Spark Plug Wire Ohm Testing For My SRT-4 With Local Sets

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Spark Plug Wire Ohm Testing For My SRT-4 With Local Sets

Post by Apoptosis »

As you all know, you need to do a tune-up on our cars every so many years and when buying a new wire kit most people just go to the corner store and buy one. I've always assumed that all spark plug wire kits were the same, but when looking for new spark plug wires for my 2005 Dodge Neon SRT-4 ACR I ran across an advertisement by Granatelli that claimed their spark plug wire set would boost your MPG by 15%! That is a crazy claim and the price of the wire set was crazy also. I found these wires through Google on JC Whitney for my SRT-4 for $267.99 a set! Yes, that would be $67 per wire! F'n crazy if you ask me... They are solid core wires (unlike OEM wires) and can't be used with MSD performance coils.

Here are some of the claims made by the wires:
MPG/PLUS GAS SAVING IGNITION WIRE SET

Granatelli Performance Ignition Wire Set is GUARANTEED to boost your MPG to 15%!
Boosts horsepower and torque and ensures a smoother running engine
Rates 0-ohm resistance (compare to 4,000-7,000 ohms for conventional wires)

Granatelli's MPG/Plus Performance Ignition Set is an easy way to significantly increase your gas mileage...not a bad idea these days! Also increases horsepower and torque for better engine performance and a more responsive ride. The MPG/Plus Performance Ignition Set features 0-ohm resistance solid stainless steel core wires plus an RFI/EFI Hybrid Protection Ring that prevents stereo noise and allows full coil power to reach the spark plug. The result is full power, a hotter spark, more complete combustion, better fuel efficiency, more power and better overall performance...without replacing the coil! Premium technology throughout: stainless steel inner core for high tensile strength, silver plated copper outer core for high conductivity, EPDM insulation, fiberglass braiding for strength, 500° silicone jacket and boots and heavy-duty stainless steel snap-lock terminals at the spark plug! Meets or exceeds OEM specifications. Limited lifetime warranty.
This got me thinking... How do my original Mopar wires do and how do other kits around town perform?
wire-kits.jpg
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I went to Napa, Auto Zone and O'Riely Auto parts and bought all the SRT-4 spark plug wire sets that they had in-stock. I then used my Craftsman Digital Volt Meter on the Ohm to connect the terminals and measures Ohm resistance.

The Wire Kits Being Tested:
Bosch Premium Wire Set - Part Number 09477 - Cost $33.99 at Autozone or $23.73 on Amazon
- Opti-Layer Mag Wire (Stainless Steel Mag Winding w/ Kevlar Reinforced Core and Silicone Jacket)
OmniSpark Ignition Wire Set - Part Number 9615 - Cost $29.99 at O'Reilly Auto Parts
Duralast - Part Number 4702 - Cost $29.99 at Autozone
- 7mm wires w/ Silicone Jacket
BWD Select - Part Number CH74200 - Cost $33.99 at O'Reily Auto Parts
- 7mm wires w/ SuperMag core (Stainless Steel Wound Conductor w/ Silicone Jacket)
plug-wires.jpg
As you can see all of the wires were priced between $30-$34, so you'd think the results would be the same. To be honest it looks like the Bosch, Duralast and OmniSpark plugs are all made by the same company. The boxes are the same dimensions, the instructions in the box were identical on two of them and they were all held together by the same red twist tie... Great, here we go with re-badged wires! Well, they weren't and I found the differences to be amazing! Even the guy at Autozone said I wouldn't find a difference between their Duralast and Bosch brands, but boy was he wrong.
ohms.jpg
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As you can see the Ohm variance was huge between the wire sets. None of the wire sets were zero Ohm like the Granatelli MPG wire set, but the differences were huge. My original 2005 factory Mopar 7mm wires tested out at 2639 Ohms, so I used that as my 'baseline' for my thoughts here. The BWD Select and Bosch Premium wire sets were the most expensive of the bunch and proved to have the lowest resistance. The BWD selects were 383 Ohms on average and by far the best of the bunch if Ohms really mean anything. The Bosch Premium wire set looked good also, but one wire of the bunch was higher than the rest. The OmniSpark Ignition Wire Set was the worst of the bunch in terms of quality control as one wire had 3x more resistance than the other wires! The Duralast wireset was the worst of the bunch as the ohms between wires was far from consistent and the resistance was more than double the factory wires.

Based on the Ohm testing along with the likeness in Ohms on the BWD Select wires, those are the wires that I selected to use.
plugs.jpg
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I also compared a wire from each set with a spark plug in it to check that out. The NGK V Power 4306 copper plug had more resistance than the NGK IX Iridium 2314, but that was expected. What is pretty wild though is that the BWD and Bosch wire sets have pretty much the same Ohm resistance that the OmniSpark and Durlast sets do without a spark plug!

So NGK Ix Iridium and BWD wires will be replacing my OEM setup! Who knows if it matters, but lower resistance sounds better for when it comes to putting the spark where it needs to be. Who knows if MPG improves or if you get any horse power / performance gains.
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Re: Spark Plug Wire Ohm Testing For My SRT-4 With Local Sets

Post by bubba »

I've used Bosch stuff in my cars for years.
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Re: Spark Plug Wire Ohm Testing For My SRT-4 With Local Sets

Post by Major_A »

I know that they give you dielectric grease with your new wires to keep moisture out of the boot. Any way you can retest a set with a liberal amount of grease on the end of the boots?
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Re: Spark Plug Wire Ohm Testing For My SRT-4 With Local Sets

Post by DaddyRabbit »

Man, you'll bench ANYTHING huh? ;)

A Megger would give a more accurate reading and measure possible insulation issues I think (went through this with a Miata, $75 for about 2 ft total of wire, factory issue).
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Re: Spark Plug Wire Ohm Testing For My SRT-4 With Local Sets

Post by Apoptosis »

Major_A wrote:I know that they give you dielectric grease with your new wires to keep moisture out of the boot. Any way you can retest a set with a liberal amount of grease on the end of the boots?
I tested the resistance of the wire core, so the boot and grease has nothing to do with it. Like you said it's for moisture and EMI.
DaddyRabbit wrote:Man, you'll bench ANYTHING huh? ;)
Yup and you are right a clamp-in resistance tester by Megger would have been nice, but the DET14C is like $1400 ;) I had two hours to spare on my weekend and it was fun to look at something non-PC related for a change. You got to have a hobby
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Re: Spark Plug Wire Ohm Testing For My SRT-4 With Local Sets

Post by Major_A »

True but that grease will come into contact with the spark plug. Figured it would add a fair amount of resistance. It was just a thought.
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Re: Spark Plug Wire Ohm Testing For My SRT-4 With Local Sets

Post by Apoptosis »

yeah, but not on the conductive end... It shouldn't at least.

My plug and wire change got rid of the 'surging' I was feeling. Nothing like doing a steady 70mph and then every minute or two the car slows down like you let off the gas, but didn't.

I usually change plugs every two oil changes and the last set was on the fourth oil change, so it was my fauly. Thank goodness the NGK V Power plugs are only $1.99 each. I've never changed the plug wires and at six years old I figured I'd drop the $33 for new wires. Like I said everything feels golden now, but I can't tell a difference from the higher ohm to lower ohm wires.
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Re: Spark Plug Wire Ohm Testing For My SRT-4 With Local Sets

Post by Major_A »

Hmm... I've noticed this "surging" too in my Neon (2004 POS). Recently my check engine light comes on an off. Doing the the ignition and speedometer check the error is with the Camshaft Position Sensor (P0340). The part to fix it is $35, but they say that it could be an issue with other components in the circuit. It started coming on during the winter, which apparently is "normal". Now that it's starting to get hot again it comes and goes, which leads me to believe it's something else. Can't afford to have it hooked up to a diagnostic right now so I'm dealing with it.
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Re: Spark Plug Wire Ohm Testing For My SRT-4 With Local Sets

Post by Apoptosis »

I have a totally different motor than you, but the coolant line for my turbo goes from a metal line to a rubber line and at that connection it leaked. The coolant dripped straight down (duh) and dripped onto my Camshaft Position Sensor and ruined it. I'd be driving around town and then the engine RPM would be limited to like 2000RPM or something (was 5 years ago). I'd stop, turn off the car and turn it back on and it would be fine. Fixed the line with a new clamp, replaced the sensor and was good to go. I love how engine designers put critical electric components below something that can leak like a coolant line or a battery.

Have you tired gaping and changing your plugs? You might want to try that. Also change brands of plugs too... I've tried 3-4 different brands and yes, I can see and feel a difference between them.
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Re: Spark Plug Wire Ohm Testing For My SRT-4 With Local Sets

Post by Major_A »

I replaced the plugs and wires less than a year ago. If my memory serves me correct I went with Bosch plugs (don't remember the line) and some cheap wires. I've only had 3 cars my life (Camaro, Civic, Neon) and the only car I could tell when I changed the plugs and wires was on the Camaro. Probably because the car had a carburetor and was a V8.

Yes! When that stupid sensor decides to have a brain fart anything over 2K RPM boggs the motor.

*EDIT*
I was at the dealership picking my car up several years ago. I had them change the clutch cable before the warranty expired. I walked over and looked at the exhaust on a SRT-4 Neon. To me it looked like the most restrictive exhaust setup I've seen. Have you considered running a straight pipe from the catalytic converter straight into a muffler? It seemed liked there were all kinds of x bends and welds in the SRT-4 exhaust. Flowmaster makes a 1 in /2 out design that I ran on my Camaro.
http://www.flowmastermufflers.com/searc ... &sc3=&sc4=
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Re: Spark Plug Wire Ohm Testing For My SRT-4 With Local Sets

Post by Apoptosis »

wtf is a catalytic converter and a muffler ;)

My SRT-4 has neither!
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Re: Spark Plug Wire Ohm Testing For My SRT-4 With Local Sets

Post by Major_A »

Even better.
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Re: Spark Plug Wire Ohm Testing For My SRT-4 With Local Sets

Post by NAiLs »

I thought you were getting rid of the SRT-4? What ever happened to Godzilla!?

I just changed the plugs and wires in my Grand Prix, since it doesn't look like the original owner ever has. So being at 83,000 miles, too.... I figured it was about time.. I must have changed them right around the time you posted this. I ended up buying the Bosch wires, and they worked great. If I have to replace the wires in my G8, I'll probably stick w/ Bosch... but I don't anticipate that change for many years. My baby has only seen about 80 miles in 6 months.

Anyway, I gave up on copper plugs once I got rid of my last Grand Prix. The current Prix is a DD, and I ended up getting the E3 plugs. They're a bit pricey, but they're supposed to work well. I honestly can't say I noticed any real difference in MPG or anything for that matter, though. You should test those out once.



Speaking of exhaust components on SRT-4's.... we have a black SRT-4 here in town that looks hideous. It has the exhaust pipe coming out of the freakin' passenger side ONLY, right about where the seam is between the two doors. :vom:
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Re: Spark Plug Wire Ohm Testing For My SRT-4 With Local Sets

Post by Apoptosis »

Nope kept it... the resale value on SRT-4's it makes no sense to sell it to be honest.
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Re: Spark Plug Wire Ohm Testing For My SRT-4 With Local Sets

Post by Major_A »

So is the SRT-4 an "off road" car or just a weekend Camaro/Mustang muncher? I don't know what all you've done to the car but when I had my Civic I put several bolt-ons on it. The only part that I could really tell the difference was the Clutchmaster's Dual Friction clutch. After I broke it in I could chirp 4h gear. After the clutch upgrade I was hanging with some older Camaros/Stangs up until about 50 when the law of cubic inches caught up. 1.6L VTEC in that Civic would run circles around the 2.0L motor in the Neon.
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Re: Spark Plug Wire Ohm Testing For My SRT-4 With Local Sets

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The resale value sucks that bad, eh? I guess I haven't looked into them in many years.
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Re: Spark Plug Wire Ohm Testing For My SRT-4 With Local Sets

Post by Apoptosis »

depends...

There is an SRT-4 ACR on e-bay right now that has been there for a few weeks that is asking $16,499, not bad for a car that was $22,490 brand new and is now pushing 6 years old. If he can get it, that is the question. I have less miles and more mods on mine though.

I also just noticed there is another one on E-bay as well with only 28,722 miles on it, but has been chopped up with more modes and A-Pillar gauges and an aftermarket radio... Mine's all original with no modifications to the wiring or body. I just called the dealer on that listing (Capital Ford in Raleigh NC) and they are asking $14,900 for the car plus $489 for paperwork and $1 for plates, so the total price on that one would be $15,390

It looks like the ACR editions are holding value, since they only made 1,175 SRT-4 ACR’s for the public: 225 Flame Red (PR4), 211 Orange Blast (PVK), 306 Stone White (PW1), 433 Black (PX8). God only knows how many have been totaled and crushed by now.

Makes me laugh at the sub $5000 trade-in offer by my dealers.
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Re: Spark Plug Wire Ohm Testing For My SRT-4 With Local Sets

Post by lordvic »

Woah! very interesting indeed; should be useful for me this summer. :partyman:
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