Spark plugs

[lschafroth]

On 9/27/2019 at 9:06 PM, Eddie 70 said:

I'd be interested in seeing some pics of those plugs when you pull them. I am currently at 110k on my 2014 and haven't even thought about changing them till I read this thread.

I changed them this weekend. I removed the fender liners and it was so easy. 45 minutes to do both sides. 15 minutes to put on new belt tension-er arm and belt.  I probably should have rotated spark plug for the picture. Didn't notice until after they were in the trash. lol  They llooked great for 157K on them.

 

This is on a 2015 GMC Sierra 5.3l

 

 

Edited October 7, 2019 by lschafroth

[mookdoc6]

Truck looks very good for 157K!

[midwestdenaliguy]

3 hours ago, lschafroth said:

I changed them this weekend. I removed the fender liners and it was so easy.

Removing wheel well liner is the way to go! The 5-10 minutes to do that saves you more time in the long run, plus no aches and pains from torquing your fingers and arms to fit in those tight spots. It's a straight shot into each spark plug with the liners removed. #8 is still a little hidden, but not bad to get to. I'm assuming you kept the plugs stock with ACDELCO? You do the wires too? I kept my plugs stock, but went with Taylor wires. Smoothed out a small rumble at idle with the larger Taylor wires (6.2L), wasn't awful with stock wires though.

[slj2008]

157K on the plugs , plan on keeping it awhile longer ? What about the Breaks / rotor's ??

[lschafroth]

23 minutes ago, slj2008 said:

157K on the plugs , plan on keeping it awhile longer ? What about the Breaks / rotor's ??

Brake pads replaced at 120K. Still were fine but replaced them anyway. Rotors have no wear at all. Still super smooth.

 

Edited October 7, 2019 by lschafroth

[lschafroth]

34 minutes ago, midwestdenaliguy said:

Removing wheel well liner is the way to go! The 5-10 minutes to do that saves you more time in the long run, plus no aches and pains from torquing your fingers and arms to fit in those tight spots. It's a straight shot into each spark plug with the liners removed. #8 is still a little hidden, but not bad to get to. I'm assuming you kept the plugs stock with ACDELCO? You do the wires too? I kept my plugs stock, but went with Taylor wires. Smoothed out a small rumble at idle with the larger Taylor wires (6.2L), wasn't awful with stock wires though.

I went with stock ACDELCO. After seeing how well they looked at 157K I figured use them again.  I did not do the wires but I really should have while I had everything out of the way.  

 

Lannie

[midwestdenaliguy]

10 minutes ago, lschafroth said:

I went with stock ACDELCO. After seeing how well they looked at 157K I figured use them again.  I did not do the wires but I really should have while I had everything out of the way.  

 

Lannie

Yeah yours were really clean for that mileage, trucks overall looks great too for 157k miles. Nice work!

[lschafroth]

11 minutes ago, midwestdenaliguy said:

Yeah yours were really clean for that mileage, trucks overall looks great too for 157k miles. Nice work!

My friends call it my "pavement princess" since it gets babied so much!  I do have a custom tune on it and the AFM disabled.  I put a louder muffler and removed the resonator.  Does running V8 all the time help with the plug life?  I have burned 99% E85 the entire life of this truck. The only regular octane it gets is on trips when no E85 is available.  Nice to fill for $1.89 and get the power boost with the Tune. Does the E85 burn cleaner?

NOTE: I do switch to regular octane if it is going to be very cold out. The E85 does take a bit longer to start so the days when the battery will struggle I do regular octane.

Edited October 7, 2019 by lschafroth

[Black02Silverado]

21 minutes ago, lschafroth said:

My friends call it my "pavement princess" since it gets babied so much!  I do have a custom tune on it and the AFM disabled.  I put a louder muffler and removed the resonator.  Does running V8 all the time help with the plug life?  I have burned 99% E85 the entire life of this truck. The only regular octane it gets is on trips when no E85 is available.  Nice to fill for $1.89 and get the power boost with the Tune. Does the E85 burn cleaner?

NOTE: I do switch to regular octane if it is going to be very cold out. The E85 does take a bit longer to start so the days when the battery will struggle I do regular octane.

Yes, E85 burns cleaner and cooler.  Lucky you to be able to run it all the time.  We only have one station here that carries it and it is 22 miles away. 

[midwestdenaliguy]

8 minutes ago, lschafroth said:

My friends call it my "pavement princess" since it gets babied so much!  I do have a custom tune on it and the AFM disabled.  I put a louder muffler and removed the resonator.  Does running V8 all the time help with the plug life?  I have burned 99% E85 the entire life of this truck. The only regular octane it gets is on trips when no E85 is available.  Nice to fill for $1.89 and get teh power boost with the Tune. Does the E85 burn cleaner?

Yup, ethanol burns cleaner than gas. The debate about E85 is if it's THAT much better than gas. It's better overall for higher performance and is less likely to have premature detonation. It's why a lot of racing guys like ethanol over gas. Obviously E85 is a mixture so some claim the benefits aren't that much better, but other guys swear by it. Based on your spark plugs I'd say it was worth using it for the life of the engine. As far as running all time V8 being better for plug life, I have no idea. I just know it's better 

[TXGREEK]

Has anyone ever mixed the two together, small amount of E85 into mostly full tank of super?


Sent from Above

[TJay74]

5 hours ago, TXGREEK said:

Has anyone ever mixed the two together, small amount of E85 into mostly full tank of super?


Sent from Above

 

Without any tuning to the truck on the 26 gallon tank you can run up to 15% of E85 (just shy of 4 gallons) with no harmful effects and you will get a small octane bump. I did this all the time with the 91 we have here locally until I swapped over to E85.

[TXGREEK]

 
Without any tuning to the truck on the 26 gallon tank you can run up to 15% of E85 (just shy of 4 gallons) with no harmful effects and you will get a small octane bump. I did this all the time with the 91 we have here locally until I swapped over to E85.

I was thinking more of a cleaning agent versus octane bump. I’ve got a 6.2 with a performance tune and only run 93 octane.


Sent from Above

[Grumpy Bear]

On 6/23/2017 at 5:58 AM, thetruck454 said:

So I feel like an idiot. I can put a supercharger on the truck no problem, but last night I went to change the plugs to a heat range colder and I couldn't get a single boot off. These things feel like they are glued on the plugs!

Dielectric Grease the interior of the boots, plug end and coil receiver. 

[16LT4]

11 hours ago, Grumpy Bear said:

Dielectric Grease the interior of the boots, plug end and coil receiver. 

I use a q tip for such tasks.