You may even want to take a photo before you get started.
Changing spark plug wires distributor cap.
Most of the time your wires should last well beyond the 30 000 miles your copper spark plugs are rated for.
Each spark plug wire plugs into the distributor cap at a specific location on the cap.
The rotor routes the energy in a specific through the spark plug wires ultimately to the engine s cylinders in the correct firing order.
It s possible for spark plug wires to be damaged.
If the spark plugs are connected improperly the vehicle won t perform as expected.
So a six cylinder car will have six contacts on the distributor.
Most are numbered for clarity.
Electronic distributor ignitions were an advancement but still suffered from distributor cap and rotor wear.
Each point connects to one spark plug and each spark plug goes to one cylinder in your engine.
If you did not see a spark remove the coil wire from the distributor cap.
Like all moving parts distributor caps and rotors eventually wear out from a combination of heat vibration extreme voltage cracking and carbon deposits and need to be replaced.
Picture the distributor cap as a crown that a king would wear.
The only critical rule to follow is that this order be maintained.
The engine fires in a specific succession which the spark plug wires and distributor cap are set up to support.
Replace only one spark plug wire at a time in the exact same spot on the distributor and to the same spark plug as the old wire.
The safest way to change these parts is to.
These factors cause the plastic in the cap to break down over time and the internal plug wire contacts to oxidize and deteriorate from spark arcing.
Attach the spark tester to the distributor end of the coil wire.
Crack the engine and check for a good spark at the spark tester.
Waste spark ignition systems eliminate the distributor and instead use a coil for each pair of cylinders however spark plug.
With that being said modern spark plug wires can also last much longer than they once did.
However there are other factors that can play a role in the timing.
Breaker point distributor ignition systems were the standard of the industry for decades however the breaker points wore and required frequent maintenance.
