Having read all the other replies to this thread, I thought I'd toss in my 2
cents worth. As most of you know, I'll be moving shortly to California. My
17 year old daughter however, did not want to go with me. She decided she
wanted to live with her Mom in North Carolina instead. Something about
staying on the east coast and being closer to her boyfriend. Anyway, I
digress. I took her to NC this past weekend and I have been keeping a rough
track of my fuel mileage before this trip. Since it seemed to be dropping
off quite a bit, down to @18 highway and that was driving it easy, I figured
it might be time to do a little spring tune up work.
I got a Duralast Gold (the one with the brass contacts) cap and rotor set
from AutoZone, P/N F2129G and a set of my usual plain resistor Autolite 3923
plugs. I also got a new cleaning kit for the drop in K&N air filter so I
could make it work like new again, and the stuff for an oil change. I was
pleasantly surprised at the condition of the plugs when I removed them. The
electrodes were in good shape and still tan colored on all 6 plugs; little
to no variation in their appearance. The cap and rotor on the other hand
were a completely different story. The last cap and rotor set I bought was
from Napa and was their Echlin brand with the brass contacts. There was a
lot of carbon build up on all the contact points inside the cap and the
rotor tip was almost completely shot. I changed my oil, cleaned the K&N and
my throttle body. When I got done, I went into the program I use to keep
track of my maintenance performed on my truck, I was surprised to see that
the last time I changed plugs, cap and rotor was in Oct of 2002 and that was
almost 55K miles ago! The air filter was serviced 30K miles back, the TB
was last cleaned 25 K miles ago, and the last oil change was 5400 miles ago.
I had a good load in the truck on the way down and kept the cruise set at
about 65 which keeps the RPM at @ 2K. First fuel stop I checked my mileage.
I made it 295 miles on that tank and on fill up it took 14 gallons. I was up
to a little over 21 MPG. On the way back with no load when I stopped for
fuel, I had gone over 310 miles and it took 12.5 gallons. Almost up to 25
MPG. Round trip was roughly 860 miles, we left at 645AM and I was back home
by 1130 PM that same night.
I don't know for sure what did the most good. I think the Autolite plugs
will be good for around 50K miles again, But I figure on checking on the cap
and rotor at about 25K miles. I guess a good indicator would be whenever the
mileage starts to fall off, its time to start looking at a tune up.
Ray Irons
Dover, DE
California bound! Countdown to departure has started, 8 days and a wakeup!
-----Original Message-----
From: owner-dakota-truck@bent.twistedbits.net
[mailto:owner-dakota-truck@bent.twistedbits.net]On Behalf Of Joseph A.
Orsini
Sent: Tuesday, April 11, 2006 9:27 AM
To: Dakota-Truck
Subject: DML: Spark plug suggestions?
I think I am going to swap in a fresh set of plugs today.
'99 2wd RC 318 5spd what is the best plug for this engine?
I know this has been posted before I just can't remember!
Gap suggestions or go with factory specs there? Engine is
still bone stock for now.
-Joe
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| Make your plans NOW to attend the National DML Meet in Colorado! |
| Date: July 15-23, 2006 - More info: http://meet.dakota-truck.net |
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| Make your plans NOW to attend the National DML Meet in Colorado! |
| Date: July 15-23, 2006 - More info: http://meet.dakota-truck.net |
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