Lynda's "CJ" Buildup Progress

[agjohn02]

the wax on the thermostat should be on the engine side. im not familiar with the details of the Lxx themostats. the LT1 therm is different than a sbc, but im not sure about these.

i think the plunger should move away from the engine b/c as the wax gets hot, it swells and opens the therm. im not picturing it very well.

it should look something like this... ls1 thermostst

[redcagepatrol]

little clarification?
so the engine is getting hot enough that it shuts itself down?
edit this please. i dont understand it very well.

the radiator never gets HOT? maybe your belt routing is fine but your thermostat is backwards?

Yes - the engine get's hot enought to go into loop control and shut down.

I edited it - I can place my hand on either side of the radiator and it's cold. The thermostat is "cast" into the housing and can't be installed backwards.

[redcagepatrol]

the wax on the thermostat should be on the engine side. im not familiar with the details of the Lxx themostats. the LT1 therm is different than a sbc, but im not sure about these.

i think the plunger should move away from the engine b/c as the wax gets hot, it swells and opens the therm. im not picturing it very well.

it should look something like this... ls1 thermostst

That's it - the left side plunger moves to the right and seals the hot water from the bigger inner spring. The plate on the left side is what I drilled holes into. The plunger that opens it is on the right side held in by the big spring. It lifts off it's seat moving towards the left.

[Fredo]

These cooling systems are very picky when it comes to air in the system. I recommend if you already have coolant in the system, take off the upper radiator hose and continue to fill the engine. I know if you don't do this on my LT1, it will never circulate water correctly due to air. It's almost like the pump won't prime. So if you just took the radiator cap off, filled the system, and fired it up, this is more than likely your problem. Also, after you check that and make sure it's full, let it warm up with the radiator cap off.

As far as the oil pressure thing goes...that's interesting. You don't have positive and negative switched on the actual gauge do you?

EDIT: Let me clarify. What I'm saying is to take the upper hose off, and pour coolant down that hose into the engine until it's full. Then put the hose back on and fill the system the rest of the way.

[redcagepatrol]

These cooling systems are very picky when it comes to air in the system. I recommend if you already have coolant in the system, take off the upper radiator hose and continue to fill the engine. I know if you don't do this on my LT1, it will never circulate water correctly due to air. It's almost like the pump won't prime. So if you just took the radiator cap off, filled the system, and fired it up, this is more than likely your problem. Also, after you check that and make sure it's full, let it warm up with the radiator cap off.

As far as the oil pressure thing goes...that's interesting. You don't have positive and negative switched on the actual gauge do you?

EDIT: Let me clarify. What I'm saying is to take the upper hose off, and pour coolant down that hose into the engine until it's full. Then put the hose back on and fill the system the rest of the way.

It worked!!! I'm so happy
Now - oil pressure - I checked the wires, they are VERY simple and correct. I ran a common ground on the dash gauges that jumps from gauge to gauge and it was right. I followed the signal wire right to the PCM output.

[Fredo]

What kind of gauge is it? Also, one wire factory oil pressure sender?

[redcagepatrol]

it's an Autometer gauge
This is interesting though - I don't know where it is connected to the engine at? I don't think I have a tail out connection for the oil pressure - just the tan wire from the PCM that says "connect to oil pressure" The paperwork says to connect it to the gauge and also states that the GM factory sensor has a range of 0-90 ohms.

But - like I said, I don't have a connection on the engine... I'm going to make another call to Fuel Injection Specialties...

[redcagepatrol]

it's an Autometer gauge
This is interesting though - I don't know where it is connected to the engine at? I don't think I have a tail out connection for the oil pressure - just the tan wire from the PCM that says "connect to oil pressure" The paperwork says to connect it to the gauge and also states that the GM factory sensor has a range of 0-90 ohms.

But - like I said, I don't have a connection on the engine... I'm going to make another call to Fuel Injection Specialties...

I'm wrong - theres one on the back of the engine. I'm going to change to the autometer sender - that must be the problem.

[agjohn02]

you'll probably have to put a tee in there and keep the factory sender. im sure the computer wont like not seeing oil pressure. just run the autometer sender directly to the gauge.

[Fredo]

yeah, you're going to have to keep the factory one otherwise it won't run. The computer won't let the engine run without oil pressure. If you can find another spot for the autometer pressure sender to go great, but I don't think they have a lot of high oil pressure ports just hanging out on the block. John's right, you'll probably have to rig up some sort of "T" so both senders get a signal. That or call autometer and see if they make a gauge or adapter kit that functions off of the range of the GM sender.

[agjohn02]

If you can find another spot for the autometer pressure sender to go great, but I don't think they have a lot of high oil pressure ports just hanging out on the block.

you can also pick up high oil pressure at the block off plate above the oil filter but i dont remember the specifics of it. ls1tech is your friend.

[redcagepatrol]

you have to drill and tap it I think. I just don't want to run another wire - I was done with that crap... Anyway that I can "calibrate" the signal from the PCM to match what the Autometer gauge needs? The GM sender is supposed to send 0~90 ohms

[agjohn02]

whats the autometer send? i dont have mine here.

[redcagepatrol]

I don't know and couldn't find the info anywhere...

[redcagepatrol]

finished engine compartment pics. I bought the intake from Street and Performance - they have some pretty cool stuff. It sure seemed a bunch simpler and cleaner to put the filter there instead of running an elbow and some tube. Also added a pic of the exhaust dump - it came out pretty good.