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Spark plug wires

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Thomas Mason

Proven Member
253
34
Apr 29, 2017
Covington, Kentucky
Ok... this is about to get really confusing. I need help. Like crazy. You have a 98 gsx, that has a 98 talon motor.... how do you hook the spark plug wires up properly?! Would the coil numbers be of a gsx and cylinder numbers be of a talon? Are they the same since it’s 4g63? Is a 98
Talon motor a 6 bolt or 7... I’ve confused myself
 
Ok... this is about to get really confusing. I need help. Like crazy. You have a 98 gsx, that has a 98 talon motor.... how do you hook the spark plug wires up properly?! Would the coil numbers be of a gsx and cylinder numbers be of a talon? Are they the same since it’s 4g63? Is a 98
Talon motor a 6 bolt or 7... I’ve confused myself
Try and take the spark plugs out and see the order of the pistons mabe?

By looking or sticking something down in and seeing or if u got a little camera thing u can stick down in there. Get it at top dead center and check.

That will eliminate the guessing?

Well will determine witch fireing order u should have
 
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I'm going to second this motion. The only differences between these cars is in the body style. Motors and electronics are identical.
I've had a 95 Talon TSI and now a 99 Eclipse GST and everything under the hood seemed the same.

Edited: See next post for clarification!
 
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If the car were a '95 or '96 (then, assuming a '95 or '96 ECU), it'd be different, actually.

'97-'99 models were similar enough to be considered "the same", but they were different than the '95-'96 models, specifically in regards to the CAS location which affects the spark plug order. See: Engine Harness Differences
 
Well this is my first 4g63 and I’m trying to make sure because I’ve found multiple orders with 98 gsx as a title.. and something is making the car not feel or accelerate right so trying to be safe
 
Have you ran a boost leak test?
Just got the car and learning so no I haven’t

Ooooohhhhh booooooyyy...... Welcome to the club! It's definitely an experience. Can you expand on the "doesn't feel right"? If it runs, you've probably got plug order correct.
Thanks bro. I had two non turbos prior. Dream build had always been the gsx. As far as the car. sluggish, restricted or flooded almost. Just bought the car was told it would just stall after bov was installed. That it ran great before that, I’d assume boost leak prob but it’s def rough.
 
That's a good place to start, then. I wouldn't worry too much about anything else, save maybe a compression test and other general vehicle health checks before doing a boost leak test. Boost leaks are common and known to affect acceleration.
 
Thanks bro

Literally most this list including check engine light. So it totally makes sense... lights started flickering in dash once I got it started so maybe there’s more or something else going on also.
 

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Most excellent, my dude!
If the BOV has been changed, the obvious (to those of us that have been smashing knuckles under these hoods for a while anyways) places to start would be the recirculation system, the BOV gasket/O-ring, and the BOV vacuum line from the intake.
The 4G63 is designed to return the air from the BOV to the intake just before the turbo because it's all been metered through the MAF so as not to run rich after letting your foot off the gas and losing all that air to atmosphere. If the return system hasn't been properly sealed, you could be getting extra air from there.
Or if the BOV o-ring isn't seated/nonexistent (I've seen people throw in a new BOV without an o-ring! LOL WAT) And you're losing compressed air from there.
I've also personally crimped the BOV vacuum line and gotten some gnarly turbo flutter/kickback when it didn't open when I slammed the throttle plate shut *cringe*

Edit: Dash light flicker could be poor grounding, low system charging/low voltage due to low/rough idle, etc.
I would make sure you have your battery terminals connected solidly and have the ground to both the firewall and the suspension post intact and tight. Poor grounding can also cause all manner of funky things with sensors that will feel like a boost leak/rich run condition because sensors aren't getting correct readings.
 
If it's a '98 then it's 7 bolt. The switchover from 6 bolt was mid-'92. I have one of the last DSMs that had the 6 bolt, with a May '92 build date. As for engines, it's the same engine for a given year whether it's a Talon or Eclipse. You're good.

And while we're on the topic, I just want to confirm, how are the cylinder #s ordered? About as simple as it gets but I couldn't find anything in the FSM or parts catalog. Is it 1-2-3-4 from passenger to driver's side, or the other way around? When replacing wires I just put the shortest on the plug closest to the distributor, the next shortest on the one next over, and so on.
 
Number 1 cylinder is closest to the timing belt. So, from the front of the car, looking into the engine bay, it's 4-3-2-1.
 
From what I have read it’s 1-4 from right to left... one being timing belt side. I tried the shortest plug wire method also... but you gotta think if somebody bought new wires and didn’t follow that rule... your screwed LOL cause they are in their own order.. I’ve tried multiple things hoping it was just plugs... gotta back fire for tiny sec and went back to a
Different order. Maybe this is all just boost leak.
 
Stupid question, but can rewiring the plugs in the wrong order destroy an engine, or would it only make it run weirdly or not at all? I mean on these cars, not in general.

From what I have read it’s 1-4 from right to left... one being timing belt side. I tried the shortest plug wire method also... but you gotta think if somebody bought new wires and didn’t follow that rule... your screwed LOL cause they are in their own order.. I’ve tried multiple things hoping it was just plugs... gotta back fire for tiny sec and went back to a
Different order. Maybe this is all just boost leak.

You mean left to right, in terms of how orientation works with cars, from the driver's perspective. So, left is actually the driver's left, not looking at the car from the front facing the engine. I can see why many people say drive's side and not left, to avoid the confusion. Of course if you're in the UK...
 
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Hence why I was trying to find out how to correctly do it. I do know the changes out ignition coils... I don’t know the order of them but they may have not either and installed them incorrectly

*they changed* out coils it was suppose to say

Is 4-1-2-3 left to right the correct order for the coil pack ?
 
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And what happens if you make a mistake and mis-wire things? Engine blows up, runs bad or doesn't run at all and you only feel foolish?
 
It simply won't run or won't run well. It's not going to blow anything up.

But now that we all know what the proper order is, there's no reason to be getting it wrong.

Right?
 
It simply won't run. It's not going to blow anything up.

But now that we all know what the proper order is, there's no reason to be getting it wrong.

Right?

Not the point. Mistakes are made sometimes and can't be avoided 100%, so I was just wondering what could happen. And interestingly, I did a quick google search of this and found this:

Only one and i mean only one time I have seen a valve slam threw a piston but Im pretty sure (The guy fights with me over this) the car was out of time anyway. It was on a 92 Mitsubishi eclipse 2.0 turbo that had been heavily modded…. Shaved heads – cam and valve replace ments -over sized valves so on…

He had done the same as you – Was replacing spark plug wires and crossed one. As soon as the engine fired a tapping occurred and he reved the in to 1500 and boom. I confirmed a crossed wire (But never confirmed a timing issue)
 
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