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One Piece at a Time: My 1985 Diesel Suburban
- Thread starter AgDieseler
- Start date
I really wish they had an option for an 80mph range. It's 160mph only. Top speed for me is only around 65/70, so I'll just use the lower third of the gauge.
I'm heading to the Texas hill country this weekend to go wheeling. Rather than rush the installation, I'm going to keep the factory gauges in place for this trip. I want to take my time on it.
David
that's awesome, i actually like that, i'm not really a fan of dakota digital. my autometer speedo goes to 160mph also, i wish it ended at 100.
Those gauges looks pretty good. Seems kinda odd that they can adjust the tach range but not the speedo. I'm going to have to do something with mine one of these days.
Always loved diesel burbs too
.
Always loved diesel burbs too
.I'd suspect they COULD but market demand would likely be too low to justify the effort and cost.
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One Piece at a Time: My 1985 Diesel Suburban [Hill Country Wheeling]
Had a nice weekend camping/wheeling near Marble Falls, TX. There were quite a few dry creek beds and limestone ledges to climb. It rained a good bit, so photos are slim.
Driving from Dallas, we opt for TX281 over IH35 - less traffic and a very pretty drive. There's an obligatory stop at The Burger Bar in Cleburne.
In camp, gear deployed, rain coming.
Creeks had good limestone obstacles, but got a little narrow as we climbed to the headwaters.
And in one spot that was particularly tight and slick from rain, the truck slid against the creek bank and found a chunk of limestone. Without the ORD rear bumper, it would've been much worse.
We worked our way to the top of the hill, and enjoyed the view.
The rain was a welcome one. This area has been in drought for some time.
The 6.2L pulled nicely, and I made a few tweaks to the 4L80E program that dramatically improved lockup engagement/disengagement and double low crawling. All in all, a great trip.
David
Had a nice weekend camping/wheeling near Marble Falls, TX. There were quite a few dry creek beds and limestone ledges to climb. It rained a good bit, so photos are slim.
Driving from Dallas, we opt for TX281 over IH35 - less traffic and a very pretty drive. There's an obligatory stop at The Burger Bar in Cleburne.
In camp, gear deployed, rain coming.
Creeks had good limestone obstacles, but got a little narrow as we climbed to the headwaters.
And in one spot that was particularly tight and slick from rain, the truck slid against the creek bank and found a chunk of limestone. Without the ORD rear bumper, it would've been much worse.
We worked our way to the top of the hill, and enjoyed the view.
The rain was a welcome one. This area has been in drought for some time.
The 6.2L pulled nicely, and I made a few tweaks to the 4L80E program that dramatically improved lockup engagement/disengagement and double low crawling. All in all, a great trip.
David
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man i love your suburban… thats some beautiful country there, i need to go to texas someday.
y5mgisi
1 ton status
Ditto!
How hard is it to program the trans for you?
Looks good.
Martin
Martin
One Piece at a Time: My 1985 Diesel Suburban [Hill Country Wheeling]
This summer, we'll drive through Las Vegas, NM on our way to hike in Carson National Forest.
For this trip, I raised the unlock speed for 4th lockup so it would lug for only a moment pulling up the smaller hills before unlocking and getting a few hundred RPMs. I also increased the line pressure for 1st gear only when the gear is selected so I had better compression braking on the trail.
I attached a quick shot of the tables.
David
It seemed like there was a match last weekend, too. Lots of steady single firing with a few 3 and 5 round bursts. Tons of cars on the main road.
Thanks. I need to get out your way as well. We've been talking about a road trip to the Grand Canyon...might as well head a little farther west while we're at it.
This summer, we'll drive through Las Vegas, NM on our way to hike in Carson National Forest.
Not hard at all. The TCM-2000 editor software is PC based, and you can tweak every table. Getting shift points and 4th lockup initially dialed in for the diesel was the most time consuming part, but really it's just a 25% decrease of the base map meant for a gas rig. Powertrain Control Solutions' tech line was helpful, and their reference packet is well laid out.
For this trip, I raised the unlock speed for 4th lockup so it would lug for only a moment pulling up the smaller hills before unlocking and getting a few hundred RPMs. I also increased the line pressure for 1st gear only when the gear is selected so I had better compression braking on the trail.
I attached a quick shot of the tables.
Thanks!
David
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Cool, thanks
One Piece at a Time: My 1985 Diesel Suburban [Hill Country Wheeling]
I work slow.
Much of yesterday was spent disassembling and relocating the transmission temp to the now unused Isspro tach pod on the dash. Included in this is the inevitable "housekeeping" that comes when you take a second look at old work.
Also spent time reading through the instructions in detail and making my own checklist of tasks not specified in the "quick start" guide, specifically to pin out the existing instrument cluster connector for turn signals, ignition hot, fuel sender, and all the other digital inputs that need to migrate.
The oddball autometer gauge will bother me, but it's functional and can be upgraded to an Isspro unit later.
I wrapped up today installing sending units. The factory water temperature sender is just forward of the glow plug for cylinder 1, but anybody that's changed this or the glow plug temp sender back by #8 knows you have to move quickly or drain the coolant in that head. Since this wasn't a like for like swap, I opted to use a spare port on the coolant crossover. M998s use that location for their reading, and is probably a better indicator of the average temperature of the coolant in the head. The factory location is next to a prechamber but is also on the forward/bottom part of the head, so it's heavily localized to what's happening around one cylinder early in the coolant flow circuit.
Next step is to wire constant hot, route the sending unit harnesses, program the TCU for a speed output, and generally start wiring up the PC board. But right now, it's time to close things down for a cookout and beers among family and friends.
David
I work slow.
Much of yesterday was spent disassembling and relocating the transmission temp to the now unused Isspro tach pod on the dash. Included in this is the inevitable "housekeeping" that comes when you take a second look at old work.
Also spent time reading through the instructions in detail and making my own checklist of tasks not specified in the "quick start" guide, specifically to pin out the existing instrument cluster connector for turn signals, ignition hot, fuel sender, and all the other digital inputs that need to migrate.
The oddball autometer gauge will bother me, but it's functional and can be upgraded to an Isspro unit later.
I wrapped up today installing sending units. The factory water temperature sender is just forward of the glow plug for cylinder 1, but anybody that's changed this or the glow plug temp sender back by #8 knows you have to move quickly or drain the coolant in that head. Since this wasn't a like for like swap, I opted to use a spare port on the coolant crossover. M998s use that location for their reading, and is probably a better indicator of the average temperature of the coolant in the head. The factory location is next to a prechamber but is also on the forward/bottom part of the head, so it's heavily localized to what's happening around one cylinder early in the coolant flow circuit.
Next step is to wire constant hot, route the sending unit harnesses, program the TCU for a speed output, and generally start wiring up the PC board. But right now, it's time to close things down for a cookout and beers among family and friends.
David
So, flooding significantly slows progress.
David
David
sorry to hear man, any damage?
One Piece at a Time: My 1985 Diesel Suburban [Gauges]
Too early to tell if there's any lasting damage. We have an old pier and beam house, and there is still standing water underneath. Water definitely came up to just below the wood subfloor. The next few days don't show any rain in the forecast, so I hope to get under there soon and check.
I managed to get in a few hours wiring the inputs for the PC board. Can't have a truck without gauges. First check looks good: water, fuel, volts, and oil pressure are all reading normally. I need to trace back my harness for the tach input and run a speedometer signal from the TCU.
David
Too early to tell if there's any lasting damage. We have an old pier and beam house, and there is still standing water underneath. Water definitely came up to just below the wood subfloor. The next few days don't show any rain in the forecast, so I hope to get under there soon and check.
I managed to get in a few hours wiring the inputs for the PC board. Can't have a truck without gauges. First check looks good: water, fuel, volts, and oil pressure are all reading normally. I need to trace back my harness for the tach input and run a speedometer signal from the TCU.
David
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[emoji106]
One Piece at a Time: My 1985 Diesel Suburban [Gauges]
Small victories.
I couldn't get a tachometer signal last night despite the fact that the magnetic sensor and wiring was exactly as I had originally mapped. It was late, and figured it was best to take a break and crack open a Shiner. I woke this morning with a couple of fresh ideas. It's amazing what the brain can do with just a little rest.
Looking back at the Isspro wiring diagram, I figure that the 20AWG signal wire to the magnetic sensor is a 5V interrupt fed from the small PC board in the gauge itself. Rather than ordering Dakota Digital's tachometer signal interpreter, I just used the old Isspro gauge as the signal generator.
BAM!!!
David
Small victories.
I couldn't get a tachometer signal last night despite the fact that the magnetic sensor and wiring was exactly as I had originally mapped. It was late, and figured it was best to take a break and crack open a Shiner. I woke this morning with a couple of fresh ideas. It's amazing what the brain can do with just a little rest.
Looking back at the Isspro wiring diagram, I figure that the 20AWG signal wire to the magnetic sensor is a 5V interrupt fed from the small PC board in the gauge itself. Rather than ordering Dakota Digital's tachometer signal interpreter, I just used the old Isspro gauge as the signal generator.
BAM!!!
David
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