Dist. cap spark plug wire arraingment on 89 740 GL Wagon

DL in SDCA · Post by **DL in SDCA** » 20 Mar 2004, 23:18

I have heard it said that there is no such thing as a stupid question so here goes... I have a 89 740 GL Wagon and do not know the spark plug wire arrangement on the distributor cap. The repair manual I have (Chiltons) shows arrangement for a circular dist. cap but the one on my vehicle has all the posts in a line. Coil wire connects on the opposite side of spark plug wires. Didn't pay attention when disconnecting old wires because I thought repair manual would have diagram. Tried two different arrangements (both didn't work) and broke one of the connector ends attempting the third. Cable set was $50 so hope maybe I can get it exchanged.

Have seen many posts about 89 740 GL's so I know someone out there can help my sorry self.

Thanx-

Volvord · Post by **Volvord** » 21 Mar 2004, 09:46

Not a stupid question
Even though the wire towers on the cap are in a line they still align to the circular patters inside the cap, the outer two towers align to the back terminals inside the cap. The firing order of your engine is 1-3-4-2, therefore the the plug wires will be set-up in that sequence, with the distributor turning clockwise when looking down on the cap.
I "THINK" the sequence is, from standing in front of the car working from left to right 2-1-3-4, but I am not 100% sure as my wife has the 765TI at work right now.

If this is incorrect just move the wires so the sequence is always 1-3-4-2
so; 3-4-2-1, 4-2-1-3, 2-1-3-4

DL in SDCA · Post by **DL in SDCA** » 22 Mar 2004, 07:32

Tried all four arrangements and it appears to only be running on two cylinders. This happened with the 4-2-1-3 and 1-3-4-2 arrangements. It wouldn't even start with the other two arrangements. Thought I might be counting the cylinders in the wrong direction (front to back, as shown in Chiltons manual); so tried arrangement counting cylinders from back to front. Still the same two cylinder operation in 4-2-1-3 and 1-3-4-2. About the only thing I did out of the ordinary was wipe off the bottom of the distributor. The previous cap had cracked all the way thorugh and their was some oil residue inside. Could I have messed something up when I did that?