Sorry if I made you feel bad, James. Was never my intention. I just thought your truck looked more proportional with the larger bumper on it. I can get used to the change.
Oh come on Tom! You gotta try harder than that to get under my skin!
Chevy1925 (James) Truck/motor build
- Thread starter Chevy1925
- Start date
Oh come on Tom! You gotta try harder than that to get under my skin!
Today she got a few tweaks.
New lift pump must be moving more fuel cause when she’s cold the damn thing can not maintain rail pressure. You could see the truck commanding max current and rail would still creep up. So I bumped the current up from 1550mA to 1700mA and smoothed the next 5 to go with. Much better. Hovers around 1600mA now when cold.
Then swapped my old amp out for a new pioneer mono amp. For some reason, in all the years I’ve had this Rockford fosgate amp in here, I’ve always thought it was a 800rms/1600peak amp.... ha, no. It’s a 350/700 amp. I bought it used years ago (like 16-17 years ago) and didn’t know much about amps, just went off what my buddy told me it was. I had the subs wired at 2 ohm at the amp and it sounded good, gave you a good back massage that’s for sure. Well I thought it finally died so I bought this new pioneer amp. Well new pioneer is 1000rms/2000peak at 1 ohm stable, 800/1600 at 2 ohm to match what I thought my old amp was :rofl:. Pulled my old amp and found the power connection was going to shit and that’s why it was cutting out. Oh well, I’ll save it for my tracker. my subs are 200rms each and 4 ohm. So I paralleled all the subs and hooked up the amp so it’s 1 ohm to the new pioneer. Holy shit! I can believe how much harder it hits!
Then I swapped out my dead inverter for a new 300 watt one so my laptop will charge.
New lift pump must be moving more fuel cause when she’s cold the damn thing can not maintain rail pressure. You could see the truck commanding max current and rail would still creep up. So I bumped the current up from 1550mA to 1700mA and smoothed the next 5 to go with. Much better. Hovers around 1600mA now when cold.
Then swapped my old amp out for a new pioneer mono amp. For some reason, in all the years I’ve had this Rockford fosgate amp in here, I’ve always thought it was a 800rms/1600peak amp.... ha, no. It’s a 350/700 amp. I bought it used years ago (like 16-17 years ago) and didn’t know much about amps, just went off what my buddy told me it was. I had the subs wired at 2 ohm at the amp and it sounded good, gave you a good back massage that’s for sure. Well I thought it finally died so I bought this new pioneer amp. Well new pioneer is 1000rms/2000peak at 1 ohm stable, 800/1600 at 2 ohm to match what I thought my old amp was :rofl:. Pulled my old amp and found the power connection was going to shit and that’s why it was cutting out. Oh well, I’ll save it for my tracker. my subs are 200rms each and 4 ohm. So I paralleled all the subs and hooked up the amp so it’s 1 ohm to the new pioneer. Holy shit! I can believe how much harder it hits!
Then I swapped out my dead inverter for a new 300 watt one so my laptop will charge.
so the last two weeks ive been playing with trans tuning. ive been trying like hell to get rid of the nasty 2-1 downshift i get when cold in the morning and the 2-1 "bump" once warmed up and over 170* trans temp. initially josh had sent me a tune with table adjustments in areas we dont have access too. that stopped the hard down shifts in the morning (thank god, literally would lock the tires up every so often) but the 2-1 bump was still there once warmed up. i left the truck that way till a couple weeks ago when Josh, my buddy Jon and i got together to see if we can knock this out once and for all.
Between those two and their high knowledge/connections of the allison electronics and my feed back on whats happening and where to make changes, i think we finally are in the fine details of getting the shift dialed in. Thus far as of today, shifts this morning had just a little hiccup for a stiff shift but all afternoon yesterday with trans temp in the 175-180* range, i never had a delayed shift. really it was the opposite, the shift was almost a bit too quick which is good! we have not been able to get to this point in prior tunes.
I still have not added Mikes shift springs to the valve body. i would really like to see if we can smooth the shifts out on the stock springs first, then put them in and see if adjustments need to be made again. Ill say this much, there is SHIT TON of stuff going on for just 1 damn shift within that tcm. when you understand it, it really makes you realize why defuel must be in place but it also shows that those with access to the full computer info of the TCM can make the trans work so much better with aftermarket internals and should only be able to push this trans to be faster. May be a mute point at this point though as the new 10 speed could change all that and outdate the 5/6speed but there is a ton of potential thats been left on the board and the newer stuff will have that much more to look/search for as well.
Between those two and their high knowledge/connections of the allison electronics and my feed back on whats happening and where to make changes, i think we finally are in the fine details of getting the shift dialed in. Thus far as of today, shifts this morning had just a little hiccup for a stiff shift but all afternoon yesterday with trans temp in the 175-180* range, i never had a delayed shift. really it was the opposite, the shift was almost a bit too quick which is good! we have not been able to get to this point in prior tunes.
I still have not added Mikes shift springs to the valve body. i would really like to see if we can smooth the shifts out on the stock springs first, then put them in and see if adjustments need to be made again. Ill say this much, there is SHIT TON of stuff going on for just 1 damn shift within that tcm. when you understand it, it really makes you realize why defuel must be in place but it also shows that those with access to the full computer info of the TCM can make the trans work so much better with aftermarket internals and should only be able to push this trans to be faster. May be a mute point at this point though as the new 10 speed could change all that and outdate the 5/6speed but there is a ton of potential thats been left on the board and the newer stuff will have that much more to look/search for as well.
Little different for mine. These g3 clutches are very aggressive and tcm can’t adjust for them. There are quite a few guys I know with these clutches that have this same issue
Yes sir!
Once you're happy with the setup, will the changes make their way back into the base DT OS? Or at least as an option for people with similar aggressive clutches? Mine has a hard 2-1 shift when cold as well. Not enough to lock the tires, but enough to get your attention, especially the first cold day of the year. Seems to learn out a bit after that, but never goes away.
I am thinking really strongly about converting my truck to a 6 speed. The Suncoast kit (what I used in my Suburban) has some limitations that keep holding me back, but your setup is looking really good! Heck, I'd be willing to take a trip down to AZ for a week to get it all dialed in (I shift at much higher RPMs than stock because big single) if that is what it takes.
Thanks for keeping us posted on your trans tuning exploits. I am excited to see how much cool stuff you're able to do.
Yeah i dont see why it wont be implemented. I think we still may be missing a table to fine tune this in and Jon agrees with me so a little more looking around will need to be done. in the mean time, we will still tweak this till it cant be tweaked anymore! The time consuming part is the dead cold hard shifts only happen once during the day and i have a feeling the changes will need to be a case by case till a range is established but who knows.
So the straw that broke the camels back happened last weekend. This is the reason im after a new truck.
Went to the dunes last weekend for our guys ride. Momma let me out of the house with our new 1 month old boy at home (no idea how the hell that happened but i took it and ran with that shit! :rofl. had a damn blast down there, so much so i killed 2nd gear in the old bus trans and hurt the ring and pinion. made it threw the weekend till the last ride though, then jumped in my dads rzr S for that ride. Headed back home and saw some of teh best oil temps and coolant temps ive seen before pulling grades. oil never saw over 220* and coolant would hit 200*, fan kick on and drop down to 180 PULLING A GRADE. Now thats all with the new aux rad and fan i have too. gave me high high hopes for the summer.
Get home, unload, park and leave the old girl to sleep in the garage that night. start the truck up to go to work monday morning and as i drive, i notice it starts smoking more and more for about 5-7 min. i stop, try to smell it and its definitely not fuel, its coolant. Then, it clears up. drove the whole day without issue. next morning, no pressure in cooling system, no leaks, and no smoke on my way to work. Again, nothing the whole day. Now, unloaded, i will hardly get over 180. the two rad's will immediately cool the engine back down the moment the thermostats crack open so it stay at 175-180 constantly. you gotta drive it HARD unloaded to get temps to come up higher. i do quite a few back to back pulls, high rpm revs down side streets, and so on to get temps hotter. get up to 195 and no more. Park it for the night and drive it the next morning (no pressure in cooling system again mind you) and burns coolant for 5-7 min. this is not difinitive testing its a HG for sure but knowing i have LML hg and seeing all the issued with them, im just going to assume it is. there isnt much else it could be.
So at this point, im 90% these LML hg have given up the ghost and only leaking when the engine gets hot and then draining into a cyl. the driverside manifold and up pipe have burned coolant at the gasket so pretty sure its that side. could be a cracked head but i dont want to think that!
needless to say, i went into full pissed off mode. 1, i didnt want to now have to do this job and put the stress of having my wife HAVE to watch the kids again for a weekend more after i was just gone from a prior weekend. 2, im just flat tired of putting money into this truck and not getting the results im after. Ive put enough cash in her the last couple years to pay quite a bit towards a new truck payment. I know its not going to have parts last forever with how i am and what ive done to this rig, i know it will require alot of upkeep and effort on my end. ive done well at this for the last 13 years but its taxing time from my kiddos, something i now have to weigh in. Plus im getting to the point id rather put time/money in toys than my tow rig even though this has been a crossbreed for many many years. Im at a point in my life that separating them is easily doable.
Now came the hard part. fix and sell the truck, then buy a new one asap? or keep the limo and look at getting a new one next year while being easy on her with any trips i do. Wife and i had some heart to heart over the thoughts and just thinking about it killed me. I mean, its f**king stupid to have this kind of reaction over a vehicle but i guess between all the memories in her, the friends ive gained (i mean, it brought me here!), the blood, sweat and tears i have building it into something ive envisioned and its something ive learned a shit ton on, its really buried into my heart. I literally could sell everything else of mine and not give it a second thought. It doesnt help the fact that clean 01-02 trucks are getting harder and harder to find and ive noticed alot more people looking it over when i tow. always seems to strike a gas station convo up. Now granted, i didnt build it for the attention, its just evolved over the years.
So wife and i go back and forth, im giving smart financial reasons to sell it, shes giving me reason to keep it. Finally she says "you know, im sitting here trying to give you every reason under the sun to keep it and you keep arguing with me to sell it, did you already make your damn mind or what?" im like, shit, shes got a point. wtf am i doing :roflmao:. We both decided, fix the truck, keep it and lets get a new truck next year. limo will get put in the back yard or go down to my dads shop for occasional cruises and will get a full "restoration" down the road. luckily, rust is a non issue so its not going to take a ton of work but its little shit that needs love as well as a frame strip/powder coat, body repaint and so on.
Before i can start on the heads, i need to get my tracker fixed so this weekend i plan to bring it in and start unbending the bent frame i gave it :roflmao:. once thats squared away and i have reliable transportation again, it will be hg time. Also going to have the injectors gone over to verify they are still good too.
Went to the dunes last weekend for our guys ride. Momma let me out of the house with our new 1 month old boy at home (no idea how the hell that happened but i took it and ran with that shit! :rofl
. had a damn blast down there, so much so i killed 2nd gear in the old bus trans and hurt the ring and pinion. made it threw the weekend till the last ride though, then jumped in my dads rzr S for that ride. Headed back home and saw some of teh best oil temps and coolant temps ive seen before pulling grades. oil never saw over 220* and coolant would hit 200*, fan kick on and drop down to 180 PULLING A GRADE. Now thats all with the new aux rad and fan i have too. gave me high high hopes for the summer. Get home, unload, park and leave the old girl to sleep in the garage that night. start the truck up to go to work monday morning and as i drive, i notice it starts smoking more and more for about 5-7 min. i stop, try to smell it and its definitely not fuel, its coolant. Then, it clears up. drove the whole day without issue. next morning, no pressure in cooling system, no leaks, and no smoke on my way to work. Again, nothing the whole day. Now, unloaded, i will hardly get over 180. the two rad's will immediately cool the engine back down the moment the thermostats crack open so it stay at 175-180 constantly. you gotta drive it HARD unloaded to get temps to come up higher. i do quite a few back to back pulls, high rpm revs down side streets, and so on to get temps hotter. get up to 195 and no more. Park it for the night and drive it the next morning (no pressure in cooling system again mind you) and burns coolant for 5-7 min. this is not difinitive testing its a HG for sure but knowing i have LML hg and seeing all the issued with them, im just going to assume it is. there isnt much else it could be.
So at this point, im 90% these LML hg have given up the ghost and only leaking when the engine gets hot and then draining into a cyl. the driverside manifold and up pipe have burned coolant at the gasket so pretty sure its that side. could be a cracked head but i dont want to think that!
needless to say, i went into full pissed off mode. 1, i didnt want to now have to do this job and put the stress of having my wife HAVE to watch the kids again for a weekend more after i was just gone from a prior weekend. 2, im just flat tired of putting money into this truck and not getting the results im after. Ive put enough cash in her the last couple years to pay quite a bit towards a new truck payment. I know its not going to have parts last forever with how i am and what ive done to this rig, i know it will require alot of upkeep and effort on my end. ive done well at this for the last 13 years but its taxing time from my kiddos, something i now have to weigh in. Plus im getting to the point id rather put time/money in toys than my tow rig even though this has been a crossbreed for many many years. Im at a point in my life that separating them is easily doable.
Now came the hard part. fix and sell the truck, then buy a new one asap? or keep the limo and look at getting a new one next year while being easy on her with any trips i do. Wife and i had some heart to heart over the thoughts and just thinking about it killed me. I mean, its f**king stupid to have this kind of reaction over a vehicle but i guess between all the memories in her, the friends ive gained (i mean, it brought me here!), the blood, sweat and tears i have building it into something ive envisioned and its something ive learned a shit ton on, its really buried into my heart. I literally could sell everything else of mine and not give it a second thought. It doesnt help the fact that clean 01-02 trucks are getting harder and harder to find and ive noticed alot more people looking it over when i tow. always seems to strike a gas station convo up. Now granted, i didnt build it for the attention, its just evolved over the years.
So wife and i go back and forth, im giving smart financial reasons to sell it, shes giving me reason to keep it. Finally she says "you know, im sitting here trying to give you every reason under the sun to keep it and you keep arguing with me to sell it, did you already make your damn mind or what?" im like, shit, shes got a point. wtf am i doing :roflmao:. We both decided, fix the truck, keep it and lets get a new truck next year. limo will get put in the back yard or go down to my dads shop for occasional cruises and will get a full "restoration" down the road. luckily, rust is a non issue so its not going to take a ton of work but its little shit that needs love as well as a frame strip/powder coat, body repaint and so on.
Before i can start on the heads, i need to get my tracker fixed so this weekend i plan to bring it in and start unbending the bent frame i gave it :roflmao:. once thats squared away and i have reliable transportation again, it will be hg time. Also going to have the injectors gone over to verify they are still good too.
This would be a good time to get some L5P heads on that thing
good point! i guess i should look deeper into that now!