Hello everyone, I have a quick question. When I was driving down the highway at 70mph, I lost power dramatically.
I pulled over and noticed that a spark plug wire had popped out of the spark plug hole. This caused the service engine soon light
to come on too. I pushed the wire back in and undid the negative battery wire to reset the computer to get rid of the service engine
soon light, which it did. The car ran fine for awhile, but the spark plug wire kept popping out off of the spark plug. The metal piece that
connects onto the spark plug would stay on the spark plug, but the wire would pop off. I decided to get new spark plug wires, but these also have been popping off of the spark plugs. The spark plugs are tight too so I have no idea what the deal is. When the wires separate from the spark plugs, I obviously lose power and the service engine soon light comes on. Any ideas what is going on that would cause my spark plug wires to separate? This is the second set that has done this within a month.


1998 Civic LX
Automatic
Stock everything
98,000 miles

 

Thats strange, especially for the new wires to pop off. What kind of replacement wires did you buy? I would suggest either the Honda OEM or Napa's Belden Max wires. Be sure when you press the wires onto the plug you hear a "snap". It won't be much, and if you can't hear it, you should be able to feel it. Is this happening on one particular plug, or all? Perhaps the electrode cap on one of the plugs is a little worn and the wire can't get a secure connection, so it wants to pop off. I've had that problem on other cars before, so it's not out of the question. If it is happening on one particular plug, then maybe there is a small combustion leak around the spark plug. Since those boots create a seal inside the spark plug tube to keep dirt out, a little leak could build up enough pressure to push it out of the tube. I know you said the plugs are tight, but who knows. I have a 98 civic LX too and I can tell you that if you have the right plugs and wires, and everything is working right, that won't happen. Either way, the computer is probably detecting a misfire, and thats why the MIL is on.

 

i replaced my spark plugs and wires a week or two ago, a few days ago i pulled two of the plugs out to clean up some oil i had spilled and they wouldnt pop back in, if i pushed them in really hard it would run all four but i couldnt get the popping sound... well i took a needle nose pliers and pulled the metal ring down closer and tried it and it popped right on.. simple fix that i have been freeking out about for a few days now hah.. hope this helps someone in the future.

 

Like Phil said, make sure the plugs are properly tightened in the head. Gas leaking around the plug seal will build up pressure and pop the wire off.