Plug wires, rotor and cap. Does it matter much?

[lyd]

I want to replace my plug wires while I am in there monkeying around with the EGR. Every now and then it starts a little hard in the wet, so I think it needs them. Any particular recommendations in that regard, or is whatever the Autozone hands me sufficient?

While we're on the subject, I am a little uncertain about the procedure for setting base timing. I get the bit about jumping the ECU, although I am uncertain about what the amperage of the fuse on the jumper should be. Beyond that, it is all a little hazy.

Do I need an inductive timing light, or will the old style work? When you guys talk about advancing timing to +4, +6, etc, are you reading that at idle? When you do advance the base timing, what keeps the ecu from retarding it right back again to where it thinks it should be?

Maybe my first question should have been, is there a good writeup of all this out there already? If so, all I need is a pointer.

Thanks a lot.

[RH77]

The autozone stuff seems to work for me. Just keep the receipt in a memorable place on "lifetime warranty" stuff in case it comes time to replace them again.

Plug gapping is important, otherwise, they make a spark and the gas goes boom -- so I'm not picky there.

I timed by ear and it bumped FE a bit (maxed out the advance). There's some ping at full load at high IATs, but those moments are rare. Basically advance at idle until you hear knocking, and back it off a bit (fully warm engine, ECU bypassed).

RH77

[lyd]

Local parts store wanted $20 just for the cap. Wires and rotor were cheap.

Thinking of ordering this wires/rotor/cap kit from rock auto, $27.
"UNITED IGNITION WIRE Part # 17302 More Info {Includes Distributor Cap & Rotor, and PREMIUM Packard/Delphi Silicone Spark Plug Wires}"


Any reason not to go with this?

Regarding the timing, I still don't understand what keeps the ECU from retarding the timing back to where the ECU wants it to be, even if you advance the base.

[some_other_dave]

Originally Posted by lyd

Regarding the timing, I still don't understand what keeps the ECU from retarding the timing back to where the ECU wants it to be, even if you advance the base.

Probably because the ECU does not actually know when the ignition timing is. It simply advances or retards it from the current static timing.

-soD

[RH77]

Originally Posted by some_other_dave

Probably because the ECU does not actually know when the ignition timing is. It simply advances or retards it from the current static timing.

-soD

Inside the distributor, there are a few extra wires that detect and regulate the spark. It's traditionally connected to the spark pack or ignition source with a feedback wire to the ECU. The "timing" can be interrupted electronically from the ECU vs. the physical point of electrification as the distrib spins and connects with the points. This produces the "timing range".

Which is why you should tune ECU-independent. After that, the range of advance/retard is limited electronically.

RH77

[sharon333]

Thanks for the help.

[Johnny Mullet]

I bought the cap, rotor, plugs, and wires from Autozone. I chose to use the standard NGK plugs since these Suzuki engines seem to run better on them than anything else.