How often should spark plug wires be replaced? Yearly?

[86VaNa60N]

Hi guys,
I'm leaving for a 1000 mile camp trip. I replaced plugs, wires, rotor, dist, last year same time. Not sure If the wires are necessary since they're a little more pricey. Any thoughts?

Thanks,
Noah

[Butcher]

Good wires will last you a very long time. So it would depend on what you got. Most Bosch wires are a solid wire with the resister at the ends. The ends go bad, so the wire set is replaced. 10 years or more is what I would suspect.

[Abscate]

In ozone laden Southern California - 10 years is probably end of life. If you want to drive trouble-free, then change every 5 years.

Every year is way too often, anywhere.
_________________
.ssS!

[86VaNa60N]

Thanks Butcher, Abscate,

That's good to hear. I think I'm running Bosch so I'm sure I'm good.

Thanks guys.

[Zeitgeist 13]

I think I'm still on the same wire set for the entire dozen years I've owned the van.
_________________
Casey--

'89 Bluestar ALH w/12mm Waldo pump, PP764 and GT2052
'01 Weekender --> full camper
y u rune klassik?

[Abscate]

An issue with running to failure is a spark plug wire problem usually manifests itself as an intermittent misfire under load, and most people will have trouble diagnosing that cleanly.
_________________
.ssS!

[nemobuscaptain]

[Merian]

I saw a spec. of 30k miles somewhere (Bentley?).

For a low miles/yr vehicle, 10 years seems reasonable, but I'd test with a spray of water on a running vehicle at night after 5 & 7 years.

Good to see people thinking about maintenance...
_________________
....

[Ahwahnee]

My notes say I installed a Bosch set in January, 1997 at 135,000 miles.

That set started to fail in April, 2012 at 250,000 miles.

Bosch wires claim to have a lifetime guarantee so I contacted them and indeed they made good on them. I bought a set off of Amazon and Bosch refunded the amount paid.

The catch - I still had my receipt and package from 1997. Not sure if there is any hope for getting the lifetime guarantee if you do not have the original paperwork.

Yeah, the replacements also have a lifetime warranty so maybe in 2027 I will get another set.

[86VaNa60N]

Wow, That's amazing you still had the same box/receipt from 1997!

[atomatom]

[Ahwahnee]

[Merian]

Right! I let Excel add them up instead.

and BTW, you can store the receipts in that second Vanagon that is perma-parked in your driveway...
_________________
....

[86VaNa60N]

I like the excel spreadsheet idea
Thanks you guys.

[RaraBlacksheep]

[Merian]

oh c'mon

a Vanagon is nothing compared to an old 911

which is nothing compared to an RS-60 or a Ferrari
_________________
....

[Californio]

True enough about the receipts. One I can add to the original thread is that in my experience, later inline-4's are way more sensitive to plug wires than WBX. If I don't change mine yearly, there's trouble starting in wet weather, missing under load, etc.

[Stephenmarklay]

[Syncronoid]

What about spark plugs? How often should they be replaced?
_________________
'90 Syncro Westy w/GW2.5L

[Merian]

I do what goWesty says on their web site
_________________
....