Don't hold me to it but so far as I have seen 2002 is your option and even backward compatible regarding tuneup parts. These vans weren't made after 2003 so think it's a safe bet things didn't change. You can search summitracing.com, they carry the Accel tune up kit for comparison

 

I agree... These are a couple of the best out there....

 

Well, I ended up buying that 4 book set off of eBay. When the guy listed it he didn't notice the main manual was not included. So I got the other 4 for 15 bucks. I ended up buying the tune up kit that Summit sells under their name. When the rotor and cap got here the conductor on the rotor was not attached to the rotor.


The customer service guy said they would send another and to keep the one they sent first. The way they are made is really cheapo. The hole in the conductor goes over a stub, that get melted to kind of rivet them together. The rivet failed.

I figured while waiting for the replacement I'd fix the broken one. So i drilled a hole and tapped it with 4-40 TPI.


While I was working on it I noticed some of the black scrapped off and there was brass underneath. At first I thought it was black steel. When I saw the scrap, I realized the whole this was painted black!! WTF! I checked continuity and there was none. So I sanded it on the bottom where it contacts the silver spring part and on the front where it sparks.



This is really weird. Can't wait for the replacement to get here to see if it's the same. It was kind of funny because when the customer service guy told me I should keep the first shipment, which included the cap, he said "use what you can and destroy the bad part". I just wonder if they had some rejects that were painted black for some unknown reason, and he could tell.

 

Wow.... Thats just nuts....

 

That's not paint that was on it. It was a type of resistive carbon coating for radio noise suppression

 

Really, so is the voltage so high it penetrates it? I checked with a VOM and there was no continuity between the spring and the brass part. Do you think taking the paint off the bottom surface will be enough to cause interference. Do you think it would be better or the same as far as ignition goes?

 

I ended up doing the tune up with the rotor that I modified since the replacement isn't here yet. I guess the wires are doing a good job suppressing any interference. I only listen to AM talk radio and there was none, didn't think to check if the was any on FM.

Here's the finished product. When I fished the coil wire out from where it was stuffed against the intake, the covering they put on it fell apart. So I put a slit in a hunk of air hose and jammed to cable in. It was long enough to reach the tranny fill tube so i zip tied it to that from front to back and it came out looking good and well protected.

\




How do you guys wash off your engines? Mine could really use it. I was pretty intimidated about getting to the spark plugs but it turned out, getting the boots off was the hardest part. I found a 3/8 ratchet with a swivel head and a short extension about 1 inch long with the ability to let the socket wiggle worked great. Also for the first time in my life I used mechanics gloves, and saved a lot of skin.

 

Looks like a fine job done Bob, maybe keep that new rotor in the glove box incase the fixed one takes a crash, or vise versa.
I never have done a motor cleaning on mine so no advise there, it's been a work rig since day one and my only concern is it runs well but you might try youtube regarding suggestions for a cleaning or one of the guys here may have a good suggestion.
I always wondered about that coil wire laying in the intake /valve cover valley as mine had and heat destroying it, routed mine so as to not just rest on hot intake or covers, probably a good idea using something to help protect it as you did.
When I did my plugs a while back I thought gee, this will be a cake walk starting out inside the van, soon found out it wasn't such an easy task. The heat shields don't give easy access for the socket and also fill with crud as you loosen the plug. Better to wiggle those shields loose and out, loosen the plug before pulling it completely, then vacuum the hole good before the plug comes out to get all the crud that will fall into the cylinder first.
I learned this on the first one I tried (#7) inside the van and figured the rest would pretty much be the same.
So I did the rear 4 from inside like that then ended up pulling the front wheels for the frontward 4 and going from underneath since it seemed easier to reach from there for those for me, though it was more feel than see on the front four plugs 1,3,2,4.
The heat shields have a split down the center lengthwise so can be squeezed and wiggled to pull out and pried back out a bit before tapping back in place for a snug fit again

 

Thanks JF.

Well I'm past that, so next. I took a drive and while idle and driving on the flat is somewhat improved, it still lacks power on hills. After some reading and YT viewing I'm suspecting a clogged CatCan. Latter I'm going to pull the upstream O2 sensor to see if there's a boost in power. If so I'll have to have a scan done to see what killed it.

Fun stuff!

 

As hard as it is to believe, it's true. The replacement parts got here today and the rotor has the same exact problem that the first one had. The electrode is also no longer attached to the rotor body.