We drove the truck around quite a bit yesterday, got it over the 200 mile break in. I'm going to drop the driveshaft off this morning so I can hopefully get it back tomorrow.
CK5
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The oil change is done and the filter looked good. I'm hoping the driveshaft gets done early tomorrow or late today, but who knows. I found a remote tuner to help me get the truck ready for Friday. There's no way I'm going to make it to a dyno before then.
I also have a new O2 sensor that I need to install, but I can't run the truck without the driveshaft.
I also have a new O2 sensor that I need to install, but I can't run the truck without the driveshaft.
I picked up the driveshaft and spark plugs this morning and got everything re-installed so I could start tuning. Unfortunately after one run it was apparent that I still have an O2 sensor issue. The second sensor that I added seems to be the problem, it seems like it just picks a number it likes and stays right around there not really reacting to anything. I swapped sensors and switched sides with the wiring and the problem seems to be with the second sensor wiring harness or the dominator itself. I'm going to go back to a single sensor and see if I can get any tuning done.
I'm tired of new parts not working the way they're supposed to.
I'm tired of new parts not working the way they're supposed to.
Found the issue. Bad crimp, I replaced the pin and it's good to go now. Good thing I bought an O2 sensor I didn't need.
Updated list:
- Fuelab fuel pump: The original pump I bought was dead out of the box, I sent it back for an RMA and finally got it back last week. I still need to test it, but i have a spare pump now.
- Oil pump cover not bolted on: Smeding apologized profusely and paid me to fix their ****up. I'm not going to say how much they gave me, but it was everything I asked for.
- Crank position sensor issue: I'm running the Autozone CPS as I had read online that they tend to work better when the gap is too big and it seems to function perfectly. Another person also mentioned that I could run an LS9 sensor as they are longer (reluctor wheel is 1/4" smaller) and use shims to get the appropriate gap. Since I haven't been able to accurately measure what the gap is, I haven't pushed this issue with Smeding yet but they are aware and said they will help me with whatever I need.
- Oil pan: Smeding shipped me a replacement oil pan, next time I have the engine out I will install it and measure the crank sensor gap.
- Melling water pump: Melling is shipping me their updated pump that has some process improvement that is supposed to better retain the back plate.
- O2 Sensor: I have a brand new sensor that I didn't need and I fixed the wiring myself. This was a Holley part purchased through EFI System Pro, I had informed them that I was having a problem, then when I went to remove the cable I found the loose wire and fixed it. They said that post Covid they have had a ton of issues with Holley parts. I'm sure they would have helped me out if I didn't fix it myself.
-MAP Sensor: I have a ticket opened with Motion Raceworks, they said they are talking to the engineer??? I have to pull the manifold to get the old one out so I'm not in a rush to do anything about it anyways. Hopefully Motion makes it right.
-Leaking airbag system: I replaced the check valves since I thought those were the most likely cause, unfortunately it didn't fix anything.
-Driveshaft: Arizona Driveshaft and Differential re-tubed the shaft for me for material costs, I think this is fair since I can't prove that there was something wrong with the shaft. If it shakes again I'll likely upgrade to a 5" shaft which will require more modifications. If I do that I'll order a complete shaft with 1410 joints on both ends, that way the 4" shaft can be a spare. With the new gearing, I've had it over 100mph on the old shaft and it didn't shake so the new one should be fine for now.
I think that's the end of the issues list. When I was looking for a remote tuner a forum post led me back to EFI System Pro as they offer this service. When I was looking at pricing it mentioned their "Platinum service" is the same service they provide for free for 2 years to anyone that purchases their system through them. I reached out and mentioned that I had purchased my Dominator from them back in 2019, but it sat on the shelf until 2024 when I finally put the 6.0 in the shop truck. He said that the "2 years" thing isn't set in stone and they are helping me with remote tuning assistance for free! Flippin sweet. I can't say how much I appreciate their service and support.
I'm still hopeful that I can make it down the track tomorrow, but not positive. There were only 45 racer tickets left when I just looked, so I went ahead and bought one, but I can wait on the specator/crew ticket for my wife since there's no limit on those.
I have a new tune that I need to test, then I need to go do more datalogging. Wish me luck.
mount new slicks and see if they fit (I ordered a set of Hoosier BDR 28/10.5R17 tires to get my driveshaft speed down, old tires are 25.6" diameter)Speaking of the driveshaft, I need to do something about that. The plan was to drive it to the driveshaft shop to have them look at it and see what they can figure out, but it needs to be driveable first, this is one of the items that may make me miss next Friday.Make a mounting bracket for the catch can, make and run hoses for the catch canFix the oil leakWire the flex fuel sensor to the ECUWire the N2O solid state relay to the ECUMake the rest of the -6 Nitrous line and install it.Fill the nitrous bottlesCharge the A/C (it's hot here already)Engine break-in. I need to drive it 200 miles and change the oil.Spark plugs. I need to figure out what plugs to run and get those installed. I'm currently just running the same plugs as before (1 step cooler) because I had them.- Tuning. I was hoping to get to a tuner, but I don't think that's going to happen so I have to figure the tune out. This is the other item that may make it so I miss next week. I can't even do the break in on the tune it has now, it's so lean it's popping and banging when I roll onto the throttle. I need to get that figured out ASAP, but I have to finish a few other things on the list before I can do that.
Re-install the hood.
- Fuelab fuel pump: The original pump I bought was dead out of the box, I sent it back for an RMA and finally got it back last week. I still need to test it, but i have a spare pump now.
- Oil pump cover not bolted on: Smeding apologized profusely and paid me to fix their ****up. I'm not going to say how much they gave me, but it was everything I asked for.
- Crank position sensor issue: I'm running the Autozone CPS as I had read online that they tend to work better when the gap is too big and it seems to function perfectly. Another person also mentioned that I could run an LS9 sensor as they are longer (reluctor wheel is 1/4" smaller) and use shims to get the appropriate gap. Since I haven't been able to accurately measure what the gap is, I haven't pushed this issue with Smeding yet but they are aware and said they will help me with whatever I need.
- Oil pan: Smeding shipped me a replacement oil pan, next time I have the engine out I will install it and measure the crank sensor gap.
- Melling water pump: Melling is shipping me their updated pump that has some process improvement that is supposed to better retain the back plate.
- O2 Sensor: I have a brand new sensor that I didn't need and I fixed the wiring myself. This was a Holley part purchased through EFI System Pro, I had informed them that I was having a problem, then when I went to remove the cable I found the loose wire and fixed it. They said that post Covid they have had a ton of issues with Holley parts. I'm sure they would have helped me out if I didn't fix it myself.
-MAP Sensor: I have a ticket opened with Motion Raceworks, they said they are talking to the engineer??? I have to pull the manifold to get the old one out so I'm not in a rush to do anything about it anyways. Hopefully Motion makes it right.
-Leaking airbag system: I replaced the check valves since I thought those were the most likely cause, unfortunately it didn't fix anything.
-Driveshaft: Arizona Driveshaft and Differential re-tubed the shaft for me for material costs, I think this is fair since I can't prove that there was something wrong with the shaft. If it shakes again I'll likely upgrade to a 5" shaft which will require more modifications. If I do that I'll order a complete shaft with 1410 joints on both ends, that way the 4" shaft can be a spare. With the new gearing, I've had it over 100mph on the old shaft and it didn't shake so the new one should be fine for now.
I think that's the end of the issues list. When I was looking for a remote tuner a forum post led me back to EFI System Pro as they offer this service. When I was looking at pricing it mentioned their "Platinum service" is the same service they provide for free for 2 years to anyone that purchases their system through them. I reached out and mentioned that I had purchased my Dominator from them back in 2019, but it sat on the shelf until 2024 when I finally put the 6.0 in the shop truck. He said that the "2 years" thing isn't set in stone and they are helping me with remote tuning assistance for free! Flippin sweet. I can't say how much I appreciate their service and support.
I'm still hopeful that I can make it down the track tomorrow, but not positive. There were only 45 racer tickets left when I just looked, so I went ahead and bought one, but I can wait on the specator/crew ticket for my wife since there's no limit on those.
I have a new tune that I need to test, then I need to go do more datalogging. Wish me luck.
Sounds like everything is working out finally, glad to see the vendors stepping up and taking care of you.
It's certainly been more difficult than it should be. I just got back from another datalog session. It was good enough to do a full throttle rip onto the freeway into 3rd.
I've got the nitrous bottles filled, but I'll likely save that for the track.
I've sent tunes back and forth with EFI System Pro 3 or 4 times now and we're making major progress. For the first time the truck feels faster than it was before (once it gets up on the cam of course). I think I'm done for today, but it's looking promising for tomorrow. Are you going to make it out @Babaganoosh ?
I won’t be able to make it, have some plans.
Man, so many problems w/ new parts... Glad you've more or less made your way through them.
The combo of my 2600 rpm stall and massive overlap nitrous cam makes this truck a turd off the line. I'm certain my speed will be higher, but I'm not sure if my ETA will be unless I spray. I'm going to work on that next. Only a 100 shot tonight if I do spray.
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More part failures, this one is kinda my fault??? Most of the AN fittings I use are Evil Energy brand from Amazon. I've had zero issues with them and they seem to be great. 2 of the fittings I ordered for the nitrous setup (went from 4an to 6an) are leaking, I thought I had bought the Evil Energy ones, but I looked back at my orders and they were JomGorg brand...
SDHQ doesn't have what I need, so no nitrous tonight. Probably wasn't the best idea anyways.
I'm feeling pretty defeated right now, not sure if I'm even going to take it to the track. We'll see how I feel in a couple hours when it's time to leave.
SDHQ doesn't have what I need, so no nitrous tonight. Probably wasn't the best idea anyways.
I'm feeling pretty defeated right now, not sure if I'm even going to take it to the track. We'll see how I feel in a couple hours when it's time to leave.
We went, it was slow.
The best pass was [email protected]. Between the 2600rpm stall, 3.78 gears, taller tires, massive cam that doesn't make power until 5K, and no nitrous. It was loud, did amazing burnouts (didn't bother putting the slicks on) and that's about it. I think it wants a ton more timing, but even if we had it tuned perfectly it would be slow to the 1/8th.
Comparison of my fastest time with the old engine vs this engine
60' - 1.667 vs 2.327
330 - 4.172 vs 6.420
1/8 - [email protected] vs [email protected] - finally starting get some power
1000 - 10.594 vs 12.187
1/4 - [email protected] vs [email protected]
I was still in 2nd at the end of the track.
I could make this cam work, but my MPH would be insane out the back and parts would probably start falling off, not to mention it would still be a turd in the 1/8th. We're going to look at getting a much smaller cam and probably drop to a 92mm throttle body at the same time. I need to have the truck faster on the short end of the track. I'm limited to 11.5@135 without a cage.
The best pass was [email protected]. Between the 2600rpm stall, 3.78 gears, taller tires, massive cam that doesn't make power until 5K, and no nitrous. It was loud, did amazing burnouts (didn't bother putting the slicks on) and that's about it. I think it wants a ton more timing, but even if we had it tuned perfectly it would be slow to the 1/8th.
Comparison of my fastest time with the old engine vs this engine
60' - 1.667 vs 2.327
330 - 4.172 vs 6.420
1/8 - [email protected] vs [email protected] - finally starting get some power
1000 - 10.594 vs 12.187
1/4 - [email protected] vs [email protected]
I was still in 2nd at the end of the track.
I could make this cam work, but my MPH would be insane out the back and parts would probably start falling off, not to mention it would still be a turd in the 1/8th. We're going to look at getting a much smaller cam and probably drop to a 92mm throttle body at the same time. I need to have the truck faster on the short end of the track. I'm limited to 11.5@135 without a cage.
Well you got a pass, and you have a baseline now.
I got 3 passes in. That was my fastest pass. We put 2 more degrees of timing in and it liked it, but it needs more.
Maybe advance that cam witk the chain
I e-mailed Smeding to get a recommendation for a new cam. I better explained what I'm trying to accomplish with this engine right now and they have quite a few other grinds that are in stock. I'll start with that and the 92mm throttle body and go from there.
Caught up.
These threads are pretty entertaining when you start reading it seven years after they were started!
Martin
These threads are pretty entertaining when you start reading it seven years after they were started!
Martin
I've been seeing you like old comments for a couple weeks. I'd click occasionally to see how far you'd gotten.
I run a Murray 160 in mine. It's not a daily, I beat the snot out of it... Which is what seems to be the case with this truck. Plus it's in AZ. I'd run it the coolest possible.Agreed, I have never seen one run any different and won’t try to cool it even more just add more capacity. GM designed it to run at that temp for a reason.
I’m not proud of it but the only way I can get the air out of my coolant system is let it get to about 230 degrees and floor it at 5k rpm and I can hear it pop and it’s fine…
Yeah, Tick quoted me a $15k trans for my burb... 4l80E is just fine lol.
Not sure about the gear star, but I know the 4l85 doesn't like high RPM as much as the 4l80. May want to see what their max input RPM says before you flog it. I shift my 4l80 at 6600
My limit is,
At home.... After 2-3 pm.
In the shop,....
**** it, I'm in the shop, drink up lol.
After reading this post, I decided to go back and read a bunch and skim a lot, and look at all the awesome pics.
Sweet build for sure
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