Truck Not Running Right? Hard On Fuel And Sluggish Power? Try These First.....

[BlazerLT]

1.) Replace the following if it hasn't been changed in over two years regardless of mileage:

Fuel filter
Spark plugs AC Delco only (AC Delco Platinum on 1996+ Models) Properly gapped
Cap & Rotor
Air Filter
PCV Valve

2.) Transmission flush and refill and a new filter

Change every 50,000-60,000 miles or 4 years. Good fluid and a filter will have your tranny running cooler and more efficient. This will help engine temperatures as well seeing you won't have the transmission heating up the rad as well which cools the engine and oil. You can etend the intervals up to 20,000 more if you use synthetic ATF but you will have to still change the filter at the same interval.

3.) Differential fluid and transfer case fluid change

These should be changed in the same interval as the transmission seeing they are all vital driveline components. If you want to help out with the fuel economy, install synthetic fluids in them ESPECIALLY if you live in colder climates.

4.) Clean your Throttle body butterfly

Every 50,000 or less miles, take a toothbrush and throttle body cleaner and clean the TB and the sorrounding air way. Clean both sides of it to and jam it open so you can clean all of it. Rinse it down after with the TB cleaner again and startup the truck after hooking the air intake assembly up. It will run like crap for a while but will clear up once the engine has burnt up the cleaner. Trust me on this.

5.) Get a better muffler.

Get a better flowing muffler. You can improve sound and flow with an aftermarket muffler. Get one with the simples design and the straighteset flow and avoid Flowmaster or any mufflers with a lot of deflectors and internal baffles. They are just made for sound and not flow performance.

6.) Install a better air Filter (ONLY IF YOU HAVE AN AFTERMARKET MUFFLER)

What is the point of install a cold air intake if you have the stock exhaust. The engine is a glorified air pump. If you inprove intake, you have to improve exhaust.

Cold air intakes will improve performance in the higher rpms, but they won't drastically improve economy. If you want to keep your stock muffler, just install a red K&N drop in filter or the new orange AIR HOG from Fram.

7.) Oxygen (O2) Sensors

Without a doubt, replace ALL OF THEM before the cat convertor every 60,000 miles. The one after is not as crucial seeing it is just a cat monitor to see if the cat is still working properly. But, wait for a sale and buy all of them and do them all I would say would be the best approach.

8.) Tires

Follow these rules.

The bigger the tire/wheel, the worse the economy and performance.
The wider the tire/wheel, the worse the economy and performance.
The heavier the tire/wheel, the worse the economy and performance.

Don't complain about your fuel economy and power if you have huge offroad tires on. You know this is the cause of your problem.

Keep your tires at around 35psi COLD for the best ride and economy mix.

9.) Over Vehicle Weight

Have you been adding a big speaker box in the back along with a front bush bar, side bush bars and a huge trailer hitch? You bet your bum that increasing you vehicle weight with toys will hurt your economy. And go on a diet yeesh, your gain ain't helping either......

10.) Pass on the high octane fuel.

Your engine is tuned to run with standard 87 octane, using higher octane fuel will do nothing for economy or power. Take the $10 per tank and buy some new spark plugs.

11.) Thermostats

I'm going to keep this simple.

If you are from the upper US and Canada, use a standard 192f thermostat.

If you are from the dirty south, use a standard 192f or you can use a 180f stat.

Don't use 160f stat, you are NOT helping your performance, all you are doing is not allowing your computer to go into closed loop which will just carbon up your engine.

12.) Fuel System Cleaners.

Use a good strong dose every 5-10 tanks. I recommend Marvel Mystery Oil with a dosage of 16 oz per tank once every 6 months.

13.) Clean your MAF sensor if equipped.

Clean the internal sensor filiment wires GENTLY every 50,000 miles with brake cleaner and a super soft toothbrush. Clean the crud off the small wires so the sensor can sense the airflow properly.

If there is any others, please PM me if I am missing any.