well berkeley. everything just got shelved and a nice weekend of racing is now canceled.
its got low oil pressure at idle and when it gets up to temp and warm it squeaks like crazy, confirmed low in the cab without the serp belt on and low and behold the serp belt just gets tossed as easily so I'm out of ideas on that problem now...
maybe a flattened cam? some wiped out bearing? Lots of copper in the oil...
berkeley for ffs
Skipped one day of racing and opted to not loose all my entry fees and drove 2.5hrs to the open track day event, long transit thats for sure..
Well I haven't taken the engine out yet but I did manage to finish my air compressor at least...
made a quick little manifold for easy air hose plug in. the outlet will go to the air tank thats not installed yet so a simple plug works for the time being.
a little close up of the simple system. The only thing I am waiting on to finish this whole thing is the compressor switch mounting bracket, I could have made one but I was ordering some other stuff so another 8 dollars was worthwhile.
Now I have insult to injury as the misc "lets go camping and offroading" gear arrive in the mail throughout this week...
:(
in other news, I am looking into some 8.8 stuff that may fix some of my problems but then it causes me to chase the rabbit hole of transmission upgrades.
in other news of "I'm a dumbass"
I believe some of my issues is my PCV routing setup and probably had an impact on the tune/caused some lean issues. I need to throw these valve covers away and start over, anyone need these fancy baffles?
This is how I had it.
but this mimics the 6L setup which I thought was okay, but its not...
Realizing I need to get air intake suction from the crankcase I neglected completely this orifice:
there is a NPT port here plugged that is for the medium duty vehicles - they use this port for an oil drain on the air compressor that is attached to the accsesory drive, it runs on the oil from the big block. So effectively I need to do this:
and tune it properly instead of driving it around all the time and mucking with orifice sizes/etc...
HOWEVER, one still the question remains, what size tubing should this be? Its a 1/4" NPT port in the front and a 3/8 NPT in the back, the stock PCV was only a few millimetre port in the throttle body and bottom side of intake manifold. The inlet and outlet of the catch can is also 3/8s"
Okay so with the PCV system figured out I managed to find myself a low mileage 8.1 fairly local and for the price with a warranty of 60 days it aint a bad deal so I'm about to begin to prep the vehicle for pulling the motor, I got the AC evacuated so once I get this motor here (need the lift the remove the engine from truck bed) I can begin. However there still is one small issue. the CKP....
if I teardown the motor I could replace the reluctor wheel on the crankshaft, this is about 300 bucks for the sensor and wheel 2nd hand plus the cost of the overhaul which sounds terrible...
this would be the best approach hands down but it is also more involved and costly.
the whole front cover has been leaking because its meant for a 454 not a 496 so the oil pans are different, a 454 oil pan would solve my dilemma but it wont mount to the block due to the mounting spacings/locations
this timing cover issue poorly stated in a paragraph within the 8.1 performance book:
this doesn't say E36 M3 for a lack of a better word...
what its trying to say is that this cavity in the GM performance front cover needs to be filled so it can match with the 8.1 style oil pan and gasket.
see how the oil pan gasket basically will just flop around in there?
either a bunch of RTV or JB weld some aluminum in there so that the cavity is filled and is flush with the pan gasket allowing the pan to work. I have struggled with this issue since the start of the swap and poured too much money into this only to realize this is a terrible idea.
I'm beginning to wonder if I really even needed to trim the balancer shaft per their 'instructions' as well.
So once i fix this and put the junkyard engine in the suburban will be for sale and I am buying a new truck because I'm tired of working on chevy trucks instead of racecar stuff, I have other hobbies that are being neglected because time and money is focused on this truck, if anyone is interested let me know.
next steps?
I found a low mileage engine from a wrecked truck not too far away:
here we go again! :(
sketchyness is critical but I did it similar to this last go around too...
ta berkeleying da, and nobody got a crunched finger, also seatbelts are very strong FYI
Sketchy as frig!
all done! or so I thought...
I installed the flexplate backwards....
:(
Oh..... That sucks.
java230 said:Oh..... That sucks.
i literally just filled it with fluids and have been ready to start, nevermind the week or so I lost messing with the oil cooler parts mismatch, there is a change midway through 2003 where the overall oil cooler line diameter shrunk by 1.34mm so I had to replace the lines and connectors on the engine as there was no way to change the radiator end connector... something I could have prevented before selling my core with the lines attached....
DO'H
Does it make any sense to drop a 6.0 in? I can't remember, but have you changed anything in a way you can't go back to stock (or stock-ish). Especially if you're looking to sell the truck in the near future.
In reply to dj06482 :
yeah it probably would have been a better idea but maybe I can sell the big block truck for more? now I just need to flip the flexplate and everything should be fine. getting ANOTHER engine right now doesn't seem worthwhile.
I towed it to a trans shop to fix my error, drove it home then assembled the fascia and other bits/pieces:
did about 20 miles on a test drive and I am not thrilled with the oil pressure, need to verify with a mechanical gauge but next week or so this will be traded in. I'm done.
1 psi of oil pressure for every 1000 RPM right? it doesn't make any noises but i think one 5w30 oil change and this thing will get its bearings wiped. I'm going to try 20w50 and see if it improves, its a shame because it runs strong. this is technically within spec but I don't buy it. it is making about 40psi driving around town so all signs suggest its good but I'm so over this GM truck.
if anyone wants this truck 10K its yours. 11k if you want the winter tires/wheels with it too. 2008 suburban HD with 91k on it, warranty on the engine is good through 12/7
Where are you located? I want a basketcase truck like I want a hole in the head, but this is pretty much eggberkeleyingzactly what I need.
Also would feel much more comfortable buying a basketcase from a fellow GRMer than some buy-here, pay-here stranger, haha.
I'm in the NW Detroit metro area. my zip is 48328.
the basketcaseness is solved, its just junkyard engine problems now. It may just need a new oil pump and be fine but I'm not investing any time. my cell is 630 803 4578 feel free to leave a message.
I even have a ported intake manifold and some spare parts I can toss in. its currently installed with the stock manifold as the engine is tuned for this.
Unfortunately I won't be ready to pull the trigger on any vehicle until mid-late september, but I'll keep it in mind. Currently in New Home Mortgage Application Financial Lockdown...
I think I posted this a couple years ago in this thread but every BBC I have ever messed with liked 40wt minimum for the gaps but most all of them in performance vehicles have liked m1 15w50. I know it may not matter to you at this point but I think you'll like hot oil pressure better.
crankwalk (Forum Supporter) said:I think I posted this a couple years ago in this thread but every BBC I have ever messed with liked 40wt minimum for the gaps but most all of them in performance vehicles have liked m1 15w50. I know it may not matter to you at this point but I think you'll like hot oil pressure better.
yeah I was considering just straight 40w and call it good, depends whats on the shelf I guess. I'll have to see and try again.
In reply to fidelity101 (Forum Supporter) :
Costco had diesel oil on sale last week. 3x 1 gal jugs of 15W40 for $27
I still need to rule out if the sending unit is bad or not, the oil pressure gauge I have doesn't have the range I need so I'll have to snag one and a 5/16th square bit and double check with a mechanical gauge. Handy port right above the filter.
could also just be a bad pump? but I'm in no mood to throw a pump on it now. Junkyard was willing to refund me 500 cash for me to throw a pump on it. otherwise I can get a full refund if I pull it out and take it back to him but I'm in even a lesser mood than that right now.
Having read all this I KNOW YOU ARE SICK AND TIRED of this.....but in all honesty if someone were to have the wherewithal patience, $$$$ to complete,.......is this a viable project to pursue or jus say effit I'm out like what yu were eluding to earlier............
I was going to say could be a sending unit, my '89 C1500 would read low enough at idle that the oil pressure light would come on. Hopefully that's the issue here!
In reply to dj06482 :
I hope so! that means I can sell this for more in that case lol.
Special socket arrived today so I'll hook up the mechanical gauge and go from there.
I feel like I've lost track, do you now have an 8.1 core engine laying around? Because I wouldn't mind taking it off your hands if so.
In reply to ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ :
I had one but I managed to sell it on craigslist prematurely. The only 8.1 I have is the one currently in the truck.
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