Hi, First off i would like to say I'm not a big gear head. I was talking to a friend of the family whos a mechanic and he suggested to me that by stripping my truck of all the smog controls, throttle body, etc. and going to a 4 barrel carb i would make my truck, a 1988 F150 4X4 with a 302 run a lot stronger. It acts like its sick with all the smog controls. How much increase in power could i expect? Also, when it comes time to rebuild the motor on the truck, is there anyway to get significant power out of it without costing an arm and a leg. Thanks for your help.

 

you're friend is full of BS...the factory FI will make more torque down low than a carb would...

if you want more power then bump up the spark and maybe add a hotter coil and MSD box...lower the tstat temp to 160/180 and put an electric fan on instead of the motor driven fan..you'll see a good gain and some mpg too...

 

I'll tell you what brought him to the conclusion that the smog and all the other was a problem. When i'm crawling through the woods in 4x4, or stop at a stoplight, the motor quivers and i see the oil hand drop down, and then it will come back up to pressure and you hear the motor rev back up. Also, it idles up and down alot, he thinks that my problems could be coming from the EGR.

 

well if he was a real mechanic he would know for sure....could be the AIC isnt happy?

could be a bad connection somewhere...pop the Check Engine light?

 

I think the biggest problems w/ emmission controls is it can't be budged from a 14.68:1 air to fuel ratio and that has you knocking on PING's door from the get go!

 

I feel stupid asking, but what is the AIC...Is that the Air Intake Control?

 

Air idle control...i remember that now

 

Suggest AIC is IAC - Idle Air Control solenoid - one of the biggest problems for idle surging. The '87 - '91 model years had significant problems with this solenoid getting fouled - a little time and carb cleaner usually straightens things right out.

Always wondered why the carbureted '87 302 was rated for 225 hp, where the FI versions in '88-'91 were rated at only 185 - according to the handy-dandy Chilton's manual. Eh, don't really care here - IMO, going from FI to carb is going backwards in evolution. Not very many times I need the difference in HP.

Does one want reliable, precise fuel delivery with appropriate diagnostics on problems - or a toilet bowl flushing gas down with little idea of where any problems lay?

 

That a good question! It was a transitional year for the 302. My 87' 302ci was EFI, maybe because it licensed for sale in Ca. The transition to EFI w/ the Emissions Control System required a detuning of the engine. The most drastic measure was a significant reduction of available intake air supply. This reduced the amount of fuel that could be demanded to hit the magic 14.68:1 air to fuel ratio. This is why the engines always respond well to the K&N drop in filters. However the limitations of the MAP sensor method of monitoring & adjusting for air intake flow causes the engine to lean out when a CAI Mod is used. Then came MAF. And that is another story. The thing that used to bother the hell out of me was: 87'-88' 302's call for a .044 plug gap. 89' and later calls for a .054 gap. O.k. fine! except: They all use the same plugs, wires, distributor, cap, rotor, TFI, & coil! WTF! To make a long story short, in 89' a small mod was made to the EEC. The spark duration was extended slightly to accommodate the wider gap! I really had to dig for that one! Side Note:Detuneing is why stock base time is 10BTDC ! Things that make you go Hmmmmmm!(or NO SH*T?)

 

HP ratings are not accurate by any means...alot of times the factory will juggle the numbers to please the EPA and Insurance companies...if the engines carry the same compression and camshaft they make the same power...