YACT - Ask all stupid newbie car questions here...

[jemcam]

Originally posted by: Placer14
Alright, more questions...

Is a fuel filter change generally covered in the tuneup, or does it vary from shop to shop. What are some things that should be changed reguarlay other than Oil every 3000 mi or 3 mo.

Follow the recommendations in your owner's manual, but yes, fuel filters should be changed with a tune up.

 

[Placer14]

Originally posted by: jemcam

Originally posted by: Placer14
Alright, more questions...

Is a fuel filter change generally covered in the tuneup, or does it vary from shop to shop. What are some things that should be changed reguarlay other than Oil every 3000 mi or 3 mo.

Follow the recommendations in your owner's manual, but yes, fuel filters should be changed with a tune up.

The dealer didn't give me (truck didn't come with) a manual for my 96 GMC Sonoma. GMC doesn't have that sorta thing online. Any ideas?

 

[Antisocial Virge]

Toyota even make a little 1600cc Hemi 4 cyl. Brother in law used to call it semi-hemi. You can tell a hemi in the old pictures by the way the sparkplug wire ran down through the valve cover. From what I have read they burned tons of oil and the valvetrain made a ton of noise but I'm sure the sound of twin 4bls drowned that out.

 

[cavemanmoron]

look here for info on the old hemi,
"Chrysler produced their first engines with hemispherically-shaped combustion chambers in the 1951, but these early motors (301, 331, 354, and 392 cu. in.) share nothing in common with the 426 except for spark plug location and basic valve train arrangement. These "old style" hemis were primarily passenger-car motors, although later versions did power the legendary Crysler 300 "letter cars" until 1958. Chrysler referred to these engines as the "Red Ram", "Firedome" and "Firepower" motors throughout their production. Horsepower peaked in 1958 with a 2-4bbl version of the 392 rated at 390 hp. Today, these motors are difficult to find, and those which aren't in restored vehicles are most often found in fuel dragsters and funny cars, running on alcohol.

When the 426 Hemi was introduced in 1964, it was strictly a racing engine. On February 23 of that year, four Hemi-powered Mopars swept the Daytona 500, finishing 1-2-3-4. This single event caught the racing world by surprise and eventually prompted NASCAR to impose stricter production rules on Chrysler"


I remember seeing a lot of old Industrial pumps in west Texas that used old stlye hemi engines,as,they were reliable,and made lots of torque!

 

[cavemanmoron]

Originally posted by: Placer14
Alright, more questions...

Is a fuel filter change generally covered in the tuneup, or does it vary from shop to shop. What are some things that should be changed reguarlay other than Oil every 3000 mi or 3 mo.

change your fuel filter every other year ,or every 20,000 miles at the most,they are cheap,just sometimes a pain to change
alot of the GM filters you need a 20mm wrench for,you can get at Sears,for less than $15, USA money.

 

[Evadman]

The dealer didn't give me (truck didn't come with) a manual for my 96 GMC Sonoma. GMC doesn't have that sorta thing online. Any ideas?

Call up GMC. They will send ya one if you can prove that you bought it from a GMC dealer. Other than that, get a Haynes or Chilton manual.

 

[Sluggo]

Originally posted by: jemcam

Originally posted by: Placer14
Okay, that explains a little better. Before, when I thought "hemi" design, I'm thinking a huge half cirlce in the center and cylinders all combust in the one hemisphere. But the other way seems to make more sense. Can anyone give me decent sites/articles (that would otherwise be hard to find in a search) that they might know of that compares the different technologies or articles that might explain the different types of combustion engines better to this newb.

if not, I'll just search for more info tonight. Thanks again.

No sites, but if you're interested in this type of thing, look up wankel, diesel, rotary, and miller engines as well as 2 stroke and 4 stroke engines. All different types of engines, but they all require 3 things: spark, fuel, and air. The different types of motors that I listed just combust or process the 3 requirements in different ways.

I dont think diesels require the spark aspect.

 

[Evadman]

Correct. Diesels do not have spark plugs. they have glo(w) plugs, but only use them on warm up.

The eingine that Placer14 is thinking of is a radial engine which used to be extreamly common for aircraft. I seem to remember a 30 piston design a ways back. Not sure if it was ever mass produced, but I remember actual pictures of the engine.