'89 R3500 Crew Cab 2wd to 4wd conversion & beyond

[mrk5]

Solve the high fuel pressure issue:

What you see there is a kinked return hose barely visible between the tank and frame rail.

I started tracing the problem by disconnecting the return line from the factory hard line and directed it into a bucket. Figured this was a good place to start because it was easy to disconnect those lines and it would verify the problem wasn't the pressure regulator. Picture of the hard line to an adapters.

Had proper fuel pressure with the line disconnected there. So next I moved on to the the next suspect, the tank selector valve. I pulled the line off the return outlet from the tank selector. To my surprise, the fuel pressure was good once again. It wasn't the tank selector valve.

At this point I thought maybe something else was going on and maybe the pressure issue had somehow cleared itself up. So I reconnect all the fuel lines and check the pressure again. It was back up to nearly 100psi.

I started thinking maybe it was the issue 1-ton mentioned with the kinked bend in the hard lines. When I was poking around with the flashlight I just happened to see that kinked hose. When we dropped the tank we replaced all the hoses with higher pressure rated lines. I had a hell of a time tracking down proper hose locally and ultimately ended up with the return line being about 4" shorter than the others. Apparently 4" too short is enough to make the hose kink. Looks like the hoses need to be at least 18" to ensure the hoses are long enough to bend smoothly and not kink.

After dropping the tank and replacing the hose with a longer piece - I had luckily thought ahead and ordered some high pressure hoses from Summit - the pressure is running properly now at just under 60psi.

 

[ktmoutfront]

Good find.

 

[mrk5]

Kinda got lucky I think too.

 

[1-ton]

Solve the high fuel pressure issue:

What you see there is a kinked return hose barely visible between the tank and frame rail.

I started tracing the problem by disconnecting the return line from the factory hard line and directed it into a bucket. Figured this was a good place to start because it was easy to disconnect those lines and it would verify the problem wasn't the pressure regulator. Picture of the hard line to an adapters.

Had proper fuel pressure with the line disconnected there. So next I moved on to the the next suspect, the tank selector valve. I pulled the line off the return outlet from the tank selector. To my surprise, the fuel pressure was good once again. It wasn't the tank selector valve.

At this point I thought maybe something else was going on and maybe the pressure issue had somehow cleared itself up. So I reconnect all the fuel lines and check the pressure again. It was back up to nearly 100psi.

I started thinking maybe it was the issue 1-ton mentioned with the kinked bend in the hard lines. When I was poking around with the flashlight I just happened to see that kinked hose. When we dropped the tank we replaced all the hoses with higher pressure rated lines. I had a hell of a time tracking down proper hose locally and ultimately ended up with the return line being about 4" shorter than the others. Apparently 4" too short is enough to make the hose kink. Looks like the hoses need to be at least 18" to ensure the hoses are long enough to bend smoothly and not kink.

After dropping the tank and replacing the hose with a longer piece - I had luckily thought ahead and ordered some high pressure hoses from Summit - the pressure is running properly now at just under 60psi.

Glad at least one of my suggestions on this web site had some merit to it. Most of them lead to nothing solved.

 

[Justin V]

1 step closer to

 

[handloader90]

Love the custom valve covers! Those weatherpak connectors look real clean, I'm gonna have to get some whem I start doing some wire work on the truck.

Do the connectors have a clip or anything that locks them together?

 

[mrk5]

Love the custom valve covers! Those weatherpak connectors look real clean, I'm gonna have to get some whem I start doing some wire work on the truck.

Do the connectors have a clip or anything that locks them together?

Yes they do.



The initial investment to get the tool is a big pill to swallow but over the long term it will be handy. I purchased a kit on ebay that came with some of the component pieces plus the tool.

 

[skunked]

@mrk5 did you figure out a throttle cable bracket yet? I had to buy a ball stud so I could attach my stock cable to the FiTech however I've now realized the bracket wants to rotate on the carb stud since it's a single bolt design. I've also noticed the cable appears to be too long between the throttle bracket and the firewall.

 

[mrk5]

For now I'm using the single stud version that came with the Sniper. I've added a strap from the bracket to a threaded hole on the intake to help hold it in place.

If I buy one, I'll probably get Summit's https://m.summitracing.com/parts/sum-210239

I did redrill the bracket for the 700r4 TV cable to get it to adjust right. Hope to take it for a test spin tomorrow.

I bought the shortest throttle cable I could find which the application is just about any year square body K30 with carb'd 454. I still feel like it's too long. It kinda does a U shape loop.

I'm not going to use a throttle return spring for now. The one on the shaft seems plenty strong and the TV cable is spring loaded and would act as a backup spring. I've seen a few people on the Holley forum complaining about an added spring making it too stiff.

I would just buy a Lokar cable and the Summit throttle bracket but I'm trying to save money to get rid of the points distributor in the 66. Plus plugs, wires, and coil.

 

[skunked]

I can picture what you did with the strap, I was eyeballing that open tapped hole thinking I could tie the bracket in somehow. Since I'm not using a 700 trans it's not quite as bad as you have it.

Interesting that the cable is stil too long for the K30 454. I was trying to avoid spendiing the money on a bracket and aftermarjet cable.

 

[mrk5]

Putting this here for future reference: http://www.efisystempro.com/efi-pro-hangout/holley-sniper-efi-instruction

 

[mrk5]

Worked on doing some tuning today and learned some interesting things.

During the initial setup you choose a target idle for the motor was coolant temp is above 160F. The first time the motor runs and reaches 160F, the instructions have you adjust an idle screw to achieve the target idle while keeping the IAC (idle air control) between 2% & 10%.

I chose 750RPM but I could never get the idle below 850RPM and the IAC would be out of spec. I did some reading on the Holley Sniper forum and found some useful info about a possible cause of high idle.


Sure enough that is how mine looked so I fixed it. I also noticed something else when I was doing this. The table said my target idle was 850RPM! I double checked the basic settings and sure enough it said 850RPM as well. I changed that value to 750RPM and checked the table again and it now said 750RPM as well. So apparently this is a glitch or I didn't set the target idle where I thought.

However, I still feel like I may be chasing a vacuum leak. It may be my imagination tho. I think I may be over thinking the idle settings. I need to do a little more checking. I was trying to think of some way I could make smoke to use around the base of the Sniper to see if there's a vacuum leak there. I pulled the PCV and distributor lines to check them for leaks.

 

[skunked]

Not sure about the sniper however with the FiTech the IAC steps and making sure the TPS is at zero are very important baseline steps.

 

[mrk5]

Yeah, I was careful about keeping the TPS at 0. What is baffling me a little is that I can get the IAC set where it needs to be but as soon as the first electric fan kicks on and puts a load on the motor the IAC goes out of spec. Maybe that should be expect tho. Also wondering how steady the RPMs should be. They fluctuate about 50RPM. Am I obsessing too much?

 

[skunked]

The fan thing is odd.

50 is a little more that what I've experienced. However I think it's still learning, drive it and see if it changes.

 

[mrk5]

I did read some people have had little glitchy things cleared up after the ECU had some learning time. It's like everything is new so I'm not used to how anything behaves. And like I say, I think I've overthinking some of it.

I drove it around a little bit today and I'm definitely not adding a return spring; it's stiff enough already.

 

[1-ton]

Yeah, I was careful about keeping the TPS at 0. What is baffling me a little is that I can get the IAC set where it needs to be but as soon as the first electric fan kicks on and puts a load on the motor the IAC goes out of spec. Maybe that should be expect tho. Also wondering how steady the RPMs should be. They fluctuate about 50RPM. Am I obsessing too much?

The IAC is possibly going out of spec trying to keep the idle up at 750 RPM with the fans on. If you had Air Conditioning it would maybe do the same thing when it was turned on.

 

[Truckman4life]

Where's the burnout video? Burnout first, then worry about tuning!

 

[mrk5]

The IAC is possibly going out of spec trying to keep the idle up at 750 RPM with the fans on. If you had Air Conditioning it would maybe do the same thing when it was turned on.

I kinda feel like it's probably normal. Like I said, I think I'm over thinking things.

 

[mrk5]

I'm much happier now. I replaced the paper carb gasket that came with the Sniper with a thick Edelbrock gasket.

I used to run those back in carb days. I should have used it to begin with. I can swear I can see 2 spots where there might have been a leak on the paper gasket. It doesn't show well in photos.

Comparing the 2 photos of the gaskets, the Edelbrock gasket covers the area much better. Plus my intake works for both square bore and spread bore and I was reading those intakes notoriously have leak problems without the use of a good gasket.

I went ahead and reset the ECU and started over with the target idle set at 600RPM. This time I noticed when I fixed the idle graph like mentioned above, the target idle jumped up to the 850RPM. So that's when the idle was changing. So I went back in and set it to 600RPM again.

This time setting the IAC worked much better. Even once the fan came on it only increased the IAC 2 or 3 percent so it stayed in spec. So it would seem that perhaps changing the base gasket did help. I also like the idle better at 600RPM.

We put the hood on this morning before heading out to spend the day with my mom. Tomorrow I'll hopefully be driving it home. All depends on getting the TV cable for the 700r4 adjusted properly.

Here is a photo I took that shows the strap/brace I added to the cable bracket to try and keep it from moving around.

I also made up a few stickers for the "AngryDuck454".

Hey, what can I say. I'm the sticker guy you know.