5.3 losing power

[timbercutter]

My 99 sierra 4wd has 64,000 miles on original plugs and wires.  Engine runs rough at idle, and doesn't have near the jump it used to.  Thought about cleaning injectors. Any advice as to wear you would start?

Thanks

[RyanbabZ71]

Techron Cleaner.  You add to your gas.  

 

Clean or replace the throttle body.  I had mine replaced under warranty last wk (30K miles) and it seems to have alot more ooommmppphhh in the engine.  A new TB would cost you like $215 from partszoneonline.com

 

Have you changed your engine filter?

[SoMnDMAX]

Have you changed the fuel filter and air filter? I would start there.

 

Changing plugs wouldn't hurt either.

[timbercutter]

Thanks for the help guys,

I'll try a fuel additive and replace the plugs and fuel filter.

I'll post results by next weekend.

timbercutter

[MarkD]

Really sounds like the fuel filter.

[jd hauler]

sounds like it could be a fuel pressure regulator, near drivers side vavle cover on the fuel line, pull the little hose off the top and if gas comes out , it is bad, robbing you power and mileage.

[tblazer503]

I have to agree that it would most likely be the fuel filter for one because GM recommends changing mine in my '02 @ 30k.. if that hasnt been changed... Tune up would definetely be in order at that mileage and it couldnt hurt to use some carb cleaner in the throttle body... If you want an excuse to buy some new toys, they sell fuel injector pressure kits that check your fuel pressure at idle, etc... need a helm manual for that and a OBD code reader... =o)  

[mnstrmdnss]

having a professional fuel injection/intake cleaning will make as big of a difference as changing the secondary ignition componets(plugs, wires, etc.), and work far better than any lousy can dumped into your tank. carbon builds up on the intake vavles and area around the valves, then the built up carbon soaks up the fuel trying to get to the combustion chamber, robing you of power and fuel milage. Im a technicinan at pep boys and i just recently did a treatment of our service called procleen, and even though i use to religiusly add bottles of fuel system treatment to my tank, all those bottles added up didnt work as near as good a 1 treatment of procleen. they hook a special fuel pressure tester to your fuel rail test port, then screw a can of procleen to the bottom of the pressure tester, unplug the fuel pump, and let the vehicle run off of the can until its empty. check around in your area for a servive just like this, cause its well worth the money.

[Dihappy]

having a professional fuel injection/intake cleaning will make as big of a difference as changing the secondary ignition componets(plugs, wires, etc.), and work far better than any lousy can dumped into your tank. carbon builds up on the intake vavles and area around the valves, then the built up carbon soaks up the fuel trying to get to the combustion chamber, robing you of power and fuel milage. Im a technicinan at pep boys and i just recently did a treatment of our service called procleen, and even though i use to religiusly add bottles of fuel system treatment to my tank, all those bottles added up didnt work as near as good a 1 treatment of procleen. they hook a special fuel pressure tester to your fuel rail test port, then screw a can of procleen to the bottom of the pressure tester, unplug the fuel pump, and let the vehicle run off of the can until its empty. check around in your area for a servive just like this, cause its well worth the money.

At what mileage would you recommend first doing a Proclean treatment and how much is it?

[mnstrmdnss]

procleen should be done about every 30-40K miles, along with, like aslo stated, a new fuel filter and at least a new set of plugs every time. my store in indiana charges 70 bucks for this service, and thats just the procleen, with plugs and other maintence items at additional costs. we aslo have another service called run-rite, its basic package costs 80 bucks, but it doesnt do as good of a job.

[01GMC2500HD]

Hey, Guys.

I work for a dealer in dallas, service dept. Cleaning the throttle body will help with a sticking throttle and inconsistant idle, but that proclean deal (to us anyway) is snake oil. a good Wide Open Throttle run every now and again is whats needed as far as injector maintenance. The only way to properly maintain an injector is to replace it if it is stuck or clogged. my 01 2500HD 6.0L has 181k and injectors are all fine. I would not even recommend replacing the plugs until 100k. we do platinum plug replacements at 100k all the time, and most of those plugs still come out looking BRAND NEW. My advice would be to change the air filter (K&N) and go to another fuel filter (every 30 k). other than that, maintenance is very minimal......

 

just my professional .02    

 

tm

[RyanbabZ71]

Cleaning the throttle body will help with a sticking throttle and inconsistant idle

 

I agree.  I had mine replaced under warranty at 30K miles.  Boy what a difference.  The service advisor suggested back when i had like 10K miles to have it cleaned every 30K miles.  I took it in for a cleaning at 30K and they replaced under warranty for me  

 

Also a new fuel filter is a great idea.  My gf bought a used car about a yr and a half ago.  Her dad replaced about everything BUT the fuel filter.  Car (escort) kept stalling.  Idling funny.  Last weekend he put in a new fuel filter and it is running great again

[Tweeter400]

What does cleaning the throttle body consist of?? What do the dealers do to clean it??

 

Thanks

[mnstrmdnss]

I work for a dealer in dallas, service dept. Cleaning the throttle body will help with a sticking throttle and inconsistant idle, but that proclean deal (to us anyway) is snake oil. a good Wide Open Throttle run every now and again is whats needed as far as injector maintenance. The only way to properly maintain an injector is to replace it if it is stuck or clogged. my 01 2500HD 6.0L has 181k and injectors are all fine. I would not even recommend replacing the plugs until 100k. we do platinum plug replacements at 100k all the time, and most of those plugs still come out looking BRAND NEW. My advice would be to change the air filter (K&N) and go to another fuel filter (every 30 k). other than that, maintenance is very minimal......

im not trying to start anything, but your full of S$%^ if you think intake cleaning is a waste of money!! carbon builds up on intake vavles and in the area arond the vavles due to cold start-ups, and when the injector sprays fuel into the combustion chamber, the carbon build-up on the intake valve absorbs some of the fuel, which decreases hp, mpg, and roughens idle,  this is a fact, and no wide-open trottle bursts are going to knock this stuff loose, period. but, your right, the injectors dont really neeed much maintence, but the cleening service that connects to the fuel rail dissables the fuel pump, and the car runs off of a can of cleaner that uses the injectors to spray the cleaner directly on the vavles to break up the carbon deposits, this is how i explained it before, which never mentioned anything about injectors.

  as far as plugs and wires, dont wait till 100K, thats too long, ive seen people wait to change plugs at 100K, and theres no electrode left, besides, it doesnt cost a fortune to get new plugs and wires, maybe 60-80 bucks to do it yourself.

[CMNTMXR81]

I also disagree about changing plugs at 100k.  That's typical "do it by the book" dealer talk.  If you wait till 100k to replace plugs, usually they are fried beyond recognition and that's if you can even get them out as they are so welded in it seems.

 

These 100k mile plugs, coolant, etc, etc, is perfect for those who never open the hood of their vehicles and generally trade them in at the end of warranty anyway.  This way they don't have to deal with any maintanance costs, other than oil and filter changes (all filters) and some don't even do that!  It's a great selling point to these people who simply use their vehicle to go from point A to point B.  However, if you an enthusiast or a preventative maintanance freak, One should do a tune up LONG before 100k.  ####, I removed the platinum plugs in my Camaro at 50 miles.  I could care less how long they last, I wanted a performance plug and a platinum plug ain't one of them due to it's firing resistance.  Plus I'll end up changing them at 20k anyway!

 

Sounds to me that at 64k, it simply needs a tune up.  Also, what kind of gas do you use?  If Citgo, stay away from them.  They have an oxygenated additive that corrodes the internals of injectors and causes misfires.  GM has a kick butt fuel system/injector cleaner that works wonders short of going through a professional cleaning or new injectors.  it's about $10-$12 a bottle but it works wonders and is actually what GM has as a service bulletin on 3.1L V6's that have fuel related misfires.