[83GMCK2500]

Update: nothing worthy of noting...yet. I do have a big update coming in the near future. Just maintaining it really:

• Installed more versatile trailer socket, upgraded brake controller, improved bed-chassis electrical connections.
• Replaced cruise control servo.
• Replaced oil pressure sensor.
• HVAC fan control switch & resistor.
• Wiper motor pulse board.

I was having a random short/feedback issue with my bed lighting and trailer lighting, I traced the problem to a hideous hack job of wiring from the people who installed the bed. There was a half-mile of electrical tape, some wire nuts, some more electrical tape, some zip ties and a portion of the pickup bed wiring used to connect the bed and trailer socket to the chassis. Ohhhh heeeeeeck no, that won't do. I spliced in the 7-pin Pollak connector that GM uses on the GMT-800 and newer trucks. Ref: Though I did not use butt connectors...soldering iron...lined heat shrink. I hate doing this kind of thing twice. I incorporated the 12V feed, brake controller, and reverse lights as is done on the newer trucks. The bed plugs into the chassis and on the bedside of the connection I have a secondary pigtail which plugs into the trailer socket. If the socket fails I can unplug it and replace it; if I need to pull the bed, it's one plug, one ground strap and the fuel neck. The new (to me) brake controller is a Tekonsha Prodigy, and the new socket:

At first my cruise control servo was kicking out when I went over a large enough bump, the kicking out evolved into a really obnoxious surging of the throttle at times. The servo is the same for many many different GM vehicles, it isn't 454 specific or GMT-400 platform specific. The part that IS specific to my truck and engine is the cable, thankfully it takes 30-45 seconds to swap the cables.

Ughhh, the oil pressure sending unit. The devil incarnate. I moved my truck a very short distance and noticed a couple drips of oil on the ground. Not good, everything has been replaced recently: lines, cover seal, main seal, pan gasket, ev-er-y-thing. The truck does not leak. So when it leaked, I started looking. It honestly took a while to find, the leak got pretty bad. It appears that internally the oil pressure sending unit failed and allowed oil to leak through the body of it. I had oil pumping out the weatherpack connector at the top of it, running down the sensor, to the top of the block, and diverting down two different ribs of the bellhousing and finally onto the exhaust crossover. Viewed with truck running, laying across the engine with mirror and flashlight. There is a specialized 1-1/16" socket with very thin walls designed for these sending units. Get one. The sensor to block clearance at the back of the valley requires it. I ended up snapping the plastic portion of the old sending unit off and unscrewing the base with a ground down standard socket. Install went very smoothly with the proper socket.

To Be Continued...