Hi everyone, I have a 308 QV 1983 and one bank of cylinders is not firing so I'm going to change the plug wires. The caps were replaced a couple of years ago and it hasn't been driven much. I have read so many threads regarding which ones to use. Birdman likes the ACCEL 4040R, (price is right) some like the Kingbourne and Magnecor. Do I use 7mm vs 8mm? I'm looking for a "reasonable solution" that will be easy to install. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks, Gary
7mm are needed only if you want to thread the new wire through the old red rubber sheaths. If you don’t care about that, 8mm is more common and has no impact on performance.
Has a similar problem a couple of years ago. Turned out to be a bad rotor. Carbon track to ground. Cheap fix ($12). As for wires, if you making your own, Belden 7mm spiral wound works well.
83 QV doesn’t have points and condenser, if one banks goes it’s usually either the Digiplex, coil, or the crank sensor for that bank.
Loss of an entire bank could be a coil wire but blindly throwing parts at a problem is not the way to troubleshoot. Doing it that way you'll never even know what it was that caused it.
Isn't it that 7mm wires fit in the distributor cap holes and 8mm wires you need trim to get them to go into the holes?
it was a long time ago but I used Acell 4040r 8mm wires in my 308 and I dont recall having to trim the coating/outer cover to get them in. Maybe some lube, but not trimming.
Also a long time ago but 8mm wires fit into the distributor cap on my 328GTS. They did not fit into the sleeves but my new wires are red.
I don’t recommend removing the spark plug extenders or the boot that seals around the spark plug hole. Lots of things can fall into the gap around the plug wires. Then you can’t get the spark plug wrench on the plug or if you can, dirt and other things can drop into the cylinder when you remove the plug. Also, you can purchase spark plug extenders that are 0 resistance (328 version) as I recall that will Eliminate the troublesome and resistive 308 extenders.7mm wires work fine.
Go with Magnecor, great wires, well made from what I see. I replaced a set of solid copper wires on my car, noticeable difference, solid copper messed with the ignition modules.
