hey every1,

when under the engine bay and giving it abit of gas, i can see bits of light coming from the spark plug leads. I can only see the light but i cant see where it is actually from.

What the hell is this? and is this normal...
i only found this 2night pitch black and giving it a rev.

thanks

kev

Could be a crack in the spark plug lead insulation, which the spark is grounding out of...

Funny you should post this, as I also noticed the same thing on my TF like 2 days ago, I just got home from work and popped the hood to listen for tappet noise as I recently change my oil, and I could see little flashes at certain points on the plug leads (factory leads), even though it did look kinda cool its a bit concerning, mainly cos new leads are like $150 :doubt: .

I have also seen the spark travelling down the spark plug leads when looking at a running motor when there is no light. Only some cars seem to do it and i think it's a sign of worn leads with higher than normal resistance. The spark has to travel down the outside of the lead to get to earth and u can then see it. leads in this condition can make a motor missfire intermittantly. Can u hear a click in time with the flash? if u can then u deffinatley have a lead shorting out to earth and probably a missfire too.

That click is your injectors i would imagine. The leads probably need replacing and it certianly couldn't hurt.

mainly cos new leads are like $150 :doubt: .

wtf.....im assuming thats Mitsu genuine, u can pick up leads for about $50-$60 for the set from any automotive shop (repco, supercheap, etc....)

you wont need anything bigger than 8mm.

wtf.....im assuming thats Mitsu genuine, u can pick up leads for about $50-$60 for the set from any automotive shop (repco, supercheap, etc....)

you wont need anything bigger than 8mm.

Im not 100% certain, but on all 2nd gens, be it 4 or 6 cylinder, spark plugs were not accessed via rocker cover. 3rd gen leads are so expensive because they have an extra pice at the end which goes down through the rocker cover onto the plug itself, this bumps the price up a fair bit. Its the price all us 3rd gen owners pay for those 24 valves :cool: .

Kev

Had the same prob with one of my other cars, a daihatsu mira, and it wasn't going well at all, so I replaced all the leads including from the coil, and no more sparks. So, I'd put money on leads needing replacing. (Mine also ticked when sparking)

Mick

thanks for all the responses...

I guess i'll have to get them changed at the next service.
Was just abit worried to see bits of sparking light from the engine back..

While driving, do you notice any change or is it just a minor problem??


thanks all

kev

I've read that ppl have fixed up flat spots and smooth out their idle by replacing leads, which makes sense. Does any one know how much a decent set of 8mm leads will cost? As my $150 was more of an educated guess.