Impending Vortec Swap (8 Viewers)

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Most of which should have been done when the motor and tranny were out of the vehicle.
x2 . . . . . . x 1,000,000
 
Finally got my linkage to work. A little janky , but it us going thru the gears nice. A little off going into low, but with the Dakota digital sensor, I'm not too worried about getting it spot on.

Getting the front end together as well .

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Totally done with the transmission shifting. I hooked up the DD GSS-2000 (sending unit and "brain box") and DGS-3 indicator. Unfortunately, the sending unit is designed to bolt to the transmission without the stock tranny gear indicator thing, so the DD sending unit won't fit without that. You also can't send the GM signals to the DD "Brain box." So, I mounted it upside down (outside of the truck) and screwed it to the body by the shifter (console). I had to modify the arm and bit and I made a rod, but everything is going through the gears as it should.

The DD system is pretty slick, mounting annoyances aside. So, I got the turn signals, brights (which toyota and DD use opposite signals), and MIL (Check engine light) all hooked up. The GSS 2000 also lets you tap into the BU light circuit and will control backup lights, so that is working as well.
 
Got the passenger side exhaust done. I had to weld on another 2" off of each header bc I was short when I initially did it.

Passenger side is a little wonky between tcase and frame. I did some janky "lobster back" work to get up and over the damper and to follow the angle of the rail. Not sure if other people have had to do this before?

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More exhaust janky-Ness.

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Figured out I mixed up the oil pressure and water temp sensors. Got that fixed and hooked up the water temp gauge. I didn't bleed the air from the cooling system, so what I thought was a stuck thermostat, turned out to just have air. I finally got it bled letting it cool and then warming motor up and keeping expansion tank topped off. Fans finally kicked on, temp gauge always reads 200 f. I turned the Dcc controller down 10 degrees F, but temp gauge didn't budge off 200 f. Not sure what is going on...?

Dealing with leaks in the power steering system. Must of had a spark hit a line when I was tacking up the exhaust, because there was a burnt hole in the line. Spliced that up and then I didn't get the fitting tight enough. 2 qts power steering fluid on the driveway. I'll just have to repour the slab when I'm done....

Got a bunch of codes, the only one I really care about right now is the p1518, which won't let me Rev the motor.

I need to fix power steering, address p1518 code, weld exhaust hanger on back, tighten everything up, reinstall hood and drive shafts. . . . Then she can go on her maiden voyage.
 
Found why the power steering fitting was leaking. . . .

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Not yet. It's dark when I leave. It's dark when I get home. And it's cold. It's hard to get motivated to go out and work on the vehicle. I mainly just need to hook up the brake booster and mount the GM gas pedal....
 
got the gas pedal mounted. not the best solution, but it will work for right now.

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Right now, I'm having a hard time keeping the motor running. It dies before I can run around the door to check things out....ideas? It's weird, because I didn't have any problems before....
 
on my 5.7 vortec, if I have to drain the coolant for any reason... I've found that bleeding the system becomes mission impossible, (given my engine sits as high as physically possible in the FJ60 and being able to close the hood). What I do is as the first thing...I take the water neck off the intake and fill the engine first( through the hole in the intake where the thermostat sits, after also removing the thermostat)....all the way as much as it will hold (coolant water mix) then I fill the radiator and top everything off. Makes bleeding the coolant system far easier. As long as you have air pockets of whatever flavor your coolant sensors are not going to read correctly and that would also include temp sendors related to fan controls..etc.

The above has saved some time and aggravation.
 
Hey Elbert, do you have a thermostat with a weep hole? Some have a small hole in the flange with a small check-valve-like set-up that lets air out. That's what was in my 5.7l vortec stock, but not all replacement thermos have the hole. I believe it solves the issue of air entrapment and I can't imagine having to pull the thermostat every time I want to drain some coolant.
 
Hey Elbert, do you have a thermostat with a weep hole? Some have a small hole in the flange with a small check-valve-like set-up that lets air out. That's what was in my 5.7l vortec stock, but not all replacement thermos have the hole. I believe it solves the issue of air entrapment and I can't imagine having to pull the thermostat every time I want to drain some coolant.

I'm fairly sure it does have the weep hole , but its been some time since I've had to screw with the cooling system. the above process makes things work better for me in the 60 configuration, as noted my engine sites as high as possible to clear the hood. Pulling the water neck on an empty engine is a non issue at least for me and you don't have to service the cooling system that often. very effective way to deal with air pockets on the v8 swaps. There are other ways one can do this...of course it depends on engine height vs radiator. But in the long run when I have removed the water neck as described...once full I just put it back on and top off the radiator and go for a drive....then maybe have to add a little coolant later on. Nothing beyond that, otherwise I've seen incredible air pockets on totally empty engine.
 
not sure what is going on, but I went out and it started right up. I put about 5 gals of gas into the tank, so that may have been the problem. It's a rough idle, and I have no gas pedal action. Codes in green I'm not worried about because it's a wiring thing and it shouldn't (???) affect how the motor runs. Those in blue are due to using a computer programmed for 4l60e tranny vs the 4l80e I have installed. The rest I think are the codes rendering my gas pedal to not work. Any suggestions on where to start would be appreciated.

Below are the codes:

0x10: P0118 - Engine Coolant Temperature Sensor 1 Circuit High (Pending, History)
0x10: P0463 - Fuel Level Sensor A Circuit High (Pending, Current)
0x10: P0522 - Engine Oil Pressure Sensor/Switch Circuit Low (Current)

0x10: P0740 - Torque Converter Clutch Solenoid Circuit / Open (Pending)
0x10: P0785 - Shift/Timing Solenoid (SES, Pending, Current)

0x10: P1518 (Pending, Current, History)
0x10: P1571 (Pending, History)
0x10: P1689 (SES, Current)
 

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