Pendragon

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You probably have done so already, but check your steering box and the surrounding area where the box bolts to the frame for any play and or cracks... check TREs for any play as well

Without knowing the history on the axles it could be that you need service that diff... that's am awful lot of metal shavings on that magnet

Source of them birfs please....

You are the second person i know of that used the bearing grease on them knuckles... what's the thinking behind this?
Are you PT or FT 4wd ?
 
@MANUCHAO

I've climbed under my truck and grabbed a-hold of, and bodily shaken, every dang thing I can get a hold of in the front end. I've found three loose bolts that I've tightened (and each time thought "This MUST be it!") in the bumper or the small "bash" plate up forward. I've banged on everything with a rubber mallet and through all of it I've been completely unable to duplicate the sound I get when the vehicle is rolling between 10 and 20 mph.

Last night I had the wife drive the truck while I stood on the rock sliders (hold my beer and watch this!) on each side of the vehicle to try and better locate the sound. It sounds like it's coming from under the truck somewhere at the front axle.

The RCV Birfs were purchased through Cruiser Outfitters. New ASIN locking hubs to match since the old Brazillian AVMs were cracked from the cone washers in one or two spots.

As far as the grease in my part-time 4wd knuckles goes - I just use the synthetic stuff b/c I can use it everywhere (less different tubes of crap I have to keep around) and b/c it's supposed to be more water-proof. The Mobile 1 stuff isn't terribly expensive, and it's rated to be used wherever the Moly grease would be for both Chassis and Bearings. My understanding of the purpose of the grease inside the knuckle is that it's mostly there for waterproofing so I figured I'd use as water-repelling grease as possible. I don't know that any of this crap actually does much good. It seems to me that once that grease heats up it's going to mostly just pool at the bottom anyway.
 
Resurrecting a dormant thread. I'm still not past California BAR. I just got the truck back from the shop who spent a bunch of time clearing out error codes and driving it and now I'm stuck with a rich condition (P0172 and P0175) in both bank 1 and bank 2. They said they tested the MAF and the MAP and my O2 sensors and they all looked good. Data seems to bear this out when running my OBD2 reader, I can see the up-stream O2 sensors jumping back-and-forth between about 0.1v-0.2v and 0.7-0.8v, and the down-stream O2 sensors seem to hold pretty steady betwenn 0.7v and 0.8v (usually around 0.76v). The fuel system is non-returning (with the return in the fuel filter) so I can't see how EVAP could be the problem. Any ideas? I don't think it's an injector (but maybe could be all of them) because it's on both banks. Exhaust doesn't smell like unburnt fuel at all.

Long Term Fuel Trim is always negative. On the freeway, it pins itself at -17.xx% on both banks, and at idle its somewhere around -7- -10%. Short Term Fuel Trim is almost always negative, unless I'm on the throttle, but usually in the low single-digits, and will bounce around between -/+ 4%. I've cleared the computer a few times and it always returns to these numbers.

I'm a tad stumped. My last thought is that maybe the engine had higher-than-normal-flow injectors from the beginning? Anyone know how to test this theory out? Could I just dump lower-flow injectors onto the engine and solve the rich condition?
 
Jeez. What a saga. I just read this and your original thread when you bought it.

It’s a great looking and well equipped truck. I hope you can get it legal.
 
FJACS said:
Jeez. What a saga. I just read this and your original thread when you bought it.

It’s a great looking and well equipped truck. I hope you can get it legal.
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You and me both, brother. The smog drama is killing me. I can see why most shops seem to be moving to a e-rod only swap model. Wreker engines can be hard to predict.
 
Hey spanner, I was wondering if you ever resolved this! Has this problem been ongoing or just recently started since your conversion? Did they ever check for proper vacuum and fuel pressure. I had a problem on a ls1 conversion years ago where my truck would hesitate at idle and at take off but once I took off or ran on freeway it ran well. Turned out my o2 senor harness was mislabeled and were crossed from install. It took some time to figure it out. Just something to look at.
 
pandasfj said:
Hey spanner, I was wondering if you ever resolved this! Has this problem been ongoing or just recently started since your conversion? Did they ever check for proper vacuum and fuel pressure. I had a problem on a ls1 conversion years ago where my truck would hesitate at idle and at take off but once I took off or ran on freeway it ran well. Turned out my o2 senor harness was mislabeled and were crossed from install. It took some time to figure it out. Just something to look at.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the reply and for keeping this poor beast in mind. This has been ongoing since the swap. It also has a tendency to want to push temps (driving on the freeway will engage the fans) and that's with a new, upgraded rad and electric fans.

Would the O2 sensor pids showwhat looks like valid data if the wires got crossed somewhere? Also, tested fuel pressure at the rail and it was 55PSI with ignition on but engine stopped, and then again while running, and steady at 2400 RPM. Vacuum looks like it's 22"Hg, according to the data in OBDII (probably from MAP?) but I haven't put a vacuum tester on it.

I'm honestly starting to lean toward too-high-flow from the injectors. I just drove it in to work, on a cold (for SoCal) day, and at 75mph, it was creeping up toward 210 or 215 on the temp gauge, and the LTFS was pinned at 17% the entire time on the freeway (about 23 miles). The drive is sea level and all flat, so otherwise perfect conditions, and by the time I parked I had a pending rich code.

I will, however, see if I can get some wire-penetrating probes and see if I can separately pull the input voltage at the ECU for the O2 data lines to make sure I have what I think I do

This whole thing is maddening.
 
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Not really relevant to solving your problems - but I’ve wondered when I read threads like this (I’m not in CA) how do you keep driving it when it’s not passed smog? We just got rid of passenger vehicle emissions tests here, but previously, if you failed a test you couldn’t renew your tags or get license plates if it was the first time you registered it. Fail - that was it, you couldn’t legally drive it.

Now for your injectors. I’m not an LS expert (I do have a truck with a 5.3) I believe there were/are several different injectors for the 5.3 as well as differences for the flex fuel trucks. You might pull the injectors and see what the part numbers are on them - maybe also make sure all 8 are the same...
 
SPANNERSPINNER said:
My last thought is that maybe the engine had higher-than-normal-flow injectors from the beginning?
Click to expand...
Sorry to hear you still dealing with this....
Find out what injectors you have in there and see if these are the stock configuration.... or if these need to be replaced...(sounds like you might have some clogged injectors).

Is your evap on ready mode?

Keep at it...

:beer::beer:
 
@MANUCHAO
You and me both. The EVAP came ready a few times for the guys who worked on my truck, which is why they released it back to me. Presently EVAP is unset because I had to clear the DTCs for rich fuel. I filled the tank (which may have been a mistake, probably only should have taken it to half) and the rich codes started. I hold out slight hope that the codes will stop setting once the tank is drawn down some more.

@FJACS
I'm wondering if it has the FlexFuel injectors in it, which, given the ranges, could opperate at a higher (35.5-38.5) flow rate than what I think the ones the computer expects to be operating (24.5-27). The math works out to a possible 20% overage on the flow, which is darn close to my negative offset in the computer. Ostensibly the engine may have come from a truck in TN (or that could just be where the VIN came from the computer was programmed to display). If the VIN is an indicator, the computer is not configured for FlexFuel (no Z at the end of the VIN) but I'm guessing they can drop any VIN in for any set of configured parameters and connected sensors.

As to emissions - you cannot pas CA BAR without all emissions monitors set, including EVAP. My truck has been in the shop for basically a year. Before that it was on the road under registration that didn't require SMOG that year (CA is every-other-year for older vehicles). Now I'm going to need to go stand on line at the DMV for a red sticker so I can drive it to test and set EVAP without risking a ticket (or worse).
 
I suppose you don’t know if the ecu and motor came from the same vehicle. Like you suggest - the injectors on the engine might not be what the ecu thinks it has. Or possibly someone has modified the stock injectors.
 
FJACS said:
I suppose you don’t know if the ecu and motor came from the same vehicle. Like you suggest - the injectors on the engine might not be what the ecu thinks it has. Or possibly someone has modified the stock injectors.
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I know they're not. The original ECU and PCM were 2006, but the CAT was wrong (federal) and I got called out for it at the BAR. There was no correct aftermarket one that was CARB approved, so the Throttle and Engine units were swapped for a 2005, to avoid paying $3k for GM cats, and I have three of those computers, with the one currently installed being reprogrammed twice to turn on diagnostics that were relevant and helpful to diagnosing the problems. Blah.

I just pulled one of the fuel injectors and can't make heads or tails. The numbers on the unit don't seem to show up in any part numbers. More internet digging is in-order it seems.

Here is a pic of the injector. No other markings are present on it.
IMG_20190102_190828.webp
 
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Okay, found what I think is it. Searching for the "4581" brings back a GM flex fuel injector flowing 30lbs at 43PSI, which then corrects my other part number from my picture from 12560426 to 42580426. According to the Witch Hunter fuel injector calculator, this is probably flowing at 33lbs/hr instead of the expected 26lbs/hr. I'm hoping this is my problem. A difference of about 22%.
 
I hope this solves it. Seems like an “Aha!” moment.
 
Wishing you the best of luck in your CA BAR (Fight)!

I've wanted to do a swap myself on my 89' , but when I hear stories like this ( even when its been done professionally by a trusted Cruiserhead like Tor), it makes me wonder if its better to just keep hoping my 3FE will last forever.

My wife would probably be really happy if my truck was not sitting in the middle of the driveway and was at a shop out of sight for a year.

Subscribed !
 
Looks like your on to something there. I'm not sure if the o2 data would be valid, the mechanic did not give me any specifics. I would have verified vacuum first just to be extra sure. It being a flex fuel engine was the "fuel alcohol content" rechecked or reset? I assume it doesn't have an alcohol sensor. This can also cause a rich condition. I wish I knew more about these engines,seeing problems like this gets me frustrated. Good luck.
 
Man... reading this is a soul crusher. Keeping my eye on this as I’m jumping in within the next cpl years. Hell... maybe next month if I fail smog next week.

On a side note... you got any old lady game? When I was fighting smog on the last go around I talked the sweet lil old gal at the DMV to give me 3 blank temp driving permits. I kept them in the Tuffy with a pen attached to them if I got pulled over. Thankfully I never had to use them.
 
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Went to the local stealership and they pulled up part numbers that confirmed what has been found, but they wanted almost $200ea for the right injectors (17113698). Went to ORiely and they wanted almost $100 for generic knock-offs.

Ordered AC Delco's from Summit for $85ea. Should be here tomorrow. Keeping my fingers crossed.

@pandasfj I thought about this too, and when I checked, I don't appear to have the Alcohol Content PID enabled on my OBDII. It stays greyed out for me in Torque and never shows any values if I try to graph it anyway. Vacuum at the MAP is 22"Hg (I think).

@hygge It's admittedly not fun, and this seems to be a bit of an outlier, but this is why most of the shops have switched over to doing E-ROD-only swaps. Damn things come with everything needed, and the ref just looks and signs. Bit of a double-standard, but what are you going to do? Luckily, the guys at RSO were able to chew through a bunch of stuff for me that I just never would have found, some of which required re-flashes of the ECU to get it to actually emit trouble codes that had been turned off.

@mig79 You and me both.
 
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