1995 Sonoma LS

[leegreen]

So the LS swapped Sonoma has been my DD most of the time for a year and a half now, maybe 30,000 KM. Overall I am happy with the swap. everything works and it is quite reliable. Some thoughts:

The 2.2 got about 10l/100km, the 4.8 gets 16l/100km (about 15mpg for US gallons) for the same commute. But it is more fun to drive, that is priceless.

a 4.8 can indeed kill a T5. About 8 months of spirited driving in, I bounced it off the rev limiter in 2nd then 3rd gear left the chat. running my $30 spare T5 now and trying to take it a bit easier. The blown up trans got rebuilt for about $300 parts and is in another car now behind a 261 inline 6. Maybe a TKX in future for Sonoma.

Parts quality has bit me a few times:

The Waterpump and Alternator that were on the motor when I bought it both went after a few thousand KM. The replacement wp only lasted 5,000 or so and started leaking off warranty. The replacement ACDelco reman alternator was replaced FOUR times under a 1 year warranty !!??

The howe racing internal slave throwout bearing started leaking, it had about 40,000 km on it in two different vehicles. Replaced it with a amazon no brand unit that was a lot cheaper and looked identical -but the bearing on that started screaming before it even made it out of the driveway. Bought another Howe Ra$ing unit, figures crossed. (yeah, got some good practice dropping the trans)

The failed oring in the oil pickup shown in a post above was a PITA.

One of the noname electric rad fans got too hot and changed shape enough to jam and burn out the motor. Maybe this is on me as it is a tight fit with a rad hose right next to it. rerouted things to get another 1/2 inch between fan and hose. Next pickapart trip I'll look for a OEM quality pusher fan from something with large aux fan in front of AC condenser, there is room to run something in front of the rad.

cheesy aftermarket motor mounts as described above

The one thing that has held up that I thought I'd be forced to ditch is the fuel pump I replaced with a cheap aftermarket unit back when this was still a 2.2 powered truck. The genuine walbro I bought sits on the shelf unneeded so far.