# Idle rough - similar to other post



## gringoloco (Nov 4, 2004)

I have a problem similar to the other post. My 94 Nissan Altima idles rough.(145k, 5 speed) Sometimes I think it misses at other times too while driving. Tonight I looked at the spark plug wires and noticed that where they contact the engine there is a small amount of sparking occurring (arcing?) 

This seems to be the problem - the only thing is I've had the spark plugs, wires, and distributor recently replaced. I then had the plugs and wires replaced again. The car ran smoothly for a few days and then the misses/ roughness started to come back again. 

Should any light/spark be seen along those wires (its very little)? and... 
*Is there anything that would cause the wires to go bad or to arch*. IE - I don't want to just keep replacing the spark plug wires every few weeks/months when they start to arch. 
Thanks!


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## Aussie_Dan (Aug 21, 2004)

You should definately NOT see any sparking..... sparking means the insulation on your leads has broken down. if the voltage heading towards your spark plug goes down to earth before it gets to the plug, you will have no spark, which will cause your car to misfire.....


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## gringoloco (Nov 4, 2004)

Gotcha...

Any ideas on what would cause spark plug wires to keep going bad?

I've had them replaced a few times now (at different shops) and they keep sparking/arcing after only a few weeks or months....

Anyone heard of this before?


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