Rocket Man's 02 Denali Build Thread AKA "THE BEAST"

[Rocket Man]

Damn. A lot of work to find out the Beast wants you to change plugs every 5k miles eh..? Weak..!

It’s been 8k and the old plugs looked fine anyway. They aren’t the problem with my cold starts, I’m still working on that. Tomorrow I’ll see if it was the fuel filter but I doubt it. I’m just hoping it’s not the small intake manifold leak has got bigger, enough to cause it.
According to BB it was real small the last time I installed the blower, and hasn’t been causing any issues for at least a year so I’m hoping it’s still not a problem. I never want to pull that thing again. It might be a dirty MAF which I’ll clean next, dirty injectors which will get a treatment soon, or if none of those help I’ll try the FPR which has caused the same problem in the past. I’m just doing normal maintenance first mainly because it’s time for it, and noticing results or lack of as it gets done.

 

[Sam Harris]

It’s been 8k and the old plugs looked fine anyway. They aren’t the problem with my cold starts, I’m still working on that. Tomorrow I’ll see if it was the fuel filter but I doubt it. I’m just hoping it’s not the small intake manifold leak has got bigger, enough to cause it.
According to BB it was real small the last time I installed the blower, and hasn’t been causing any issues for at least a year so I’m hoping it’s still not a problem. I never want to pull that thing again. It might be a dirty MAF which I’ll clean next, dirty injectors which will get a treatment soon, or if none of those help I’ll try the FPR which has caused the same problem in the past. I’m just doing normal maintenance first mainly because it’s time for it, and noticing results or lack of as it gets done.

Amen brother. And I was just throwing a number out there on the plugs. How often do you actually need to change those copper ones?

 

[Rocket Man]

Amen brother. And I was just throwing a number out there on the plugs. How often do you actually need to change those copper ones?

IDK, I only put about 8k a year on it and I’ve put 2 sets on in the 2 years since I installed the blower but not because they needed to be replaced , more because I had problems burning plug wires and since I had it apart I replaced the plugs too since they were only about $20 a set. I haven’t ever just changed the plugs because they needed to be replaced.

 

[kbuskill]

IDK, I only put about 8k a year on it and I’ve put 2 sets on in the 2 years since I installed the blower but not because they needed to be replaced , more because I had problems burning plug wires and since I had it apart I replaced the plugs too since they were only about $20 a set. I haven’t ever just changed the plugs because they needed to be replaced.

Seems odd that its always a misfire on #8.

Any chance you installed the same plug in #8 both times?

Maybe that plug is the culprit... could be shorting out... cracked porcelain???

 

[07Burb]

Amen brother. And I was just throwing a number out there on the plugs. How often do you actually need to change those copper ones?

Copper plugs should last 75k to 100k miles under most conditions

 

[Rocket Man]

Seems odd that its always a misfire on #8.

Any chance you installed the same plug in #8 both times?

Maybe that plug is the culprit... could be shorting out... cracked porcelain???

I didn’t pay attention when I pulled them out but I did check them out closely when I put them back in the second time and it wasn’t cracked and the electrodes looked fine. What is also funny is that with the ruthenium’s in both banks, #7 also recorded quite a few misfires but none with the TR6’s in the opposite bank. Both times the ruthenium’s were in all 8 cylinders, #8 misfired like crazy and #7 misfired quite a bit. It almost reminded me of when I put LED tail lights in and there was no problem but as soon as I put led’s in the front turn signals all of them combined caused my main brake lights to quit working until I added load resistors to the fronts. I know it sounds weird, but it’s almost like the system could handle 4 ruthenium’s but not 8....like there wasn’t enough of a load. I do have MSD Blaster coils too, not sure if that affected it. It’s like it was possessed lmao.

 

[kbuskill]

I didn’t pay attention when I pulled them out but I did check them out closely when I put them back in the second time and it wasn’t cracked and the electrodes looked fine. What is also funny is that with the ruthenium’s in both banks, #7 also recorded quite a few misfires but none with the TR6’s in the opposite bank. Both times the ruthenium’s were in all 8 cylinders, #8 misfired like crazy and #7 misfired quite a bit. It almost reminded me of when I put LED tail lights in and there was no problem but as soon as I put led’s in the front turn signals all of them combined caused my main brake lights to quit working until I added load resistors to the fronts. I know it sounds weird, but it’s almost like the system could handle 4 ruthenium’s but not 8....like there wasn’t enough of a load. I do have MSD Blaster coils too, not sure if that affected it. It’s like it was possessed lmao.

Definitely strange.

Would have been interesting to swap the plug that was in #8 to a different cylinder just to see if the problem followed.

 

[Rocket Man]

Definitely strange.

Would have been interesting to swap the plug that was in #8 to a different cylinder just to see if the problem followed.

I highly doubt the same plug went back in that cylinder but who knows, I was out of patience by then and my hands were bleeding.
Edit: hey I have an idea- I’ll send you a set of free ruthenium plugs with less than 100 miles on them and you can install them and see if one is defective!

 

[kbuskill]

I highly doubt the same plug went back in that cylinder but who knows, I was out of patience by then and my hands were bleeding.
Edit: hey I have an idea- I’ll send you a set of free ruthenium plugs with less than 100 miles on them and you can install them and see if one is defective!

Thanks but I already have a set... just gotta find time and have my son put them in... lol

Hopefully I don't have any issues out of them.

 

[67RS427]

Not sure how much boost you’re running but you should probably be running a #7 plug. I’ve personally noticed my truck runs better on a standard copper plug. I run NGK 3526/BP7EFS plugs. They are 1 Stage colder than a stock CTS V which is a good comparison. With higher cylinder pressures the copper plugs run much better than the expensive iridium or platinum plugs. Who cares if they don’t last 100k miles, I’d never run plugs that long anyways. Easy enough to change them every 20k-30k on a motor like that.

*Also, what are you gaping them at? I gap mine at .030”, sometimes maybe .035”. I wouldn’t go any bigger than that with a blower.