Chevy S10 - $2017 Challenge and beyond

I don't know much about how GM's TBI is supposed to work, but if you think the injectors are faulty, it looks like Besslers is the cheapest game in town at $7.41 each after tax.  I'm happy to buzz out there if you want me to grab a couple.

In reply to wae :

I'll do some more checking after the work today.  Hoping it's not necessary, as I'm already on my second set. 

It appears to be wiring.   It seems injectors are not getting a signal according to the noid light.  I was getting fuel into the throttle body when timing was bad, but now that that is fixed, no fuel.  I checked anywhere my rigged wiring could be shorting, and did not find any issues.  I also checked the VATS resistance, and it was inside the correct parameters.  Getting a little tired tonight, so tomorrow I'll try to do some more thorough checking.

Ignition control module can go bad and cause ignition but no injecting.  Had it a few times on tbi engines. Do you still have the old motor? If so, you can nab the module out of that distributor to check.

In reply to Dusterbd13 :

I don't have the original engine, but somewhere in the garage I should have another distributor, so I can see about swapping modules.  I'm thinking I'll dig through my wiring a little bit more first, it's quite possible I jostled something or pulled something loose.

If i can help at all let me know.  I have a known good tbi v8 distributor that would probably take a day or two to mail down to you.

Injectors (or O-rings for them) have to have been leaking when I saw fuel over the weekend - I decided to check and see if the injectors were getting power when the ignition switch was on before tearing anything up.  They weren't.  I traced the wires back to the interior harness, where, apparently in our rush to get everything together, we never wired up the power to them.  There's a secondary ECM fuse in the S10 that isn't in the fireturd (I think) that we aren't using right now, and it's fused a bit higher than the injectors normally are (15A vs 10A).  I think I'm going to temporarily wire them up to it, switch out to a 10A fuse, and give it a shot.

That was it.  Got the engine to fire up (had to use a little starter fluid), and ran it for about 30 seconds, and it did fine.  The garage was getting buggy, so I shut down for tonight.  I'll start assembling the rest of the truck tomorrow, and wait for assistance from wae to get the wiring all cleaned up later.  Even if it doesn't make it to the challenge, it's nice to know I should be able to move it around the driveway at least. 

Going to be really busy this weekend if there's any chance of bringing this to Gainesville.

With the engine running, it's now down to getting everything done to get it back on the road.  I printed out a huge list and taped it to some cardboard in the garage, so I could cross off items as they are completed.  Also, there's extra room to add items, since I know I've forgotten things.  I'm hoping to have it driveable in the neighborhood by the end of the weekend, and able to drive to work and back by mid-week next week.

There's hope for this thing yet, but I am going to put enough effort into the Miata to make sure it is ready in case the S10 isn't.

I crossed off four items from the to do list last night.  Of course, I also added four items to it, too...

Edit:  I also started scanning receipts and tackling the budget worksheet last night.  It seems like a good thing to do when the garage gets too many mosquitos in it when it gets dark.

Got a little done today, but not as much as I'd hoped, as I had some fitment issues with the Interpid radiator I picked up, so went back to the junkyard for a Taurus fan.  I have it trimmed to fit, but still need to make some brackets to hold it.  Picked up some aluminum for it this evening, and will try to get that dealt with early tomorrow, as people are coming over to help during the day, and it'd be good for that to be done ahead of time.

I also measured driveline angles, and they are a mess.  The trans angle and pinion angle are only 1 degree different, but the trans is aimed down and the pinion up.  Going to order a alignment kit designed for my level of lowering, and size of truck, and hope it fixes everything.

Only a week and a half until it needs to be on a trailer...

When i did my sonoma with 3" springs and 1" blocks in back it needed 5 degree shims.  

In reply to Patrick :

I'm thinking of buying a kit with 3 degree shims and a block to raise the transmission, then maybe adding on a set of 4 degree shims to the order, just in case.  Trans was 7 degrees down, and the pinion was about 6 degrees up.  I'm only running the 3" springs and a thin block in the back to shift the axle back half an inch.

My father-in-law and Jerry stopped by to help today.  Tons of work done, but a bunch to go.  A lot of my hack wiring was fixed, some wiring was lengthened to fit, and mostly loomed up so it won't get burned by the engine heat.  Checked the differential fluid - it was low, but not empty.  Hoping that's alright.  We got brackets made and mounted the electric fan, and wired it up.  Some of the window tint was removed, and the big chevy logo in the back window was removed.   Reinstalled the bench seat after cleaning it up a bit.  Installed the grill and the front bumper, had to do a little shimming for the bumper, since one of the frame horns was bent.  I'm sure I'm forgetting things.

After everybody left, I put the wheels on, and dropped the truck off the jackstands.  It's sitting a bit higher in the front than the rear right now, but I think that'll have to be dealt with after the challenge is over.  I've got about 5-6" I need to widen the track width (or lower the truck). 

As it's getting closer and closer to the challenge, one last batch of orders was put in for parts.  Wish I had more time for finding bargains, but it's a little late for that.  Ordered two sets of wheel spacers, one 2.5" and one 3", and will use whichever works out best.  Also ordered a driveline alignment kit and some extra shims, just in case, and a seat cover, because the bench seat fabric is trashed and the old seat cover is nasty.  Finally, ordered a set of Sumitomo all season performance tires for the 15" wheels.  Hopefully, they'll just be street tires, but they could be backup race tires if the r-compounds fall through due to our lack of time.

The weather is bad, so some fabrication work is going to have to be held off until it improves, but hoping tomorrow can allow for the hood to get installed, front wheel bearings repacked, brake hoses replaced, and the brakes bled.  Still will need to do a quick alignment, too, but hoping to wait until the truck can be made to move under it's own power easily, which will require fab time for a new battery tray, the old one was pretty much rusted away.

Still concerned about the truck making it, since it still hasn't been driven, but if we luck out and nothing big goes wrong once we have it moving under its own power, we should be good to go, though not very fast.

eastsidemav said:

Still concerned about the truck making it, since it still hasn't been driven, but if we luck out and nothing big goes wrong once we have it moving under its own power, we should be good to go, though not very fast.

This, pretty much verbatim, is where I'm at... except in my case it's not 'hasn't been driven' it's 'hasn't been started'...

Ashyukun said:

eastsidemav said:

Still concerned about the truck making it, since it still hasn't been driven, but if we luck out and nothing big goes wrong once we have it moving under its own power, we should be good to go, though not very fast.

This, pretty much verbatim, is where I'm at... except in my case it's not 'hasn't been driven' it's 'hasn't been started'...

We've got the Miata as a backup at this point, if we don't need it, you are welcome to use it.  I'm hoping to be able to at least move the truck in the next day or so, but I don't want to put it on the road until the driveshaft alignment kit is installed.

In reply to eastsidemav :

I'm still trying to be hopeful that the Rampage will make it. It will mostly come down to it running- I'm pretty sure if it at least will run once everything is hooked up that I'll be able to make it, if it takes lots of troubleshooting to get it going it may not be smart to try taking it. Will have to decide by the end of the week- if it's not mobile and able to be driven to get inspected and licensed, I obviously can't drive it to the Challenge...

In reply to Ashyukun :

As long as either the S10 or the Rampage is streetable, the other one could be trailered.  Still, want to try to make sure neither is likely to blow up in Gainesville.

In reply to eastsidemav :

Yeah, I'd prefer neither blow up either. I won't be pushing the turbo much on the Rampage if it's running properly.

A bit more progress today.  Hood is back on, and not perfectly lined up, but it's close enough to latch and not scrape against the fenders.  Had a bit of a break in the weather, too, so I was able to cut up a patch panel from some of the firebird metal I salvaged, and I've sealed the extra hole int he firewall.  At this point, if I could come up with a way to temporarily secure the battery, I could empty out the bed, and pull the S10 out into the driveway.  Not ready to do that yet, but soon, as I'd like to have space to work on the Miata a bit.

I think little things, like the heater and gauges may get skipped until after the challenge.

Quick update:  Working on the firewall put my nose in close proximity to the bench seat, which it turns out smells like 25 years of farts.  Hit it with a bit of carpet cleaner and then sprayed Odoban liberally on it.  I'll be using a seat cover, but would rather not have the smell below it seep through.

Also, Jerry managed to remove the outer layer of tint on the driver's window, along with about a 1/3 of the inner layer.  I attacked the rest last night, and made almost no progress, as it only flaked off in tiny slivers.  I got out a 4:1 water:vinegar spray bottle, and sprayed and wiped it all over the window, and sealed it on with saran wrap.  This morning before work, I pulled the saran wrap, and it only took about 10-15 minutes to remove most of the tint.  A litte bit up near the front that probably did not get sealed well still stuck, so I rolled the window down a smidge and reapplied the vineger water mix and saran wrap, and it should be ready to be removed after work today.

I rarely name my cars, but the S10 has earned the name Sandy, after all the beach debris that keeps falling off it.

Sometime between when the truck went on jackstands and when it came back Dow, the brakes failed.  Can’t see any leaks, so I assume the master cylinder went.  Tonight, I was repacking bearings and replacing hoses, and started on the drivers side.  When I got it together and tried to bleed the caliper with my vacuum pump, all I got was air, so I’m guessing the caliper is bad, too.    Ran out and picked up a master cylinder and front calipers.  Will replace the calipers first and see if they can be bled, then sometime later will swap out the master cylinder.  Too many other things to do before the challenge...

I'm so glad to see that I'm not the only one working up to the last minute. 

Stampie said:

I'm so glad to see that I'm not the only one working up to the last minute. 

Yeah, and all this is jeopardizing my backup plan.  If I haven't got the brakes working, the car aligned, and the battery tray fabbed by the end of day tomorrow, I think it's a sign I need to give up.

Don't give up, call on reinforcements.