1987 R10 LS swap info

[dangOl'dodge]

ahh rats i figured the rear end would be to good to be true... wonder if the 10 bolt is work putting a 3.73 locker in... probably not eh

on a side note... scored a set of frame mounts today locally... mint condition from an 86 chev 1500 2wd with 305 in.. project back on track!

 

[dangOl'dodge]

little update on the swap... my motor mounts came in today, in the process of making an engine lift out of 6x6 wood i have at the house.

went out to start the donor vehicle and it would only start for 15 seconds at a time before it would start dying down and eventually shut off.. it seemed like it was running out of gas to me ( it prob was - gas gauge don't work) but anyway i started it 4 or 5 times before out of no where the starter wouldn't turn over at all... when i turn the key i can hear the starter solenoid click but nothing at all from the starter... battery is good i tried it in my other truck and it started up fine.. connections were tight too.. any ideas what would be causing that? don't wanna start the swap with an engine that won't start.

ps. a couple of weeks ago i did the vats bypass by unplugging the tbc fuse, and disconnecting the wires from the bcm while engine was running.. it did the trick - security light came on and the truck would start perfect and drive around the yard no troubles for a week or 2...

the battery finally went dead about a week or 2 ago.. i charged it up last night and put it back in the truck today... this is when it started 4 or 5 times and died before finnaly deciding not to turn the starter at all..... i hooked up all the security stuff again and the security light went away but it still won't start... don't know whats wrong!

 

[dangOl'dodge]

well, not sure if anyones still following this but i got the donor truck running again.. the stater was completely dead, replaced that and its running good again.

also, built and engine hoist out of 6x6 wood and got the 4.3/th350 pulled from my 87 yesterday... will be cleaning up the engine bay and doing a bit of painting to get ready for the swap in the next day or 2. will post pictures when i get a chance.

 

[foamypirate]

well, not sure if anyones still following this but i got the donor truck running again.. the stater was completely dead, replaced that and its running good again.

also, built and engine hoist out of 6x6 wood and got the 4.3/th350 pulled from my 87 yesterday... will be cleaning up the engine bay and doing a bit of painting to get ready for the swap in the next day or 2. will post pictures when i get a chance.

Right on man, looking forward to the progress!

 

[dangOl'dodge]

ok so the motors out of the donor... was quite a bit of f$%king around to get out even with the front clip and cross member removed! think I'm gonna have to take the front clip off the 87 too....

Can someone answer me a quick question? the vortec has 3 lines coming from engine... a bigger one which appears to be the main fuel supply line, another one coming from up by the throttle body opening, and one going to another line on the intake... what do i do with this to make my 87 sending unit work? mine only has 2 fuel lines going to the motor...

what i could find online... 1 fuel supply line, 1 fuel return line, 1 fuel vapour line... does this mean i can cap off the vapour line or run it to the vent line on my sending unit? which one is the vapour line.. thanks again

 

[foamypirate]

I think most people just ditch the EVAP line, but since you are trying to avoid a tune, it may throw a code if you do.

 

[dangOl'dodge]

i don't mind codes as along as it doesn't effect performance. i want to do a tune as soon as i figure out what I'm doing with this motor... winters coming in a month so i won't even be putting the truck on the road this year, just dropping the motor in and getting it running.

in the spring i will be finishing off the small stuff like the exhaust and getting all the gauges working.. had originally wanted to do a 6.0 but couldn't find a good donor truck.. standard tranny swap would be something that interests me too but hard to find a good nv 4500 or t56 around here for a decent dollar.

so which line is the evap? whats the best was to go about deleting it

 

[foamypirate]

i don't mind codes as along as it doesn't effect performance. i want to do a tune as soon as i figure out what I'm doing with this motor... winters coming in a month so i won't even be putting the truck on the road this year, just dropping the motor in and getting it running.

in the spring i will be finishing off the small stuff like the exhaust and getting all the gauges working.. had originally wanted to do a 6.0 but couldn't find a good donor truck.. standard tranny swap would be something that interests me too but hard to find a good nv 4500 or t56 around here for a decent dollar.

so which line is the evap? whats the best was to go about deleting it

The EVAP should be the plastic line running to the top of the intake by the throttle body.

 

[dangOl'dodge]

update: got the motor sitting in the truck... had to take off the e g r valve in the manifold to get it down between the frame rails... won't even be able to get a block off plate on it i don't think.... the driveshaft is also to short, although i thought i would be able to re use it from what i was reading online.

also noticed the map sensor was broke off in the intake afterwards.. went to pull out the rubber end that was stuck inside the intake and ended up pushing it down inside the intake... just my luck! looks like the intake manifold will be coming off next nice day.

couple of days of rain coming... prob won't get much done in the yard but will keep posting as i go

 

[dangOl'dodge]

well the only thing now thats stopping me is the fuel pump. i cannot get it to work with the 4.8 fusebox for some reason.

i skinned out the power wire to the fuel pump ( brown/white i think) and ran 12v from battery through a jumper. the fuel pump started up for about 2 seconds before i had to haul the wire off. it got so hot it melted the insulation on the end of my jumper wire.

i tried running it to the grey wire on connector c3 but nothing happens when i turn the key. the engine will crank over but no fuel pump.


strange that the wire got that hot? i tried the pump before i put it in the tank using 2 jumpers and a 12v battery and it never got hot then?

how did you guys wire it up for the fuel pump? did you re use any relays or anything from the square body or did you just connect it from firewall plug directly to the grey wire on the ls under hood fuse box?

pretty confused with it all there now... wires everywhere!

 

[87scotty]

Right size wire for the job sounds like a short been following you though good read and good luck

 

[dangOl'dodge]

update.. i bypassed the fuel pump wires as the ohmmeter was showing a short in the wires. i connected power to the tank side plug in and pump seems to be working good now, wires not hot. tried cranking it over with the fuel pump powered manually, couldn't get it to start...

not getting any power at any points in the fuel pump relay... anyone know how they operate? I'm sure 1 of the 2 power point inside it must be computer controlled... the other perhaps from the ignition?

i will check for spark tomorrow... anyone know the easiest way to check on a truck? I've only checked atv plugs by holding the plug against metal and cranking it over to see spark.

 

[87scotty]

That's what I've always done

 

[dangOl'dodge]

ok so i checked today no spark... when key is forward i see power on 1 wire on each of the coil packs?

still no power out of grey wire on block c2 for fuel pump

don't understand why this swap is giving me the run around... looked so simple before i started... should of went with the painless harness by the look of things.. been picking at this for a long time now and still can't get it started.

am i missing something other than whats listed? i literally have done nothing other than those connections in below picture... aside from running grounds. and cutting off the engine harness from the old motor and bolting that back onto the firewall to use for splicing in ignition wires

 

[yevgenievich]

There is a number of wires that get a switched hot. You can look up the pinout for you ecm and then probe the connector for power at the correct pin. It is also common to some times have a constant 12v to turn out not be 12v during cranking depending how things were connected. I have always put together a seperate fuse box for the swap instead of trying to use one from the donor as it makes wiring easier and less cluttered