Should I be able to see my ignition system sparking at night?

[red67]

My truck has been giving me trouble, and I believe it is ignition related. It died twice on me tonight after hitting good size bumps in the road, and it also failed to start immediatly after being parked for an hour or so. I think Ive narrowed the problem to a loose connection at the coil.
I have a MSD box, coil, billet dist., and their wires. The blaster 2 coil requires an intermediate unit between the coil wire and the coil itself, and this seems to be the problem since after messing with it the truck will fire up. However, tonight when it failed to fire up I played with the coil and had the hood open. After it started up, I went to shut the hood and noticed sparking and flickering everywhere. The sparking most noticeable was at one of the wires going to the coil, but there was also significant electrical flickering all along the wires from the dist. to the plugs, and bright flickering at the plugs themselves.
Is this normal? I was just wondering if the plug wires should be glowing and sparking and clearly visable at night?

TIA
Ryan Sekula

 

[ORVP]

Not normal on mine.

I have the same combination 8.5 MSD wires and Billet dist. I have had the hood open multiple times at night and only have seen sparks when I had a worn boot on plug wire.

 

[bluebroncodrive]

yep bad plug wires

 

[ransil]

I just picked up a set of Ford motorsports wires & seperators from Summit, very nice wire set.
I had the same problem when I ran an MSD, use silicone grese on the plug boots . I also had to RTV the coil wire to keep it from arcing.

 

[BabyBlue69]

I had the MSD Box, Distributor, 8.5 Wires and a Crane Coil and did not have the light show you are talking about.

 

[red67]

well, it looks like Im going to need to get a set of new wires . It just frustrates me b/c these wires are less then two years old and the truck hardly ever gets driven since I leave here at home when Im at school , and I bought all MSD $$$ stuff so I wouldnt have to deal with this kind of crap .
Would bad wires lead to extremely shitty gas mileage (like 6-7 mpg) ?

Oh well, I get to head back to MI tommorow anyway %) .

 

[BoltBuster]

yep the spark belongs at the end of the plug, not along the way.

Some plug wires are not insulated enough to handle the higher energy and seek the least path of resistance, which can and will be your insulation.

Most high out put spark uses 9mm wire and up. contact MSD and ask what they require.

 

[ORVP]

I believe he is running the 8.5 fat MSD wires.

I took one set back to Baxter Auto and they replaced. They have a warrenty.
Call MSD and talk to them they should replace for free. The only time I had the lightshow it was only one wire that had bad boot due to heat exposure ie got to close to header. Do you have heat shields for the plugs are you running headers?

 

[Kenny]

Would bad wires lead to extremely shitty gas mileage (like 6-7 mpg) ?

Yes, bad plug wires will contribute to worse gas mileage.

Sounds like you might have two problems. Bad spark plug wires and a bad connection in your ignition (hopefully just the coil connection you mentioned).

I once had a bad connector plug in my Jacobs ignition system. It created power loss (couldn't go past 60 - felt like fuel starvation), engine would die or sputter when I hit bumps, and gas mileage was almost half.

Since I'd expect MSD wires to work with their system, I'd think they're bad. Hopefully they'll replace. If not, as a last resort, maybe try a little dielectric grease at the plug ends....not sure if it will help, but worth a try.

 

[commonlaw]

I am sure that this is apparent but, I had similar problems awhile back and to be on the safe side, i just bought a new solenoid and some wiring and cleaned all the corrosion very well and reconnected everything. When it comes to ignition problems, it is sometimes quick and easy to just replace and clean many components without necessarily pining over the root of the problem. Could just be a bad connection.

 

[2badrotties]

Just figured I'd add my stupid comemnts too. 6 or 7 mpg could be carb problem besides your bad plug wires. If it sits and doesn't start up, maybe leaking needle and seat. If you hit bumps and it runs like crap maybe very high float level. Maybe you have more than one problem. Try replacing the wires and then take a good close look at your carb.

 

[Kenny]

Just figured I'd add my stupid comemnts too. 6 or 7 mpg could be carb problem besides your bad plug wires. If it sits and doesn't start up, maybe leaking needle and seat. If you hit bumps and it runs like crap maybe very high float level. Maybe you have more than one problem. Try replacing the wires and then take a good close look at your carb.

Good points. Dirt in the Carb float bowl can cause the needle to not seat which will flood your carb and stall your motor. Happened to me a few times when I'd either enter a driveway or hit a speed bump just right. Cleaned the bowl, and it was fixed.