My utmost thanks to Ron Wong, as well as Andy Levy and
Bernd! The Autolite 3923 copper core spark plugs that
Ron recommended have absolutely liberated my 5.9L
engine. I knew I had 200+ HP in there someplace,
especially with my cold air induction kit, Gibson
exhaust, etc. Problem was, the engine would bog down
and drone whenever I went to WOT conditions from low
RPM's. It got so bad that I actually moved my seat up
further than normal to make sure I had the gas pedal
fully pressed against the floor, and I would keep O/D
off and stay in a lower gear whenever I was in
traffic. I also sometimes experienced pinging under
these conditions no matter what type of gas I used (86
- 93 octane) and whether I had the Jet Stage II chip
in or not. Of course, the service dept. of my
dealership said this was "normal and nothing to worry
about."
After putting in the new plugs, all of the sudden I
get even more off the line snap, and the engine pulls
much stronger under all conditions, almost as if I had
a multi-valve (ie. 4 valve/cylinder) engine. It even
seems like the transmission is more willing to
downshift 1-2 gears when I go to WOT and it wants to
stay in gear to near redline, unlike b/4 when it was
looking for any excuse to upshift. Previously, I had
to make it do this manually. And then I'd get the
pinging, so I'd have to let off the gas pedal anyways.
I also installed the 180 degree T-stat that Ron
recommended, and so far it works like a charm as my
engine temp stayed below 210 under heavy stop and go
conditions in 85+ temp and a/c running. Before I made
the switch, the engine temp would be pegged at 210 or
a little higher.
If I'd known what a difference these plugs would make,
I may not have bothered with the cat back or the Stage
II chip. Anyways, I'm now 100% satisfied with my
engine's performance, barring my desire to add a
supercharger and to upgrade the brakes, of course. My
thanks again to Ron et. al. for helping me to solve
this problem!
=====
'00 Quadcab SLT+ Garnet Red 4x4 (AWD) 5.9L 46RE 3.55 LSD. For list of modifications to my QC, see my profile:
http://www.twistedbits.net/WWWProfile/dakota/Vof5jrNb0pR1M/
For pictures of my QC & Accessories: http://www.geocities.com/txqc2000
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