How To Stop Spark Plug Wires From Arcing?

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Well, in this guideline, we’ll let you know how you can stop arcing surrounding the spark plug wires. So, to know more, keep reading the article!

How to stop spark plug wires from arcing?

Before we know the techniques to stop arcing of spark plug wires, we should identify the causes why this arcing occurs surrounding the conductive spark plug wires. It will help you to understand the techniques well. And, after then, we will describe in brief.

The Reason behind spark plug wires arcing

Technically, if you have corroded as well as defective wires, you are most likely going to have spark plug wires arcing. The reason is mainly these defective wires don’t have a good ground connection between the coil and the surrounding conductive spark plug wires.

The voltage produced from the ignition coil has a connection to the engine block ground. This is because; this voltage has to return to the ignition coil through the spark plugs. But, if there is a bad coil ground connection, it doesn’t find the path. And, here comes the problem- it makes its own conductive path and creates arcing of spark plug wires.

Besides, if you have a weak ignition coil, this could be also a reason for having to the arc of the wires. This weak coil has to struggle for putting out enough voltage that needs to jump the spark plug gap. This gap is under cylinder compression.

However, after that, the coil makes a decision to produce a lower voltage spark to find an easier path to ground through the spark plug wires boots. But, as the sparks can’t jump the spark plug gap it creates arcing.

The techniques to stop spark plug wires arcing

As we have identified the reasons behind arcing, now it’s time to know how we can stop it. So, here are some easiest ways to stop spark plug wires from arcing.

1. Routine check-up of the engine and the wires as well

If you want to keep your engine running well, you should always do a routine check-up of your vehicle’s engine maintenance and the spark plug wires as well. The preventive engine maintenance with the spark plugs plays a vital role to keep the vehicle in good condition.

Thus, you need to check your engine regularly. And, whenever you are going to check your engine, you also have to check if your spark plug wires wear out or not. As they are vulnerable and wear out easily, so if you see any wearing out, cracking, or loosening of the spark plug wires, you should replace them with the new one. You need to replace all of them, not just the one that is wearing out.

However, if you don’t routine check-up your vehicle’s engine regularly, you can’t be aware at all and will experience arching. So, this is one of the significant ways to stop spark plug wires from arcing.

2. Replace all the spark plug wires with the new wires

We have already mentioned that, if you see any kind of corroded wires that are already wearing out or if you experience any sparking or electrical misfiring, it would cause arching of the wires. As the quality spark plug wires don’t arc to the ground, so you are most likely having defective wires that cause arcing between the wires and the engine ground block.

So, in this case, you have to replace all the defective spark plug wires with the best branded new ones. As they are very cheaply available on the market so while changing you should replace them all. This will help you to solve the arcing issue and you will experience the best performance.

• Top 3 Spark Plug Wires
• NGK RC-FX101 Spark Plug Wire Set
• ACDelco Professional 9748RR Spark Plug Wire Set
• Denso 671-4239 Spark Plug Wire Set

3. Replace the arcing ignition coils

The ignition coils are responsible for sending high voltage sparks to the spark plugs. These high voltage sparks ignite the combustion gases in the cylinder of the engine and assists in running the vehicle well.

However, if the coils are weak, it can cause arcing. Besides overheating, case leaks, condensation of ignition coils can also occur arcing. This is because; the high voltage can’t turn back and escape to an unfamiliar outside source as well as grounds that are against the ignition coil’s surfaces.

Therefore, to stop arcing, you need to immediately replace the arcing and weak ignition coils with the attached spark plug wires as well.

4. Determining the disconnected shift linkage and fix them

When the spark plug wires arcing, there occurs an electrical current’s erratic flow to the engine, and the shift linkage of the spark plug wires is getting disconnected. You can see the arcing visibly from wires boot to head surrounding the spark plugs.

Thus, it’s necessary to determine where this shift linkage is disconnected. And, also you need to ensure that the arcing does not occur to any ground plane. This can be an exhaust manifold, engine bracket, intake gasket, heater hose, etc.

You can use an arc-fault detection device (AFDD) to detect the electric arcs in the loose wire connections. You can also check the resistant nature of the spark plug wires. And, having more resistance indicates that the spark plug wires are in bad condition.

However, after detecting them, you have to fix them one by one by taking appropriate steps such as wire replacement, intake gasket replacement, etc.

Final verdict

If the spark plug wires are not working correctly, you will experience electrical leakage that causes arcing of the wires. So, in this article, we have described the ways how to stop spark plug wires from arcing.

By following the above-mentioned ways you can easily stop arcing of the spark plug wires. Besides, you can also protect your engine from any kind of sparking or misfiring issues that ultimately help to keep your vehicle in top condition.