Tune Up Inquiry

[Johnbravado]

I know very little. I fix things as they break, i have learned to fix a lot, but I want to do better for this truck and prevent. Of course things happen and you have to be able to flow when things fail early, but for the most part, how many miles between these for a 350 chevy engine. i just did a tuneup at 36,5 miles on odometer and want to plan for future. oil change is every 3k and filters every other oil change for me.

spark plugs?
spark plug wires?
cap/rotor?
belts?
timing/carb adjust?
tranny fluid swap?
radiator fluid swap?

the following are things i fix when things go bad but is there a MTBF for them?
radiator thermostat
water pump
fuel pump

thanks for any advise.

[VileZambonie]

Recommended service intervals are all listed in the service manuals.

http://forum.73-87chevytrucks.com/smforum/index.php?topic=30115.0

[Henry]

Hi John:
In addition to the factory recommended service, I would make the additional advisements if your truck is NOT a daily driver: the fuel you buy nowadays has a high alcohol content (oxygenated) which is hard on a carbureted fuel system if not cycled through the system on a regular basis. If you truck sits for long periods (say 1-2 weeks between) driving it, then the carburetor is going to need to be disassembled and cleaned every 2 years, otherwise it will start giving you driveablility issues. The cooling system also will start to give problems if the truck is not used regularly. Radiators and thermostats, and thermostat housings start to corrode when just sitting. A radiator flush and cleaning by a radiator shop is advisable on a more frequent basis than the factory recommendation otherwise a block of rust will start developing and will then not be serviceable. I know this is a lot of work and disassembly, but I try to time the carb and cooling system cleaning when I have to do a tune-up anyway.
Regards,
Henry

[Johnbravado]

This beast is my daily driver. How often do you recommend I rebuild the carb? I can't find any good info on that and I haven't had a carb since '98 with my VW bug. So I don't even know what the symptoms would be apart from it probably is similar to a failing fuel pump I would assume

[Henry]

Hi John:
You have not mentioned what carburetor you have on your truck. My 76 has the original Quadrajet 4MV 4-barrel with divorced choke. I am not familiar with the Holley and Edelbrock 4-barrel replacements for this carb, but my assumptions are that they are of similar design but with less complexity and lower quality. If my truck was a daily driver, I would reduce the time on carb removal for cleaning/rebuild from once every 2 years to once every 4-5 years.

The failure symptoms I have had as this carb gets gunked up are numerous...and some can seem like electrical problems:
1: Refusal to start
2: Starts on high idle, then stalls after it has warmed up and you are on the road when idling at intersection...then refuses to start for 20-30 minutes
3: Dies when cruising on the highway...hard to get restarted, then starts and is OK again
4: Backfires and dies on a residential boulevard...then restarts and is OK
5: Cruises OK on highway and then when you do a hard passing acceleration it dies...then restarts OK.

-Some of the above problems occurred more frequently as the weather gets warmer as in the summer...some never occurred in the winter when the temps did not get above 70F.

Regards,
Henry

[Henry]

Hi John:
I forgot one more failure symptom of Q-jet carb needing rebuild:
6. Start up truck and drives fine out of residential neighborhood up to stop sign or traffic light at main blvd intersection. Using 1/3 to 1/2 throttle to enter into traffic from stop it stalls in middle of intersection. Then starts back up after cranking engine. Of all of them, this is the most dangerous one...I have almost been hit when this happens.
Regards,
Henry

[blazer74]

Verify fuel pressure when this is happening.
Do you have to hold the pedal to the floor when in the intersection?
Do you smell fuel when this happens.
What type of choke do you have?
Backfires thru the exhaust or intake?