Chevy S10 - $2017 Challenge and beyond

Is it shorted or tied to hot somewhere?

Robbie (Forum Supporter) said:

Is it shorted or tied to hot somewhere?

Judging from a diagram I checked, it looks like it is directly connected to the pcm.  I checked for continuity on the ground wire, too, and it failed.  Just in case, I checked the coolant level wiring, and it worked, so it is not a problem with my multimeter.  Most of the wire is in a part of the harness that is opened up right now, so this evening, I'll get out and take a closer look.  I would not be surprised if the wires are damaged/broken inside the connector.  At least it looks like a GM weatherpack connector, so should be easy to replace.  I might even be able to pirate one from the truck's TBI harness.

Amusingly, when on one of the FLAPS websites, when I had 2001 Sierra 2500 selected as my car, and did a search, I got as far as "coo" before the first thing it listed the coolant temp sensor connector as the first suggestion.    Hoping to run outside during lunch break to take quick look at the wires before the evening.

It was the connector.  Checked the wiring runs, and did not see any damage.  Cut the signal wire off an inch or so from the connector, and was able to get continuity.  Did the same with the ground wire.  Just need to buy or salvage a replacement connector and I'll be good to go.  I suspect the weight of the AC and starter wires can pull on this one over time.  I'll try to make sure I give it long enough leads that it doesn't become a problem again.

Couldn't find a compatible connector in my stash at home, so ran out last night and picked one up.  Installed it at lunchtime today using some shrink tubing with solder built into it.  Seems to work well, will see how it holds up in use.  Most importantly, I've got continuity, so that should clear the P0118 error, and maybe some of the hard starting issues the Sierra had.

Been working on this in the evenings, but haven't had much notable to say.  The wiring harness is now re-wrapped, except for the starter wires, and I labeled all the wires on the C100 connector, so I should be able to build an adapter harness with it.  I also found the evap wiring dead ends on another connector, so I am a little confused as to how that works, but will just go with it for now.

Pulled the EGR hardware off the engine, and will need to block the hole in the intake manifold.  There are commercially available block off plates, but supposedly, a 1 3/8" rubber stopper will work just fine.  I also replaced the valve cover gaskets.  The passenger side might have been okay, but the driver side was definitely leaking.

Also, I finally pulled the swap headers out of the box for some test fitting.

For a relatively inexpensive set of headers, they seem pretty nice to me.  However, the oil cooler lines interfere with the driver side header.  To start with, I may just delete the oil cooler for now, as the H3 pan already has a block off plate, and I'm going to be hauling around at least 1500 lbs less weight, so I suspect the engine will not be getting loaded down too badly.  The passenger side looks like it will interfere with the ear of the transmission, which I kind of expected on both sides.  The guidelines I've seen for installing a 4L80E in an S10 are to cut them off on both sides.  Since the inspection cover is not drilled for bolts at that point, I won't be losing any function.

The transmission linkage bracket is giving me some fits.  I don't think I need to reuse it, as my understanding is a 4L60E/700R4 linkage will bolt to the oil pan fine, but I'd like to have it off, just to have it out of the way.  Not too mention part of the old shifter cable is still stuck to it.  It uses torx bits, and I suspect it was in an area where moisture and salt would collect, as the bolts don't want to come loose at all.  I've already partially stripped one of the bolt heads.

Otherwise, I'm prepping the garage to pull the S10 in.  Space is not going to be ideal, but I think I can tetris everything in to position.  Working room will very much depend on how quickly I can get the old engine and trans out of the garage.  It does have me thinking about whether I should drop the money for a premade transmission crossmember.  It could make getting the new engine in a lot faster and easier.  Just having a hard time justifying dropping $250-300 for something that simple.

I'm planning on picking up some bins to more compactly store some of the parts off the Sierra, and making a final run tomorrow to the storage locker to clear a little bit more room.  If all goes according to plan, I'll clean up the S10 a bit tomorrow afternoon/evening, park it in the garage, and start pulling it apart for its second engine swap under my ownership.

Spent some of Sunday cleaning up the garage, and rearranging everything.  Also, since the truck was covered in pollen, and some mildew, I took it out to the car wash for a quick hosedown.  I was somewhat amused by the appearance of the bed when I got home.  The remaining water did a great job of showing where there is dead air in the bed, and where airflow dried it out.

After some more work in the garage, and piling some things I just couldn't find space for into the S10's bed, it rolled into the garage for (hopefully) its last time with 305 power.  I made sure there is enough room next to it to roll my engine stand out to the front of the garage.

Teardown should begin tonight.  Pulling the 305/700R4 should be much simpler than the LQ4/4L80E was. 

Which swap headers are those? Asking for a fiend.

In reply to QuasiMofo (John Brown) :

Flowtech 11578FLT headers - about twice as expensive as cheap eBay headers, but way less than a lot of other options.

Previously aforementioned fiend was considering these. They look a lot like yours but seem to have a V-Band. I'm certain that both will be perfect for things that you and fiends will be doing with them.

Looks like the exact same design, except for the v bands.

One nice thing about pulling an engine/wiring harness I don't plan to use anymore.  I don't have to label all the wiring connectors before pulling it apart

Gave in and ordered a crossmember.  They appear to be on backorder for the next three weeks.  I'll probably just use the stock crossmember to hold the transmission somewhat level until it comes in.  I think I'll also order some other smaller bits this week - oil cooler blockoff with an NPT fitting, so I can keep my aftermarket oil pressure gauge, line lock, and whatever else I can think of.

Had to work late yesterday so no progress last night.  Got up early this morning to make up for it, and crawled onto the floor of the cab to pull the ECU, and fish the engine harness wiring out of the  cab.  I know the engine/trans combos weigh about the same, but I am thinking I may lose a pound or two of weight in wiring when this swap is complete.

With the new harness, there will be far fewer wires going into the cab, so I am thinking maybe of closing up the hole on the passenger side, and drilling a new, smaller one closer to the driver's side.  I may also look into a bulkhead wiring connector.  Seems like that'd make life easier during future upgrades.

I am also wondering, is there any value in the passkey module, and matching key/ignition set?  Or should I just toss them?

If I manage to get free from work soon enough, I'll try to finish pulling the wiring, then maybe start draining fluids.  I really want to have the engine out on Saturday, but if so, I need to be pretty much ready to pull by then, or I'll delay til Monday.

And the harness is extracted:

Pulled a few other parts(bumper, driver's inner fender, battery tray) tonight, but still haven't started draining fluids.  Maybe tomorrow.

Progress has continued with disassembly.  I have a very small list of things to do before pulling the engine, so it should come out tomorrow.

With a two week delay (at least) before the transmission crossmember comes in, I am debating whether or not to spend the money for some front coilovers, and maybe lower control arms and tall ball joints, if I can find them in stock somewhere.  I'm not as concerned with handling as I am with leveling out the suspension.  There was a bit of a sag towards the driver side.  Improved handling would just be a bonus.

Preparation paid off.  We had the engine and transmission out and stashed in the garage by noon today.  Need to separate them so they'd take up a bit less room, plus I am still using my rollers for the LQ4.

Nice and empty engine bay.

The garage is crowded, so I made sure the welder will be accessible for modifications to the crossmember.  I probably shouldn't need to do any clearancing, but if it makes getting the engine in and out easier, I might as well, especially since I probably have a couple weeks before the engine can go back in.

Did a bit of parts ordering this week, and the first items should be showing up today.  One thing I realized is, even though I was able to pull the engine out with the intake installed, I could not figure a way to install it in the S10 that way, so I have a lift plate coming for the LS motor.  I am hoping this will also help me level the assembly better than ratchet straps could.

I also have a high flow fuel pump on the way (Walbro 255), which has me thinking I should pick up a new sending unit to install at the same time, as it would be nice to have a working gas gauge again.  There are three different sending units for my year for the 20 gallon gas tank, and I have an idea which one is the right one, but am not 100% sure.  I am hoping there will be some labeling on the wiring once I pull the bed off to get to the tank.

Lift plate showed up.  I can't believe I was concerned about using it to lift the engine and trans together at the same time.  This thing is massive compared to my old 4 barrel carb lift plate.

Been chipping away at it.  Transmission linkage is disassembled and stashed away.  Really hoping to keep the column shifter but will use the firebird shifter and cable if I have to.

Gearheadotaku stopped by to pick up the 700R4 that used to be in the truck, so there is enough room in the garage to swap in the new engine.  The swap transmission crossmember is still on backorder, though. 

I spent this afternoon pulling the original transmission crossmember, and tidying up a few things in the engine compartment.  Also, I pulled the steering shaft and clamped it in to the drill press for a bit of work.  Put an 1/8" hole through it at the top, so now there is a cotter pin holding it to the steering column along with the pinch bolt.  I'll still want to remember to check it every now and then, but this should reduce the risk of any more catastrophic failures.

I also pulled the knock sensors and the valley plate off the LQ4, and installed the lift plate.

The front knock sensor looks like it has been replaced recently, but the back one was pretty crusty.  If it's not too expensive, I'll pick up a replacement before reinstalling them, since it likely won't be fun to swap out after everything is together.

Before I lift the engine/trans with the hoist, I need to cut off the ears on the trans, and probably the lift hook, in oder to have enough space for the headers, and room in the transmission tunnel.  Once it is on the hoist, I'll need to stabilize it enough to swap the oil pan, pickup, and dipstick.  Just in case I need more clearance, I got under the truck and tried to hit the captive nuts for the body mounts on the cab, so they can be unbolted, and I can lift the cab a few inches.

The transmission crossmember went from "Backorder - expected shipping date on June 15" to "Backorder", so I have no idea when it will be available.  In the interest of continuing to move forward, and since I still have some money in my hobby fund, I am thinking of ordering some (in stock) front suspension parts.  Looking into QA1 coilovers and LCAs.

It looks like the default suggestion for QA1 coilovers is 450 lb/in, but I've read that is way too soft, except maybe for drag racing.  Stock springs for an S10 vary from around 650 to 750 lb/in, except for the ZQ8 suspension, which varies between 530-600 lb/in.  I have a Blazer Xtreme front sway bar in my stash, which is considerably larger than the stock one, so I am thinking I can get away with a 550 lb/in spring, and maybe the truck will ride a bit better.  I wouldn't mind double adjustable shocks, but haven't found them in stock anywhere yet, so I may just go with single.  It shouldn't make too big of a difference, since the aim is more of a fun street truck, rather than any specific form of competition.

I also discovered taillight assemblies are pretty cheap, so they'll be on my next order.  I want to pull the factory ones today, and see if I can find the short in the wiring, to see if I need to order any new sockets, too.

Time for some serious confusion, or "eastsideTim doesn't understand wiring very well".  I pulled the taillight housings, and checked out the sockets.  None of them look bad visually.  Decided to do a quick continuity check on the connectors.  For the first pass, all six sockets had continuity between their positive and ground connection.  I then checked, and the positive battery cable (no battery in the truck) was laying up against the fender.  I pulled it off the fender so it couldn't complete a circuit anymore, and checked the cab - light switch was off, shifter position in neutral, turn signals off, and hazard lights off.  Went back and rechecked, and now, the only circuit that doesn't still have continuity was the left side backup light.

The only fuse that had been blowing was for the taillights.  Turn signals and brake lights had worked fine, and I think the backup lights did, too, but I am not 100% sure.  Is it possible the other lights are getting some continuity, but high enough resistance that they don't light up on their own?  Would this indicate that all the positive wires for the rear lights have insulation rubbed through somewhere that causes them to connect to ground?  I would think that if the ground had damaged insulation and was getting a near constant positive voltage that it'd also be blowing every fuse(tail, backup, turn/brake) for the lights, not just the taillights.  But, maybe I'm wrong?

Any ideas on the next move?  I'm thinking I need to start tracing and unwrapping the rear harness, but if there is something I should check first that is simpler, I'm all for it.

More parts ordered.  Summit had all the coil over goodies, so I put an order in with them.  However, some of them are coming from Nevada, so might not make it before the weekend.  I'm not going to risk pulling the suspension apart until everything has arrived.  With any luck, this will trigger the crossmember to show up, since I will want to install the coil overs before putting the engine back in.   Also nabbed some new sway bar end links, knock sensor, tailight housings, and some Beetle parts from Rock Auto.  The basement is going to look even more like a warehouse when this all shows up.

In reply to eastsideTim :

I don't have a wiring diagram handy, but one thing that might be worth doing is pulling the relevant fuses and then see if you still have continuity between positive and ground. If not, then it would seem like the wiring between the bed and cab is ok. Again, if things test good with the fuses pulled, insert one at a time until the continuity returns. That could point to what circuit is misbehaving.

In reply to HikerDan (Forum Supporter) :

Thank you.  I'll give that a shot, and will also try to track down a legible wiring diagram.