercruiser wires with some quality 8mm (or larger) wires. Everything that I have seen is too short or needs to be made up. I really haven`t had good experience with making up my own wires. Are there any "already made" wires out there that are long enough to replace my originals? I would like MSD, Taylor or something along that quality.
06-30-2003, 10:25 PM
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06-30-2003, 11:03 PM
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The price is right too!
07-01-2003, 03:09 AM
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I second the vote on the Taylors....There was a post a while back and seems like about half the people either loved MSD's or hated them....But I don't recall any problems with the taylors. I bought a set and have been very pleased....
BH
BH
07-01-2003, 05:28 AM
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I also decided on the Taylors and have been happy with the fit and have had no electrical problems with them. The point I should make is that whatever wires you buy you should not have problems making your own to length. I copied (making a couple adjustments) my original Merc wires.
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07-01-2003, 07:18 AM
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Performance Spark Plug Wires
Your choice of spark plug wires should be based on two factors - conductivity and shielding.
Conductivity is the wires ability to transfer the electrical energy from the distibutor to the spark plug and for all intents is described in terms of resistance, with lower resistance cores conducting better than higher resistance.
Shielding is the wires ability to contain the energy for the individual wire core within the core itself. Wires that are poorly shielded are prone to crossfire, grounding, and interference (both ignition and accessory). It should be noted that shielding is important at the wire and at the boot.
Conductivity (resistance) directly assists performance, especially with stock or non-assisted ignition systems. I measured four wires that I had on a bench here and got the following results:
Taylor Super Pro 8 mm - 280 ohms per foot
Taylor 409 Spiro Pro - 260 ohms per foot (Taylor spec is 350 ohms per foot)
Jacobs Energy Core 8 mm - 187 ohms per foot
MSD 8.5 Super Conductonductor - 42 ohms per foot
MSD spark plug typically have the lowest resistance of any off the shelf plug wire that your will find.
Shielding directly effects performance and longevity and, in a boat, safety. The conductive core of a wire will rarely break down over time, it is the external shielding that fails and leads to leakage (both to ground and to adjacent wires). Shielding also has to offer protection against burning, drying out, chafing, and in a boat moisture and corrosion. Bigger does not always mean better and can often lead to physical interference. My own comments regarding the three brands I mentioned above...
Taylor - above average shielding when compared to stock but prone to damage. The boot design is very bulky and can lead to problems with header tube clearance. The 409's tend to be better (less electical bleeding) than the 8 mm but that is mostly due to the thicker shielding (high resistance typically dictates greater shielding).
Jacobs - above average shielding when compared to stock but very prone to damage. The silicone that Jacobs uses is very soft and I do not think that it has a great life span, especially in a boat. Their universal kits also use a unique assembly design that I think could be an issue in boats with respect to leakage at the boots.
MSD - above average shielding compared to stock and other aftermarket brands. Can't say anything bad about them. They also offer prebuilt Marine Wires for Big Block Chevrolet based marine applications - I bought a set for my 500 EFI that was built to length and was about half the price of Mercury Wires.
These are my personal observations, for what they are worth.
Adivanman
www.adivanman.com
Conductivity is the wires ability to transfer the electrical energy from the distibutor to the spark plug and for all intents is described in terms of resistance, with lower resistance cores conducting better than higher resistance.
Shielding is the wires ability to contain the energy for the individual wire core within the core itself. Wires that are poorly shielded are prone to crossfire, grounding, and interference (both ignition and accessory). It should be noted that shielding is important at the wire and at the boot.
Conductivity (resistance) directly assists performance, especially with stock or non-assisted ignition systems. I measured four wires that I had on a bench here and got the following results:
Taylor Super Pro 8 mm - 280 ohms per foot
Taylor 409 Spiro Pro - 260 ohms per foot (Taylor spec is 350 ohms per foot)
Jacobs Energy Core 8 mm - 187 ohms per foot
MSD 8.5 Super Conductonductor - 42 ohms per foot
MSD spark plug typically have the lowest resistance of any off the shelf plug wire that your will find.
Shielding directly effects performance and longevity and, in a boat, safety. The conductive core of a wire will rarely break down over time, it is the external shielding that fails and leads to leakage (both to ground and to adjacent wires). Shielding also has to offer protection against burning, drying out, chafing, and in a boat moisture and corrosion. Bigger does not always mean better and can often lead to physical interference. My own comments regarding the three brands I mentioned above...
Taylor - above average shielding when compared to stock but prone to damage. The boot design is very bulky and can lead to problems with header tube clearance. The 409's tend to be better (less electical bleeding) than the 8 mm but that is mostly due to the thicker shielding (high resistance typically dictates greater shielding).
Jacobs - above average shielding when compared to stock but very prone to damage. The silicone that Jacobs uses is very soft and I do not think that it has a great life span, especially in a boat. Their universal kits also use a unique assembly design that I think could be an issue in boats with respect to leakage at the boots.
MSD - above average shielding compared to stock and other aftermarket brands. Can't say anything bad about them. They also offer prebuilt Marine Wires for Big Block Chevrolet based marine applications - I bought a set for my 500 EFI that was built to length and was about half the price of Mercury Wires.
These are my personal observations, for what they are worth.
Adivanman
www.adivanman.com
Last edited by Adivanman; 07-01-2003 at 07:28 AM.
07-02-2003, 11:08 AM
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