How long are "lifetime" plug wires good for?

[dnastrau]

Greetings:

It is time for a 60K mile ignition service on our '96 Jeep GC 4.0. Even though the cap has brass contacts I am sure it is ready to be replaced after 60K. The last time I replaced the cap, rotor and wires I used a United Ignition "Tri-Pak" kit that included a set of premium "Packard Silicone" wires that apparently have a lifetime warranty.

My question is about the wires: These seem to be very good quality and have that "lifetime warranty." Should these wires last longer than the factory wires that have a 60K replacement interval? I am not trying to be cheap here, but I don't want to trash a set of wires that might be perfectly OK for another 60K.

Thanks for any thoughts on this.

Andrew S.

 

[eljefino]

I know someone with an amateur radio license and he gets new lifetime replacements from NAPA every year because he complains about radio interference.

They're cheap enough you shouldn't get resistance from parts store types.

Interference in AM radio that changes with motor RPM and load might be a good excuse.

 

[urchin]

NO question that these wires you replaced the OEM with are of good quality and I would see no problem with them going to twice that easily. One test you could do is to use a glass cleaner spray bottle to spray the wires with the car running in a darkened area. Spray on the wires with the car running and look for any sort of arcing if you have any doubts. But if that OBD II model is having a miss at all it should light the CEL. If nothing else have the ECU read to see if you have any codes ...pending codes do NOT light the CEL but will still be stored in the ECU.

 

[Garak]

Originally Posted By: dnastrau
My question is about the wires: These seem to be very good quality and have that "lifetime warranty." Should these wires last longer than the factory wires that have a 60K replacement interval? I am not trying to be cheap here, but I don't want to trash a set of wires that might be perfectly OK for another 60K.


That's hard to say. We've all seen "lifetime warranties" and we've all seen real lifetime warranties. Speaking of warranty again, considering your Jeep is out of warranty, your maintenance schedule is up to you. If these new wires are high quality, they certainly could last longer than 60,000 miles, and their construction may reflect that.

The lifetime warranty is great as long as there aren't a lot of hoops to go through. During a period in the early 1990s, Ford offered lifetime warranty plug wires for my LTD. That was a real lifetime warranty. If one even tore a boot changing a plug, they'd replace it, no questions asked. However, the set was $90 for a four cylinder.

 

[urchin]

Originally Posted By: eljefino
I know someone with an amateur radio license and he gets new lifetime replacements from NAPA every year because he complains about radio interference.

They're cheap enough you shouldn't get resistance from parts store types.

Interference in AM radio that changes with motor RPM and load might be a good excuse.


I'm a HAM too...I'll have to keep that trick in mind.

73s

 

[dparm]

Does the factory service manual have a spec listed for resistance? My old Honda factory service manuals always listed minimum values.

 

[Quest]

never heard of sparkplug wires being "lifetime".

Q.

 

[Bamboooo]

Is there a "rule of thumb" for testing spark plug wires? Like - What is the max resistance in a XX inch long wire?

 

[Quest]

testing the wire internal resistance doesn't tell you if your insulator jacket is "leaky" or not.

Not unless you have some means of testing multi-kV for insulation breakdowns. Otherwise: you can never tell if the wires are good or not.

Q.

 

[tom slick]

Napa "Belden" wires are "lifetime"

+1 on the insulation tester. A normal multimeter will only tell you if it's really bad.

 

[kr_bitog]

Originally Posted By: Bamboooo
Is there a "rule of thumb" for testing spark plug wires? Like - What is the max resistance in a XX inch long wire?

I think the most issue with the wires is not the increased resistance, but it is about the jacket leak and broken internal wire.
One test you can try with ohmmeter is to measure the resistance while you bend the cables, if the resistance change then internally the wire may have issues.
The other one is to put the cable inside the bucket of water except the connector end, and measure the resistance.
But you need to wipe it dry after the test.

So far I find the most problem of the cable comes from heat and oil fumes, so even though it looks fantastic to dry the cable using WD-40, it definitely lead to premature failure.

 

[dailydriver]

Originally Posted By: Garak
The lifetime warranty is great as long as there aren't a lot of hoops to go through. During a period in the early 1990s, Ford offered lifetime warranty plug wires for my LTD. That was a real lifetime warranty. If one even tore a boot changing a plug, they'd replace it, no questions asked. However, the set was $90 for a four cylinder.


They put a four banger in a big ol' LTD, or was it based on the Fairmont platform at that time?

 

[dnastrau]

Originally Posted By: dailydriver
Originally Posted By: Garak
The lifetime warranty is great as long as there aren't a lot of hoops to go through. During a period in the early 1990s, Ford offered lifetime warranty plug wires for my LTD. That was a real lifetime warranty. If one even tore a boot changing a plug, they'd replace it, no questions asked. However, the set was $90 for a four cylinder.


They put a four banger in a big ol' LTD, or was it based on the Fairmont platform at that time?

They did, but the car was based on the Fairmont platform and was canceled after 1986. Most had the 3.3 I6 or the 3.8 V6 though. The 5.0 V8 was even an option in the "LX" version and was quick for its day.

 

[dnastrau]

Thanks for all of the replies. I think I will check the wires with an Ohmmeter and do a water mist test at night to see if they are still OK.

 

[Garak]

Originally Posted By: dailydriver
They put a four banger in a big ol' LTD, or was it based on the Fairmont platform at that time?

It was the little guy, with factory propane to boot. With all that power, it's a good thing I had those really high end wires to make sure the ignition was performing at peak levels.