confused about spark plug cables

GoldenMotor.com
P

peppers

New Member
Jul 21, 2010
146
0
0
everywhere
I wanted to put a differint end on my cdi so I went down to autozone and picked on a spark plug cable. I cut it in half inside there is insulation and inside of this is a black wire, if I strip away the black caseing of this wire there is some sort of white fiber inside and no metal wire at all.

inside the cdi wire there is simply one single copper wire.


So what is this white fiber and is it conductive? can I just twist it into the copper wire and have it work?
 
Last edited:
2door

2door

Moderator
Staff member
Sep 15, 2008
16,302
175
63
Littleton, Colorado
What you have is resistance wire and what most auto parts stores sell today. Copper core wire is better than resistance wire for our little engines. There are some resistance wires that have been said to be as good but you won't find that at your local car parts place. If your kit supplied wire has a copper core, stick with it. If you want to go with resistance wire you'll need to look for a high performance wire intended for racing applications.
The reason for resistance wire is to reduce or eliminate radio interference and in today's cars, to protect sensitive electronics from the RF interference from the high voltage leads (spark plug wires). The two can not be spliced together. In fact you should never try to splice a plug wire.
Tom
 
Last edited:
ToxicAz520

ToxicAz520

New Member
Mar 11, 2011
288
0
0
Tucson,Arizona
No answer your question you could put the copper wire into the end but the chanc of it workin is about zero. The conductive material in the cable that you got from autozone is the black wire you decsribed if you have the spark plug wire I think you have. The white fiber is just a figerglass like material to support that black wire that is really a carbon based to carry the current. This is in place to reduce the electronic emmision for todays cars. Some others may chime in but if you have the wire I think you got then this is why there is no copper wire.

One question for you is why did you not just use the new spark plug wire cut to size with the boot attached? Just unscrew the old one from the cdi and screw the new cable in.
 
P

peppers

New Member
Jul 21, 2010
146
0
0
everywhere
I am not, I am removeing the metal spark plug connector from the new wire and attaching it to the copper wire that is said to be superior to the carbon
 
ToxicAz520

ToxicAz520

New Member
Mar 11, 2011
288
0
0
Tucson,Arizona
It should work if you strip the wire enough and crimp it yes it will work just put the boot back over it the protectit from hitting anything and short. I was writing my response slowly while eating dinner didnt see ur othe respones till after i finished writing mine.
 
GearNut

GearNut

Active Member
Aug 19, 2009
5,104
11
38
San Diego, Kaliforgnia
The carbon core wire you got from Auto Zone will work just fine the way it is. There is really no reason to mess around with swapping the end terminal from the new wire onto the factory copper core wire.
Yes, as 2door stated, "Copper core wire is better than resistance wire for our little engines."
That would be for high performance applications.

I mean no offense towards 2door.

I can attest that it won't be enough of a difference for you to really notice.
At best, staying with copper core, the engine may be a little easier to start on a freezing cold morning, but you won't see a serious power loss by switching.
From an electronic perspective, carbon core wire helps protect the CDI box from transient voltages that naturally occur in a spark induced ignition system. A carbon core wire will actually help the CDI box last a little bit longer.

The biggest reason why copper core wire is used by the factory is it is cheaper for them to buy than carbon core wire.
 
P

peppers

New Member
Jul 21, 2010
146
0
0
everywhere
thanks but I already swapped out the connectors, since i have a wire crimper its very easy and I do occasionally ride in cold weather and any edge I can get there would be good. I have warmed the engine with a space heater before in order to get it to turn over, I've actually done that more than once.
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top Bottom