A Couple of Tricks to Protect Your Pony’s Engine
| 01 August 2005
Here are a couple of tricks to help protect the engine in your pony. One has to do with the spark plug wires and the other with oil circulation when your pony has not been started for a long time.
Replace Spark Plug Wires
If you’ve ever replaced the spark plug wires on your car, you know it can be a relatively easy job if approached correctly. Or maybe you’ve never done the job because you think you might get the wires mixed up where they plug into the distributor cap. If that’s the case, the trick is to replace them one at a time. Remove an old one and insert a new one in its place. Spend a few minutes deciding which length wire belongs in which position and then do the one-for-one swap.
On the other hand, if you have a need to remove the old wires as a group before you install the new ones, first locate no. 1 cylinder position at the distributor cap as your reference point. On 6-cylinder engines, it’s the position of the wire coming from the spark plug at the front of the engine. On the V8s, it’s the wire that comes from the front cylinder on the right hand (passenger side) cylinder bank.
When installing the new wires as a group, start with no. 1 and then proceed by firing order. On the 6-cylinder engines, the firing order is 1-5-3-6-2-4 in a clockwise direction viewed from the top of the distributor cap. The V8s use a 1-5-4-2-6-3-7-8 firing order in a counterclockwise direction on all engines except the 302 HOs, the ’94 and up 5.0s, and the 351s. The 302 HOs, the ’94 and up 5.0s, and the 351s use a 1-3-7-2-6-5-4-8 firing order, also in a counterclockwise direction. Cylinder numbering on the 6-cylinder engines is 1 through 6 from front to rear. On the V8s, it’s 1 through 4, front to rear on the right hand bank (passenger side) and 5 through 8, front to rear, on the left hand bank (driver side).
An important trick when replacing plug wires is the need to prevent induction cross firing between cylinders. Cross firing can destroy an engine. For concours cars, research the proper sequence for inserting the wires into the plastic wire loom separators. For all others, the safe way to insert the wires is to not run them parallel through the separators. On the right hand bank of the V8s, put the wire for no. 1 cylinder at the back of the separator, no 2 second from the back, no. 3 third from the back, and no. 4 at the front. On the left bank, put no.5 at the back and 6, 7, and 8 in rotation moving toward the front of the engine. On the I-6 engines, mix the wires up at the separator so they cross each other rather than run parallel. The wires for cylinders 1 and 2 take care of themselves because they don’t pass through the separator but mix up 3 through 6. Wires that cross aren’t as pretty as neatly arranged parallel wires but crossing them provides a good level of safety against engine damage.
Pressurize Lubrication System before Starting Engine
A car that sits idle for extended periods of time has almost no oil on the moving parts inside the engine. Starting the engine under those conditions causes a lot of wear before the oil pump can fill the lubrication system and force oil to the vital parts. But there’s a couple of procedures to help minimize the wear. The preferred method is time intensive and somewhat complicated but it deserves serious consideration, especially if the engine hasn’t run for several months. The other method is relatively painless but not as effective.
To use the preferred method, it’s necessary to remove the spark plugs and put a couple tablespoons of oil into each cylinder. Next, remove the valve cover (right hand bank only on V8s). Then remove the distributor and, using a special tool mounted in a reversible electric drill, turn the oil pump shaft until the system builds sufficient pressure to force oil throughout the engine (turn clockwise on the 6s and counter-clockwise on the V8s). Watch the rocker arms until they receive oil. When they have oil, the engine is fully primed.
Now crank the engine for several revolutions and stop it with the timing marks lined up for no. 1 cylinder. The trick is to have the marks lined up when both valves are closed on no. 1 cylinder. Replace the spark plugs, replace the valve cover with a new gasket, and replace the distributor being sure to static time it (see Pony Tricks for June 2002). Now go ahead and start up the engine. You may want to retime the engine with a timing light after it warms up (see Pony Tricks for July 2002). As for the special tool used to turn the oil pump, it’s available from several sources; mine came from Eastwood.
The easier but less effective method, involves cranking the engine without letting it start. Crank it until there is an indication of oil pressure on the oil pressure gauge, if so equipped, or when the oil pressure indicator lamp goes out, if the car has idiot lights. Go ahead and start it at that point. It might be a good idea to connect a battery pack booster to the car battery before you start to crank. Otherwise, you could kill the car’s battery before you let the engine start.
The crank-it-until-pressurized method should also be used after an oil filter change. This will ensure that the oil filter is full of oil before the engine is allowed to start. A full oil filter minimizes the risk of having an interruption in oil pressure when the engine is started.