oil and spark plug's - members liking ?

Going from ford's to chevy has been interesting, each have their little quirks however.

In all my past fords I have ran valvoline semi synthetic oils and bosch plugs. In reading some posts it appears that AC plugs are liked out there and to stay away from bosch for GM engines, but I have not noticed any oils that seem to perform better than others.

What good luck or bad luck have all of you had with different plugs / oils / oil filters ?

Thanks

1999 K1500 Z71 LS Package 5.7 L. Old body style.

My tuner, who consults for several NASCAR teams, prefers NGK plugs over all other brands for street-driven Chevys. I am using UR5/2771's in my 1990 383 TBI with good results. AC Rapidfires and Autolites are also good.

I have been a Castrol guy for 40 years, and use Syntec 5W-30 in the truck. I have projected small-block Chevy life at 500,000 miles with this oil. Mobil 1 and Amsoil are considered the best by many people.

Having had excellent performance from K & N air filters, I use their 3002 oil filter. If you can get Wix filters locally (I can't) they have a great reputation. On my old BMWs I have had good luck with Purolators; I think they are the best under $5 oil filter. There seems to be a general consensus to avoid Fram.

Whatever brand of spark plug you choose, avoid the "designer" plugs. Those would include the Bosch +4s, SplitFire, and any "V" or "U" Groove designs.

Any plugs with plain steel shells and electrodes should also be avoided, since they will likely remain in an engine a lot longer than that type of plug was ever designed to last. The old "rule" was to change plugs every 20-30,000 miles. Now the expectation is for at least 80,000 miles, and usually much longer.

Any wasted spark system requires dual platinum electrodes for best performance and longest life.

NGK has an excellent ceramics R&D program, and thus tends to control tip heat range very closely. That's a prime reason they used to be the plug of choice for two-stroke engines. However, the differences between NGK and other quality brands is getting less obvious in that regard every day.

IMO, ANY spark plug installed in ANY engine should be installed with anti seize compound on the threads. This is especially important with aluminum heads, but is almost as important with any head since the expected service life of spark plugs is so much longer these days.

If you want to choose based on reputation, one thing to bear in mind is that only two brands of spark plugs have earned FAA approval for use in general aviation and commercial aircraft engines through their reliability - Auburn and Champion. Good luck finding any Auburn spark plugs to fit your automotive or truck engine (except for some old Continentals), so you might want to consider Champion. That's not to say that other spark plugs aren't just as good, but it indicates that Champion has undergone the rigorous testing, upholds the necessary process and quality control, and meets the certifiation requirements of FAA. that's also not an indication of whether Champion applies the same processes to automotive plugs, but at least they know how.

Any single side-electrode plug with dual platinum electrodes and the proper heat range should be suitable. It's really a choice based on experience or loyalty.

Thanks for the input. I found ac rapidfire at the local autozone and wix filters are also available. Any major stores sell NGK's ? I will try castrol as well as I don't think the beast likes the valvoline in it. No knocks or anything at start up, just my ears telling me it should be smoother at start up.

The unit has high miles (147k) but I think the owner towed a small trailer and went on numerous trips. He was anal on maint and pm's, with a 2 inch stack of dealer receipts for everything (even wiper blades and tires from the dealer.let alone everything else).

He tricked it out a little, and I think he was going for miles per gallon instead of power as the mileage is outstanding at 20 MPG+. It has a helix Power tower, gibson exaust and factory hich capacity air intake with fatory 343's.
Does anyone know or care to guess what horsepower I am pushing with the add on's as I don't know other than I read the factory manual say's 245 hp.

Thanks !!!

So far it's a great unit, and my first chevy (yes I came over from the dark side of ford) since my 64 stepside with a 6 cylinder/powerglide.

Thanks for your update, Stanley. Kragen/Schuck's/Checkers chain carries NGK, I think Pep Boys has them too. I forgot to mention I gap mine to at least .040 for a fatter spark.

147,000 miles is just broken in for a small block Chevy! My original 350 went to 370,000 miles before I decided to retire it. I change the Syntec at 90-120 days or about 8,000 miles.

I have a 1997 Tahoe 5.7l gas. I did lots of research before changing the plugs at 100K.

What I found recommended is to use ONLY the factory platinum plug. DO NOT substitute. They were very expensive ($5-6 each as I recall)

This is coming from a guy who never goes to dealer unless not available elsewhere and hates to waste money.

Do research and come to your own conclusion.

I checked the gap of the originals and they were still at factory spec after 100K. My conclusion was no reason to take chance with anything else (unless you have observable problem with the plugs).

OIL - I'm at 136K miles now and consuming NO oil in 3000 mile. I have used 10W30 or 5W30 Castrol dino since 36K. OCI has been 3000 miles since beginning (previous owner) except to test synthetic. Used those dreaded FRAMs almost the whole time.
(see http://theoildrop.server101.com/cgi/ultimatebb.cgi for all things related to oil/filters).

I have tried running Castrol Syntec 5W30. Just after the change level drops 1/3 quart. Then looses another 1/3 over 6000 miles. If you go synthetic change filters more frequently. But I wouldn't let the oil be in there for more than 6 months, some people say a year.

I'm about to try Mobil 7500 which is a blend. Should use better filters for 5000 mile OCI target such as Mobil1 filters (but they cost $11 each).

My conclusion; I can't justify cost of synthetics. Changing filter is the messy part anyhow and the 5.7l 4X4 has a dinky filter but is not a dirty running engine relative to others. I haven't been able to verify any improved MPG and reliablity (oil consumption) couldn't be better.

The new a/c delco iridium plugs are made by ngk. Other than that I would only use ac's in a gm. Castrol here no problems, wix filters no problems.

Thanks folks !

I changed the plugs friday and used AC rapidfires, the old AC's had 57k on them and it was time for a change. They were clean but really used up. It was a piece of cake to change them as compared to my past fords ...... had a little trouble with the one by the dipstick tube. I removed the mounting bolt on the block and moved the tube out of the way. Is this the correct method or is there another trick to getting to that plug ? As always used a lot of anti seize to the bottom and boot lube to the top of the plugs. We all know that makes all the difference for next time !
Also cleaned the MAF unit as well. It was not too bad but the 3 wires had some dirt residue on them and the screen was discolored. Q tip with alochol for the 3 wires and non residue spray cleaner for the screen. I was getting 20+ mpg before and I'm really interested in seeing if it improves (no compaints however with original mpg).

I guess I should look at the cap and rotor next payday, any tips on those items ?
As, always, thanks for the great assistance !!

Stan

99 K1500, Z71, LS, Extended Cab Old Body Style, Helix Power Tower, Gibson Exhaust System, Factory High Flow Air Filter System, 373 rears.

Use good quality 8mm multi-layered silicone insulated resistor wires with XLP core insulation. Stainless steel terminal clips (or nickel/brass at a minimum) are necessary for good conductivity and corrosion protection. Long, ribbed insulator boots are also necessary for a good gas/moisture seal. Avoid the "designer" wires like spiral-wound resistor wires (which don't tolerate flexing well), paper/carbon resistor cores (like Autolites) which break down quickly under high spark energy, and solid layer silicone insulators (like Accels). Packard wires are hard to beat for features and quality. Several aftermarket wires are also good quality, but you'll have to inspect them to make sure your're getting all the necessary features and constriction.

A good quality distributor cap and rotor are also necessary due to the high energy and close proximity of the terminals. A good cap will have brass or nickel/brass terminals both inside and outside the cap. It will be molded of glass reinforced plastic or nylon, not bakelite or any kind of styrene. Typically good brands are Standard Motor Products, Conrad/Wells (Gold Line ONLY!), Delco, and others - Just make sure you get something with good arc chutes and teminals, and the proper materials.

Get a tube of silicone dielectric grease to assemble the wires to the cap terminals and plugs.