Losing my mind. Arcing problem
08-09-2013, 07:55 PM
#62
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so just randomly searching the web today looking for ideas.. i seen a random post that said a rich condition could cause wires to arc not letting the plug fire? is that real? could this actually be a tune issue? never heard of it.
Im trying to brain storm here, wires, plugs, heads, cam, intake, tune. thats all new stuff after build. intake cam heads i highly doubt are the issue. wires and plugs have been checked numerous times. tune is only other thing new. unless i had something else magically happen while my car was on jackstands for 2 months?
Im trying to brain storm here, wires, plugs, heads, cam, intake, tune. thats all new stuff after build. intake cam heads i highly doubt are the issue. wires and plugs have been checked numerous times. tune is only other thing new. unless i had something else magically happen while my car was on jackstands for 2 months?
Your "new" tune is "set up" for the 30#/Hr. injectors ........ right???
08-09-2013, 08:16 PM
#63
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new tune was pcmforless mail order and told every part i have.
ive got missed things before though hoping something was forgot and possibly this is it. i need my car lol
ive got missed things before though hoping something was forgot and possibly this is it. i need my car lol
08-09-2013, 08:21 PM
#64
Sounds good.
Next ur tune now should hesitate a bit.
But u should not have arcing.
The battery cables thing isnt gonna work.
Not enough contact area. Ur just clamping a few teeth in random spots. Use a hard cable. New.
Ur on the right track.
Next ur tune now should hesitate a bit.
But u should not have arcing.
The battery cables thing isnt gonna work.
Not enough contact area. Ur just clamping a few teeth in random spots. Use a hard cable. New.
Ur on the right track.
08-10-2013, 07:38 AM
#66
honestly i didnt want to mention opti,only as a last resort.
but your problem seems to be plug related.
lets figure a few things out first.
your car ran good before the head gasket blew.
you put new heads, gaskets and new plugs, new wires.
autolites 105's gapped at .40?
after analyzing what we got here it seems that the glowing spark plugs are the wrong heat range for your engine.
your plug may be too hot or u are pre detonating, both are bad.
to make a good suggestion, do you know your compression ratio? 11:1 10.5:1 10:1???
I personally run TR55's gapped at .35
but your problem seems to be plug related.
lets figure a few things out first.
your car ran good before the head gasket blew.
you put new heads, gaskets and new plugs, new wires.
autolites 105's gapped at .40?
after analyzing what we got here it seems that the glowing spark plugs are the wrong heat range for your engine.
your plug may be too hot or u are pre detonating, both are bad.
to make a good suggestion, do you know your compression ratio? 11:1 10.5:1 10:1???
I personally run TR55's gapped at .35
Last edited by dually681; 08-10-2013 at 07:59 AM.
08-10-2013, 09:27 AM
#68
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Is it possible that you have the connector for the coil connected reversed so as to have the coil polarity backwards? In this case the sparks would jump from the spark plug ground strap to the center electrode. To follow this train of thought farther then, if something was also wrong with the opti rotor that would cause unusually high resistance in the secondary system then the sparks would try to find ground somewhere else. This may sound off the wall but I can see this scenario causing your issue. Old style coils with bolt on wires were easier to connect backwards.
08-10-2013, 02:41 PM
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honestly i didnt want to mention opti,only as a last resort.
but your problem seems to be plug related.
lets figure a few things out first.
your car ran good before the head gasket blew.
you put new heads, gaskets and new plugs, new wires.
autolites 105's gapped at .40?
after analyzing what we got here it seems that the glowing spark plugs are the wrong heat range for your engine.
your plug may be too hot or u are pre detonating, both are bad.
to make a good suggestion, do you know your compression ratio? 11:1 10.5:1 10:1???
I personally run TR55's gapped at .35
but your problem seems to be plug related.
lets figure a few things out first.
your car ran good before the head gasket blew.
you put new heads, gaskets and new plugs, new wires.
autolites 105's gapped at .40?
after analyzing what we got here it seems that the glowing spark plugs are the wrong heat range for your engine.
your plug may be too hot or u are pre detonating, both are bad.
to make a good suggestion, do you know your compression ratio? 11:1 10.5:1 10:1???
I personally run TR55's gapped at .35
as for compression ratio im not certain. stock block afr 180s with impala head gaskets
08-10-2013, 02:42 PM
#71
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Is it possible that you have the connector for the coil connected reversed so as to have the coil polarity backwards? In this case the sparks would jump from the spark plug ground strap to the center electrode. To follow this train of thought farther then, if something was also wrong with the opti rotor that would cause unusually high resistance in the secondary system then the sparks would try to find ground somewhere else. This may sound off the wall but I can see this scenario causing your issue. Old style coils with bolt on wires were easier to connect backwards.
08-10-2013, 09:25 PM
#72
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Find a dealership or repair garage with a diagnostic scope and hopefully a technician that knows how to use it. They can see shorting plug wires with it - I can testify to that.
cardo0
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08-11-2013, 05:25 AM
#73
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Forgive me if you know all the following but I'm only posting it because I've done it before myself just because I'm always about to wet my pants to get something going. This along with troubleshooting an ignition that won't fire for a half hour while the rotor is still sitting over on the tool box and other adventures brought on by my own impatience.
Some of this may not apply because I don't know if you can put an Opti in 180 degrees off but you can with a standard distributor. All of it may be useless but what the hell I've got nothing better to do so....
Don't know all the details of what you did after putting the cam in but remember when the cam and crank sprockets are dot-to-dot it is on firing stroke TDC for #6 and exhaust TDC for #1. I will typically rotate the crank around one revolution from there to put the cam dot at 12 o'clock which is firing TDC for #1 and start adjusting my valves from there. You can do it any old way but for me it's just easier to keep up with what I'm doing. If you restabbed the distributor with the cam and crank sprockets dot-to-dot and set the rotor at #1 then it is firing 180 degrees out from where it should. Usually it won't run like that but weirder **** has happened.
On a side note if you start adjusting the valves with the sprockets dot-to-dot starting with #1 instead of #6 using the 90 degree rotation method instead of "intake opening exhaust closing, exhaust opening intake closing" method the adjustment can be out.
As a test you can take your plug wires and rearrange them at the dizzy if you have enough length or reroute the wires. Using this diagram instead of running the wires as normal, run:
Cylinder 1 to wire post 6
Cylinder 8 to wire post 5
Cylinder 4 to wire post 7
Cylinder 3 to wire post 2
Cylinder 6 to wire post 1
Cylinder 5 to wire post 8
Cylinder 7 to wire post 4
cylinder 2 to wire post 3
OR if indeed it's possible to install the Opti with the rotor pointing to wire post 1 while the cam and crank gears are dot to dot and this was done, maybe you can pull it off, turn the rotor 180 degrees, and reinstall. Since it's already been run really the easiest way to verify you're on TDC for #1 is either pull the plug, put your thumb over the spark plug hole, and rotate the engine over to feel for compression to build, then check the rotor to see if it's coming to #1 point. Or you can pull the valve cover gasket and rotate the engine while watching for the second valve (#1 intake) to start closing.
Some of this may not apply because I don't know if you can put an Opti in 180 degrees off but you can with a standard distributor. All of it may be useless but what the hell I've got nothing better to do so....
Don't know all the details of what you did after putting the cam in but remember when the cam and crank sprockets are dot-to-dot it is on firing stroke TDC for #6 and exhaust TDC for #1. I will typically rotate the crank around one revolution from there to put the cam dot at 12 o'clock which is firing TDC for #1 and start adjusting my valves from there. You can do it any old way but for me it's just easier to keep up with what I'm doing. If you restabbed the distributor with the cam and crank sprockets dot-to-dot and set the rotor at #1 then it is firing 180 degrees out from where it should. Usually it won't run like that but weirder **** has happened.
On a side note if you start adjusting the valves with the sprockets dot-to-dot starting with #1 instead of #6 using the 90 degree rotation method instead of "intake opening exhaust closing, exhaust opening intake closing" method the adjustment can be out.
As a test you can take your plug wires and rearrange them at the dizzy if you have enough length or reroute the wires. Using this diagram instead of running the wires as normal, run:
Cylinder 1 to wire post 6
Cylinder 8 to wire post 5
Cylinder 4 to wire post 7
Cylinder 3 to wire post 2
Cylinder 6 to wire post 1
Cylinder 5 to wire post 8
Cylinder 7 to wire post 4
cylinder 2 to wire post 3
OR if indeed it's possible to install the Opti with the rotor pointing to wire post 1 while the cam and crank gears are dot to dot and this was done, maybe you can pull it off, turn the rotor 180 degrees, and reinstall. Since it's already been run really the easiest way to verify you're on TDC for #1 is either pull the plug, put your thumb over the spark plug hole, and rotate the engine over to feel for compression to build, then check the rotor to see if it's coming to #1 point. Or you can pull the valve cover gasket and rotate the engine while watching for the second valve (#1 intake) to start closing.
Last edited by SSellers; 08-12-2013 at 04:32 PM.
08-12-2013, 10:10 PM
#74
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Going out on a limb here but in thread #62 it states "AFTER THE BUILD"..
Was this a build by yourself?
Did you paint it up all purdy like?
I did that a long time ago with my first build and had EVERYTHING painted up.
Bolted it all together and the 'touching' metal had soo much paint that NONE of the mating surfaces were causing the grounding circuit to complete.
OUT came the motor and i had to scrape/buff the surfaces and it solved my grounding issues.
Just a thought.
E
Was this a build by yourself?
Did you paint it up all purdy like?
I did that a long time ago with my first build and had EVERYTHING painted up.
Bolted it all together and the 'touching' metal had soo much paint that NONE of the mating surfaces were causing the grounding circuit to complete.
OUT came the motor and i had to scrape/buff the surfaces and it solved my grounding issues.
Just a thought.
E
08-13-2013, 12:12 AM
#75
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I painted one thing. LE ported intake i painted it black. other than that no paint. AFRs are bare aluminum.
ive had it. can an opti actually cause this guys? whats your take on that? $300 that im not sure if itll even be a fix bothers me.
car has ZERO problems firing up. ZERO problems idling. sounds like it idles like a champ. but you hold the throttle and then you can tell its not fine. stumbling and missing. really figured this would give me hard start problems but it does not.
ive had it. can an opti actually cause this guys? whats your take on that? $300 that im not sure if itll even be a fix bothers me.
car has ZERO problems firing up. ZERO problems idling. sounds like it idles like a champ. but you hold the throttle and then you can tell its not fine. stumbling and missing. really figured this would give me hard start problems but it does not.
08-13-2013, 09:50 PM
#76
what im looking at now is that since you say the car fires up and only hgesitates as you accelerate. it may very well be the opti.
and the sparks and glow is the usual corona effect weve been mentioning its normal.
i have a source for cheap opti's that you can pm me and i will hook u up.
cant say price, just that youll be happy with the product and the price.
no im not any kind of dealer.
and the sparks and glow is the usual corona effect weve been mentioning its normal.
i have a source for cheap opti's that you can pm me and i will hook u up.
cant say price, just that youll be happy with the product and the price.
no im not any kind of dealer.
08-16-2013, 10:14 PM
#77
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Holy **** man, I've been having the exact same problem with my 97 bird. Arcing at the coil, arcing at the plug wires, etc etc. Replaced the opti, cap and rotor 2x, coil 3x, wires 4x, plugs 2x, and I've only seen a slight improvement since I recently installed a very expensive set of Accel wires. This **** is driving me insane and even LT1 specialists can't figure it out. Craziest thing I've ever seen. The only difference is that my car actually runs fine, but it idles a little funny once it's hot. This problem started about 2 years ago and I haven't made much progress. I also have a pcmforless tune but you mentioned that changing the tune didn't fix it. Let me know if you figure anything out.
08-17-2013, 03:00 AM
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