What spark plug wires do I need?
Most manufacturers recommend an 8 or 8.5mm plug wire on most applications. Exceptions would be an all-out race car or a street rod where EMI/RFI suppression is not a concern, but weight and appearance are. In which case, a 5 or 7mm wire might be a better option.
Do coil packs have plug wires?
If the car is an older model, the coil is typically mounted to the firewall or the engine near the distributor that ‘distributes’ the high voltage it produces to each spark plug, via thick rubbery spark plug wires.
Are thicker plug wires better?
That thicker wire core provides a lower operating resistance, allowing more spark energy at the spark plug. This thicker core, once wrapped in the insulating material and outer jacket, is what dictates the larger overall spark plug wire diameter.
What is the difference between spark plug wires and coils?
The wire that goes from the ignition coil to the distributor and the high voltage wires that go from the distributor to each of the spark plugs are called spark plug wires or high tension leads.
How are spark plugs attached to a coil pack?
The magnetic field in the coil collapses, inducing a voltage spike into the coil’s core. The voltage spike is high enough to creat and arc aross the spark plug electrodes to ignite the gas mix. A coil pack is simply two or three coils in the same package, each assigned to two or three spark plugs.
How many coils are in a coil pack?
When this happens, the voltage will arc inside the coil and eventually destroy it. COP = one coil mounted directly over each spark plug, usually no plug wires. Coil pack = one coil for every two spark plugs, plug wires always used, two or three coils in one pack.
Are there any misconceptions about coil over plugs?
Doing so often ensures the coil fits in OEM size packaging, but performs significantly better. This last misconception example is going to exclude modern coil over plug, or coil pack ignition system vehicles, and primarily pertain to the older muscle car crowd, some of you reading this may have no idea what a ballast resistor is.
How does a coil on Plug system work?
Coil On Plug systems simply have an individual coil on each plug. The only difference with modern systems is that rather than a set of points opening and closing the coil’s “low voltage” circuit (the windings), it’s done by a computer as the result of a group of sensor inputs driving a computer program.