Builds V8 (SBC) to V8 (Gen III Vortec) swap in my FJ60... (1 Viewer)

[orion]

My fuel tank and pre-filter was full of garbage when I first got mine going again (there's pix in my thread), I think we went thru 2 or 3 inline pumps before we got a good one, it was very frustrating but it all worked out.....you're in the home stetch now.....congrats man!!

Fuel delivery is going to be the next thing I check, if I determine it's not the O2's...

Is this why I have seen recommendations to do the in-tank pump versus an external? Seems like the external become problematic for many, especially on the Vortex/LS engines but not so much on the SBC/TBI engines...

@orion did you go with an in-tank pump or external?

External, AirTex E2000 if I recall - There's pics on page 2 of this thread (about halfway down). If I have to touch ANYTHING on the fuel pump end of things...I'll drop the tank, have a good look inside, and fab up a mount for an in-tank pump.

Nice feeling, seems like you have a handle on the small issues. Good Job!

Thank you. It's been a journey, and if this is the only little issue I have (other than splicing the wrong wire for the oil pressure gauge)...I'll be pretty happy!

@gregnash I would recommend anyone doing this swap go with an intank pump after dealing with the external pump issues on @SharpasMarbles swap on his 60 I know he is going that route now nothing like driving a badass truck wondering when the damn pump is going to stop working. It doesn't seem like he is having the same issues we did @SharpasMarbles yours ran ran fine until it was WOT then it would cavate and lose power.

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It is still worth checking and replacing the prefilter and checking any of the factory rubber lines to see if they are pinching off from the suction of the pump that was also one of the issues that we had.

I think I'm having the opposite problem, presently...crappy off idle and stumbles under light acceleration, but great once I go wide open throttle.

It's really like flipping a switch...lugging along, stumble, bog at part throttle...then you open it up, and it lags for a second...and then takes off. I think that's the point at which the PCM says "forget the O2 readings, refer to the fuel tables". I guess that also hold true for the MAF sensor (the PCM apparently defaults to the MAP sensor if the MAF is faulty...but I haven't had anything but the O2 sensor code + "high idle" pop up so far).

As for the factory fuel lines - Before installing the external pump, I dropped the tank enough to replace the rubber lines where they connect to the tank, and I used fuel injection hose (which is more rigid) for both the feed and return...so I definitely think that's a non-issue.

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Thanks for all the feedback..hopefully I can report later tonight or tomorrow with a definitive answer.

- Brian

 

[pandasfj]

On your o2 sensors, you might want to check if their on the right sides. I have 98 ls that was bogging on idle and take off but would run nice on straight away. Found out later that my harness was labeled wrong and the o2 sensors had to be swapped over to the proper sides. HTH

 

[orion]

^^^ Interesting thought. Definitely something I'll try. Thanks.

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To answer the burning question: It's 100% an O2 sensor issue. I unplugged them both....and it drives perfectly.

Nice and smooth at all RPMs, no hesitation, good power.

And let me tell you - 5000rpm and nearly 300hp feels pretty good in a 60! Not that I'm going to beat on it like that all the time...but after 3 months of work...having a little fun in it feels really good!

- Brian

 

[NCFJ]

Congrats on getting it up and running Have you experienced any torque steer yet? Thrilling experience!

 

[cruisermatt]

Turkey Trot is Nov 19-20th at Hard Rock

 

[orion]

Congrats on getting it up and running Have you experienced any torque steer yet? Thrilling experience!

Thanks...and no torque steer yet. I did a couple soft launches and then ran through 1st a 2nd gears...but I wasn't going fully WOT, as I was wacthing the ScanGauge with one eye.

I have a 'Perfomance Box' (GPS based data logger for track events)...it does 1/4 miles...I'm considering doing one just to see. If I can do that somewhere safely, I'll post the graph here.

Turkey Trot is Nov 19-20th at Hard Rock

Interesting..........

I was considering heading down there for a "shakedown" soon anyway...might have to come catch up with you guys for an afternoon.

Thanks for the heads-up.

- Brian

 

[ufg8r]

Congrats! Time to bring it up this direction for a few days of wheeling!

 

[orion]

Congrats! Time to bring it up this direction for a few days of wheeling!

Oh yeah...how about next month?

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Update:

On the O2 sensors - @pandasfj was dead on...they were plugged into the wrong side. I really appreciate that bit of info, it would have taken me a lot of troubleshooting to figure it out. Good call!

'99-02 harness wire colors; Drivers side has purple wire w/white stripe ... Pass. side has a solid purple wire.

Idles less rich, seems to make more off idle torque...all good.

Also got the speedometer hooked up. Ground the Toyota cable end (1/4" round) to 1/8" x 1/8" square, to fit into the Dakota Digital adapter. I'll post pics tomorrow. It was a precision operation, with my angle grinder. Haha. Actually turned out really good.

Working on installing the tach next...

- Brian

 

[pandasfj]

That's great to hear. I'm glad I can contribute something to this awesome sight. I have a 65' carryall that I had put an ls in and after two new o2 sensors and taking it back to the installer twice,he finally figured out that both o2's were on the wrong side. He had used a Painless wire harness that was labeled wrong. Cool build, looking forward to seeing it get done... .

 

[tmxmotorsports]

Burn outs! Burn outs! Burn outs! Burn outs! Just joking glad you got it going

 

[orion]

^^^ haha...maybe some donuts in a field?

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Here's the pic of the speedometer cable end that I ground to fit the Chevy-style VSS adapter:

(stock end, inset pic...)

Angle grinder and a little work with a file...20 minutes later I had what you see above!

Here's the completed setup:

And again, this was all necessary so the Vortec PCM had a speed signal, and wouldn't stall after coming to a stop.

Drove the truck to work today...I'm loving it.

As they say in Japan: Much power, very smiles.

- Brian

 

[Heckraiser]

Great work! How would you say the 4.8 compares to the toyota 4.7?

 

[orion]

Great work! How would you say the 4.8 compares to the toyota 4.7?

Very similar...

They are both higher revving V8's, with power delivery that just keeps coming as you get higher in the RPM's. The 4.8 (LR4) makes the FJ60 real fun to drive. Plenty of low end (it gets off the line better than with the old 305 V8)...and then where the 305 gave up (3000-3500rpm?)...the 4.8 just keeps pulling.

The 4.7 in my GX470 is in front of an auto trans, so maybe not a perfect comparison...but in town driving with each motor leaves you wanting for nothing.

The 2UZ-FE is WAY smoother...and would have been my first choice in a motor swap. But I already had a small block chevy motor in the truck, and it was too 'plug and play' to do a "better" Chevy V8, as compared with the unknowns of a 4.7 swap.

Plus, I couldn't find a 2UZ-FE bellhousing that would allow me to keep my Ranger Torque Splitter (overdrive box).

...and the wiring for a Vortec is really well documented, not so much for the 4.7 (at least in the limited research I did).

- Brian

 

[gregnash]

That is awesome dude you will have to take some video of driving it.
From what I have read the 2UZ-FE into the FJ60 is really a custom job simply because of the hacks that have to be done to the PCM/ECM to get everything working properly. From there lots and lots of fabrication from the few things I have read. But would definitely be a cool swap!

 

[Elbert]

good call on the 02 sensors/harness. I had run into something similar, I think some of the aftermarket wiiring harnesses are labeled left and right on the 02 harness and then it becomes an issue of which is left or right... better approach would be label driver and passer side for the 02 sensor harness. (on the engine harness side)

 

[scrapdaddy]

Good job man! Time to have some fun with it.

 

[orion]

^^^ That's the plan.

With this motor swap, I cured all the issues I previously had with the truck...now I can just use and enjoy it!

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Also, for a "swap update"...

I got the tach installed. Used a Autogage 2306 tach. The OEM tach had been converted to work with the SBC V8, but it was not very accurate. It also only went to 4000rpm.

I wasn't sure how I was going to integrate it into the factory gauge panel, and settled on just installing it into the Toyota housing. I removed the factory tach "guts", then drilled out the rear of the housing (2-3/8" hole).

Then I dropped the new tach in place, and popped the factory plastic back on:

Here's a bad pic showing the front...don't believe your eyes- It's not off center as it appears.

(bad angle, and glare...and it looks off center. Again, looks better in real life)

Also looks close enough to the factory gauges that I'm happy with it. I'll get a pic of it installed in the truck and post that...it looks OEM enough to not be concerned with spending a ton more time making it 'ideal'.

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As for the mechanical side of things: I still need to address the O2 sensors. I'm running in open loop all the time, and the O2 sensor heating circuit appears to not be functioning (getting code P0135 and P0155). These O2's might be dead, or maybe the ground is iffy...not sure, but I'll troubleshoot that tonight.

- Brian

 

[orion]

Also looks close enough to the factory gauges that I'm happy with it. I'll get a pic of it installed in the truck and post that...it looks OEM enough to not be concerned with spending a ton more time making it 'ideal'...

As promised:

The white numbers along with the yellow hash marks match the look of the speedo close enough for me...I'm happy with the final product.

I'm running in open loop all the time, and the O2 sensor heating circuit appears to not be functioning (getting code P0135 and P0155). These O2's might be dead, or maybe the ground is iffy...not sure, but I'll troubleshoot that tonight...

So, seems like after resetting the PCM...the O2 codes mentioned above are gone, and the truck is running fine (switching to closed loop as it should, after warming up).

I read that people have similar issues (O2 heater problems) after long tube header installs (in Camaros and Silverados). Not sure why, but if it's going to be intermittent...no big deal, I'll just clear the codes and keep on cruisin'.

Wiring is good, maybe the sensors are just getting "lazy"...might replace them soon as part of a tune-up.

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Anyway, thanks for following along. Part of the build fun, for me, is sharing the details. I found so much good info on here that others posted...hopefully my thread can help someone else in the future.

- Brian

 

[Elbert]

you may have some back pressure issues compounding your 02 status. You may need to mimic the exhaust rather close to what was OEM from the donor vehicle. i did not read back through the thread to see. but my engine ran better when I took off the hi-flow muffler I use to have and installed a stock type muffler. My engine is stock for the most part with no performance programming. In my case a stock type muffler is a replacement OEM type that would fit a 1999 GM 1/2 or 3/4 ton truck with 5.7.

 

[scrapdaddy]

Just for discussion sake, Isn't there a maximum and minimum distance for mounting the 02 sensors from the manifold? Closer being better for it to read.