2002 - 4.8L to 5.3L or should I go to a 5.7L?

[87ChevyR10]

Cool running stand.

Looks stationary to me.....

 

[dougbert]

Looks stationary to me.....

lmao

 

[74 Shortbed]

Looks stationary to me.....

LOL..

 

[Driver4r]

Where did you get your bench flash/tune setup?
Ive planned on making my own, But I like how whoever did that setup.
Ive just been doing it either with the harness plugged in, or in the vehicle.

I mean, its simple to make, I just havnt had time.

 

[dougbert]

Where did you get your bench flash/tune setup?
Ive planned on making my own, But I like how whoever did that setup.
Ive just been doing it either with the harness plugged in, or in the vehicle.

I mean, its simple to make, I just havnt had time.

thank you as I made the harness. As for HPTuners, I bought the base package, the Level I at home course and the Shop package from www.thetuningschool.com

I documented the purchase and my harness information in my 1984 K1500 build thread in the following post

http://www.gmsquarebody.com/forum/showpost.php?p=317394&postcount=246

it works great. And I updated my status there as well

dougbert

 

[Driver4r]

thank you as I made the harness. As for HPTuners, I bought the base package, the Level I at home course and the Shop package from www.thetuningschool.com

I documented the purchase and my harness information in my 1984 K1500 build thread in the following post

http://www.gmsquarebody.com/forum/showpost.php?p=317394&postcount=246

it works great. And I updated my status there as well

dougbert

my bad, must have skimmed over that post.

My compliments on the cleanliness, that sleeving looks GOOD!

 

[dougbert]

On saturday I fab'd parts of the exhaust and today Jake did some welding and tack welded things together. Will finish a full weld job shortly

The goal of the exhaust system here is to be quiet and not efficient at high RPMs since there will be no high RPMs.
While the battery tray is to be placed on the rear cross arm of the stand and hold the battery so one can move the stand without effort of the battery tagging along. All ideas for this came from AGearHead4Life

dougbert

 

[dougbert]

Had to go to work early this morning so I got home and worked on the engine this evening.

Installed the fan onto the radiator
Jake finished welding the exhaust pipes to the muffler, so I painted it with high heat paint
painted the battery tray last night and this morning (early) and mounted it tonight
adjusted the + and - battery cables so they will now reach the battery.
took the harness to the car wash and WASHED IT - it was dirty, much cleaner and easier to work with now

sent the ECU to www.lt1swap.com to modify VIN and update the OS to a 2002 Silverado version. Cost $75. Sure I could have done it myself, but it would have cost $100 to get a license for the 2001 Tahoe it WAS.

Left to do:

1) Harness
2) Control panel
3) Examine the ECU image via HPTuners after it gets back
4) electrical

dougbert

 

[dougbert]

made a "gauge and control" panel out of 16g steel, formed it to fit on top of intake and painted it black.

Then:

Installed mech oil gauge
ignition switch
starter switch
fan switch

space for:

ODB port
fuse panel
old android phone to use bluetooth to communicate with the ODB dongle

Installed a new ALT power line (with rubber boot) down to battery junction connection.
bought a new battery
removed most of the loom off of the wiring harness
found a better lower rad hose that is 1.5" by 1.25" and it fits great


As for the harness mod, I will follow the instructions I used from www.lt1swap.com on my PU and do the same here. Remove all useless wires, then place on the engine to allow for wire length measuring. Will then shorten most wires for proper fit.

Basic sensors will be:

IAC
TPS
MAP
water temp sensor
Crank sensor
CAM sensor

and then:

wires for injectors
wires for coils
wires for ALT


dougbert

 

[dougbert]

Gauge and control panel pics

I have all the controls, now to make the wires to do the interconnections

1st pic: left top are starter switch, and then ignition switch, bottom fan switch
2nd pic: mechanical oil pressure, fuse panel and then the ODB connector on the upper right
3rd pic shot of the panel mounted
4th and 5th, different angles of panel

in the last pic is a shot of the upper hose coupler, which has a 1/4" NPT position for a drain, which I re-purposed for the steam vent ingress into the radiator.

The value of this test starting stand became even MORE needed today. Jake has installed a 5.3L into a F-150 (some older model year - not a ford guy I can't tell) and has difficulty getting it started.

Started troubleshooting it and fixed crankshaft sensor issue, ground issue, key-ignation lead was NOT a key-ignation (it turned off when the starter engages, thus was an ACC lead). Fuel was at 58psi, injectors were firing via a noid light. Then compression check: #1 was at 90psi and #2 was at 62psi

oops

all this should have been done on the test stand BEFORE installation. Now he is looking for a 5.3L short block to replace it. AND he likes what I have been doing even more

test starting stands are good.

dougbert

 

[dougbert]

147,000 miles on this engine

got the controls all wired up now, and the oil pressure tube installed

cranked the engine and eventually got 25 psi pressure just with the starter spinning, no spark plugs installed.
Got the radiator fan working correctly (pulling not pushing)

Also took cylinder pressure readings, quite a spread

Cylinder pressure
1 165
2 150
3 130
4 120
5 155
6 150
7 155
8 100

The 5.3 engine in the F-150 jake is working on has 90 psi, 62 as I mentioned before. They took a measurement of the 3rd cylinder and it is 45 psi. OW!

dougbert

 

[dougbert]

Tonight I begin modifying the harness, which will remove unneeded connectors and SHORTEN almost all leads to fit nicely on the manifold

dougbert

 

[dougbert]

First pic is the really nice reference sheets for the blue and red connectors and which wires stay and which wires go. from www.lt1swap.com

second pic is after I put things away after working on the harness and was about to go home, then remembered I needed to take a pic.

Removed the loom, and the black plastic tape AND lots of mud and grease from the harness for about 1/2 the way back. will use some cleaner and wipe the wires down to get the mud off.

SO began the steps of mod'ing the harness as per the instructions

dougbert

 

[foamypirate]

Coming along nicely sir! Makes me want to build a test stand just for the heck of it...never know what I'll need to LS swap down the road, right?

 

[dougbert]

Worked on harness this morning as well. Picked the blue connector clean of all the wires not needed on this stand harness - not even O2 sensors

harness definitely needs wire by wire cleaning. Brake cleaner and a shop towel works great. As this is my second harness, things are progressing faster and I actually understand more fully what I am doing, lol

dougbert