Yes I read that. And that is exactly whats happening. truck shuddered a lot around 43 mph when od kicked in... but it has been softened by the "lube guard" stuff or coincidently for some other reason that shudder is not as bad when I drove it right after adding that stuff? it says it stops TC shudder so maybe its having an effect on the way the tc works and locks up which is helping to mask the misfire issue in this case?

 

Entirely possible.

If you aren't getting any misfire codes.... makes it s a little more fun to track down. How old are the cap/rotor/wires/plugs? Got the plenum done? (vacuum leak can give you a miss as well) Can you check pending codes?? Or misfire counters? (need a pretty good scan tool for that exercise.... not sure the parts store fellers will do that trick.)

May want to pick up a spark checker as well, and see what spark looks like. We had a member that had a crank sensor that was misbehaving, causing weak spark on several cylinders. (that was a learning experience for me..... I always thought that was an all or nothing affair. Apparently not...)

 

I have one of those $20 bluetooth code readers that also give you real time sensor readings and pending codes via torque app or laptop with scan programs (works really good)... it was giving me misfire codes a month ago when I was troubleshooting the tranny but nothing since in 120 mile or so... I just replaced the wires with quality replacements and mounted with tsb instructions, cap and rotor have under 6,000 miles on them, plugs were supposedly replaced right before I bought the truck I pulled two and they both looked very clean and unworn... one was unevenly colored though (cracked head?) I bought replacements and am hoping to install them today along with another cap and rotor if weather cooperates (truck doesnt fit in my garage) I though about grabbinga spark checker when I was at harbor freight the other day...I should have. I'm also going to put more gas in the tank to see if its possible the fuel filter is starving things although I would think that would trigger a code. sometimes a full tank helps in those situations for some reason.

 

Might wanna do a compression check while you are doing the plugs..... be sure to gap them correctly before installation.

 

what is factory gap for our 96 ? ive seen everywhere from 40 to 50 on here?

 

IIRC a 96 is 35 . It should say on the sticker on your radiator support.

 

Mine says .035..... Should be an emissions sticker under the hood somewhere that tells ya.

Ninjaed by zman!

 

I had a slight shudder when I had my ancient AP5224's in it. When put the factory Champs in it, it gained soo much power and the shudder when away. Put 3923's and rerouted the wires and it got better still, more power less knock.

 

sticker on my radiator support is from a 5.2l 95.... hood is from a 98 (I think)... I have a 5.9, just about everything on this monstrosity is piecemeal...its a frankentruck! local auto store only had 6 23's left so I went with 24's which they said if anything should run better...that was before I remembered the pinging issue with these things...

I have to make a list of engineering weaknesses to watch for... lets see... plenum gasket,cracked heads, pinging, steering play, track bar balljoint, deathflash,lack of headlight relay...cracked dash..(oh wait thats 98 up ) transmission failure, stupid check valve, leaky bedlight seal non functioning cup holder,wild vents, LSD wearing out or grenading quickly fuel filter IN the tank... Ok I'm done this is getting depressing

 

Try .040.
98-up yeah I know, but still, try it.