Pseudo-Resto 96 K-1500…Um, when was this a good idea?

[Paveltolz]

... but NOT the neighbor's dog lifting its leg!

That count's as part of my neighbors' sprinklers...neighborhood filled in and a bunch of pint sized dogs roam the area like free-range chickens with the owners thinking they are just so cute. Given the chance, I'm going to trap the little packrats like game and call animal control (or wait until they offer a reward). Better than putting up a note on their door saying '[they] need to tie the pests to a 4' pole with a 3' rope' with a bag of their 'business' under the door mat!

Man! That drag issue on your truck may take an exorcist!

I wish I knew what was going on. I get to the point of thinking its expectation management and then I get into a 6.5 with upgraded exhaust, mild tune, stock turbo, about the same size tires etc. and it take me by surprise how quick it is and a 1/4mile to catch it if I run against it! I've always run the size tires I got on it now (31"x 10") but not the same brand or tread pattern (Falken Mud/Snow vs. BFG A/T before) and I'm not willing to buy a new set of tires just yet with all the tread left on these. The BFGs did role a lot better...
As for the 4x4 plague, I may have damaged the transfer case when I swapped in the wrong geared front differential and again when the salt water got into something under there and caused 'pre-mature activation' of part of the system so it is simply a matter of the damage finally manifesting itself but, there's nothing simple about what I do with this truck. Even simple issues are a pain for me like the 30 days of stalling issues (my first thread before TTS days) only to discover the 1st Generation SS Diesel air-cleaner had come apart and sent the 3.75" chrome cap down the way to cover the 3.5" turbo inlet...occasionally!

 

[Paveltolz]

As I'm not interested in running on the salt flats or making great speed anyway, I've decided to try a GM-5 turbo on the motor again and see what it does for boost at lower RPMs. So, I went and got out one that was given to me by...I can't remember. It was greasy and rusty etc. but it spins well and there's no shaft play to speak of. It doesn't have a turbo master but I have one for the GM-5/8 'for just such an emergency' and, since I'm thinking of getting experimenty again I ordered the 'built to our specifications "Hurricane 7 GM8 Center Section"' from Heath (fits the GM5).
So, taking it from dirty, oily & grease encrusted lump of HAZMAT with cleaning and scraping to looking better...

Then add some header paint so it will look good for a week or two...


And, Presto!


Except, I found the old Vacuum Waste Gate set up under the bubble wrap when cleaning up. No, I'm not planning on using the vacuum WG but, anyone care to guess what issues I'm facing with my plan using and upgrading this turbo are going to be (besides a very slight bend on one of the impeller blades and needing to get another short 10mm bolt for the heat shield)?

 

[Will L.]

Read your post from '08- wow what an adventure.

Im guessing with all the driving you do, you have mpg numbers, what about 0-60 with current turbo? Maybe one last run incase the long term park affected anything? Always like to see the before and after comparisons. S84 vs hurricane GM5, waiting to see...

 

[Paveltolz]

Good idea on the 0-60 runs. I'm linking up with Big-T tomorrow so if time permits maybe he and I can log some runs. Need to put fuel in it though. I am taking in to my favorite shop to have the transfer case gone over. Can't hurt anything but the wallet to be sure.

 

[Paveltolz]

Back from another trip to Texas. Two turbo's waiting for me when I got home yesterday. I needed either a GM-5 or 8 to put the new center section into since the GM-4 isn't going to work with the one I ordered. I'd seen a GM-8 on e-bay and in desperation ordered it. Then, AK came through for me right after I'd pushed 'buy now' and sent me a GM-5 to use in case the GM-8 was complete trash. I was in a bit of a rush with more trips coming up on the 23rd only, I don't need to be in a rush because as it turns out, another Heath innovation is on back order (Bill was on a road trip and Joe failed to mention that detail). So I unboxed the GM-8 and it has at least 1/8" off axis shaft play on both the compessor and turbine sides. The back center section came off with out hardly a hitch and the housing looks great. The compressor housing is good too. For a destroyed turbo, it was amazingly clean.



Then I unboxed AK's GM-5 and its in great shape, tight shaft w/o any play. Spins great...excellent unit. No need to use it to upgrade the new center section too (when it comes in) so I'll do some test runs with it as well. I spent a little time on the heat shield only as the rest of it was already pretty clean and installed a Turbo Master I've had on the shelf for whenever the day came that I ran a waste gated turbo again.



Thanks again AK, very much appreciate the response...sorry for the false alarm though.

 

[ak diesel driver]

I had that turbo apart twice. neither time was it "real loose". Enjoy

 

[Paveltolz]

When I went to start the truck earlier this week the starter had died! I thought it might be because the batteries had been discharged one too many times so I went through the recharge drill a couple of times...had them tested when that didn't work and ended up replacing the starter (full warranty through O'Reilly's). That did the trick. But, I'm out of time to try any testing and turbo swaps as I'm leaving for another trip. Instead, I took it in to have the transfer case inspected and, if necessary, rebuilt. I figure it is one more thing to confirm or eliminate in my never ending attempt to sort out once and for all the issues with 4 wheel drive. Home again on November 4th.

 

[SS FORCE]

Those O'Reilly starters are crap. I went through six on a lifetime warranty with them in 5 years and they told me if I had another go out they would refund me and not honor the warranty anymore. They spun fast for the first month or two and pretty soon after they developed flat spots. By time I did the last swap I could have the old starter out and the new one in in 20 minutes.

 

[Husker6.5]

Those O'Reilly starters are crap. I went through six on a lifetime warranty with them in 5 years and they told me if I had another go out they would refund me and not honor the warranty anymore. They spun fast for the first month or two and pretty soon after they developed flat spots. By time I did the last swap I could have the old starter out and the new one in in 20 minutes.

"How do you get to Carnegie Hall?"
"Practice, practice, practice."

This is how mechanics beat the flat-rate and get paid for 10 hours work in 8 hours, repetition and finding the short cuts not in the manual.

 

[Will L.]

Idk, I usually beat book time first time out.

Ignoring warranty: I had a big argument with autozone years back on a bigblock chevy starter for my tool truck. I made sure to pay extra for the commercial warranty. After 4th starter, they tried that with me. Lawyer friend of mine made 2 calls, sent one letter. They paid his bill of $1400, gave me a new (not reman) starter, reimbursed my purchase price and $500 Visa gift card.

Funny thing is the truck was sold 2 weeks after it settled. Whole ordeal took l ss than 2 months.

 

[Paveltolz]

Got the truck back today. Just in time to load up a ton of gravel for leveling a building pad in the back for a new work shed. The mechanic at GearZ took it for a test drive and said, "It a real runner. It just wants to go and go fast." Yup.
I guess it is time to get the 4x4 back into it which means another front differential... After another business trip of course.

 

[deejaaa]

are you using the FS-2000 on the trans? it's a bypass filter and restricts flow. sorry if i missed the answer already.
i have one also but use it for engine oil. not on right now but maybe soon.
i just finished reading the thread. took 2 days.
BTW, what work do you do to be on the road for so long?

 

[Husker6.5]

He does secret Government work. He could tell you, but then he'd have to kill you!

 

[Paveltolz]

are you using the FS-2000 on the trans? it's a bypass filter and restricts flow. sorry if i missed the answer already.
i have one also but use it for engine oil. not on right now but maybe soon.
i just finished reading the thread. took 2 days.
BTW, what work do you do to be on the road for so long?

Haven't set up the FS-2500's yet. Original plans on hold for the Psuedo Resto. The restriction on flow to the Transmission is a concern I've had as well. I planned on going with 3/8" lines instead of the 1/4" ones that came with the kit and have all the parts...higher priorities though.
Work, I'm a military exercise developer for USSOCOM. A lot of legal/regulatory guidelines to coordinate and I get to work all over the country.
Here's a night jump the 82nd Airborne did in one of our recent events as seen through thermal NVG's.


Here's a personnel recovery exercise done in Florida on the Apalachicola River under a full moon...

 

[Paveltolz]

Back from the last trip and got Christmas shopping done as well as a few other things situated. With weather coming, I put the old louvers back on the hood to help keep the snow and rain out. Seems to have worked. It rained first and when the snow came, it froze over the louver openings which has kept the rest of the snow from blowing in.
I did take it for a couple of Zero to 60 runs with the current S-84 turbo still on it. First run was slow at 11 seconds. Second one came in at 9-10. Not knowing the fuel status and still running on expired tags I called it a day and rolled it home. I got video of the speedometer and start my time from when the RPMs come off the idle mark, not when MPH starts to register. If I did that, the times would be closer to 10 and 8 seconds. Not bad. Boost maxed out at 25psi and EGTs were way high given the unburned fuel clouding up the rear view.

 

[deejaaa]

so, where's the vids?

 

[Paveltolz]

Vids are pretty shaky given one-handed iPhone operations whilst driving and trying to keep things in frame. Then there's the annoying narrator's dialogue....
Consider it my Christmas present to everyone in not inducing motion sickness.
Maybe SS Force will swing by and he can take the video from his Duramx. It might improve my 0-60 times too, what with him pushing me down the road...
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year's.

 

[WarWagon]

That's the logical way to look at it but the GM Manuals, Gearz Transmission Shop, Transgo Transmission of CA, and other's here all indicated that the lower port on the transmission and the Radiator is the Pressure Side and the upper ports are the returns. Chasing the lines, they run from the lower trans port, out to the Aux cooler (where equipped), out to the lower radiator port, and out from the upper radiator port and back to the upper port on the transmission.

It's hard to see in this low Res scan of the transmission but you can see the Cooler in the middle and I've tried to highlight the Fluid's path (MS Paint SUCKS) and the line indicates the feed from the transmission runs to the "Cooler," which is in the radiator for this illustration, and enters in at the lower side. Upper goes out to "LUBE."View attachment 46309

"Chasing the lines, they run from the lower trans port, out to the Aux cooler (where equipped), out to the lower radiator port, and out from the upper radiator port and back to the upper port on the transmission."

How the factory did it and anyone after that did it doesn't matter. What matters are the best results.

The best results are sending the hottest oil through the radiator oil/water cooler first then sending it to the oil to air aux cooler. This reduces trans running temperature from 220 to 170 or so and improves the AC performance. The AC will trip the high side cut off with condenser temperatures slightly above 160 degrees. (Hot summer day here I see 160 condenser temps with miserable AC performance at idle via IR heat gun and hotter behind the oil coolers. 160 degrees is 300 psig high side. Consider 350 psig is 172 degrees and 195 degrees is something tripped off or blew up 459 psig! OEM thermostats are not even open at this temperature!) So a burning hot aux cooler is heating the condenser up in that area and degrading AC performance as R134a has to be cooled back down elsewhere. I was flushing the trans lines and noted the hot oil was going to the aux cooler first giving me 220 degree running temps since I got the 1993. After reversing the lines at the transmission I get 150 - 170 temps even with the high stall Yank put in, and, this is the most important part: a big improvement in the AC. (Except when I hot rod the Yank's Stall on a 10% grade during an extreme heat day and it trips the AC off anyway.)

Removing the radiator cooler and using the large aftermarket oil cooler alone got the trans hotter than 220. I don't recommend it.

Other OEM's like Dodge put the aux trans and other oil coolers behind the AC Condenser. This reduces the efficiency of the oil coolers, but, doesn't completely kill the already miserable performance of R134a in undersized systems when the SHTF with outsides temps over 105 degrees. Just no "good" reason to run AC head pressures up by putting hot oil in front of a 160 degree running AC condenser. IMO GM's bean counters freezing their asses in a Michigan Snow Bank do it to get away with smaller and cheaper oil coolers. I dunno maybe the oil coolers keep the condenser from clogging up with snow during a blizzard?

 

[Big T]

Haven't set up the FS-2500's yet. Original plans on hold for the Psuedo Resto. The restriction on flow to the Transmission is a concern I've had as well. I planned on going with 3/8" lines instead of the 1/4" ones that came with the kit and have all the parts...higher priorities though.
Work, I'm a military exercise developer for USSOCOM. A lot of legal/regulatory guidelines to coordinate and I get to work all over the country.
Here's a night jump the 82nd Airborne did in one of our recent events as seen through thermal NVG's.
View attachment 48805

Here's a personnel recovery exercise done in Florida on the Apalachicola River under a full moon...
View attachment 48806

Those pics look like invitro fertilization in a petri dish

 

[Big T]

Some pics from my visit with Paul.