Project Mr. Green Jeans (now 5.3 LS turbo build!)

[bnoon]

Trying to fix it.

[bnoon]

Shows as public now...

[68Timber]

Awesome! I lol'd a little over your reaction, but only because I get that way too.

[bnoon]

Yeah, it was a true "yay" moment after the Friday night I had at work. Was supposed to be a half hour maintenance window for our server that turned into a 5 1/2 hour mad thrash, that then killed half of the day on Saturday to sleep. Sleep pattern was still a little off last night too.

Tonight I can tune it and remove the VATS that kills the truck after a second or so now (I left it in on purposed in the video, just didn't have time to fire up the laptop yet). And I also need to mount/wire up the fans, and tape up the harness... Then I can maybe test drive it.

[bnoon]

I went to program the truck last night and no fuel pump prime with key on. Verified power to the fuse block and ECU through the PSI harness. Looks like my ECU died. Used/verified one from Ebay seller coming by Saturday. Delays delays...

[rajincajintj]

Originally Posted by bnoon

I went to program the truck last night and no fuel pump prime with key on. Verified power to the fuse block and ECU through the PSI harness. Looks like my ECU died. Used/verified one from Ebay seller coming by Saturday. Delays delays...

eff that

that is ****ty news man. computers are a pain sometimes

[bnoon]

No doubt.

[bnoon]

Well Friday I got the used PCM from Ebay seller. Plugged it in, worked fine. Pulled the stock config, removed VATS, downstream O2 sensors, and reprogrammed it. Fired right up. Then, as I was topping off the coolant with it running, the dang thing dies and no fire on restart again. Killed another one. Something is wrong with my wiring... I had thought that I had caused it with loose battery and ground cables the first time since I had left everything loose just in case I needed to rip off the wiring really quick for fear of fire or something, but apparently I really did wire something incorrectly. Another used PCM is on its way from the same company and tonight I will be going pin by pin checking for power where there shouldn't be, ground where there shouldn't be, or dead shorts. Ugh.

[rajincajintj]

Originally Posted by bnoon

Ugh.

im not sure you're allowed to tell us how you really feel.

but we feel you.

best of luck

[bnoon]

Originally Posted by rajincajintj

im not sure you're allowed to tell us how you really feel.

but we feel you.

best of luck

Yeah, it comes up with stars and punctuation marks on the forums.

I went through pin by pin and found ground where there were supposed to be grounds and power where there was supposed to be power, nothing out of place. The only thing I was seeing that was questionable was about a 1 volt difference from keyed ignition power vs. power direct from the battery through the junction block, so I'm thinking that the 1 volt difference may be back feeding through the PCM somehow and killing it. I'm going to move all other keyed ignition powered items off to their own feed, power the ignition feed to the PCM through a relay to get full battery power, and upgrade the grounds to the frame and body and bring them all to one point to eliminate any voltage differences.

[rajincajintj]

Originally Posted by bnoon

Yeah, it comes up with stars and punctuation marks on the forums.

I went through pin by pin and found ground where there were supposed to be grounds and power where there was supposed to be power, nothing out of place. The only thing I was seeing that was questionable was about a 1 volt difference from keyed ignition power vs. power direct from the battery through the junction block, so I'm thinking that the 1 volt difference may be back feeding through the PCM somehow and killing it. I'm going to move all other keyed ignition powered items off to their own feed, power the ignition feed to the PCM through a relay to get full battery power, and upgrade the grounds to the frame and body and bring them all to one point to eliminate any voltage differences.

sounds like the "non-running" state is OK. how much running time do you get before the PCM dies? do you have enough time to make the same ground and voltage checks while its running?

[Dieselwrencher]

Wow, the quick start up sounds really healthy! That sucks about the ecm fry-ing issue. It's always some small PITA problem. Good luck with it Brad!

[bnoon]

Originally Posted by rajincajintj

sounds like the "non-running" state is OK. how much running time do you get before the PCM dies? do you have enough time to make the same ground and voltage checks while its running?

The first one only had a few split second test fires on it for running time, the rest was about 20 minutes total of "key on" time while I was checking the fuel pump for prime pressure/etc. The second PCM had about 8-10 minutes of "key on" time and 8-10 minutes of run time, so similarly a 16-20 minutes total with the keyed power turned on. It's a power issue, not just while running.

Originally Posted by Dieselwrencher

Wow, the quick start up sounds really healthy! That sucks about the ecm fry-ing issue. It's always some small PITA problem. Good luck with it Brad!

Thanks man! The 5.3 with this LS9 cam is very mild compared to the built 350 that used to be in there, but the power brakes will sure thank me for that LOL! The 5.3 with the 4L65E will be quicker too with the steeper first gear I'm thinking, then comes the boost...

[bnoon]

Runs and drives wahoooooo!!! I still have to go bleed the brakes and install the fans and tune tune tune, but it's alive!!! Slow drive through the neighborhood points out the rich condition right now, but to have it MOVE under its own power... So nice!

I put the power feed to the pcm on a relay and separated the other power feeds to the speedometer adapter on a different lead as well as the fuel pump all as I stated before. The second PCM even still works! Now I can burn my final tune to my third PCM and have a true spare. Ahhhhhh I feel so good right now.

[bnoon]

I couldn't wait until tomorrow. I went out and vacuum bled the brakes and took it for a test drive for real! Wahoooo! Now I can concentrate on the tune and fans tomorrow.

[rajincajintj]

Originally Posted by bnoon

Runs and drives wahoooooo!!!

congrats man, i know that feeling, especially after some adversity.

good luck steering with that raging boner!!

[Dieselwrencher]

That's awesome you got it fihured out and were able to take it out on a drive!

[bnoon]

Still need to work on the tune badly. Idle is OK, but startup and driving are still messed up. My VE tables are nowhere near where they need to be and I'm still wiring up things left and right and need to wire loom everything. Thinking of farming out the tune to Lund out in Adel, but I'd hate to give it up for a few days and lose out on the time on other parts of the build. I hate it when a timeline shrinks too fast!!! And I have to change the power steering pump out now because I didn't notice before that the shaft on this one is bent and makes the pulley wobble. That will cause the belt to wear prematurely and may kick off at higher revs. Uggggggggh!!!

On the good side, the 90's Areostar van electric fans are mounted up.

[bnoon]

Tuned it some last night and it's running better, still a ways to go though. I have one fan trigger that's not working and the wire itself tests good and the spare pcm tests the same way. For now, both fan relays are triggered at the same time from fan 2 lead. Going to double check the pin out for that wire for fan1 since there's no ground when triggered now.

[Dieselwrencher]

Brad, are you trying to get it done to take it on power tour next week?

[bnoon]

Originally Posted by Dieselwrencher

Brad, are you trying to get it done to take it on power tour next week?

Yes sir! Mostly ready right now. I have a few issue remaining that are intermittent (lifter tick and warm restart). Both come and go. I've ordered adjustable rockers to see if I'm having a net lash issue like many have reported and I will have those tomorrow. Easy to install. If that goes well, the truck will be going. If not, it may have to wait for next year. The warm start issue isn't bad enough to keep me from going, just embarrassing when it pops and bangs really loud, then starts fine as if nothing had happened.

[bnoon]

I've been driving back and forth to work this week and no issues yet that would keep me from going on Power Tour. Working on the tune and cleaning a few other little things up like wiring/etc. tonight after work. We leave in the morning for Madison, WI!!! VIP baby!!!

[Dieselwrencher]

Have fun on the trip and good luck as well!

[bnoon]

I ended up not taking it on Power Tour this year. We looked at the weather predictions for the stops along the way, and combined with a slight stumble that developed in my tune, we made the decision to drive my Mustang instead. Worked out fine though. I got to auto-x the Track Pack and see just how good I was compared to the rest of the crowd. I did a 24.2 seconds as my best and that was a second and a half better than this kid in a 4th gen LS1 Camaro that had RE11 tires, upgraded suspension (sways, panhard rod, camber plates), harnesses, and full cage... His jaw dropped after my final run when I was just starting to get used to the layout. Heheheheh!

Now, back to Green Jeans... Tuned out the stumble by smoothing out the transition areas of my VE tables (between part throttle and coasting/idle, I had too big of a jump in air) and also calmed down my idle surge by limiting the RPM adder spark and RPM error limits. Now, to get the 80# injectors installed and switch to E85, then go after WOT fuel/spark on a dyno!

Turbo ordered today. I ended up going with a GT45 88mm Billet wheels .96 ar with a T4 flange. Up to 1000 horse, though I will settle somewhere in the 600-700 area. Installation and fabrication coming soon.

[Dieselwrencher]

Sorry to hear you didn't take the truck, but at least you had the stang to take and have fun in still! That turbo should more than get the job done!