plug wire suggestions

[Boss Hugg]

Looking for suggestions for plugs wires or sleeves to prevent spark jump.

So, here's the deal. In complete darkness, crank your bronco and watch for sparks jumping under the hood. Last night I found three jumps. Very faint, but definitely there. One was in a place where the wire definitely had not been rubbing, but it was still jumping. Two jumps were due to the plug boot heat shields that come stock on the explorer 5.0. After messing with them a bit, they quit, but I'm sure they'll be back.

I was headed to church Sunday when the thing just lost power and wouldn't accelerate. It wasn't losing speed, but it wouldn't speed up. And I HATE not being able to get out of someone's way. I pulled over and looked everything over and couldn't see anything wrong. I hopped back in and took off. I think I felt a few solid misses and you could tell it wasn't right because you could feel it come alive and then lose power again. I think it's plug wires jumping mixed with another problem. So I'm looking to fix the spark jump problem first.

So hit me with your suggestions.

 

[toddz69]

I've run the blue Ford Racing wires on my 5.0 for a long, long time and have been very impressed with them. I think I had one that had some insulation that was pretty worn a few years ago so I replaced them with another set of the same thing.

Todd Z.

 

[ntsqd]

We chased electronic noise on a dyno for a couple of days. Tried wires from MSD, no difference, still had the noise in our data acquisition system. Put on some wires from Magnecore and the noise problem was gone. I used to be pretty in favor of the MSD wires until then, I'm sold.

https://magnecorusa.com/

If you're still running a 289/early 302 firing order look into exactly how the wires should be routed. I've seen it make a difference when most poo-poo it.

 

[DirtDonk]

And don’t neglect to check the plugs. If they are fouling, or somehow have too big of a gap to jump reliably, the spark will sometimes find the path of least resistance is somewhere further up the line.

 

[ntsqd]

High voltage is a lazy sob, it'll go to ground where ever it can the easiest.

 

[jamesroney]

And don’t neglect to check the plugs. If they are fouling, or somehow have too big of a gap to jump reliably, the spark will sometimes find the path of least resistance is somewhere further up the line.

...Pretty sure that the spark will ALWAYS find the path of least resistance.

 

[Yeller]

Hopefully it’s as simple as your plugs are starting to look like this

 

[AZ73]

I've run the blue Ford Racing wires on my 5.0 for a long, long time and have been very impressed with them. I think I had one that had some insulation that was pretty worn a few years ago so I replaced them with another set of the same thing.

Todd Z.

I have those on mine, but I find the #2 wire to be short if you're not going over the valve cover because you're using something like this loom organizer and going around the front of the valve cover:

Amazon.com: R&M Specialties 1105R Red Spark Plug Wire Loom Set for Small Block Ford : Automotive

Buy R&M Specialties 1105R Red Spark Plug Wire Loom Set for Small Block Ford: Looms & Accessories - Amazon.com ✓ FREE DELIVERY possible on eligible purchases

www.amazon.com

.

 

[Yeller]

PS: ^^^^^^^ that engine ran fairly well except at low to mid rpm/high load. It was either idling, or struggling till it wound up and then it would blow the tires off all 8 looked like that

 

[MarsChariot]

Taylor SpiroPro wires. Use them on all my vehicles. Comes in different color , too.