Spark Plug Wires Question
 

Today I noticed that about half of my plug wires have a white corrosion like on battery posts at the boot where it slips on the tip of the spark plug. The corrosion is inside the boot at the terminal cap which slides on the plu. Are these wires ready to be replaced? What causes this? Is there a way to correct? I used WD40 and scraped/cleaned as best as I can. The engine currently runs fine......

The engne is a 117.985 4.5L in a 80 450SL. Thank.....

Hi Eric

Got me on that one! I've never seen that on plug wires before. I just replaced mine not too long ago, but mine were just plain old and covered with thick black road dirt and oil!

Rule of thumb is 3 to 5 years, but may depend more on mileage then time. How does the distributor cap look? If it looks old, plug wire probably are too! Caps if I remember are $60+. There are two types of caps for these 80 450's The place I bought my cap, wires, rotor, were at SASPOnline.com better known as Smitty's auto parts, and they have a picture of each of the two different caps you can blow up by clicking on the picture and by comparing your cap to the picture you can order the correct one. I don't know why they have two different caps for this engine?

Nice sunny day here today so you dont have to guess very much where I was much of the morning! I got a bad batch of gas a couple of weeks ago and since I filled it again with sunoco 94, it runs real nice and powerful. Just ordered new rotors, pads, so I'll have more work carved out for me next weekend........BB

Hello BB. Cap and rotor look fine. Some kind of corrosion set up from lack of use I suppose.

Convertible weather is in full bloom here in Southern Arkansas. The seat have been upholstered. My biggest hurdle now is just keeping gas in it at $2.25 gallon..........

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Gas @ $2.25! Paid $2.47 for Sunoco 94.............Dino diesel is $2.35, but I have been buying biodiesel lately and it's $2.80 but the diesel engine runs smoother and quieter.

I only burned 1/3 tank full in the SL this week, I only drive it once a week, and that is only if it's dry and sunny! Otherwise it stays parked and under cover.

I adjusted my bowden cable recently because shifting points were up around 2500 / 2700 rpm and it just didn't seem right, I adjusted it to shift around 2000 and I like it much better. What rpm does your car shift gears?

My 450SL is driven about 250 miles a week........it takes the whole 16 gallon tank.......

corrosion on spark plug terminals
 

Use dielectric grease on all metal spark plug connections (sparingly). This will prevent this type of corrosion and ease changing plugs and wires. Abe G