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making more hps out of a 03 4.3

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delorean

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Discussion starter · #1 · (Edited)
my s10 is currently sitting nicly in the garage.. ive been looking into lowering it.. my new question is what can be done to increase hp.. i have some questions.. first i heard somthing about a thortle body restrictor plate.. if i remove this will this trigger the check engine light is there any gains also my cat was pluged due to a bad o2 sensor. so i Took it off completly and is not currently running a cat could this cause any damage? besides a bad smell to the people behind me.. also what are some cheaper tricks to making these things fast im new to the s10 world but i am currently a 4th year apprentice and want to make this thing killer for summer any help would be great if u have msn that would be faster i dont have much time to check the boards thanks also my s10 is just the LS straight side.. im pretty sure mine says vortec just wondering what this means to me.. did they make them Non vortec? i thought the 4x4 had like 10 more hp and thats was the deffernce. but then again im not sure. anything to give it a lil pep with out costing 1,000s would be great.. thanks alot

delorean_lover@hotmail.com

Shawn
 
#3 ·
Gavin said:
what year truck 4.3?
Click to expand...
It's an 03', umm removing the half moon shaped restrictor off the throttle blade doesn't cause any problems, actually increased throttle response but there aren't any real #'s to show this. Throw a cheap ebay intake on it with a K&N cone filter... look into headers, 2.5" exhaust, running without a cat is fine but i do believe you need a o2 sim because of the sensors that will be set off without some type of cat on. Check out some new cams like a comp cam 260ahr, 266, or 270. Upgraded battery... possibly an optima. If you aren't happy from those gains check out running a nitrous setup or even supercharging it.
 
#4 · (Edited)
nothing quite like a battery upgrade for more HP...:D

seriously though, dont bother with an aftermarket intake kit for power, the tiny gains they offer just arent worth it.

cutting the TB diffuser will make your off idle response more abrupt, probably to the point of being annoying, but it wont make any more power.

a better Y-pipe can give an improvement, but nothing big.

in fact, most of the typical external engine mods COMBINED deliver only mediocre power gains....

a cam swap will give some mild gains. i prefer the Crane cams because of their milder lift specs.

in short, the only reasonably priced, easy to install thing that will deliver a considerable power gain is nitrous....
 
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#5 ·
headers won't be worth the money if you are looking for a good "bang for the buck" ratio. The cam made the biggest difference I have felt so far. I've sunk a buncha money into my truck. The programmer was a good one too. The cam completely changed the truck. It'll sound really nice if you throw on a good muffler too. I felt the pulleys quite a bit, and those were fairly cheap (brand new 2 piece March steel set on ebay for 80 shipped.....I wanted the 3 piece aluminum, but oh well) Intake just made a neat little noise, but only noticed it when I was on an uphill climb. Gears would be my second best mod for acceleration. I've still got the Jacob's in the box. I'm gonna put that on with new plugs. I'll need some time to do that. LOL Hope this helps. If you want more info on the cam, feel free to ask. There are plenty of guys on here that know way much more than I do, but they will all tell you that if you are hellbent on keeping the 4.3, the cam is the best thing short of a blower.
 
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#6 ·
Whatever you do, do NOT get a hypertech programmer... complete waste of $$ in my opinion... take it somewhere and get a nice wideband tune done to it for the same amount of money for better gains.
 
#7 ·
:stupid:...I have the hypertech programmer...it makes a difference when you install it but it will not help you as much as pcmforless.com...I am planning on sending my ecm to get it programmed....its cheaper then hypertech
 
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Discussion starter · #8 ·
so the thing in the throtle body does really nothing.. the guy in my class was sayin he noticed thortle response i assume it there for a reason... and with out it would run like crap.. also what is this trick o2 sensor ur talking about.. im interested in that for sure my check engine light has been on for months

Shawn
 
#9 ·
delorean said:
so the thing in the throtle body does really nothing.. the guy in my class was sayin he noticed thortle response i assume it there for a reason... and with out it would run like crap.. also what is this trick o2 sensor ur talking about.. im interested in that for sure my check engine light has been on for months

Shawn
Click to expand...
If your cat became pluged, you probably need to replace the 2(depends on year) o2 sensors up near the manifolds. They are probably causing you to run rich. So, you should see improved fuel economy by replacing them. The one behind the cat you can get an o2 simulator, or have the codes turned off in the computer if you don't want to put a cat back on it.
 
#10 ·
that TB defuser is there because that TB was used as a universal on some
of the bigger truck engines. It flows alot more than the 4.3 would need.
The defuser was there to restrict the flow, if it wernt you would be getting
the max. volume of air through the engine without even being at WOT
 
#12 ·
I can't believe noone has mentioned an e-fan.... drop the drag on the engine caused by the mechanical fan & pick up a little.... and it's pretty reasonable to do


oh, and btw.... LOWER THAT BISH & TAKE PIX!!! :D
 
#14 ·
LoWeReDX10SiVeLy said:
I can't believe noone has mentioned an e-fan.... drop the drag on the engine caused by the mechanical fan & pick up a little.... and it's pretty reasonable to do


oh, and btw.... LOWER THAT BISH & TAKE PIX!!! :D
Click to expand...
oh, yeah, the efan..... dont do that either, and expect anything significant...
the mechanical fan isnt near as bad as most think.
 
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#15 ·
What about a TBI spacer or solid flex fan? I've done the flex fan with my v-8's in the past and seemed to pick up a little.... I just got my 92 and saw some TBI spacers and didn't know if they'd help or not.....
 
#16 ·
Crew Cab Sonoma said:
oh, yeah, the efan..... dont do that either, and expect anything significant...
the mechanical fan isnt near as bad as most think.
Click to expand...
:stupid:
 
#17 ·
DarkRose said:
What about a TBI spacer or solid flex fan? I've done the flex fan with my v-8's in the past and seemed to pick up a little.... I just got my 92 and saw some TBI spacers and didn't know if they'd help or not.....
Click to expand...
TBI spacers will work on a tbi truck, or a carbed vehicle, but not on a '96 up 4.3.
 
#18 ·
Well costing around $1000 estimated a big cam w/ a dynotune. Or just go w/ the nitrous express GM EFI stage 1 kit. easy 75 whp and 120 ft. lbs. Our motors love n2o.
 
#19 ·
urbanSUV said:
Hey Digital Extreme, where did you get those headlights and how much were they?
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They're the stock headlights from a 98-2000 Envoy. They're expensive, about 1K I believe last time I looked. But that includes the HID's.
 
#20 · (Edited)
well shit, i guess its not worth doing a damn thing to your truck. Apparently, there isnt shit worth doing. But thats all bolt ons are, a couple here and a few there. If your not looking at tearing your motor down any, just stick to the simple stuff like a bigger tb, msd stock replacement coil, CA intake, efan, pulleys. In the end they all do a little.Take it and get a new y pipe made and exhaust. Maybe try the new manifold spacer, i dont think anyone has done that. Its called vmax or something. It makes sense i guess, cause if you have looked inside the 2 piece intake, its damn tight to move air around in. But everyone is gonna say they are just like the tb spacer. Until you get into spending some bank, wich you said you didnt want to, your gonna have to deal with the little stuff. And you will notice the little stuff, thats why everyone does the little stuff.

When i get back to the states in january, i should have a hypertech for sale....dont think it will work for you, but the K&N fipkII i have will. Also will have a set of march pulleys, and a larger tb i think. Ill be looking to get rid of them for cheap.

And then there is always nitrous, cheap, quick, and powerful

EDIT...dont buy the stupid little resistor deal off ebay. When I bought my ss, there was one of those in there......stupid....I actually tested it at the strip, i got slower times and worse economy when i drove it around.
 
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