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My truck has logged 50k miles since it's last plugs/plug wires/cap and rotor replacement 7 years ago. I'm wondering if it would be wise to replace the wires and such now? What really dictates this stuff? Miles or actual years?
MY normal advice is, if it ain't broke, don't fix it it...BUT I have aluminum heads on most of my vehicles. I'm scared if I leave the plugs in too long....the threads will come out with them.
For that reason, I just changed the plugs in my '98 Toyota with 150K on the original plugs. They came right out and looked almost as good as the new ones I was fixin' to install. Guess I worry too much!
PS: My Toyo has no distributor cap or rotor...and the wires look to be part of what looks like the 4 little coils...
MY normal advice is, if it ain't broke, don't fix it it...BUT I have aluminum heads on most of my vehicles. I'm scared if I leave the plugs in too long....the threads will come out with them.
For that reason, I just changed the plugs in my '98 Toyota with 150K on the original plugs. They came right out and looked almost as good as the new ones I was fixin' to install. Guess I worry too much!
PS: My Toyo has no distributor cap or rotor...and the wires look to be part of what looks like the 4 little coils...
A little anti-seize on plugs going into aluminum heads will allow them to come back out with no problem.
As far as wires and cap goes. A lot of wires get torn up when removing the boot from the plug. The heat makes the boots very hard and stick to the plug. A dielectric compound applied to the boot will eliminate this problem. Change them at 50,000 mi and install them right.
As a retired mechanic, my answer would be " If you are 50 yrs old, do you have the same strength and mobility as when you were 20 yrs old"?????. Time for a change and new perk in the power range. Stefhen
Inspect the parts, I would at least pull one spark plug and look at the electrode, if it's worn, it's time. On the cap & rotor, just pop the cap off and take a look, if it looks new leave alone, if you have doubts replace.
You can check the wires just by opening the hood at night, you'll see what I think is called corona discharge, sparks, glowing, around the wires if they are breaking down. You can spray a little water if you are in a dry area. Normally in a humid place if you cold start there will be enough dampness to cause this.
If you have doubts about the wires, again, replace, you know it's easier to do this one wire at a time, avoids miswiring.
I like to put anti-seize on plug threads. The copper type from Wurth is my favorite, but, I'm a German car guy...
A little anti-seize on plugs going into aluminum heads will allow them to come back out with no problem.
As far as wires and cap goes. A lot of wires get torn up when removing the boot from the plug. The heat makes the boots very hard and stick to the plug. A dielectric compound applied to the boot will eliminate this problem. Change them at 50,000 mi and install them right.
Oh yeah, I use anti-sieze and dielectric grease when installing the new plugs. I was talking about replacing the originals...unless the factory uses anti-sieze on them....I don't know if they do or not.
I have platinum plugs in my 02 Nissan Altima 4 cyl. In theory they are rated at 100K miles. In practice, those plugs take a lot of abuse. I bought 4 new platinum plugs for about $4 each and replaced the factory originals at about 54K miles. I don't drive high miles, and figured at 6 years old, the originals needed to be checked anyway so why not replace them. On my car it's easy to get access to the plugs, they sit right on top of the engine and can be removed in about 1 minute. I had to gap the new plugs to the Nissan specs, put some anti seize grease on the threads and the job was done in no time. Note: some front drive V6 cars may not be so easy to get to the plugs if they are on the side of the engine facing the firewall.
Thanks. I ended up swapping the cap rotor and wires. Rotor was really worn down, cap had some wear, wires it was hard to tell, but I kept having radio interference and someone said it might be the wires. And since the truck mostly sat the last 5 years I figure maybe some animal found the plug wires tasty. The radio interference is still there but the peace of mind of knowing the truck is less likely to break down is also there.
Aluminum anti sieze on aluminum heads. Copper anti sieze everywhere else.
Keep the ignition wires clean with a little WD-40 on a rag helps keep them from cracking.
Otherwise leave things alone.
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