CK5
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'89 R3500 Crew Cab 2wd to 4wd conversion & beyond
- Thread starter mrk5
- Start date
Started out with 2wd TBI350 with SM465 to current 4wd with 454, 700r4, NP241
x2 on this one . I have a old 70's blue base weller pencil and also a big black weller that will fry stuff if your not watching what you do .
bp71k5
3/4 ton status
Yes the LS is still a small block. I meant oldschool small block
I'm glad that you explained that to the bent one.....
Sometimes he needs help to catch up with the rest of us!!!
I don't know what the fork you are talking about!!!
The new soldering worked much better. Didn't get the entire run of wire so hot since it heated up quicker.
Just need to wire the triggers for the relays and it'll be ready to drop in.
Had to put the one in at an angle because I didn't have long enough leads on the factory plugs.
Just need to wire the triggers for the relays and it'll be ready to drop in.
Had to put the one in at an angle because I didn't have long enough leads on the factory plugs.
someone has been playing with heat shrink crimp connectors . . . i have the special tool also .
Yeah, I just solder wire splices.
So the truck has sat for a week since I brought it home and I found this under it:
The dark spot. Crawled under to trace it. It's the front seal in the timing cover.
I knew it was leaking there (it's actually been leaking there the longest I think) but I thought it was the front of the pan. So I need to pull the damper off and replace that too.
Been doing some searching on why both seals might have failed, but 90% of what I found only talks about the rear main. I did find some people that have had trouble with front seals by FelPro which is what I put in. So I have an AC Delco and SKF version on order. Basically what this person had found was that the FelPro lost it's seal with even the slightest offset of the seal. So if the timing cover wasn't on perfectly, it would leak. They used the SKF seal from Napa and found that it would maintain seal even if the cover was offset by a pretty good amount.
After seeing this puddle from a week of sitting, I'm starting to wonder if a lot of the oil under the truck actually started from the front of the motor and got blown around as it drives down the road and covers most everything. If it leaks like that parked, it's gotta be a lot worse under pressure. So I think most of the oil I found on the bottom of the motor was from the front seal but there was some contribution from the rear where I forgot to put the RTV on the bearing cap.
The dark spot. Crawled under to trace it. It's the front seal in the timing cover.
I knew it was leaking there (it's actually been leaking there the longest I think) but I thought it was the front of the pan. So I need to pull the damper off and replace that too.Been doing some searching on why both seals might have failed, but 90% of what I found only talks about the rear main. I did find some people that have had trouble with front seals by FelPro which is what I put in. So I have an AC Delco and SKF version on order. Basically what this person had found was that the FelPro lost it's seal with even the slightest offset of the seal. So if the timing cover wasn't on perfectly, it would leak. They used the SKF seal from Napa and found that it would maintain seal even if the cover was offset by a pretty good amount.
After seeing this puddle from a week of sitting, I'm starting to wonder if a lot of the oil under the truck actually started from the front of the motor and got blown around as it drives down the road and covers most everything. If it leaks like that parked, it's gotta be a lot worse under pressure. So I think most of the oil I found on the bottom of the motor was from the front seal but there was some contribution from the rear where I forgot to put the RTV on the bearing cap.
I had leaks front and rear from a bad balancer one time.
Could be blow by. The cylinder walls that I could see from pulling the pan all look good, but who knows what the rings are like. If that is the case I'm just going to have to live with it for a while. I don't have no monies for major engine work.
It had good compression but we didn't do a leak down test. And blow-by would make sense for why the trip hauling the camper up the hills seemed to make the oil leak go from tolerable to nearly torrential.
I think I mentioned before, but I have this idea. As many of found/discussed, saddle tanks bring the suck for offroading. Because they are long, and kinda tubular, it is very easy to uncover the fuel pickup with anything less than 1/2 tank. I even have EFI tanks with the tray and it still causes problems. I do like the saddle tanks for fuel capacity and of course they work with the factory fuel doors.
I've been tossing around the concept of putting in a 3rd tank back where a K5/Burb tank would be between the frame rails behind the axle. This tank would feed the EFI. The saddle tanks would continue to use the tank selector switch but power would be run through an on/off switch controlled by me. The outlet of the tank selector valve would be directed to the 3rd fuel tank instead of the motor. I would fill the saddle tanks and use them to fill the 3rd tank. Most times I would just fill the 2 saddle tanks to then fill the 3rd tank and call it good, but I could also fill all three if it was going to be a long trip.
There would be no external fill point for the 3rd tank. I would put an access panel in the floor of the bed; 1) so I can swap out a failed pump more easily and 2) so I could fill the tank if for some reason both saddle tanks were out of commission. I could also still swap the lines around and use the saddle tanks to feed the EFI if needed. It would be like triple redundancy.
My initial plan was to use an '87 K5 tank that's 25gal. 87 is the only year you can get the "small" tank with the baffle tray for EFI. Since I still have the saddle tanks, I don't need the 31gal tank and the 25gal tank would give me a little more clearance.
Another thought that has occurred to me is the 3rd tank could be an 18gal fuel cell. This would give me the ability to run a tank with a sump. Not only that, I could add a multi-point fuel pickup in the fuel cell and pretty much eliminate any concern of the pickup becoming uncovered. It would require the use of an external pump but the advantage there is even easier access to change in the event of fuel pump failure. The fuel cell would also take up a lot less space. The big negative is cost.
A third idea would be to keep the saddle tanks and plumb them for an external pump. I would use the same bulkhead fittings used for a fuel cell. There's a pretty good spot where there's room to get the fittings into the tanks without the frame in the way. But the frame is close enough I could make a little protective skid plate for the fittings. This would also allow me to put in a multi-point fuel pickup, 1 at each end of the tank. Downside is I don't get the added fuel capacity of the 3rd tank.
Any thoughts? Specifically I was wondering what people thought of the fuel cell vs K5 tank.
Since I know we all like pictures, here are the Walbro pickups I would use for the multi-point pickup.
I've been tossing around the concept of putting in a 3rd tank back where a K5/Burb tank would be between the frame rails behind the axle. This tank would feed the EFI. The saddle tanks would continue to use the tank selector switch but power would be run through an on/off switch controlled by me. The outlet of the tank selector valve would be directed to the 3rd fuel tank instead of the motor. I would fill the saddle tanks and use them to fill the 3rd tank. Most times I would just fill the 2 saddle tanks to then fill the 3rd tank and call it good, but I could also fill all three if it was going to be a long trip.
There would be no external fill point for the 3rd tank. I would put an access panel in the floor of the bed; 1) so I can swap out a failed pump more easily and 2) so I could fill the tank if for some reason both saddle tanks were out of commission. I could also still swap the lines around and use the saddle tanks to feed the EFI if needed. It would be like triple redundancy.
My initial plan was to use an '87 K5 tank that's 25gal. 87 is the only year you can get the "small" tank with the baffle tray for EFI. Since I still have the saddle tanks, I don't need the 31gal tank and the 25gal tank would give me a little more clearance.
Another thought that has occurred to me is the 3rd tank could be an 18gal fuel cell. This would give me the ability to run a tank with a sump. Not only that, I could add a multi-point fuel pickup in the fuel cell and pretty much eliminate any concern of the pickup becoming uncovered. It would require the use of an external pump but the advantage there is even easier access to change in the event of fuel pump failure. The fuel cell would also take up a lot less space. The big negative is cost.
A third idea would be to keep the saddle tanks and plumb them for an external pump. I would use the same bulkhead fittings used for a fuel cell. There's a pretty good spot where there's room to get the fittings into the tanks without the frame in the way. But the frame is close enough I could make a little protective skid plate for the fittings. This would also allow me to put in a multi-point fuel pickup, 1 at each end of the tank. Downside is I don't get the added fuel capacity of the 3rd tank.
Any thoughts? Specifically I was wondering what people thought of the fuel cell vs K5 tank.
Since I know we all like pictures, here are the Walbro pickups I would use for the multi-point pickup.
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Why do you need so much fuel? We run a very similar setup but you have OD and I have no desire to add more fuel capacity over the 31 gallons I have. I do carry an extra 5 or 10 gallons on some trips however it's never been a requirement.
We have a '96 K3500 cab and chassis here at work that has a 454. It has an inboard mounted fuel tank and also a rear mounted fuel tank that isn't too big. It is plastic and has a fuel pump of some sort and I'm assuming the computer turns it on when needed and it is plumbed into the vent hose for the front tank to fill it. It must be a cab and chassis thing. Of course there is no manual for the truck so I can't find out any info on it but I'm betting it takes the same fuel pump as the regular efi pump in the front tank.
I am hauling a camper as well and to places that often don't have fuel stations nearby. It's annoying when you have to start out the day finding a fuel station.
All things considered, fuel capacity isn't as much of an issue as the fuel slosh.
I believe 4 walbros (1 with the hole) is fine for a Walbro 255lph pump. Anything more and you're toasted. Any less count on the pickups and your screwed there too.
For reference when I went to the new pump this year my walbros could not flow enough and were giving me problems. Not to mention my whole vent tube fiasco which compounded the problem in my cell.
Remember they are more or less similar to a 70 micron prefilter setup. Same problem as the Hydromat from holley.
For reference when I went to the new pump this year my walbros could not flow enough and were giving me problems. Not to mention my whole vent tube fiasco which compounded the problem in my cell.
Remember they are more or less similar to a 70 micron prefilter setup. Same problem as the Hydromat from holley.
