How do I lengthen HT lead

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fulchera

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I have a Vire engine which now has a very tight HT lead. So tight I have to pull the lead away from the spark plug cap to change/clean the plug - and that is a regular event. Longer term I aim to replace the lead but is there a quick and failrly reliable way of simply making what is there slightly longer?
 
Yes there is - you can buy a suppressor which plugs in the line by "screwing" into the lead, and so you can use this as a jointing device with a few inches of lead from your scrap box
 
G'day Whimbrel,

Welcome to the forum and your first post.

You could try your local scrap metal yard, they often have welding leads that have been damaged, they make good cheap battery leads .

Avagoodweekend......
 
He meant High Tension lead, as in spark plugs.
Buy a new one from a motor factors. They do them individually in a whole range of lengths and very cheaply.
 
... or buy it by the metre. The ends are often simple push-fit connections.

Whichever way you do it, replacement in this situation is likely to be quicker / easier / cheaper / more reliable than any short-term solution.
 
Thanks everyone for your advice, much appreciated. I had better explain it is because I would need to remove the fly wheel to replace the lead that makes me look for an easier alternative - I am nervous about breaking something in the process - although I have now found a puller to make the job more straightforwad. Like the idea of fitting a suppressor - would you have any tip for where I get one.
 
Screw in suppresor

What you could do with is some new HT lead and an in-line suppressor.
Look HERE and scroll down to the suppressors, it's code is SUP.
99p , can't argue with that. You should be able to pick one up at a real motor factors (not one of these MotorWorld type place) or even Halfords.
Then you can cut your existing lead, screw this in the end and screw an appropriate length of new lead, with a plug cap, into the other end.
No flywheel removal.
 
The problem with HT lead is that it does deteriorate and break down causing loss of power and difficulty in starting, often with little warning. It is an issue that would be best to address sooner rather than later, and adding an extension to the existing piece still leaves old lead in situ.
 
Re: Screw in suppresor

I've never had much long-term luck with joints in HT cables. Sooner or later, they always seem to start "tracking" to any nearby earth - especially if the insulation is a bit old and hard. I've never tried it on a Vire engine (or any marine installation for that matter) but it never seemed to work that well for me on lawn mowers & bikes etc!

Its possible (depending on the resistance of the lead to start with) that adding a suppressor part-way down will make the electricity think it more worthwhile to break down the insulation of the old part of the lead and jump to earth rather than go through the resistance of the suppressor PLUS the resistance of the joint, PLUS the resistance of the new length of lead (which might, itself, be suppressed), PLUS the resistance in the cap (if it is suppresed) PLUS the resistance of the electrode gap in the plug. IOf it was my engine, I'd be inclined to measure the resistance of the current complete lead assembly and then make up a new one from some of the sources already listed and make sure it had a similar resistance. Some cars (old granadas I think) used to have "turret resistors" on their distributor caps. This was a way of keeping the extra resistance at the distributor end rather than at the spark plug end. They were about an inch or so long (so they effectively lengthened the lead by 1". I don't know if this would be any use to you - I guess the Vire probably doesn't have a distributor and th lead just comes straight off the top of the coil or magneto or whatever it has?
 
[ QUOTE ]
Buy a new one from a motor factors. They do them individually in a whole range of lengths and very cheaply.


[/ QUOTE ]

Not round here they don't!

I ended going to the scrappy to find a single lead for SWMBO's car. All the major outlets now only sell sets. Rip off time..........
 
Re: Screw in suppresor

Can't argue with that. He doesn't seem too keen on taking off the flywhel and this would be a stop gap until he gets around to taking it off.
You can get connectors without supression which may be a better bet pro temp.
 
Flywheel Removal

The ignition is of the magneto type with the stator in the middle of the flywheel and the rotors inside the flywheel.
Here is a pic of the flywheel removal . And this one showing the HT lead inside the flywheel casing. Using the arrows you can open more images showing the layout.
 
Re: Screw in suppresor

The problem with replacing an HT lead with a Vire or similar engine is the ignition is provided by a magneto coil system. The HT lead is sealed into the coil.

The only options are; replace the coil assembly (expensive), convert to 'conventional' external battery powered coil ignition (Ok but engine cannot run without a battery) or bodge an extension to the HT lead.

Plug top connectors come in a variety of shapes and lead feed-in angle, ones with suppressors might extend the lead by the amount required.

David
 
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