K1500brute

Hey everyone new to this forum and have a few questions.

Recently bought a 1996 K1500 305 with less than 120k on it. Great truck so far. Used it for just about everything so far except plowing. When i bought the truck I had a good friend (mechanic) go over it, so I knew what I was getting into. The main thing is it needed was sparks badly (may have been originals or early changed sparks on the truck). And it has that pesky cab corner rust but I live in the rust belt so it’s understandable and isn't all that bad.

To get on with it I changed them with his help. When we were taking them off someone had glued, yes glue not silicone, the wires on the plugs. We had to cut some of them off. Has anyone ever heard of that?? If so why would the previous owner do that?? Anyway we replaced them all with the best A/C Delco parts available. But the following week I was driving I the rain and came to a steep hill and punched it a bit to get up the hill (on pavement and above 3.5k rpm) The Check engine light started to flash and then stayed on. (Nothing felt different no change in power or anything) So I went to Advanced to get it checked and it said misfire in Cylinder 3. He did not clear it and I drove it for about 10 minutes and the light turned off. Anyone got a clue to what is going on?? someone said it might be water getting in the distributor cap.

And we have not gotten to the Distributor cap or rotor yet but most likely its original and we will replace it. It has been getting about 22mpg (70/30 hw/city). And this only happens when it is wet. (mpg is w/o k&n air filter and bed cover which is coming later i hope )

Thank you in advance for any help

acer9876

sounds like a loose wire to me... check your cylinder 3 wire and plug. make sure theyre tight. if you dont know which one third is, its ok. because its a good idea to check all of them while youre under the hood.
now you say its only when wet... but you also mentioned 3500 rpm... is your exhaust solid? i have 2 big exhaust leaks and you can clearly hear them from outside or inside the truck. but my engine light wont recognize them until i drive above 2500 rms. thats another possibilty. hope i could help

K1500brute

Thank you for the help

I'll try tonight. I will check them all but Cylinder 3 on the left second from the front, correct? (looking from front nose of the truck) Just wanting to know so when i check i know to double check that one. And i believe the exhaust is solid. It looks like the previous owner recently had a custom duel exhaust put on, pretty much straight piped from CAT back and looks professionally done. Sounds really nice too

cleveland63b

just recheck all your wires, if its only when wet/raining get a spray bottle and lightly mist over the wires, if somethings loose you'll see or hear an arc

K1500brute

Update: I have checked them and seem to be snug. And i have driven close to 750 miles on the truck since the light went off and no problems. But last night i parked on the grass thinking it was done with this problem. This morning it was fairly damp and sort of foggy. Started right up no problem, but i just had that feeling like it was going to happen again though. The truck drove fine until the same hill again and i hit maybe 3K this time, it became rough and then check engine light flashed and stayed on. Haven't had it checked yet (have to go up the hill for work or a 30 minute drive turns into hour and half.)

Havent tried that yet but will when i get home.

thank you for the replies

acer9876

im not sure where it is located. sorry about that

K1500brute

Update: (again) As soon as i got off of work yesterday i went out and checked the Plug wires again. Most of them were good. I had to stick my hand through the wheel well to get to them. lol When i came to #2 cylinder it felt really loose and i pushed on it and it made that pop/snap sound, so apparently that one was not on right. And then on the Right side when I came to #3 i noticed that it wasn't on as deep on the plug as #1. It didnt feel loose so i pressed on it and it inched ever so closer to the block. (no snap) So it might have not been on all the way and the rest were fine. I took it to get the light checked, Misfire in #3. (he did not clear the code) not even 5 minutes later the light goes off...

"face-palm" WTF

Thanks though I found a pic for the the firing, cylinder #s, and rotor's rotation. im attaching it for anyone who wants it

acer9876

yah. thats a good pic. and there was probably a real noticeable difference in how smooth your engine was after you tightened those two plugs up

K1500brute

Yeah smoothed out a bit but i finally got my bed cover and holy crap does it help, not just on gas but do much less drag feel and smooth ride period. Also no problems but i am changing the cap and Rotor this weekend just in case. i am going to stay AC delco but is there any other that anyone else would recommend??