I replaced my old spark plug wires (7mm thick) with some OBX 10.3mm ones. Everything went fine until I cranked the engine up... One of the wires would pop out everytime I turn the engine on regardless of what cylinder it's in. It starts okay with firing order 1-4-3-2 and it backfires when set to 1-3-4-2. Either way, my car shakes really bad on idle now, and it's also leaking gas a little bit.
Car:91 240sx KA24DE w/ gas almost on empty, ran perfect before I replaced the plug wires
Problem* Idling bad with both old and new spark plug wires when set to 1-4-3-2* Backfires with both old and new spark plug wires when set to 1-3-4-2* Not sure which firing order is right anymore..
I have no idea what I did wrong. My friend said I need to time the distributor but I don't know how to do it. Any help is greatly appreciated.
Need help with spark plug wires
if your car ran fine before i would say you got something on wrong .you may have your cap on backwards or your sequencing the wires in the wrong clock direction . I do believe your firing order is 1342 take your distributor cap off and crank see which way the rotor turns to get the directional order at the cap. then on you cap is the cyl #'s place your wires in the cap then to the cyl's. If after you do this it still runs poor you may have gotten a bad cap. look at the cap if it says italy on it toss it that would be your problem. I cant tell you how many of those we find bad right after someone did a tune. Recommend you use factory cap and rotor.
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stillmatic
- Posts: 438
- Joined: Sun Aug 10, 2003 12:33 pm
I know my firing order is supposed to be 1-3-4-2, but for some odd reason 1-4-3-2 works better for me right now, except for the fact that the engine shakes a lot on idle.
I'm just throwing this out there, but does it matter which length of wire goes to which cylinder?
I tried to fix my distributor timing using this write-up but I don't know which bolt rotates the pully. My rotor, by the way, is aligned to the 2nd cylinder, and I also don't know how to rotate the rotor.
From my understanding, I need to set the pully to TDC with the alignment pin, then align the distributor rotor to cylinder #1 and that's about it. I just need to know how to rotate those two and hopefully my car would return to normal. Again, any help is appreciated.
I'm just throwing this out there, but does it matter which length of wire goes to which cylinder?
I tried to fix my distributor timing using this write-up but I don't know which bolt rotates the pully. My rotor, by the way, is aligned to the 2nd cylinder, and I also don't know how to rotate the rotor.
From my understanding, I need to set the pully to TDC with the alignment pin, then align the distributor rotor to cylinder #1 and that's about it. I just need to know how to rotate those two and hopefully my car would return to normal. Again, any help is appreciated.
your rotor is driven by the engines rotation via gearing. if you did not extract your distributor prior to putting the wires on and it was running fine before you do not need to mess with the mechanical timing of the distributor. the wire length wont matter. have you adjusted the distributor at all? also did you check to see if the cap was made in italy yet?
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stillmatic
- Posts: 438
- Joined: Sun Aug 10, 2003 12:33 pm
I haven't checked for the Italy mark yet (it's freezing outside and I have no garage) but I did recall seeing a Nissan & Mitsubishi logo on the distributor cover or whatever it's called.
I only touched the distributor when I took the old plug wires out. Other than that, I'm not really sure what happened. The car started up fine after I had the new wires in. The only problem I had was that 1 wire that kept popping out no matter which cylinder it's in...
I only touched the distributor when I took the old plug wires out. Other than that, I'm not really sure what happened. The car started up fine after I had the new wires in. The only problem I had was that 1 wire that kept popping out no matter which cylinder it's in...
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stillmatic
- Posts: 438
- Joined: Sun Aug 10, 2003 12:33 pm
Just checked the distributor cap and it's made in japan. I also started up the car with 1-3-2-4 and it idled better than 1-3-4-2 and 1-4-3-2. I drove the car down the street and the car had no power at all. I think I'm just going to take this car to a shop. Will it hurt the engine if I drive it the way it is now?
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stillmatic
- Posts: 438
- Joined: Sun Aug 10, 2003 12:33 pm
LOL, it must be my lucky day 
I was on my way to SpeeDee and they were going to charge me $80 to fix the distributor timing and firing order. I had a friend follow me just in case my car stops running and I told him to wait up for me at SpeeDee because I'm gonna gas up at ARCO right across the street. While I was there, I noticed that their auto shop was still open (guy on the phone said they were closed), so I went up to one of their techs and asked if they could check my car out. The manager sent their Nissan guy to check it out and I explained what happened.
It only took about 10 mins of figuring out which firing order is right. The guy was confused too because he knows the firing order should be 1-3-4-2 but the car won't even start that way anymore. So two tries later, he put it in 1-2-3-4 and boom, that was it. Car is back to normal.
Hehe.. I'm lucky that I stopped by at ARCO first because their manager only charged me $10 for labor. Thanks for the effort of helping out, Nistech. I appreciate it.
I was on my way to SpeeDee and they were going to charge me $80 to fix the distributor timing and firing order. I had a friend follow me just in case my car stops running and I told him to wait up for me at SpeeDee because I'm gonna gas up at ARCO right across the street. While I was there, I noticed that their auto shop was still open (guy on the phone said they were closed), so I went up to one of their techs and asked if they could check my car out. The manager sent their Nissan guy to check it out and I explained what happened.
It only took about 10 mins of figuring out which firing order is right. The guy was confused too because he knows the firing order should be 1-3-4-2 but the car won't even start that way anymore. So two tries later, he put it in 1-2-3-4 and boom, that was it. Car is back to normal.
Hehe.. I'm lucky that I stopped by at ARCO first because their manager only charged me $10 for labor. Thanks for the effort of helping out, Nistech. I appreciate it.
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elvis240sx
- Posts: 487
- Joined: Sun Sep 08, 2002 11:19 am
yous guys is terrible!
It is a physical imposibility for your engine to have a firing order like that.....well ???...... ahh never mind it would just confuse you more.
piton 1 and 4 come up at the same time and piston 2 and 3 are exactly oppisite every time the 2 pistons come up together one is going to fire. so we are clear here 1 and 4 are at the top and 2 and 3 are at the bottom.
so lets start from # 1 ..here they come 1 and 4 together as soon as they reach the top BANG # 1 fires and they go back down. On their way down 2 and 3 pass by going the other direction as soon as they reach the top BANG #3 fires and knocks the crap out of the piston sending it back to the bottom. 1 and 4 come up and WHAMO #4 gets smacked back down. and last but not least 2 and 3 are comin back to the top and it is now #2's turn to get b***h slapped back to the ground. kinda reminds ya of high school huh? Any how dont know if this will help in explaining how that engine can not fire that way. but it was worth a shot.
Scott...
It is a physical imposibility for your engine to have a firing order like that.....well ???...... ahh never mind it would just confuse you more.
piton 1 and 4 come up at the same time and piston 2 and 3 are exactly oppisite every time the 2 pistons come up together one is going to fire. so we are clear here 1 and 4 are at the top and 2 and 3 are at the bottom.
so lets start from # 1 ..here they come 1 and 4 together as soon as they reach the top BANG # 1 fires and they go back down. On their way down 2 and 3 pass by going the other direction as soon as they reach the top BANG #3 fires and knocks the crap out of the piston sending it back to the bottom. 1 and 4 come up and WHAMO #4 gets smacked back down. and last but not least 2 and 3 are comin back to the top and it is now #2's turn to get b***h slapped back to the ground. kinda reminds ya of high school huh? Any how dont know if this will help in explaining how that engine can not fire that way. but it was worth a shot.
Scott...
..dont think though Tim...
#1 is 90 deg ahead of #4 which is 90 deg ahead of #3 which is 90 deg ahead of #2...when #1 is on combustion stroke, #4 is on exhaust, or..
#1 is at 0, #2 is at 90, #3 is at 270, #4 is at 360 (0).
now harleys on the other hand fire both holes at the same time, thats why other v-twins dont sound like harleys.
#1 is 90 deg ahead of #4 which is 90 deg ahead of #3 which is 90 deg ahead of #2...when #1 is on combustion stroke, #4 is on exhaust, or..
#1 is at 0, #2 is at 90, #3 is at 270, #4 is at 360 (0).
now harleys on the other hand fire both holes at the same time, thats why other v-twins dont sound like harleys.
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TachyonS14
- Posts: 1432
- Joined: Fri Sep 26, 2003 11:11 pm
HOW DARE YOU QUESTION NISTECH!! TO THE PLANK WITH YEEE!! ARRRRAzurE wrote:..dont think though Tim...
#1 is 90 deg ahead of #4 which is 90 deg ahead of #3 which is 90 deg ahead of #2...when #1 is on combustion stroke, #4 is on exhaust, or..
#1 is at 0, #2 is at 90, #3 is at 270, #4 is at 360 (0).
now harleys on the other hand fire both holes at the same time, thats why other v-twins dont sound like harleys.