Offshoreonly.com - 496 ho plug wires are $500!!! Please read

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get a piece of the heavy 3M shrink tubing from an electrical supply house and shrink it over.

cheap and effective

or you could try that self bonding electrical tape , any ACE hardware sells it... just clean with acetone and strech the tape ,it's then activated..

i used it on my battery cable on my truck on a terminal and works fine...

Just make your own wires.

Unless I am missing something, it is not that bit of a deal. At one point in time you could cut your own

Quote:

Originally Posted by vtown (Post 2589770)

I just bought a 26ft cat with a 496ho...still trying to dial everything in. with 4 passengers I am turning 4500 rpm with a 26p, bravo 1x, 1.5 gears and getting 65mph. My plans were to install headers and lab the prop. When I was installing the headers I noticed a ripped boot on one of the plug wires. This could have been there already or I may have done it when installing the headers.

I have a few question...please help:

could this wire problem cost me 400rpm?

Could I repair the rip in the boot..if so how?

Is there anything special about these wires since they cost $500 for the set from merc?

can I use aftermarket wires like MSD marine?

I do not thik MSD works as well...but these do for 1/2 the cost Merc charges. ($189)

They are so expensive because the performance spark plug wires have a unique stainless steel wire wound ("Mag Wire") conductor with a Dupont Kevlar core.

http://www.vitekperformance.com/shop...ame=MERCRUISER

I would go to MSD they are very good wires....and you can bet merc does not make those 500 ones either....years ago I worked at a boat dealership, was doing a engine job, was opening one of merc high dollar head gaskets, only to see that it was a victor gasket just dropped on a merc package and trippled the $$$

Look up a replacement crankshaft for a 1000SC. They're almost $14,000.

Merc is nuts.

Yes, a plug wire can cost you 400 RPM. Did on my boat when one fell off. Other than the lack of RPM, you could not tell the plug wire was off. Make your own replacement wire. I used to make my own wires all the time back in the day.

Make a set of your own. Just measure the old ones, maybe make some adjustments in length if needed. Easy.

For anybody who is interested, Raylar has many sets of new take off Mercury plug wires for the 496 engines in stock and we sell them for $75 per set plus shipping for those who need them. Need 496 stuff, remember one name, Raylar

Best Regards,
Ray @ Raylar

Quote:

Originally Posted by Raylar (Post 2593823)

Unless a 496 NEEDS some super wiz bang plug wire (I don't know if it does or not) $75.00 is probably about what the wires are worth to begin with, retail, take offs or new (+,- same thing).

Merc really sux sometimes. Would be nice if a Merc rep would chime in from time to time and justify/explain the reason/s for prices they charge for some of their products.