Bought new ignition wires.

Seeing mine are stock, I decided to purchase a set of Autolite wires for my 1995 4.3L.

For my year it is vERY hard to find them here in Canada and the dealer wants close to US$60 for a set.

I bought the set off of ebay for US$20 which included shipping.

I'll let you know how it turns out.

Yes, please do! Mine are a bit worn and fuzzy feeling around the jacket already, and they were just replaced. I cringe to think of paying Dealership prices, but even $30 OEM-style replacements have left me with a foul after-taste. :P

I am more interested in if you follow the one repair manual your own (not sure if it's Haynes or Chilton) that shows the number 1 plug on drivers side middle.

Let us know how it turns out......

I am more interested in if you follow the one repair manual your own (not sure if it's Haynes or Chilton) that shows the number 1 plug on drivers side middle.

Let us know how it turns out......

Keep up the attitude, I DARE YA!

I don't use a repair manual to change plug wires, I swap wire for wire.

And again, keep up the snide, smartass remarks and you will have a vacation for a while.

Not sure I understand the comment, but on my '98, the #1 spark plug wire attaches to the driver's side of the distributor cap, the one in the middle. That number 1 is the only one that is out of sequence on the distributor cap.

Maybe the '95 is different and I'm confused.

I've owned Haynes and Chilton manuals, and I honestly have to say, the mistakes and lack of information makes them very questionable. I'd never use them again. The factory shop manuals are the best, but of course, come at a price.

Not sure I understand the comment, but on my '98, the #1 spark plug wire attaches to the driver's side of the distributor cap, the one in the middle. That number 1 is the only one that is out of sequence on the distributor cap.

Maybe the '95 is different and I'm confused.

I've owned Haynes and Chilton manuals, and I honestly have to say, the mistakes and lack of information makes them very questionable. I'd never use them again. The factory shop manuals are the best, but of course, come at a price.

Just swapped in the new wires today. And yes, you are right. The middle driver's connection on the cap goes to the driver's side front cylinder.

The wire swap was a PAIN in the ASS! Rerouting them and trying to get your hands back to the cap to connect the wires was a complete bitch.

Did I need to install new wires, well, yes and no.

The one thing I did find was that the coil wire was corroded VERY badly on the coil itself, but the connection to the cap was clean. I could have done just that wire and kept everything else stock. The corrosion was terrible, and the coil electrode was completely encrusted with white crap and I have no clue how voltage was getting through it. Borderline miracle. I had to sand the corrosion off and even then the electrode was pitted badly.

The 1995 stock wires were in perfect condition, no cracks, breaks, chaffing or any damage at all other than the one connection on the coil wire.

Although the autolite wires were pregreased, I added more grease to the boots and they installed pretty well other than the clips and routing.

So to all thinking they need new wires, you might want to save you money and just check the wires one by one.

The truck ran a little rough for the first two minutes or so but that was to be expected seeing I had removed the battery for charging while I was doing the swap.

Now everything is back together and the truck does seem to have lost any bog it had at all. The corrosion was probably signifcantly hindering the voltage going to the cap and rotor, and this could be the reason why my fuel economy has gone down a bit lately.

just for referenceall 4.3's are the following...

6 5
4 3
2 1
X

And if you look at the cap, it really does bring the #1 wire to the 7 o'clock position via the design of the cap. Same place where it is on a normal cap. (ie. normal being top post mounted) The firing order is still 165432 just that the design of the side post mount distributor caps make it look funky. they're still the following


4
5 3
6 2
1

Ok, update.....

AVOID AUTOLITE WIRES!

Just changed my cap and rotor and those new wires ripped the condictor out of the boot on two of the wires connecting to the cap.

PLUS, one ripped out when I was regreasing the plug ends as well.

These are made REALLY cheap and you can tell when you look inside the connections.

AVOID!!! My 10 year old wires are more durable that this.

wow, perfect post, at a perfect time. I was just considering doing this with a 1995 Jimmy. The fool at autozone quoted me 50 bux for a set of ac-delco plug wires and 8 bux for ac plat plugs, and he said that the autolite wires and plugs would be just fine and cost considerably less. Thank you so much for saving me the headaches BlazerLT.

Stick to ac delco wires and delco platinum plugs bro....

Trust me, these things are absolute shit.

Stick to ac delco wires and delco platinum plugs bro....

Trust me, these things are absolute shit.

Amen, been there tried those. My boots pulled off mine real easy too. I founf that even the Xact advance brand are better and cheaper than autolite at around 29.00. ADvance wants over 90.00 for a set of AC Delco.

They are worth it, mine lasted 10 years and I replaced the broken wires with the stock ones I still have from 1995 that I just swapped off.

They installed just fine.

This is a great post! There is always a lot of confusion on what brand of wires to buy. On a personal side a couple of years ago I was changing the wires on my S10 p/u cause a couple had cracked and started arcing. I figured I'd go with the Autobone cheepos. Well, guess what - the truck ran like shit. I had a trustworthy mechanic look at it and he said he misted the wires w/water and could see arcs all over the place. I took the wires back and they gave me another set. Had the same problem with these! I finally said screw it - through them at the guy- got my $$ back and went to Advance. They got me another set (can't remember which brand) which caost me almost double and the worked like champs!! I could even feel the difference in the casing. Just goes to show that you really do get what you pay for...

They are worth it, mine lasted 10 years and I replaced the broken wires with the stock ones I still have from 1995 that I just swapped off.

They installed just fine.


I don't think mine really even needed changed, I couldn't tell any difference when I changed them. I kept the old ones just in case I needed an extra one or two, but so far so good with the cheapo Advance brand.

I don't think mine really even needed changed, I couldn't tell any difference when I changed them. I kept the old ones just in case I needed an extra one or two, but so far so good with the cheapo Advance brand.

Just wait until you have 20k on them and they tear the plug connector out of them. My god was I pissed off.

Here I am trying to do something good and change the cap and rotor and I end up screwing something else up.

Good to know, thank you for updating.

For what it's worth, I've always used the Taylor wires from Summit or Jegs. They have a really positive lock on the plug end (you can hear them click as they engage), and easily handled the heat and power from my old 470 hp 402 BB Chevy I had in a '78 Monza a few years back (MSD Blaster 2 coil, Accel unilite 5000 distributer,etc).

The part number we need for 4.3 liter 1996 - 2003 is 74X35 - 91035.

Taylor's homepage is http://www.taylorvertex.com/hp/ , and their application guide is http://www.taylorvertex.com/PDFS/Page53-64.pdf

These are what I'm buying when it's time to change the wires on my 02 Xtreme.

Here I am trying to do something good and change the cap and rotor and I end up screwing something else up.

My life's story bro...

I've got nearly 40,000 miles on my autolite wires. If you do the job right and do a complete tune-up all at once, there is no need to remove the wires 6 months after installing them.

I've also got nearly 40,000 one my autolite platinum plugs. I did go with AC Delco cap and rotor, though, because of all the problems that people have had with the after market ones. My Blazer runs like new with almost 150,000 miles on it.

I've got nearly 40,000 miles on my autolite wires. If you do the job right and do a complete tune-up all at once, there is no need to remove the wires 6 months after installing them.

I've also got nearly 40,000 one my autolite platinum plugs. I did go with AC Delco cap and rotor, though, because of all the problems that people have had with the after market ones. My Blazer runs like new with almost 150,000 miles on it.

That is wrong and you know it, they are junk and I'm sorry, but having plug wires that are only good for one time connection is garbadge.

I did the job "RIGHT" and I'm sorry that I didn't change the cap and rotor at exactly the same time as the wires. But saying that is an excuse that the wires are supposed to fail then you are full of it.

You don't replace your wires everytime you replace your cap & rotor or plugs.

Listen, 6 months and they failed when I pulled them off on TWO WIRES. This is poor workmanship and the connections are garbage compared to the stock wires.

Ok, update.....

AVOID AUTOLITE WIRES!

Just changed my cap and rotor and those new wires ripped the condictor out of the boot on two of the wires connecting to the cap.

PLUS, one ripped out when I was regreasing the plug ends as well.

These are made REALLY cheap and you can tell when you look inside the connections.

AVOID!!! My 10 year old wires are more durable that this.

i swaped my wires when i changed the cpi so i had complete access to the cap. my truck had ac delco wires on it and when i pulled them off, all of the boots tore off. cheap pos. i replaced them with 8mm accell 9000's for 70 bucks and they work great.

i swaped my wires when i changed the cpi so i had complete access to the cap. my truck had ac delco wires on it and when i pulled them off, all of the boots tore off. cheap pos. i replaced them with 8mm accell 9000's for 70 bucks and they work great.

Were you pulling on the boots or on the wire?

Did you have any dielectric grease on them?

That is wrong and you know it, they are junk and I'm sorry, but having plug wires that are only good for one time connection is garbadge.
What is wrong? If you do a full tune-up and replace everything..... why would you need to remove the wires 6 months later?


I did the job "RIGHT" and I'm sorry that I didn't change the cap and rotor at exactly the same time as the wires. But saying that is an excuse that the wires are supposed to fail then you are full of it.

You don't replace your wires everytime you replace your cap & rotor or plugs.

Listen, 6 months and they failed when I pulled them off on TWO WIRES. This is poor workmanship and the connections are garbage compared to the stock wires.
What did you expect? Of course the quality isn't going to be as good as the AC Delcos..... They are 1/4 of the price. Even though they are not the same quality, they still provide great performance and are well worth the money.

I have done alot of tune-ups in my lifetime. I've pulled lots of wires loose from the boots (only because I was replacing them) it doesn't matter if they were OEM or aftermarket, they all can break if removed improperly. If you want to reuse them, you have to remove them properly. The boots are there to seal the connection, because of this they create a strong suction when you try to remove them. If you want to reuse the wires you have to grab the front of the boot and twist back and forth as you remove the wire. You NEVER pull them off by the wire unless you are replacing them, because 80% of the time they will break. (Any brand will break) Of the hundreds that I've done I haven't broke any that I planned to reuse.

Calling a product garbage just because you handled it improperly and broke it, is just plain wrong and you know it.

What is wrong? If you do a full tune-up and replace everything..... why would you need to remove the wires 6 months later?

Oh gimmie a break, what a stupid statement. You know the world does not work like that. Maybe someone didn't have the money to replace everything at once or maybe they didn't have the time.

This is no excuse for the part failing on me. You should have done it all and it is that problem that caused the part to fail.

What a idiotic statement, I thought you knew better than that.


What did you expect? Of course the quality isn't going to be as good as the AC Delcos..... They are 1/4 of the price. Even though they are not the same quality, they still provide great performance and are well worth the money.

Gimmie a break, again, a piss poor excuse. What, I buy ignition wires and they are expected to fail in 6 months because I didn't follow you "perfect tuneup" routine? You know that is bullcrap and a poor excuse.

I have done alot of tune-ups in my lifetime. I've pulled lots of wires loose from the boots (only because I was replacing them) it doesn't matter if they were OEM or aftermarket, they all can break if removed improperly. If you want to reuse them, you have to remove them properly. The boots are there to seal the connection, because of this they create a strong suction when you try to remove them. If you want to reuse the wires you have to grab the front of the boot and twist back and forth as you remove the wire. You NEVER pull them off by the wire unless you are replacing them, because 80% of the time they will break. (Any brand will break) Of the hundreds that I've done I haven't broke any that I planned to reuse.

Calling a product garbage just because you handled it improperly and broke it, is just plain wrong and you know it.

You know what, why don't you ask me how I removed them instead of blindly saying I removed them wrong. OK>>>THANKS!!

When I installed them I actually added a good dose of dielectric grease to them to coat them properly, and they were perfectly on and were not stuck in any way or form.

Nice assumption there. Did I say I pulled them off properly? NO!

Did I use excessive force? NO!

Are you backing Autolite wires to somehow make yourself feel better that you use them.....YES!

They are garbage and not worth the money to install them. I would pay the extra money now.

Your post is nothing but a bunch of idiotic excuses.

Here they are all summed up:

1.) You should have installed the cap at the same time as the wires: RIDICULOUS

2.) They are cheaper, you shouldn't expect them to last: RIDICULOUS

3.) You didn't remove them properly: RIDICULOUS

So if you have the same wires, that is fine, it is your choice.

BUT DON'T YOU EVER SAY IT IS MY FAULT THAT THE PART FAILED BECAUSE OF THESE BULLSHIT EXCUSES.

KTHX

Thread is closed, obviously, some people don't have their heads on their shoulders.

AUTOLITE SPARK PLUG WIRES ARE HORRIBLE! DON'T USE THEM! NOT WORTH THE MONEY!