I was informed that when changing the spark plug cables on my 84 240 turbo wagon that I need to hook up the cables in a specific order. Does anyone know if this is true? And of so what is the order?

 

I would not say a order, just don't get them crossed.

 

Looking at the distributor from the front of the car the order is 4,3,1,2 from left to right. It's actually written on the black distributor cap cover behind the terminal towers, so it's a bit hard to see. Oh yeah, the cylinders are numbered 1 to 4 from front to back.

 

you definitely have to hook the right plug up to the correct socket on the distributor, or it won't run right or at all.

if you're standing directly in front of the car, looking at the engine, the closest cylinder is #1, then 2, then 3, then 4

the distributor to the right of the head, the #1 plug goes to the distributor pin closest to the fan (eg, at 7:30 as you look down on it), then clockwise, they go 3, 4, 2 (eg, the firing order is 1-3-4-2)

 

I was told that I needed to make sure I hook them back up 1 2 3 4. If I just pick one end and work from there say front to back will this preserve the order sequence I need?

 

makes sense that you'd want the shortest cable on the bottom, and that would be the #1. again, the goal is to keep the wires from touching

 

This is not rocket science so all you need to do is take 1 wire at a time. Take off the old wire and match it up to the new wire and run it the same way. If it takes you more then 10 minutes then you need to take it to a mechanic. Good luck.