Ok first off this is my first official post. And well i work at oreilly auto parts. The employee discount is sweet. But i have a customer with a harley davidson, he came in talking about his truck is hesitating. Its been sitting for couple months. He let his cousin drive it and he put regular unleaded. So i tool a look at it and it looks to me it has a misfire you can see the engine rocking. Would regular gas do that?? I recommended him change his plugs first and put in premium.
Yea, some new plugs and 92 octane would be a good start. The 20 cents saved on gas will bite you in the end....Post up some pictures of the plugs...Bet the strap is burned off.
Yup he was pretty upset when he found out he put regular unleaded. But i wasn't sure if that would do that much damage. I wouldnt even risk that in my lightning.
It depends how long he's been driving it that way...Detonation can do a lot of damage, if he stayed out of boost...should be too bad.
You might have water down one or more of the plug holes...
Im guessing he might have been driving it for a couple days. He said 15 bucks worth of fuel. He told me he tried getting on it and it would just hesitate.
Preventative maintenance is always good and oftentimes is the inexpensive and simple fix.
If the owner is mechanically inclined suggest that he replace the plugs and fuel filter. Plug changes aren't difficult but they are a nuisance and can be an intimidating task for first timers. Changing plugs is important in this case (particularly if the truck is modded) since the owner's cousin filled it with regular unleaded fuel which may have produced detonation and resulted in plug damage. Visually inspect the plug ls for damage (i.e. burnt ground straps) which would indicate a more severe issue.
Replacing the plugs will also remedy the possible issue of water intrusion past the COP boots which will cause a miss.
Clean the MAF element with MAF cleaner or electric parts cleaner.
Fill the tank with 93 octane and drive it until empty to ensure the low octane fue is gone.
Nuisance is right. When i first got my lightning and did the plugs took me quite while. Never liked taking it anywhere to work on. But he never showed back up at the store. Im wondering if he just decided to take it to mechanic and let them do it. But i agree with you on routine maintenance, and im still learning about these motors. Ive learned what i learned from going thru the forums.
Early on, I ran 2 tanks of regular through my 99 L when driving cross country because where I fueled up didnt have supreme.
I drove only in closed loop, (in vacuum) the whole time. No problem or so I thought. Until I pulled the engine to install some "H" Beam rods.
I had small black pits in the cylinders at the top of the ring travel. They looked like just stains, but you could feel them with a ball point pen tip. Too bad, the cylinders were really straight (at 87,000 mi.) I already bought STD size pistons.....
So, I bought a Ford Motorsport Block with the extra cylinder braces. Summitt $925 shipped. It came bored and honed to fit forged pistons. I weighed it: it was 19 Lbs heavier than the original block.
Carry 2 cans of octane booster just in case you have the need to use less than 91 octane fuel.
Yup he told me the cousin out in the gas. And i wouldnt doubt if he actually did drive it like he stole it. It was a areally good looking truck but again i wouldnt let anyone else drive it if it was mine.
He never came by. He was suppose to come back to get the plugs and fuel filter. But he never showed up. Even asked the other guy i work with if he had come by earlier and he said no.
So customer did come back. Got the plugs and put in new gas says its running great. I did ask him to bring me the old plugs so i can post some pics. So hopefully he'll bring them in today. Said the tips were burned bad on couple of them.