Pellet heads!! What's up today?

Yeah, knew that already. just figured Auto was Auto like the AWD vehicles that dont have 4WDL or 4WDH selectors

 

Pulled #1 plug-found center electrode insulator broken. Truck was running a bit rough a mnth ago so I pulled the plug. Looked OK, but may have been cracked. I cleaned it a bit which likely exasperated the issue of it was cracked.

Replaced with a standard plug instead of iridium that was in there just to make sure everything is ok for cheap. Will change to iridium after a week of no issue.

Also swapped #1 and #3 coil packs and wires. If either of these are the issue (doubtful) then the cylinder misfire will follow.

Took for a ride and the truck is running like a champ right now

 

Make sure you have AIR IN THAT HOLE (Compression)
Could be the plug, coil pack or wire.

 

See you goterfixed

 

I is a Brunk dear, drunk Bear I just had my first Sammy summer ale in 3 summers. Burp, how dry I was....

 

Bear be a cheap date bout now

Then again, so would I-its been 12+ years

 

Yeah, its a common issue with the 5.3L from that era (2008 for this truck)where the #1 plug fowls on a regular basis. My brother in law got rid of his AVY after dumping thousands of $$ on the "fixes" from GM, but none of them worked. Just money in the dealers' coffers

We just keep replacing the plug when needed and dont bother with the "updates", although the modified valve cover I replaced did help it last 2 years.

Luckily #1 is the easiest plug to get to-front/drivers side and nothing in the way

 

I still say Planning - what do you think I did with the money I wasn't paying in payments when I bought the $1,300 Focus a couple of years ago and worked two jobs? Yes, the second job paid off medical bills and the emergency buy of the 2004 Explorer, but I kept the 2nd job far longer than I "needed" to. Although I will admit that a little bit of ill luck would have set me back a bit planning wise. Actually, the injury that made me quit my 2nd job did, in fact, put a crimp in my plans - but I shifted priorities where I could to make this happen.

 

I hope I am not coming off wrong B. Its great that you could make this happen. Congrats!!!!

 

I don't have a manual switch.

 

WTF ?

 

The "Modified Valve cover" ?????? whats that about ??

We have not had any issues with plugs YET
The AFM shuts off cylinders 1-7 and 4-6 during real light power demands.

The 4 cyl operation keeps the valves closed in those cylinders and oil gets sucked up into the cylinder and can foul the plug.

You can get a little gizmo that plugs into the OBD2 port under the dash that will stop the AFM from operating.

If you drive mostly heavy traffic with minimal long cruise times at light loads the AFM does nothing for you anyway.

The AFM delete gizmo will save the special lifters too, and the cam.

 

That AFM disable thingy is suppose to help in several areas but I havent tried it. This truck had a collapsed lifter last December-wonder if the AFM disable could have helped that?

Hopefully you wont have any issues but keep an eye on oil use. An older, larger 8 cyl with 150K is going to burn some oil anyway but this one was using well more than 1qt per 1000 miles. We use to joke that the truck didnt need oil changes, it was self changing-just keep adding more in

The valve cover mod is actually part of the oil consumption issue with several fixes.

Regarding oil use and #1 plug issue, One fix is the updated valve cover where the PCV system is resigned. The original design dumped oil almost directly onto the #1 cyl valves-great idea right there -resulting in oil into the combustion chamber. New design changed that and has helped in both oil consumption and the plug not fowling as much.

2nd fix was rings related that involved re-ringing the pistons as well as some kind of oil deflector (I think that was it) in the oil pan area.

We went for the cover change, used seafoam upper end cleaner to clean the comb chambers and see how we make out.

Oil consumption is down to a manageable level (maybe 1qt per 1000) and the plug is holding up long enough to deal with it.

 

Kathryn had booked this 'bucket list' trip shortly before my open heart surgery. We weren't sure if it was going to work out but everything turned out great! a couple of pic's.








PS. This is a MUST DO trip! awesome!

now if I can figure out how to get he photos right side up???? new phone - pixel 3

​

 

Thought you were just messing with us.

 

No, he must be in Australia-Upside Down Under-its winter there and he is peddling pellets to Chickenman

 

nope. I haven't figured it out. its correct in my picture folder, then 180 out when I upload it. if I 180 the photo in my viewer - its still upside down. no time to fool with it now.

I've got to load up for Red Power (IH antique tractors) this weekend. so i'm off to the farm for a tractor and tie up a few loose ends.

 

Here we go...photo shop to the rescue

I flipped them 180 and reduced the file size a bunch so they don't hog bandwidth.