Help - Life span of ignition leads?

[sillycar chick]

This is an intersting topic. It all comes down to the car, me thinks. All my old toyotas (KE55, TA22 etc) were awesome with leads, lasted forever and a day. My VN commodore however, required leads to be replaced almost every service. I found the genuine holden ones were the only ones that lasted long enough, the topgun and bosch were shit on it. I think its because it was a car running ECU and coil packs, hence why they always needed replacing... and yes, I did test the resistance across the leads before I replaced them!

Perhaps your camry is like the VNs when it comes to leads..... go genuine, they are usually better on the newer cars...

[Camryman]

Mechanic is installing new genuine leads and cap today.

[Andrew162]

Mechanic is installing new genuine leads and cap today.

Why not just install them yourself??

[Camryman]

Lack of tools and time. Also if there was something wrong with the points or something like that I wouldn't know what to look for.

Apparently the new leads have stopped the misfire. I've got the mechanic to keep the old parts because I'm curiosity to see if there are any visable signs of wear.

Still at the shop waiting for a replacement power antenna.

[Andrew162]

You need no tools for the leads, just a bit of nous. You'd need an 8mm socket or a screwdriver to remove and replace the cap.

[love ke70]

often when old leads are very old you will find brown spots on them where they are burning through.
the other option is to test the resistance, cant remember what good/bad is tho i think 25K is about average

[Camryman]

You need no tools for the leads, just a bit of nous. You'd need an 8mm socket or a screwdriver to remove and replace the cap.

To get access to the plugs you have to take off the aftermarket strut brace which is a pain. The 3SFE has those long connectors to the spark plug. You also need to take off the air duct to the intake manifold to get to the distributor cap..

[Andrew162]

But is it really that hard to do? How long would it take, an hour tops?

[Invid]

Don't forget not all of us are handy with a spanner. Getting in and working on your car can be quite daunting if you haven't had any mechanical experience...

[love ke70]

hehe, or when your abused in your first attempt at working on a car and told to pull the ignition leads off with the car running
hahahhaa i love newbs

[JustCallMeOrlando]

Don't forget not all of us are handy with a spanner. Getting in and working on your car can be quite daunting if you haven't had any mechanical experience...

You don't get experience by looking at it and getting someone else to do it. Be careful, there isn't really anything you can break if you're being patient. We all started where you are.

[Invid]

I have to agree. I'm a get in there and do it myself kinda guy, but I do have friends who are more than happy to hand it over to the mechanic and pay to have the work done. Either thay have no interest in doing mechanics but like to have a modified car, or they don't have the confidence to do it. From what I've observed, that is enough to stop most people.

[Camryman]

Picked up the car tonight. Misfire is gone. The mechanic did do a resistance test on the old leads and they were stuffed. It boggles the mind that these are the same 8mm racing leads that HRT uses in their V8 supercar.

I don't know if I am imagining it but the car exhaust is quieter. Either that is because the engine was warm or the new leads means the fuel is burning more complete so the exhaust gas is less dense.

Amazingly can't find replacement parts for the power antenna, only the whole unit. This was after trying three different part numbers.

[love ke70]

it would probably sound quieter coz ur getting a more complete burn, so theres less combustion going on in the exhaust. good for economy

[Camryman]

it would probably sound quieter coz ur getting a more complete burn, so theres less combustion going on in the exhaust. good for economy

The leads must have been on the slippery slope for a while. I've noticed now that the car isn't running rich anymore after hard acceleration. I can also swear the gearing changes feels different, probably because the ECU was compensating before.