4th Gen - HT/Spark Plug Leads?

[Riverghost]

Well i finally got the new radiator fitted, and much success, the car operates a lot happier! now have hot/cold through the heater and my temp gets up to halfway and stays there.

However, the mechanic didnt fit the rocker cover gasket. said my HT Leads had deteriorated pretty badly and didnt want to take the risk of snapping /fubaring it up as he took the sparks out. said this + worn plugs was probably the reason it was a bit hesitant on startup and why there was a little bit of shakyness on idle - this sound about right?

Seen them on the Ebay for prices between £20 - £120, so could someone explain to me the difference? im just looking to replace oem for oem (or near enough) so any suggestions on a good one to buy would be great.

also, once the engines stopped hot idling, what does your idle rpm stay at? this seems to be about 1100rpm which im sure is a little high if i remember.

All help appreciated guys !

[honda-hardy]

mine idles at a 750-800. @gordonlear has an engine in his garage. ignition leads may be ok for you (h22a5?)

[mercutio]

750 rpm buddy is an average idle speed

with ht leads you pretty much do get what you pay for

[chrismc]

Our track car still has the OEM Honda leads with 17years/165k under their belt & they are absolutely fine.

I struggle to understand the apparent obsession in folk fitting kv85's or similar as they won't give any more power....

[mercutio]

there has been back to back tests and they do provide more power but only about 1-1.5 bhp so not noticeable

[chrismc]

Hmm- even magnecor themselves don't claim a gain....from their own website

"Despite what is published in advertisements and some vested interest magazine articles, no spark plug wires will generate or "install" additional horsepower."

On the other hand, I'd advise against cheap pattern leads that are ill-fitting & may induce a misfire

[Pushki]

20 year old leads will deteriorate and won't work as efficiently.
Even new OEM leads will be an improvement.

Magnecor KV85 are my lead of choice and they're a nice red colour!

[Donald]

Hmm- even magnecor themselves don't claim a gain....from their own website

"Despite what is published in advertisements and some vested interest magazine articles, no spark plug wires will generate or "install" additional horsepower."

Yes but the very next sentence from that says:

"However, a decrease in horsepower will occur if the wires' conductors fail to conduct the spark energy needed to fire spark plug gaps, or EMI emitted from spark plug wires causes the engine management computer to react abnormally, or so much spark energy is lost into the ground straps of so-called "built-in capacitor" wires that little is left to fire the spark plug gaps ... "

And previous to that:

"Professional race engine preparers do not use Magnecor Race Wires to increase engine horsepower —they use them to maintain full engine horsepower. Often, production vehicle owners comment that engine performance increased after they fitted Magnecor Race Wires, and most owners of modified vehicles find that horsepower increases during a dyno test — however, in reality, performance increases because the engine's potential power was previously restrained by:(1) Failing conductors in original equipment ignition wires; ... "

etc.

[chrismc]

Don't you think it's all sales-speak designed to make you buy the product though? It kinda states the obvious to me...

My simple engineers brain says you either have a spark (that is good enough to ignite the mixture) or NOT...?

[Donald]

Yeah you can argue that point, but you can have a little spark or a big spark, keeping things simple.


I suppose you could make a comparison to light switches.

Yes, on and off.
But dimmer switches are also on and off. You get a different amount of light depending on the resistance.


Of course marketing and wanting to make a sale comes into it, but so does simple science.


Another comparison could be made to fuel types. Recently I spent some time in the lab burning fuels to calculate blah blah blah blah blah...

To sum things up, there was water and a flame. Had to heat 100cm^3 of water by 40 degrees Celsius.
All the flames were the same. But ethanol did it in a third of the time it took propanol.
Flame or no flame, you will either get heat or none, but how much... all depends on what you're using.