Help with plug wires

[wikkid]

I have trying to get the plug wire on plug 9 for 2 hours. I just cant seem to get it to click, im friggin disgusted. The plug i pulled was clean. The car has 50k miles and i think these are the original plugs so i thought i would do some maintenance. Should of left it alone.
The other ones will be easy if i ever get this wire on. Had to walk away as the swear words were flying all over the hood....

 

[Boxer12]

Common problem. When you pull the plug wire, it tends to let the heat shield slide down. Make sure the plug connector is out beyond the shield a good ways...you can always force it back down onto the connector after the connector is on the plug. Good luck.

 

[VIPER GTSR 91]

I feel your pain. And cant believe someone did not jump on this with AB wires for your Viper so I guess I will. The inside of the plug fitting is probably out of sync to snap on. It might be worth the little extra expense to go with a new set while your doing all this. With AB wires you can pick your color too. Highly recommended by many.

 

[wikkid]

3 plus hours and the no 9 wire is on. I pulled this plud 3 times thinking i did something wrong. I think the wire is finally on, it didn't click but im pretty sure i got it. Crazy, the rest will be a breeze. I should not of started with the hardest one....

 

[wikkid]

Decided last night to order some nice red heat socks for the wires, now to remove those cheap heat shields. This should be special. I think they are a compression fit, so guess i;ll squeeze and pull...

 

[wikkid]

Well im commenting on my own post to let everyone know what a ***** i am. After pulling the no 9 plug wire this morning i realizes the rubber packing from the new socket had gotten stuck on the plug.I started laughing pretty good. I thought i ripped the wire out but after further investigating i laughed harder. Lesson well learned, buy a good spark plug socket not a 2 dollar one.... and lose the heat shields if you change plugs, 10 times easier..

 

[Ghoust]

its good to hear that you got to the root of the problem. Now my question for the rest of the guys is: is it ok to get rid of the heatshields all together and run without them? Are removal of the heat shields a simple compress and pull?

 

[Dom426h]

Leave em be(heatshields). Theay are not "cheap"... Prob 304SS steel. They are there to reflect away heat and work as designed. I dont see any need to replace them with socks.

Wikkid, If your 50K motor had the original plugs than the copper center electrode would have been worn down resulting in a significantly larger gap. Dont just look at the condition, Check the Gap. I replace mine every 15-20K miles as they are only a couple bucks a piece and i like to maintain a tight tolerance for efficiency.

 

[wikkid]

Yes I will check the gap. The heat shields pull right out with a little jigle

 

[DMan]

Yea I'd leave 'em. I didn't, I pulled mine about a year ago, no issues at all, and I'm doing Abs wires here real soon, so that'll take care of all that, but I think it's smarter to leave them. Of course if think it's a challenge to do the plugs, try swapping the wires. Not to complain though, compared to most cares, the viper is super easy to work on IMO.

 

[swexlin]

Please help a newbie out. I was under the impression that most modern computer-controlled engines, which are not as prone to plug fouling, etc don't require plug changes at 15-20K intervals.

I bought my 03 with 22,900 miles, and it now has about 25,400 on it, and runs like a top. I find it hard to believe that it needs plugs already. If this is a naive statement, I'm sorry in advance.

 

[Phun70]

They are just plain old plugs, nothing fancy. I'd replace them.

 

[swexlin]

Doesn't answer my question. Modern plugs should not need replacing at 25,000 miles? In the old carburated days, maybe. Can someone explain why? I'm not trying to argue, but trying to learn.

Thanks.

 

[wikkid]

After further review, these were the original plugs. The car actually idles better. I have not taken it out yet, but did let it run a while. Not going to dick around with plug wires as the stockers looked to be in great shape. Plus i dont feel like pulling the intake off.

 

[Black Moon]

Doesn't answer my question. Modern plugs should not need replacing at 25,000 miles? In the old carburated days, maybe. Can someone explain why? I'm not trying to argue, but trying to learn.

Thanks.

They really don't need changing. Most guys like to change them and say they picked up 20hp.

 

[VIPER GTSR 91]

Doesn't answer my question. Modern plugs should not need replacing at 25,000 miles? In the old carburated days, maybe. Can someone explain why? I'm not trying to argue, but trying to learn.

Thanks.

Good question, the carb days with leaded gas fouled plugs quickly plus with newer technology and unleaded gas on todays plugs they are good for a lot more mileage. The Viper owners manual will suggest when to replace them. There are a lot of owners who change very early as something to do or a feel good thing. Me included I guess.

 

[Dom426h]

I'm not talking about fouling plugs. I'm talking about the standard Copper plugs center electrode wearing down creating a larger gap. Most modern vehicles come standard with platinum or iridium plugs for Longevity purposes. These metals wear at a fraction of the rate of copper giving a serviceinterval of nearly 100K+ miles. I pulled the iridium plugs on my mazda3 at 60K miles and the gap was nearly at spec which means the electrode barely wore. I pulled the copper plugs out of my truck at 60K and the electrode was wore almost completely down creating a gap twice lager than spec. (I should have replaced em at 30K like the manual says)

Copper produces a better spark which is why we run em.
30K is typically the serviceinterval for copper plugs on any vehicle.

 

[swexlin]

Copper produces a better spark which is why we run em.
30K is typically the serviceinterval for copper plugs on any vehicle.

Thank you. This I didn't know. So, in other words, the fancy "100k" plugs on most vehicles may last longer, but our copper plugs are higher performance, right? Which is why the engineers spec'd them, I guess.

Most modern vehicles come standard with platinum or iridium plugs for Longevity purposes. These metals wear at a fraction of the rate of copper giving a serviceinterval of nearly 100K+ miles.

So actually some "less expensive" vehicles, more daily driver types, run longer lasting plugs. I guess I had assumed a car like the Viper would run hi-tech shiznitt, but in this case, lower tech is better. See, I learned something today.