A couple of you have "encouraged" me to blow the cobwebs out of my all stock '91 Brougham. I've always driven it very conservatively to milk the best gas mileage. Now, come to find out that I should "open her up" at least weekly to keep the carbon from building up inside the engine, and the transmission from getting sloppy.

Well, today was the day. I did a 0 - 80 mph wide open throttle, and a 30 - 70 mph wide open throttle. I didn't notice any appreciable amount of smoke out the back end, and the transmission seemed to do a nice decisive job of shifting the lady through the gears. I have to admit, I hadn't opened her up like that for a long time. I can't say that I got a rush out of it or anything, but it was fast enough for me. :bigroll:

So, in the spirit of proper car maintenance, I'll be repeating this exercise on a weekly schedule. Thanks, Brian for the tip!:thumbsup:

JRau in central Iowa

Maybe for future reference when you open her up you do not have to do it from a dead stop. As a matter of fact don't do it that way. Just a slow to moderate depression of the accel pedal until you are on the floor will do it, and you do not have to do it all the way through any one gear. I would suggest starting at 50 and going to 80. That should do it.

This thread is VERY interesting to me since it was all but mandatory for me to give my 79 Cordoba (360, 4-barrel) what one Italian friend called an "Italian TuneUp."
I guess that was what he did on the Autostrada before he came to the U.S.
Anyway, with foot to the floor, the TorqueFlite transmission shifting from 1 to 2 at 48 MPH, a gigantic cloud of crap blew out of the tailpipes after a week of city driving.
Anybody following would need radar. And the longer the car had been confined to city puttering, the bigger the cloud when I finally kicked it.
The car never burned oil, (never had to add any before my usual 2,000 mile change and it never went down on the stick, either) and ran like a fine watch until I gave it to a relative in 2002, or thereabouts with only 98,000 miles.
I gather that GM engines are not that picky, although I have read they are supposed to be "Oil Killers" in that they destroy (break down) lubricants quickly unless equipped with a windage tray.
Since my only experience with the innards of GM motors was with the Chevy 283 blocks I had in a boat, some years ago, I couldn't verify the above. Yet I couldn't tell if the engines loaded up since the exhaust was filled with water (normal) which would carry away any large carbon or crud clouds.

Of all the times I've gone WOT, I've never seen a cloud of anything (other than tire smoke :lildevil: ) behind me. I guess I have a pretty clean engine...

Of all the times I've gone WOT, I've never seen a cloud of anything (other than tire smoke :lildevil: ) behind me. I guess I have a pretty clean engine...

I haven't done a burn-out in so long--in any car! (except in the snow) I think my last burnout was in a new (at that time) mid-80's Ford Ranger pickup. I was a parts driver at a local Ford dealership back then. God, I beat the crap out of that truck, but it was fun to drive--especially empty. I couldn't do too much with an engine loaded in back, but otherwise, it was always pedal to the metal, skids, burnouts, powerslides, etc. That poor truck never had a chance. I remember after it got sold it came back shortly for some MAJOR repair work... Wonder why? :) LOL!!

JRau in central Iowa

I did a burnout in the FW (one legger...) on some farm country back roads, I would have to say 400+ foot long. She was well into the high end of second gear and finally shifted to 3rd, still spinning, Once vehicle speed finally caught up, it stopped and kicked back to 2nd....

It was a nice black one that lasted a while out there. We have over 1 mile of abandoned smooth backroad that hardly ever gets driven. Nothing to hit if you ever lost it either, except maybe a corn stalk....

I did a burnout once in my Roadmaster that lasted well into 2nd gear (45mph). It spun one tire, which is odd considering it was posi. I wonder if I broke it...

Might be a worn out one. The Eatons are rebuildable for around $70-$100 last time I checked (these are the factory posi's we got). Common parts, easily available. Auburns (cone type) are not rebuildable. Smoother, but not rebuildable... some people have done some creative things to make them work better again, but once the metal is worn, chuck it...

check Randy's Ring and Pinion (on the net) for it. Probably take you 2-3 hours to rebuild tops, less if you have a good garage to work on it in.

Sold that car long ago, still I wonder though..

Start out from a dead stop and fry the tires before going to WOT. A good burnout reduces rubber tread on your tires and therefore reduces rotational mass (weight) and improves acceleration and gas mileage.

tongue in cheek, of course

hmmm.... Might have to play some more....

then again with my diff like it is, maybe I should wait till I get the posi installed....