Check your plug wires (..at night)

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Joined
Jul 21, 2012
Threads
32
Messages
666
Location
Rhode Island USA
My 62 runs really well, no misfires, drives well on the highway. Since I got it back on the road, the idle was been a bit more rumbly and uneven than I'd like. I noticed it seemed worse when it was very damp and/or rainy. That immediately made me think plug wires, so I took a spray bottle with water, and sprayed the wires down with it running. Normally if there was a problem with the wires, you'd start hearing a loud snapping or seeing sparks when they got wet. There was no change. So I kinda' gave up and moved on.

Cue a few weeks later, it's wet and drizzly, and the idle is bit more rumbly again. This time, I waited until it was dark out, and popped the hood. I didn't see anything initially, but as my eyes adjusted, I would see little corona flashes, especially where plug wires crossed each other, went near other hoses or were against brackets/metal. I could also put my fingers near/on the plug wires, and see little corona flashes jumping to my fingers (I could not feel any of the sparks, but they were visible). I then sprayed them again with my bottle, and the corona coming of the wires increased quite dramatically. Snapping the throttle created a real light show.

I can't say with 100% certainty that this is the cause of the rumbly idle (new ignition components are not in yet), but it definitely seems like it's a problem, and the wires are on their way out. Like I said, the strangest part is that besides the rumbly idle, the engine otherwise runs great. So this is definitely something worth checking out if your engine seems a bit rumbly, especially if its wet or damp out.
 
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