Are these old plug wires? Cheap plug wires? Or a sign of a some other problem?

[danielschudel]

I was checking plugs on my 2003 3.0L w/200K miles. I just bought it about a month ago.
Below is what the plug wire boots look like.

4 looks good.
6 looks flimsy/frayed almost as if slightly melted.
5 is somewhere in between the two.

I'll probably get to plugs 1/2/3 tomorrow.

The guy put in new plugs not long ago. I can't remember if he mentioned the age of the plug wires.

What does this look like to y'all?

 

[alwaysFlOoReD]

Cyl. 5 and 6 are buggered. Replace all.

 

[RobbieD]

Even as tight as I am, I'd pry open the wallet and replace those plug wires.

If your budget allows, get a quality set, like the OEM Motorcraft wires.

But definitely splurge and put some plug wire keepers on the new spark plug wires:

 

[wpginterceptor]

replace all plugs and wires

 

[danielschudel]

Got around to finishing this work. Plug wires 1-2-3 looked just like 4 - normal. No others looked melted like 5&6.

And yes @RobbieD - got Motorcraft and got some plug wire keepers. Looks much tidier than before.

But now can someone explain this to me. I see plug wiring diagrams like this here at TRS and elsewhere. Front of engine is to the right.

But this is the right orientation for the coil pack. At least for me (2003 3.0L).

What don't I understand here?

 

[bobbywalter]

match the numbers.

or turn coil pak around.....and still match the numbers.....


orturn coil pak on side....and match the numbers....


upside down? yup....match the numbers

put it in bed of truck.......get reallly looong wires....match the numbers.

 

[pjtoledo]

2 versions of the coil. go by the numbers, not the physical orientation

 

[danielschudel]

Ahh. Some have numbers. Mine - nope.

 

[bobbywalter]

it is waste spark

 

[bobbywalter]

ahhh it has the freak plug. the 4.0 has the side plug

 

[bobbywalter]

Ahh. Some have numbers. Mine - nope.

look again bud. 123 is plug side

 

[bobbywalter]

 

[danielschudel]

look again bud. 123 is plug side

And 1-2-3 on plug side is nearest engine.

 

[bobbywalter]

yeah....what are you not getting? the plug side is 123....with 1 being the single bolt mount hole and 3 being on the 2 bolt hole side.

going clockwise starting at 1....
put 1 to 1.....2 to 2.....3 to 3....4 to 4.....6 to 6....5 to 5.

123 654
coil engine
564 321

 

[danielschudel]

Back to the question. The diagram. Plug side is 1-2-3 and is nearest to the engine when installed. So mentally rotate the diagram's coil pack rectangle 180 degrees.

That's the explanation. The diagram does not show the orientation of the coil pack relative to the engine.