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Stock XJ Cherokee Tech. All XJ Non-modified/stock questions go hereXJ (84-01)
All OEM related XJ specific tech. Examples, no start, general maintenance or anything that's stock.
1997 Cherokee-
I recently had dealer replace sparkplugs and wires less than 5k miles ago. The plugs are Champion RC12lyc and are gapped at .35. I am a little confused because sparkplug crossreference.com says they are to be gapped at .9.......Anyways
Tonight I pulled the wire off the plug and there was ash all inside the cable and on the terminal of the plug. Any idea what this is coming from? That doesn't seem normal.
I had the money at the time for them to do it so I let them. I don't think there is a misfire, the engine runs pretty smooth. The cables were alot harder to get off than I imagined. Maybe they didn't put enough grease in cable?
I had the money at the time for them to do it so I let them. I don't think there is a misfire, the engine runs pretty smooth. The cables were alot harder to get off than I imagined. Maybe they didn't put enough grease in cable?
Don't throw money away like that. Seriously haha.
there shouldn't be anything like that. Grease shouldn't be an issue as well. You sure it was ash?
Ash like you would see in a fire. All the wires were hard to get off and had ash in them. Will post pics shortly.
How old are the wires? If the wires are old, the wires/connectors and/or boots may be deteriorated and the source of the ash (either from arcing due to poor contact in the terminals or deteriorated rubber boots falling apart and leaving rubber dust/bits).
The wires were done back in august. Brand New! I'm wondering if somehow they gave me the wrong fitting wire....Hmmm. There shouldnt be ash inside with less than 5k miles on them.
They probably used too much of whatever dressing they put on the boots, and it burned. They may have even used the wrong thing, and they probably glopped the inside of the boots full of it.
Are the contacts on the ends of the wires corroded? If not, you can probably clean it all up and put them back on. Or you could just put a good set of spark plug wires on it yourself and don't overdo it with the dielectric grease.
I should havee mentioned earlier. I installed the wires myself and liberally applied the dielectric grease in the boot. I assume this is what cause the problem. I really don't want to spend money on new plugs or wires so I blew out the boots and cleaned the sparkplug terminal. Anyone disagree with this and think I should buy new? I'm posting pictures below of before cleaning. THanks again.
Apply a little dielectric to a Q-tip and coat the inside of the boot. I dont use it on the terminals or pack the boot so full it gets pushed into the terminals. Just enough to coat the boot. That is all you really need.
That kinda looks like corrosion, but if it's just dried dielectric grease then a good cleaning should be just fine. If the wires and plugs are in good condition that is.
I always just put a dab of dielectric grease in the end of the boot and pushed the wires on the plugs. You don't need much.
BTW, .035 is the correct gap.
Last edited by TFitzPat87; 12-25-2016 at 05:33 PM.
Dielectric grease disrupts the flow of electricity since it is non conductive, next time just dab a little on the spark plug insulator and then slide the wire onto the spark plug, all the dielectric is supposed to do is seal water out of the plug boot and make it easier to remove the spark plug wire from the plug later on.
ETA: that white stuff is just dried dielectric grease
12-20-2016, 07:53 PM
Spark Plug Question
