5.3 Vortec Owners....a question

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son's '10 Avalanche is approaching 100K miles. Chevy calls for spark plug and wire change out, but the truck is running fine. Really not at a point that we can get these changed out right now.

So how long have you gone on plug/wire changeout b4 it began to run badly?
 
Just change them out, the farther the spark has to jump across the electrodes and travel through older higher resistance wires puts much more stress on the coils. You can push it off until you have problems, but be prepared to spend more on coils while they're in there. Plus its most likely going to fail at a very inopportune time.
 
I know it's not the same engine, but I bought my 3.8 Buick with 137k and had the original plugs changed at 140k. They were fine, and I didn't notice any difference, it wasn't running poorly or anything. I'd probably vote to wait till you have the time/money to do it, as long as that's not ten years in the future. If you do it yourself, it should be in the $75-1000 range for the plugs and wires.

Try and use the ACDelco plugs (and wires) it came with, they are regarded as the best.
 
Originally Posted By: Speak2Mountain
son's '10 Avalanche is approaching 100K miles. Chevy calls for spark plug and wire change out, but the truck is running fine. Really not at a point that we can get these changed out right now.

So how long have you gone on plug/wire changeout b4 it began to run badly?


I have raised and killed dozens of the 5.3 in Silverados we use here for business. They will run well far past the suggested limit of 100k miles for plugs. In about the last 6 or so trucks we have had two that went nearly 200k miles still running well. No coils lost either despite all the warnings. In my whole history here with GM individual coils I have only replaced 2.

So relax, and save your dough. Those suckers are expensive!
 
Originally Posted By: SteveSRT8
Originally Posted By: Speak2Mountain
son's '10 Avalanche is approaching 100K miles. Chevy calls for spark plug and wire change out, but the truck is running fine. Really not at a point that we can get these changed out right now.

So how long have you gone on plug/wire changeout b4 it began to run badly?


I have raised and killed dozens of the 5.3 in Silverados we use here for business. They will run well far past the suggested limit of 100k miles for plugs. In about the last 6 or so trucks we have had two that went nearly 200k miles still running well. No coils lost either despite all the warnings. In my whole history here with GM individual coils I have only replaced 2.

So relax, and save your dough. Those suckers are expensive!
no melted cats either?
 
Hey,

I have an 01 Tahoe. Just changed my plugs today, did them all in 45 minutes, and I am NO mechanic. ha ha.

Little tip on plug #8... put a 3/4" socket on the end of your spark plug socket. Perfect clearance to do that particular plug....
 
I have an 09 Suburban with 140,000 miles on it. At 100,000, I did the plugs and wires. Truck was running fine but when I swapped in the new stuff, it ran like new again.
 
Originally Posted By: Chris142
Originally Posted By: SteveSRT8
Originally Posted By: Speak2Mountain
son's '10 Avalanche is approaching 100K miles. Chevy calls for spark plug and wire change out, but the truck is running fine. Really not at a point that we can get these changed out right now.

So how long have you gone on plug/wire changeout b4 it began to run badly?


I have raised and killed dozens of the 5.3 in Silverados we use here for business. They will run well far past the suggested limit of 100k miles for plugs. In about the last 6 or so trucks we have had two that went nearly 200k miles still running well. No coils lost either despite all the warnings. In my whole history here with GM individual coils I have only replaced 2.

So relax, and save your dough. Those suckers are expensive!
no melted cats either?


Had a 6.0 in a 3500 van that melted a cat and plugged up hard. had 185k miles on her. But that was without any misfires, so we wrote it off as fuel injectors or just old age. Those trucks work hard...
 
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