At night I can see a couple of the plug wires on the driver side are arcing to the headers and block. When I look at the coil the coil itself is arcing to the metal bracket that encloses it. I’ve tried 3 different coils and all of them do the same things. Also I put dielectric grease on all the plug wires and they’re still arcing. The wires don’t look burnt and there is no cracking. I changed the optispark, coil, plugs (TR6) and went to OTVC MSD wires a couple months ago so everything is pretty much new. The grounds look good as well. No codes as well. Anyone have any idea what’s going on? Any help would be greatly appreciated!

 

anyone???

 

?????

 

I googled 'leaking coil at laminated frame.' Lots of good advise, most involves using dielectric grease on coil tower and coil wire boot. As to the MSD wires did you cut them to length or do they have factory installed ends? Could be assembly error. I think Moroso makes a good plug wire and they offer extra wire sleeving for added wire insulation where the boots slip on. I haven't seen where this sleeving is needed in a stock application though.
I would bet most of us would be surprised to check our wires out in the dark even though the car runs great. Leaking plug wires are more of a issue with the large plug gaps run nowadays, also as cylinder pressure increases the spark doesn't want to jump the gap.

I run a BWD Select coil and have had no issues with it. Stay away from AutoZone junk.

 

The "spark" will always take the path of lowest resistance. So for some reason it's easier for the "spark" to jump where it is than the plug gap. I'd start with the plug wires. Is this stock ignition or something aftermarket? The reason I ask, some hot ignitions will destroy the distributor cap and/or rotor if a plug wire is bad or falls off the plug.

Al Too many Camaros and not enough time

 

I thought the same thing about the coil but I went through 3 of them and all had the same problem. No was 3 new coils all had the same problem. One was MSD blaster coil and the other two were just stock replacements from the auto store. I got the wires from CC Performance Parts. They were recommended by a bunch of people on here. This is what I bought http://www.mcssl.com/store/cc-perfor...0349ca0572b4d3
Can you send me a part number for the wire sleeving? Also my plugs are gapped at .035

 

The whole ignition is pretty much stock parts. The only thing that is performance after market is the MSD OTVC wires and tr6 plugs.

 

The part number for the Moroso boot shrink sleeves is 72031 (black), 72030 (Blue).
http://www.moroso.com/catalog/catego...?catcode=40002

They also make sleeving for the whole wire, which is overkill for a stock ignition.
http://www.moroso.com/catalog/catego...?catcode=40001

Also leaking sparks make carbon tracks that conduct and that just promotes more leakage to ground. Try cleaning the areas where the leakage is with alcohol.

 

Cool I think I'm going to try using those sleeves if nothing else works. I'll try and clean the area.

 

Update: I cleaned off all the anti seize on the plugs that were arcing to make sure there was a good ground to the head, and I also added another ground from the block to the frame. I saw that the plugs that were arcing before to headers weren’t anymore. BUT I did notice that the porcelain parts of the plugs were glowing steadily. I’m not sure if that is normal or not. Also the coil is still arcing to itself. I’m thinking of putting rubber or felt between the metal frame and the coil to see if it helps. Any input or help would be great!

 

The blue glow is normal. It's called coronal discharge.

 

Any idea what's going on with the coil?

 

How about removing it, clean it real good, and use silicone seal to inject between the metal and the coil. Also encapsulate the coil-to-metal area with silicone. (make it thick)
Silicone is a good insulator; superior to the air gap you have now. I think the only thing better would be glass but that's not practical.

 

I think I might try that with the silicone. Sounds like it might work. I just can't believe it happened on 3 different coils

 

MSD makes the coils with plastic brackets now. You have the old style..

 

I didn't know that. I might try and buy the plastic one and see what happens. Thanks for the tip!

 

Same answer. The spark is taking the path of least resistance. It could be something as simple as a bad wire or a broken rotor. What ever, it's jumping at the coil because it's easier than jumping at the plug. Finding it without an ignition scope might be a matter of starting at the plugs and working back to the coil. An ignition scope might narrow it down to one cylinder...

Al

 

Try a different set of wires as a test.

 

did you ever find the problem? Please help I have probably 6 out of the 8 coils that are sparking the same way yours are and I really need advice. They spark randomly there's no consistent spark

 

Sounds like you've got an LSx if you have 8 coils. Or someone did a 24x conversion to an LT. Either way probably best to start your own thread in the appropriate section since this one died 5 years ago.