hey guys!

I was wiring up my new fuel pump kill switch, including relocating the power wire some where else in the car. I had read before that it was a good idea while your in there to go ahead and run a little thicker guage wire for the power wire. I used a 12ga wire ( i believe factory is 14ga).

well, after about a week I notice that my idle is a little unstable, not bouncing all over the place or anything, but It feel like I can feel a cylinder misfiring occasionally. no rythem to it.

could the thicker wire be too much free space for power to flow stable to the fuel pump?

since then I have also run an autocross and adjusted my throttle cable because i noticed it was loose.

No I have not checked my plugs yet because I don't know how to tell if they are dead or not visually.

thanks guys.

 

Thicker wire for an oil pump would not affect your idle.

A thicker wire won't affect the amperage or voltage. It will affect the resistance, but low resistance is generally a good thing. Your problem most likely lies elsewhere.

check the plugs, check for spark and check timing, check/adjust the gap, and visually inspect the plugs. Index 'em while you're at it, just for the hell of it.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by PGK &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Thicker wire for an oil pump would not affect your idle.

A thicker wire won't affect the amperage or voltage. It will affect the resistance, but low resistance is generally a good thing. Your problem most likely lies elsewhere.

check the plugs, check for spark and check timing, check/adjust the gap, and visually inspect the plugs. Index 'em while you're at it, just for the hell of it. </TD></TR></TABLE>

the longer the wire the HIGHER the resistance would be , no matter what thickness

he's right though, that is not your problem....

 

is there a visual way to see if the plugs are bad? that's what i'm banking on...

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by DAantagonist &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

the longer the wire the HIGHER the resistance would be , no matter what thickness

he's right though, that is not your problem....</TD></TR></TABLE>

Changing any of the physical dimensions of a wire will alter resistance. Thicker wire = lower resistance, and as you pointed out, longer = more resistance.

But we're talking minutae here. Besides, he never specifically specified a change in length, and depending on the change in thickness it could offset the length difference.

And yes, there is a way to visually check plugs. You take them out, and look at them. Google the phrase "spark plug reading" or some variation, and you should be able to find a bunch of pictures of spark plugs with various kinds of damage, or the physical manifestation of different running conditions. Go ahead and gap 'em while they're out. Check your timing too, and make sure you've got spark in all of the cylinders. etc etc.

 

i've noticed that the distributor is ticking at the same time i feel the missfire... could the cap and rotor need to be changed out?