Jeep Trailblazer SS

[Madkidd007]

Look at her posing

[gottattooz]

So i have been collecting parts for the engine swap. I replaced the camshaft, lifters, lifter trays, timing chain and gears and a new melling oil pump. I installed an Ls2 timing cover and cam sensor. I'm at a stand still until i pull the engine because I'm using the Ls2 heads and oil pan. It's amazing how simple the ls engine is to build.

I love the hand written receipt from the guy i bought the cam kit from.

- Josh

[lunatic1968]

awesome project man, subscribed.

[gottattooz]

Well I'm back at it. I finally finished swapping dad's differential in his 59 pickup, so i can now use the 2-post lift to swap the engine and gear ratios in the Jeep. MadKidd warned me that you've got to remove the front suspension to remove the CV axles to pull the engine out of an awd trailblazer, so that's what i did. I gutted the front suspension, googled a video on how to remove the cv axles because they didn't want to come out. My plan is to pull the heads off in the engine compartment to make the bell housing bolts more easily accessible. I'm fighting with the front drive shaft to remove the left header and i remembered having to lift the body off the frame to install the right header. But I'm making progress.

-Josh

[gottattooz]

Just because, here's what we did with dad's 59 pickup. Swapped out a 1987 GTA 9 bolt rear end with a 3.27 gear for a Moser 9 inch setup with 3.55 gears. Installed with 4 link parallel bars, new sleeve type air bags with a leveling valve off a Kenworth and mounted the sway bar on top of the frame connecting to the 4 link bracket welded to the rear end housing.

The posi stopped working in the GTA rear. Dad found out that they use some kind of friction cones that wear out and aren't serviceable. Instead of buying a new setup from Australia for $1700 shipped, he is going to be in it for about $4k after buying new rear rims to clear the c5 corvette brakes on the Moser housing. But as you can see while running front brakes only, he's enjoying power braking up and down the driveway.

-Josh

[biketopia]

Are you checking on an analog gauge or the sending unit. It's very easy to crack that sensor behind the intake, or mess up the wiring. Did you remove the pump, if so did you get the right o ring on the pick up and get it seated all the way? I didn't get any oil pressure after my cam swap in my 08 just cranking, put the coil and injector fuse in and fired it up, had oil pressure in a few seconds.

[gottattooz]

Originally Posted by biketopia

Are you checking on an analog gauge or the sending unit. It's very easy to crack that sensor behind the intake, or mess up the wiring. Did you remove the pump, if so did you get the right o ring on the pick up and get it seated all the way? I didn't get any oil pressure after my cam swap in my 08 just cranking, put the coil and injector fuse in and fired it up, had oil pressure in a few seconds.

The sensor isn't the fragile tall plastic one. I've broken my share of those. It's a tiny metal one from the Ls2 valley pan. I replaced the oil pump with a melling 295 unit. I used the correct o-ring (i read the instructions because it came with 2 different o-ring options). The pick up tube has a groove for the o-ring. To the best of my knowledge i didn't pinch the o-ring. The problem is I'll have to pull the engine back out to check.

When i primed it the first time, i filled the port to the oil galley, left the injectors and coil packs disconnected and cranked it several times, looking at the gauge on the dash, waiting for it to move. Nothing. I watched a YouTube video by melling saying exactly what i already did. So i took a quart of oil, put the tip from a gear oil bottle on it, stuck it in the hose in the galley and poked a vent hole in it and let the whole thing drain into the oil galley. I fired it up two or three times with the injectors and coil packs connected. It fired right up, but sounded like silverware in a dryer. Never got oil pressure.

-Josh

[biketopia]

shiiiit

[gottattooz]

Well i tried. I dropped the oil pan and raised the engine about an inch. It seems like the mount tab for the pick up tube is bent. I tried to straighten it. I double checked the o-ring and there was no damage. I put everything back together, primed it and it had 40 psi right away. But the valve train didn't quiet down any and a few seconds later the oil pressure was back to zero. Looks like the engine has to cone back out.

-Josh

[Ol Blue K20]

Originally Posted by gottattooz

Well i tried. I dropped the oil pan and raised the engine about an inch. It seems like the mount tab for the pick up tube is bent. I tried to straighten it. I double checked the o-ring and there was no damage. I put everything back together, primed it and it had 40 psi right away. But the valve train didn't quiet down any and a few seconds later the oil pressure was back to zero. Looks like the engine has to cone back out.

-Josh

That sucks..........

[biketopia]

in that one picture with the mirror is certainly doesn't look seated all the way. With how your tube mount is bent, I'd say it's not getting fully seated and staying seated, that's why you had pressure for a second, then it worked loose and sucked air again. Pick up one of these pick up tube supports, https://www.google.com/search?q=ls+o...client=gws-wiz c

[67ChevyRedneck]

Oh noes

Such a heartbreaking feeling. I've pushed projects off to the side for months from similar setbacks. So hopeful, then... pfffft.

[Madkidd007]

Don’t y’all worry fellas. It’ll be back up and running soon enough. I can assure you he isn’t going to let this old turd of a jeep stay parked for that long

[gottattooz]

Biketopia, i literally ordered one of those along with another pickup tube and a front diff with a 3.42 ratio. It'll all be here next week. My dad said he'll swap the ring and pinion in the rear while I'm in Indianapolis for work this weekend.

MadKidd did tune my wagon for my trip to Indy. I had an intake gasket leak that burned off one of the electrodes, causing a low rpm stutter under load. I swapped plugs and intake gaskets and she purrs like a kitten when cruising and pulls like a freight train when you launch it.

-Josh

[mongocanfly]

Dang the bad luck...
I had to change the oil pan on mine to a vett style...I havnt cranked it yet, but I was worried after I had issues getting the new pickup tube in..I'll sure keep a eye on it

[gottattooz]

Yay oil pressure!!!!

I came home from work and was going to pull the engine back out. I did a quick search to see if anyone had successfully pulled the oil pan without pulling the engine. The search results were for a 2wd, but it gave me the hope to try. I separated the front diff from the pan and secured it with a strap. The instructions online told me what sizes the bolts were and to let the steering rack dangle from the drivers side bolt.

With the pan off, I compared the new pickup to the old one. The new one was a few inches too short, so I decided to repair the old one.

I used a short 1/2 inch drive extension to hammer into the tube to pull the bend out of it. I replaced the o ring and installed the oil pickup clamp I got from eBay.

I swapped the 4.10 front differential for a 3.42 unit I bought online (verifying the ratio before I installed it). I primed the oil galley again and filled the engine oil. Another friend of mine said it took him 3 minutes to get oil pressure on an ls swap he did, so I was mentally preparing myself to do that. I hit the key and it had 45 psi almost immediately!!! Eureka!! I let it run until the engine reached operating temp and checked for leaks while it was running. Now I just have to put everything back together and get it tuned.

-Josh

[biketopia]

good deal!! Was the pick up just bent and not allowing it to seat/seal correctly?

[gottattooz]

Originally Posted by biketopia

good deal!! Was the pick up just bent and not allowing it to seat/seal correctly?

Because I was working with the pan dangling and not able to really see, I'm guessing when it tightened up that it was actually binding and bending the pick up tube. Using the inspection mirror, I could see the o ring which tells me it wasn't seated properly.

-Josh

[biketopia]

glad you got it figured out without having to remove the engine again!

[Madkidd007]

Looks like the gto pickup tube, you should recognize that from the Lincoln. And I guess that means soon enough we will play with the jeep

[gottattooz]

I got the front suspension put back together with new cv axles and hubs.

-Josh

[gottattooz]

With the front end put together, I had to figure out the ring and pinion to get the lash where it needs to be. Having never done this before, there's been a lot of googling going on. I practiced with the original bearings and races. Now that I think I know what I'm doing, I'll replace the bearings and hopefully put it all back together for the last time.

-Josh

[gottattooz]

So after watching a really informative YouTube video with step by step instructions, I realized my dad is guessing at best and I didn't know anything about what I'm doing.

So I replaced the races for the pinion bearings and the carrier bearings. I started with the factory shims, but there was no lash. I played with the shims on the carrier until I got the lash within spec (0.003-0.010 with 0.005-0.007 being ideal). Correct me if I'm wrong, but the pinion shim needs to come out because it's too close to centerline.

-Josh

[Ol Blue K20]

Originally Posted by gottattooz

So after watching a really informative YouTube video with step by step instructions, I realized my dad is guessing at best and I didn't know anything about what I'm doing.

So I replaced the races for the pinion bearings and the carrier bearings. I started with the factory shims, but there was no lash. I played with the shims on the carrier until I got the lash within spec (0.003-0.010 with 0.005-0.007 being ideal). Correct me if I'm wrong, but the pinion shim needs to come out because it's too close to centerline.

-Josh

I'm really no help. But, that pattern doesn't look good to me. You're braver than me....

[mongocanfly]

believe id take out a pinion shim and readjust the backlash