Fried Spark Plug Wires

Ustamiata · 06-10-2013, 07:58 PM

Well, as you can see from my edited signature, I finally bit the bullet and had the Workhorse Duct Kit installed. After three sets of spark plug wires and several individual replacements in 60,000 miles, including a set of Taylor high temperature wires, I finally had enough. Now, I hope this solves the problem, as I have read it worked for other forum members. I plan to send a copy of the bill and a pleading letter to Workhorse to see if they might help me out.

Has anyone else had any luck with Workhorse on reimbursement with this problem?

az bound · 06-10-2013, 08:06 PM

It was never a Workhorse related problem. Workhorse no longer exists.

nbounder · 06-10-2013, 09:10 PM

How interesting - for whatever reason, I was under the impression that Workhorse was a low dollar Chevy knock off. Haddaya like those apples?! I guess ya learn somethin' new every day!

az bound · 06-10-2013, 09:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nbounder

How interesting - for whatever reason, I was under the impression that Workhorse was a low dollar Chevy knock off. Haddaya like those apples?! I guess ya learn somethin' new every day!

Just soas ya know. Chevrolet sold the motorhome chassis line to Workhores in 1999.
The plug wire issue was traced to inadequate ventilation caused by the coach manufacturers, not Workhorse.
Workhorse designed the vent kit to fix the problem created by the coach builders.

Doug Sage · 06-11-2013, 09:35 AM

To continue the lineage, Workhorse (company) sold to Navistar who shut down that division. It is apparently for sale but no one is buying it. I had the fresh air kit installed on my 2007 Suncruiser in about 2008. Workhorse paid for it. I then had more problems in the summer of 2012. It turned out the plugs and wires were fried again. I do work it fairly hard in that I am only 500 pounds under my GVWR and I spent the summer at elevations above 6,000 feet in Utah and Colorado and in temperatures up to 102 degrees outside. Anyway, I had the plygs and wires replaced again last summer and things are fine for now but I expect to have to replace them every couple of years. It is actually the fault of the airflow design where the air cannot flow out past the back of the engine due to the doghouse.

lakewoodpaul · 06-11-2013, 09:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ustamiata

Well, as you can see from my edited signature, I finally bit the bullet and had the Workhorse Duct Kit installed. After three sets of spark plug wires and several individual replacements in 60,000 miles, including a set of Taylor high temperature wires, I finally had enough. Now, I hope this solves the problem, as I have read it worked for other forum members. I plan to send a copy of the bill and a pleading letter to Workhorse to see if they might help me out.

Has anyone else had any luck with Workhorse on reimbursement with this problem?

Workhorse paid for mine at 40k. They said it was covered under the emission warranty

lakewoodpaul · 06-11-2013, 09:47 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Doug Sage

To continue the lineage, Workhorse (company) sold to Navistar who shut down that division. It is apparently for sale but no one is buying it. I had the fresh air kit installed on my 2007 Suncruiser in about 2008. Workhorse paid for it. I then had more problems in the summer of 2012. It turned out the plugs and wires were fried again. I do work it fairly hard in that I am only 500 pounds under my GVWR and I spent the summer at elevations above 6,000 feet in Utah and Colorado and in temperatures up to 102 degrees outside. Anyway, I had the plygs and wires replaced again last summer and things are fine for now but I expect to have to replace them every couple of years. It is actually the fault of the airflow design where the air cannot flow out past the back of the engine due to the doghouse.

could you describe your fresh air kit? mine is a pair of ducts that run from the front grille to the plug areas. Workhorse design and installation

az bound · 06-11-2013, 09:59 AM

Exactly; and the doghouse was designed by the coachbuilder, not Workhorse, along with the grill opening that restricted airflow. Not all motorhomes manifested the problem, it seemed to be with certain coach designes.
This is our second coach whth the 8.1 and nither the Airstream Land Yatch nor our CT Coachworks Seina has had the wiring problem.

Ustamiata · 06-11-2013, 05:37 PM

Mine is the Workhorse kit -- sounds exactly like yours.

stearn · 06-11-2013, 05:51 PM

Workhorse furnished the parts not the labor. That was 16k ago problem fixed -- knock wood ! One can get similar parts from www.pitstopusa.com . The system is used to cool the rotors on race cars. There are several posts about this problem, if you do a search.

Sammie · 06-11-2013, 06:20 PM

Several years back, I owned a 1990 Pace Arrow with Chevy 454 engine. My problems with burning up spark plug wires were similar to the problems all of you Workhorse owners are having. I eventually found a sure cure for my problem and with a small amount of work, NEVER burn't another spark plug wire and also gave myself a safety margin of engine cooling when climbing hills on hot days.
The trick is to add a water mist cooling system to the front of your radiator. I ran a water line from my coach water pump up to the front of the radiator with 4 small water mist heads (available from Home Depot) and an inline 1/4 inch 12 volt solinoid valve with a switch located at the dash. Whenever I started to pull a long uphill grade, I would just switch on the water mist system and WOW the engine temperature would drop and cool the doghouse at the same time. It worked so well that I installed the same system on my 2000 Winnebago Adventurer/Workhorse Chassis.
Don't worry about the water mist hurting any engine parts as it's no different than driving in the rain. Most all the water sprayed on the radiator turns to just cool air after passing through the radiator. Just make sure the water spray is not directed into the engine air intake box.

Sammie

dengraham · 06-11-2013, 07:23 PM

I had one of the forum's sponsor Brazel's do mine on my Suncruiser. They have a fiber shield cover on each wire for their hot temp wires. Never had the problem and did not install the air flow system. I would highly recommend them.

bachler · 06-17-2013, 03:39 PM

After I replaced several sets On our 1994 Chev. I put a piece of sheetmetal in behind the wheel. To push the air back over the Manifold and wires And starter. Never had any more problems.. The origenal problem was The air from the Fan comes trough the radiator Hits the engine and goes out the side on the engine rather then Going back and cooling the external engine parts. . IT would force the air back out over the transmission. By damming it/the air flow out the back the whole temp. Engine/trans/Oil/ everything dropped by over 15%. Some will dissagree. That is good. We done it. with gages;