182 HT Leads Arcing?

[Amy R]

Changed oil, filters & plugs at the weekend. Also cleaned the engine and rinsed it off.

We drove over 100 miles OK, however now the car has developed a misfire. Checked that the HT leads are seated correctly, but noticed a white residue on the leads, assumed it was just dirt.

Did a search of the forum and have seen some comments about the HT leads arcing on the plenum. Has anyone got any more info? Does this mean they're dead now if they've blow the insulation?

Plugs were bought from renault so I assume they are gapped correctly.
Ruled out coil because this co-incides with me moving the HT leads about & new plugs.

 

[SBV116]

Moisture down the plug hole?

 

[Amy R]

When i looked tonight didn't notice that they were wet, but it was getting dark.

May stick the old plugs back in tomorrow.

 

[SBV116]

Hmmm, i would remove the leads and check there is no moisture down there!! Reason i say is, my mate washed his engine, it missed its tits off!

 

[lemonnobby]

water in the plug hole or HT leads

 

[Amy R]

Yep, will check they're properly dry tomorrow.

Will the misfire do any damage - e.g. unburnt fuel in the cat?

 

[mattjk]

they say over time unburnt fuel will render a cat useless, I'm not sure how long it takes for that to happen though.

 

[Amy R]

Checked plugs/leads today - very damp.

Cleaned with a rag, still no good.

Used WD-40 on the leads and it has been fine. Slight hesitation when overtaking in 4th gear, but nothing like the machine-gun misfire that there was before.

Just hope the cat isn't too badly damaged.