tune-up

[74 C-10 Shorty]

Two weeks ago I bought Autolite 24's for the wife's truck, they were $1.99 each at the Zone..

[cwilson jr]

anyone ever try e3s?

[greasemonkey54]

I have terrible luck with autolites. lol I use AC in chevys, Motorcraft in Ford and NGK in my toys.

[cwilson jr]

E3 plugs.

[454Man]

I have tried e3 plugs... In newer 2000+ vehicles with nothing but misfires and running lean issues per the computer. the only thing positive I will say is that the vehicles started faster like just bumping the key they'd fire right up. Good idea.... Bad design. Never wanted to try then in a carved engine after my 4 experiences

[Irish_Alley]

the only people i see suggesting those plugs, are the ones who get paid to do it

[cwilson jr]

the bigger the filter the more air flow/ less restrictive you get. the smaller are for lawnmowers lol. i dont know why anyone would put something on that small. i mean if it was for power/pedal response then a big dirty filter would be best. but you know its not. the more air you can get in the more power you make the more air has to leave. but the colder you can make this air the more power you can make also. fender well intake are good cause it pulls its air from the fender not the engine bay which gets hot. about the plugs which ones do you have now? you want a plug that reaches the right temperature. too hot and you can get ping to cold and you can get carbon fowling. look at what comes out of your truck and what condition the plugs are in

it appears they were pretty good, right in the middle of the chart and a couple that are fouled of the ones that i removed, which were r43ts.  it seems there is pretty much two options, heavy duty and light duty.  i went with e3.40 plugs which are heavy duty and the other option that i didnt go with are e3.42 light duties.  they seem to be working pretty well so far.
now, what is exactly the diff. between the two? is one better than the other?  i believe one is better for power and one better for economy?   and if i had fouled plugs, anything i should be looking to correct, to prevent further fouling on my new plugs?  i just don't want to be fouling plugs all the time.

[Irish_Alley]

most times its just the heat ranges, kind of like the chart shows for a stock engine you want one plug then the more you do you want to be able to keep the combustion chamber at the "self cleaning" temp so you may have to make it hotter or colder. too hot and you will ping too cold and you will foul, at least that how i see it. reed this from ngk http://ngksparkplugs.com/tech_support/spark_plugs/index.asp?mode=nml

[JohnnyPopper]

i have a couple of quick questions regarding a tune-up:

1.  for those of you have removed your air assembly and have a standard air cleaner, whats the difference between having a larger vs. smaller filter.  right now, i have a 14x4, but i always wondered why some guys go with the very small filters?  i always thought larger would be better, now i'm thinking the smaller would have a better response?  drawbacks?

Bigger air filter means greater filter media surface area > means less restrictive to airflow > means longer service intervals between changes.  Except in special use circumstances (ask Irish about the filter on his mud truck), people use smaller filters because of space limitations or because they like the look of the smaller filter.

2.  whats the difference between ld and hd 350's on plugs that the haynes list?  the light duty r45ts vs. the heavy duty r44t
is one better for power and one economy?  and i imagine delcos are best to use on our trucks?

R = resistor plug
45 = relative heat range (with AC plugs, heat range increases with the number)
C = copper core (more effectively dissipates electrode heat for a broader working heat range)
T = tapered seat
S = projected tip (center electrode extends further into the combustion chamber, keeping the electrode burned clean while better cooling the tip during the intake cycle - it also positions the spark gap deeper into the combustion chamber for improved ignition of the air/fuel mixture)

The heat range and style of plug is tailored to the intended purpose of the vehicle and anticipated engine loading.

The AC R45TS runs slightly hotter than the R44T and, because of its projected tip, has a broader effective heat range than the R44T, which is typically used in HD applications incurring lower RPM and greater engine loading.  In the AC lineup, the R43CTS maybe one of the best general use plugs for the majority of 350 stock daily drivers, as long as the engine doesn't have significant oil consumption issues.

This quote was from a LONG time ago, but relevant to my K-10.

In this thread Autolite 26 plugs were touted as being pretty good overall.

I found that they make a Iridium plug for my wife's car that also fit GM from roughly '87-94. Model is XP3926.

Normally 6 bucks, with coupon they're 3 bucks each. She only needs 6, I can buy up to 16 at that price.

I have a crate 350 with a 4bb Quad, daily, no towing or HD applications/use.

But I don't know the compression ratio! I understand that is what I need to match it to for best results.

Going on generalities from a 10 year old Mr. Goodwrench 350, (she's fresh-been sitting) can anyone offer an opinion?

Thanks!

With

[75gmck25]

I have a GMPP Goodwrench 350/290 HP I purchased in about 2004, and the docs recommended the R45TS plugs.  It was a standard 8.2 compression GM crate, so its probably similar to yours.  I used R45TS plugs up until about 18 months ago when I swapped to aluminum heads, and the engine ran fine.  It is a basic low compression 350, so it wasn't worth the trouble to try anything else.  I found that it idled better on manifold vacuum, with base timing set to 12 degrees BTDC, and another 20 degrees of mechanical and 20 degrees vacuum. 

After swapping to aluminum heads it ran better at about 16 degrees BTDC, but I did switch to a vacuum can that only added 15 degrees (stock was 20).  With aluminum heads and aluminum radiator it also takes longer to warm up, so in the winter I've had to adjust my driving pace and let it get some heat before trying to drive out of the driveway.

Bruce

[Smokehouse]

I have a GMPP Goodwrench 350/290 HP I purchased in about 2004, and the docs recommended the R45TS plugs.  It was a standard 8.2 compression GM crate, so its probably similar to yours.  I used R45TS plugs up until about 18 months ago when I swapped to aluminum heads, and the engine ran fine.  It is a basic low compression 350, so it wasn't worth the trouble to try anything else.  I found that it idled better on manifold vacuum, with base timing set to 12 degrees BTDC, and another 20 degrees of mechanical and 20 degrees vacuum. 

After swapping to aluminum heads it ran better at about 16 degrees BTDC, but I did switch to a vacuum can that only added 15 degrees (stock was 20).  With aluminum heads and aluminum radiator it also takes longer to warm up, so in the winter I've had to adjust my driving pace and let it get some heat before trying to drive out of the driveway.

Bruce

 i thought about buying that motor is it any count does it really have 290 hp which is fine with me anything is better than 175hp i have now.

[JohnnyPopper]

Good thing I looked up Autolite app note: Wrong plug!

However, I found they recommend a XP25. Can still get the rebate...

[75gmck25]

I would not recommend the GMPP 350/290 HP crate, since the compression and heads are not a good match for the camshaft.

The cam they use is similar to the 327/350 hp L79 cam, with 222/222 @ .050, but they used it in a crate that has only 8.2 compression (it works much better at about 9.5-10.0 compression).   It works okay, but for a heavy truck where you need low end torque you would be better off buying the stock 350 crate and using an RV cam more in the range of about 214 @ .050.

Bruce

[Irish_Alley]

Here we (Rich) talks about the 350 crate and doing a cam swap that will get you  290hp/420lbft for a little more than 2.1k.