hi

my car was running smooth today

took it to get it smogged as is needed every 2 years here in calif.

the car failed smog cos of too much NOX nitrous oxide emissions which means car is hot in temperature more than usual

that's not a concern

i can get it to pass smog another way

what does concern me is the smog guy showed me bubbling spark plug wires and said that if this is not taken care of, it can mess with the car's catalytic converter

*here's my question while I save up to have this repaired at a repair shop can i drive this car? it does run rough as if the timing is off....

or...is there a chance the spark plug wire will tear and the car will stall?

i definitely don't want it to stall

per my repair shop guy who makes everything urgent--i was surprised when he said the timing is a little off--key word "a little"

he did not make a big deal of it

that's probably cos i said give me a straight answer i am worried

$200 to repair includes parts and labor cos $60 for a set of 6 spark plug wires that are frayed and bubbled.... and 1.5 hours of labor at $95 an hour

im pissed that the car runs rough now and knocks and vibrates a lot and power is less AFTER THE SMOG TEST,....but

but I guess I have to look at the silver lining in the cloud and say: hey the good thing is that the spark plug wires were noticed before this became a serious problem and i was driving all smoothly then the car stalled without ANY notice cos the wires just melted one day.

background info:
by the way, the issue is that the spark plug wires were near the engine and melted....this could mean that they were not properly installed?

i had a tune up 9 months ago and my regular repair shop guy today said well we don't change all the wires like the spark plug wires if the old ones were ok....because that actually can cause a problem if we do so....


thanks for any constructive help

 

***oh, let me add "by the timing being off" I also mean "it is misfiring a little" it is misfiring a little.... i need to drive it in the next 2 weeks the holiday season for 50 miles in total before i have the money to repair it. i should be good, right?. it wont do too much damage or no damage at all if it is "misfiring a little" per my loyal repair shop mechanic?

i decided to take it to my backyard mechanic they are raping people with their auto repair shop prices $60 for spark plugs?! autozone charges way cheaper and they got a lifetime warranty.

 

If you have a miss then the plugs are already a problem. Driving a modern car with a miss is a bad thing. Maybe you have seen older cars with black exhaust pipes? When the engine misses it dumps raw gas on your O2 sensors and in your catalytic converter. Since there is almost no oxygen in the exhaust the gas burns dirty. This can damage either the cat or the O2 sensor. The O2 sensor may burn off the soot after its fixed but the cat will not fix itself.

FYI "bubbling spark plug wires " is not a normal failure. The wire either got too close to the exhaust, the exhaust is much hotter then it should be or there is a heat shield missing. Changing a plug wire is pretty darn easy. You may want to just install the plug wires yourself and see if the miss goes away.

 

*Gorn, I will be using my backyard / freelance mechanic who charges approx. $30 an hour.

He said he will charge me $20 for 6 spark plug wires and $40 for the labor to replace them

So, since he is replacing the spark plug WIRES and he has access already to that area of the car it is best to also replace all 6 spark PLUGS, this is the same concept as if the rotors are being replaced, the brake pads should also be done as that area is being opened up and worked on so --- why not kill 2 birds with 1 stone?

You may note, once again, I just want to make sure you all know this...the car was running smooth and had awesome power before this highly reputable star smog station technician who was both friendly and sounded knowledgeable to me did the Smog test....

It is in all likelihood not his fault.....*in other words, there is in all likelihood no CAUSAL relation between him performing the smog test and the car misfiring, but the smog test in and of itself may have revealed a misfire so it's probably a blessing in disguise, if that makes sense? In other words, during the smog test, the misfire showed itself when it was like latent or dormant and gave the illusion of a smooth ride to me....

I will also ask my free lance mechanic to look out to see if the "heat shield" is there or somehow missing....

thanks, again

If I got something wrong in what you described, Gorn, feel free to correct me or to add more, if you want to

Thanks, again and I hope you are rewarded like a 1000 fold for your help.

Have a happy holiday season

 

*update: i have been researching. the only problem with a spark plug wire is insulation can be lost (the cover) it can be worn off or burnt...and the worse thing is poor performance or the messing up of the cat converter. so my car won't stall right. like u said it will just be like operating on 5 and not 6 cylinders ; but to avoid damage to the cat. converter im having the plug wires replaced in 2 days at a much lower price by my mechanic friend who does side jobs.

 

Just replace the plug wires. Unless you've got fused vertebrate in your spinal column, you should be able to finagle your hands down in there to get them done fairly easily on the V6, which is saved money in labor costs. Plug wires are literally "pop on", meaning you just wiggle and pull the old ones off then pop your new ones in their place. Super easy job, especially with your V6 car.

The LT1 or LS1... not so much. I ended up removing all of the coil packs on the passenger side of my LS1 to get access to the rear 2 plugs and wires.