What does it mean if a spark plug turns black?
the engine is too rich. either the main jet dropped, its badly tuned, or the choke is stuck on. this gives a dark, dry, sooty, almost crumbly deposit.the engine is using oil. also visible due to the plume of blue smoke from the exhaust, and the plug will be black and oily. wet looking.the plug is of the incorrect heat range. the heat of a plug has nothing to do with combustion temperature, as long as the mixture is correct, its always basically the same temperature. no, the heat range is how hot a plug gets during operation. a hot plug “holds” heat in and gets hot, and this heat is what burns the carbon off. the ideal plug will remain white or turn slightly tan coloured. (a bit darker in the case of two strokes).a cold plug will run cooler.a hot plug suits a low speed engine under low load operating at low speeds. think your lawnmower… an air cooled industrial engine.a cold plug suits an engine that runs hot. think a DOHC liquid cooled car run at full throttle.a hot plug in a hot engine will fail due to overheating. a cold plug in a cold engine will quickly foul and fail, due to carbon.never bother cleaning plugs. if they are turning black with no mechanical reasons, such as carb tuning, get a new plug with a lower heat range.
What is the spark plug gap for 350 Chevy?
The early points type distributor is most happy with the standard of. 35 thousands gap …those are found in your pre 1975 cars and trucks with any motor factory installed. That gap is probably a standard of the auto industry and lots of other enginesThe post 1975 with the hei electronic ignition opens the gap up another .10 to 45 thousands gap. There may be some real late model coil pack type ignitions that are at the 60 thousand gap. But the first two mentioned are the best starting point i have knowledge of …. Make sure you have a idea of approx what year the motor is because a few of them require special irridium based spark plugs. And not the standard R45ts like most chevy small blocks normally use. Good luck i hope this will help you
How can i make my gmc sierra 1500 go faster?
I own a shop, build race engines, and own a race car & truck. There are many things one can do to make it go faster. I would suggest this site www.chevyhiperformance.com and you should be able to fully see all the things you can do to upgrade your engine. Yes you can get a super charger for it, but you are talking a lot of money. I will agree with the headers, exhaust, cold air intake, hotter ignition system, and programer for the computer. You could see as much as 100-150 horsepower increase over stock by just adding these components. One thing about power, we all have a need for speed, and no matter how much power we have, we will always want more. You might consider installing a gear in the rear end, as this will get it going a lot quicker. You would be suprised at what 315 horses will do when you get it all to the ground. If you have an automatic, you could install a mild stall converter, and get into the power band a lot quicker. Part 2: My brother has one of these, and he purchased a programer that sits on the dash. He can dial in his power with it. "What a difference"!!! The truck will now lay your @ss in the back seat when he slams the pedal to the floor. He has done nothing more to the truck other than the programer. I am convinced this thing makes all the difference in the world. There is a company called "Procharger" that makes one that will give it all kinds of power. I take a magazine "Chevy High Performance" and in the new up coming December issue (which I just got in the mail) they address this exact issue. An article called "Dyno Freak" shows a low profile Procharger that is making jaw droping numbers on the dyno. You might be able to read the article on their website www.chevyhiperformance.com Believe it or not, but I have never seen these kind of numbers from a charger that will fit under the hood. You might want to check this out. Glad to help out, Good Luck!!!
What are some symptoms of a bad idle air control sensor?
Idle air control valves open to allow more air to "leak" into the intake, raising the engine rpms, or close when not needed. When your AC compressor kicks in or power steering is activated as you suddenly turn the steering wheel, the sudden drag on the drive belt will bog down the engine. These systems send a signal to the engine computer telling it they are active and it then signals the IAC valve to open, which increases the engine speed. Without this occurring, the engine could struggle, or die. The IAC valve can cause weird idle issues, mess with throttle functionality or cause the car to die. Sometimes they fail, get stuck or just get all carboned up. Sometimes people have success at cleaning them, but generally it is best to replace them when bad. Idle issues and even problems with the IAC valve may not be due to the IAC valve being bad itself. An idle issue does not mean the IAC valve is bad. It is best to pay close attention to how the vehicle is acting, and then communicate that clearly and as completely as possible to your mechanic. Intermittent problems can be very hard to diagnose. Details will help. Knowing more about the vehicle in question and its symptoms (in detail) will also help in understanding more about what it is doing.
Why do my hazard lights work, but not my turn signals?
Hazard lights and turn signals use the same bulb, so it is not the bulb, the lamp, or the cables to them. Turn signals only work when the ignition is on; hazard lights work whether the ignition is on or not. The two systems have separate power supplies, so they have separate fuses. You may have a blown fuse.Different vehicles use different circuits, and it is not possible to accurately diagnose the fault with the small amount of information provided. You need a circuit diagram and a voltmeter, and a continuity tester. First locate and test the turn signal fuse. Do you have voltage to and from the turn signal switch?The hazard light switch is not a simple on/off switch. In the “on” position, a fused battery feed connects to left and right turn signal. In the “off” position, the left turn switch wire is connected to the left turn lamp and the right turn switch wire is connected to the right turn lamp, so there are 3 inputs and 2 outputs.The fault could be a fuse, turn signal switch, hazard switch, flasher unit, or a broken wire or connection.
What symptoms will a worn distributor gear produce?
More common is a worn distributor bushing, but the symptoms are the same. The timing will be somewhat erratic, since the distributor won't be firing in the same position twice. This could cause significant drivability problems, most likely in the form of a miss or misfire. However, more common is a bad timing chain. The chain is stretched, and the cam timing varies as the chain slackens and stretches as the lifters travel on the cam. This is usually most noticeable when the engine is hot.