weird little spark

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tstang21

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Oct 15, 2008

#1

• Oct 15, 2008

• #1

i was looking underneath the hood earlier tonight. without any light, i see a bit of spark flashing on a couple of spark plug boots. what does this mean ?

 

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grngt50

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Oct 15, 2008

#2

• Oct 15, 2008

• #2

tstang21 said:

i was looking underneath the hood earlier tonight. without any light, i see a bit of spark flashing on a couple of spark plug boots. what does this mean ?

Click to expand...

how old are your wires? If their old, it might be a good idea to throw on a new set. I got a set of Ford Racing wires a while back for around $40 IIRC

-James

 

HISSIN50

"How long does it take to get help in here?

15 Year Member

Nov 29, 1999

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Oct 15, 2008

#3

• Oct 15, 2008

• #3

James' advice is right-on.

I'd also add that excessive spark plug gap erosion can cause such issues, even with healthy plug wires. The large gap facilitates spark trying to find the next least path or resistance.

Good luck.

 

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tstang21

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Oct 15, 2008

#4

• Oct 15, 2008

• #4

my spark wires are not old. i changed them about 6 months ago. they are a cheaper brand from pepboys they suck. its making the wires "ark" causing them to have that little spark. the car runs but it has that ticking noise thats coming from the wire boots when i give some gas. im going to get a new set.

 

95BlueStallion

My assy trans to myself

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Oct 16, 2008

#5

• Oct 16, 2008

• #5

Well that was a quick "problem solved" thread. Let us know if that gets rid of your tick. I have a little tick too, but I know its not the exhaust. I have listened to every inch of my exhaust and there is no tick, but when Im in the car on part throttle I have a little tick that is driving me nuts. And it changes speed with RPM's just like an exhaust tick. Im going to try looking for spark in the dark now...

 

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tstang21

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Oct 16, 2008

#6

• Oct 16, 2008

• #6

95BlueStallion said:

Well that was a quick "problem solved" thread. Let us know if that gets rid of your tick. I have a little tick too, but I know its not the exhaust. I have listened to every inch of my exhaust and there is no tick, but when Im in the car on part throttle I have a little tick that is driving me nuts. And it changes speed with RPM's just like an exhaust tick. Im going to try looking for spark in the dark now...

Click to expand...

just as you mentioned it, the ticking noise i have is actaully an exhaust leak from the header. i have new wires and its fine. theres 1 missing bolt from the header on the driver side. that could be causing the problem hopefully. the shop said its going to cost $300 to take off both headers and put a new gasket on. i have shortys, so its going to be a bitch. im wondering now if i could loosen and tighten the header bolts to get rid of the leak.


btw i lose power as well

 

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grngt50

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Oct 16, 2008

#7

• Oct 16, 2008

• #7

tstang21 said:

just as you mentioned it, the ticking noise i have is actaully an exhaust leak from the header. i have new wires and its fine. theres 1 missing bolt from the header on the driver side. that could be causing the problem hopefully. the shop said its going to cost $300 to take off both headers and put a new gasket on. i have shortys, so its going to be a bitch. im wondering now if i could loosen and tighten the header bolts to get rid of the leak.


btw i lose power as well

Click to expand...

$300 to replace the header gasket?!?!?!? Holy crap that is ridiculous

If it were my car...........first thing to do would be to replace that missing bolt and see if that helps, as this is your cheapest and easiest option.

If that doesn't work out, I'd seriously consider trying to tackle the job yourself. Shorties aren't that bad........be glad you don't have longtubes in your situation. If your not able to tackle it yourself or dont have the necessary tools.........I'm sure one of our members from your hood could help you out for some food and brews The Stangnet fellas are real cool about offering up help if you need it

-James

 

95BlueStallion

My assy trans to myself

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Oct 16, 2008

#8

• Oct 16, 2008

• #8

If you can run a ratchet or a small wrench, then you can change your own header gaskets. If you arent up to it, at least find a different shop that wont rip your arm off and beat you with it!

 

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tstang21

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Oct 16, 2008

#9

• Oct 16, 2008

• #9

most likely it has to be that little bolt. im going to loosen them and torque them down a bit. what size bolt is stock ? 3/8 ? i have mac equal shortys

 

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tstang21

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Oct 18, 2008

#10

• Oct 18, 2008

• #10

so tonite, i just torqued down the bolts. around 2 of them were loose especially that held the dipstick. i had to remove that and hold down the dipstick with ziptie. i purchased a 1 wrong size bolt that needed to be replaced. i need a little more to fit in the header. so far, im missing 1 bolt and the ticking is still there. ah man, i didnt know it will be this much just to fix a leak . to be honest, im nervous of taking some of the bolts due to experience.

 

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tstang21

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Oct 20, 2008

#11

• Oct 20, 2008

• #11

problem fixed . i replaced the missing header bolt and tighten 2 more that weren't adjusted tight. i also doubled check the gasket. no more ticking. i would would probably advised anybody with shorty headers to double check bolts. i believe that the way its design would make the bolts expand out slowly from the head.

 

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grngt50

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Oct 20, 2008

#12

• Oct 20, 2008

• #12

told you it wouldn't be hard to fix.......and you saved $300. Nice job!

-James

 

95BlueStallion

My assy trans to myself

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Oct 21, 2008

#13

• Oct 21, 2008

• #13

Good work. I hear you on checking the bolts. I even put a little dab of locktite on mine and they still seem to work loose on occasion.

 

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grngt50

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Oct 21, 2008

#14

• Oct 21, 2008

• #14

lock washers are super cheap and I personally have never had one fail

-James

 

revhead347

Apparently my ex-husband made that mistake.

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Oct 21, 2008

#15

• Oct 21, 2008

• #15

Leaky wires are common, and it usually doesn't have anything do with age. Motorsport wires used to be notorious for leaking right out of the box. I don't know if their quality control has improved at all. I switched to Accel 300+ wires about 10 years ago, and I've never used anything else since then. Before that, I'm pretty sure I've tried every brand of wire there is, and never had much luck with them.

Kurt