s10 help needed ...

[tpking]

i bought a 96 4x4 extended cab s10 with the 4.3 vortec and auto trans today ... on the way home it felt like it was bogging down the harder you pushed the gas the more it bogged... i thought it was fuel filter but halfway home it started overheating so i pulled over and raised the hood and the exhaust manifolds on both sides was cherry red ( it was dark out ) .. that points to a clogged cat doesnt it? only thing confusing me is no stinky smells like most bad cats have... it idles and if you dont get on it everything is fine..

 

[PaleBlue90]

sounds like its running super rich

 

[tpking]

why do you say that? if it was running super rich wouldnt it be worse everywhere but wide open? i figured *IF* the cat was clogged it wouldnt let heat out and it would build up in the manifolds..

 

[PaleBlue90]

my buddy has a 80s chev that ran rich and made the manifolds glow cherry red. it might be a bad cat.

 

[tpking]

anyone else have any thoughts?

 

[Original_Ranger84]

It could be running lean. Lack of fuel actually heats up the engine deadly fast. adn the manifolds should be kinda red anyways cause i mean really hot fire comes spewing out of that engine. But it could be any of those cats, rich, or lean. Rich sounds a bit more right though.

 

[tpking]

the exhaust manifolds wasnt just red they was glowing red like you heated them with torch. if you just cruise around and dont do more than crack the throttle it runs perfect but soon as you open it up you hear the intake "growl" like your going like a bat outa hell but you barely move. doesnt seem to do that when you just rev it in park it feels like its revving fine..

 

[tpking]

and could i use a volt meter and the o2 sensor to see if its rich or lean? i would like to find a direction before i start yanking parts off

 

[budro]

the 4.3 vortec engines are notorious for the spyder fuel injection system leaking. You could pop the upper intake off and look to see if one side of the lower intake manifold is all clean on one side. I have replaced half a dozen of these. Here is a pic of what it will look like:

See how one side is clean and the other side is all dirty. This is a sure sign that the multiport injector is leaking inside. The fuel pressure regulator is what actually leaks.

The gasket is under $10 to check this out.

Edited pic location

 

[tpking]

any other ideas? i know its a s10 but would like to figure this out lol

 

[pillen140]

i work at a chevy dealer, unfortunatly, all the gm guys went home.... if it is related to the fuel injection leak, those two feed and return lines (brown, top right of intake picture above) go bad a lot.... part #17113214. list price on them is $110.73 if thats it. i can sell them for a wholesale but with shipping it might not save too much... $83.05 plus shipping. if its something else and you need part #s or something, let me know, i might be able to save you a couple bucks.... and btw, i dont make comission of anything, just trying to help out.

another thing i would check, is timing, map sensor and also fuel pressure(that could be the injection system aswell)

 

[tpking]

well i hear the cat insides moving around so obviously something is wrong with it .. im gonna gut it and see if that makes a diff if it does ill replace the cat later.. if not ill start testing stuff i guess.. thanks for the help on parts numbers ill be in touch im sure lol

 

[pillen140]

could be the running rich or lean may burn up the cats too?

 

[tpking]

fixed it !! the insides of the cat had broken loose and was laying in there where it wouldnt flow 100%.. i have to say im dissapointed in the 4.3 vortec

 

[BigJohn76]

fixed it !! the insides of the cat had broken loose and was laying in there where it wouldnt flow 100%.. i have to say im dissapointed in the 4.3 vortec

i hate those motors. i have one in my blazer and it took a crap on me. im trying to sell it to the guy i used to go racing with and put a 350 in it.

i had a plain 4.3 in an 83 s10 and that thing moved like a bat outta hell. go try to find one and swap it.