Spark arc (1 Viewer)

[bsmith123]

wires

"I'm pretty sure I have the wires it came to me with, which I think are Bosches. I'll have to go dig."

IDAVE

you mean we are doing amateur physics and you have not swapped the wires yet?

I am thinking even if they said they were newish when you got them -----wires can be damaged by manhandling

I was assuming these were new and carefully installed by yourself

 

[IDave]

"I'm pretty sure I have the wires it came to me with, which I think are Bosches. I'll have to go dig."

IDAVE

you mean we are doing amateur physics and you have not swapped the wires yet?

I am thinking even if they said they were newish when you got them -----wires can be damaged by manhandling

I was assuming these were new and carefully installed by yourself

I did swap out for new OEM wires. And yes, I did a wonderful job of swapping out. Even if I hadn't, there's no chance I would have screwed all 6 equally, right?

I really don't think it can be a wire problem (different wires might MASK the problem, but they aren't the cause). My FJ40 doesn't do it.

I'd like someone else with an F135 check theirs in the dark.

 

[IDave]

OK, well, I did the wire experiment:

10 gauge wire, one end attached to the negative terminal of the battery.

Started engine, warmed up plugs (this phenomenon only starts happening after it's been running a few minutes).

Waved the other end of the wire near the exposed part of the ceramic plug insulator, then touched the insulator, metallic base of plug and block in the region of the plug hole.

NO sparking, arcing, snapping or change in engine speed, missing, etc, occurred at all!

I guess that means this is corona, si?

 

[lostmarbles]

OK, well, I did the wire experiment:

10 gauge wire, one end attached to the negative terminal of the battery.

Started engine, warmed up plugs (this phenomenon only starts happening after it's been running a few minutes).

Waved the other end of the wire near the exposed part of the ceramic plug insulator, then touched the insulator, metallic base of plug and block in the region of the plug hole.

NO sparking, arcing, snapping or change in engine speed, missing, etc, occurred at all!

I guess that means this is corona, si?

I still want the finger test! Don't be a wuss!

 

[IDave]

I still want the finger test! Don't be a wuss!

I tried it again without rubber gloves with my fingers 2 inches from the end of the wire! Does that count?

 

[handcannon]

I still want the finger test! Don't be a wuss!

A number of years ago when I was younger and not as well "educated" as now I used to pull spark plug wires off bare handed with the motor running. Getting shocked never hurt. What hurt was when the back of my head made contact with the hood. Now most 40 owners I know of never use the hood prop, they just push the hood on over onto the windshield frame. Consequently, with no hood in the way to hurt your head on using your bare hand won't cause any pain will it?

I know, illogical logic, but I just couldn't pass up the chance.

And, yes I have pulled a few plug wires bare handed, who hasn't. Yes, I got "educated".

Don

 

[Pin_Head]

I tried it again without rubber gloves!

Are we having fun yet?

 

[IDave]

Are we having fun yet?

Well, the wire was well insulated.

 

[IDave]

Well, couldn't find the Bosch wires or a new condensor. Sending off for a new one. Maybe I'll swap out the one from the FJ40 while I wait for the replacement.

I did clean up and check all of the grounds. Still have the corona.

 

[IDave]

The color of the phenomenon is white to whitish yellow, not blue or other color..

I realize I first said the color was blue, and then I said white yellow. When I looked again tonight, I realize that the lights are so faint, it really is hard to say whether or not they have color. I think maybe bluish greenish yellow-white is as accurate as I can get...

 

[65swb45]

I've got it too!

I realize I first said the color was blue, and then I said white yellow. When I looked again tonight, I realize that the lights are so faint, it really is hard to say whether or not they have color. I think maybe bluish greenish yellow-white is as accurate as I can get...

Dave, I've been following this thread, but haven't had anything to add. As usually, I'm on late at night. Go to sleep. Wake up with an idea. Next time I log on, someone's already covered it!

So the one thing I WAS able to do was follow your request to look under the hood of MY F135. Finally remembered this evening. Sure enough, corona on all the plug wire ends. Definitely not spark arc. Just a pretty, faint, blue-green-yellow halo telling me little angels are watching over my engine!

Of course, my plugs and wires have over 60k on them, so other possibilities exist.

 

[IDave]

Dave, I've been following this thread, but haven't had anything to add. As usually, I'm on late at night. Go to sleep. Wake up with an idea. Next time I log on, someone's already covered it!

So the one thing I WAS able to do was follow your request to look under the hood of MY F135. Finally remembered this evening. Sure enough, corona on all the plug wire ends. Definitely not spark arc. Just a pretty, faint, blue-green-yellow halo telling me little angels are watching over my engine!

Of course, my plugs and wires have over 60k on them, so other possibilities exist.

Ah-ha! Thanks so much, Mark! Maybe it is just a normal F engine phenomenon, because, when I swapped condensors between my trucks, not only did it not eliminate it from the F135, but I realized I could see it on my F155 as well.

I know I said I didn't see it before, and I didn't, but perhaps I didn't wait long enough for my eyes to adjust to the dark, or for the plugs to get warm enough for it to happen, but it certainly is in both trucks now.

Or, maybe its viral.

So, perhaps I'm not crazy after all. Or both Mark and I are crazy?

 

[lostmarbles]

Thanks to you IDAVE, Many of us will be standing around at night peering under our bonnets (errr -- hoods) now.

Although I guess there's no point in me doing that with my cruiser. hhmm: But you never know - Maybe I can find some other obscure scientific phenomena associated with lines that pass pulses of high-pressure liquid.)

Maybe I'll have to study the wife's "Nissan Pulsar CJII" instead? (Waiting beer-in-hand sufficiently-long for my eyes to adjust so I can see the halos of course.) But, trouble is, I seldom get motivated enough to do anything more than routine maintenance on that characterless veehickle.



PS. Crikey IDAVE! At first we get the impression there's "a powerful SNAP sound" associated with this phenomena and then towards the end we find you're just another "obsessive-compulsive-disorder victim" (like me and so many others here) doing your damnest to find things to repair/improve on your "beloved cruiser"!

 

[bsmith123]

under the hood

we peered into the darkness and got scareded

 

[IDave]

Maybe I have OCD, but having been temporarily stranded more than once, I don't think I'm paranoid.

I am also not yet certain that I don't have an electrical issue of some sort, because the snapping sound has only happened a couple of times and after driving 45 minutes both days. My points were burned as well, and they didn't have that many miles on them. I will be interested in seeing if with the new condensor my snapping sound never comes back. It's enough to alarm anyone when it happens. ANY new sound that you can hear coming from the engine compartment of a 60s Land Cruiser going 60 mph down the road is alarming!

It would be great if a few other people check their plugs and let me know if they see the same thing in the later Fs and 2Fs.