Chevrolet Impala SS, Handbook

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SSHandbook
Maintenance: Electrical
Changing Plug Wires
Procedure:
1. Before starting, note which wire loom is on which wire, and also note the order of the wires into the opti-
spark. If you forget, the plug wire numbers ARE embossed on the opti-spark, next to the wire connection
points. This info is also in the FSM and even in (somewhat cheaper, although often lacking) the Haynes
manual.
2. Remove the accessory belt (13mm wrench on the idler pulley), and then remove the idler pulley assembly
(helps on the passenger side wires) which is held in by two 10mm bolts.
3. Lay out your new plug wire set, and "prep" it by putting dielectric grease (a thin coat) in the inside of the
boots on both the plug and distributor sides of the wires. Note that at least the Taylor Wire set includes
TWO coil wires (one for 94-95, one for 96) so there will be an unused coil wire.
4. To figure out which wire goes to which plug is simple. For the Taylors, the distributor end boots are black
while the plug end boots are the same color as the wires. The "straight" distributor-end boots are for the
driver's side wires (plugs 1, 3, 5, 7) and the "bent" ones are for the passenger side wires (2, 4, 6, 8).
Then, amongst the straight-end wires it is simply 1, 3, 5, 7 from shortest to longest, and similar amongst
the passenger side wires (2 is shortest, 8 is longest).
5. Unplug all 8 plug wires from the sparkplugs, unless you just changed plugs and them wire ends are
already unplugged ofcourse (grin)
6. Start on the driver's side. Use a screwdriver and needle nose pliers (and just some brute force) to pop open
the 4-wire holder that is a couple inches away from the opti-spark. This will be done from under the car.
Remove the 4 wires from the holder.
7. Remove the #1 plug wire from the opti-spark, and remove it from the car.
8. Unplug the rest ofthe driver's side wires from the opti-spark.
Plugs and wires changed on Tri-Y's.