Questions and Answers

Chevy Truck Dead Throttle Spot Q. Dear Sir, I have a 1993 Chevy truck 4X4 with the TBI 4.3 liter, vin Z engine with 130,000 miles. Manual transmission, no ABS, A/C, or cruise. My problem is there appears to be a dead spot in the throttle, when I accelerate from any speed, the engine seems to lose power and sputter through about 1/3 of the pedal travel. The engine never seems to have any torque.

I checked the timing and it was right on zero as per the manual. The truck pings a lot under all but WOT. The only fault code I get is ONLY if I drive the truck over an hour, only on the interstate. I get code 44, lean condition-O2 sensor. The O2 sensor is only a year old. I recently bought the truck and can't afford to throw parts at the truck. I am new to the neighborhood and don't know which shops I can rely on.

Any help is appreciated,
Jay C.

A. The pinging bothers me. This us usually caused by over advanced timing or an EGR valve problem. If it is setting a lean code, you may want to replace the fuel filter first. Try blowing through the old one. You will know if it's clogged. Another suspect is the injectors. One may not be working but it will still run. You can look at the spray pattern on both to see.