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11/5/05 Well, things have gone a little backwards here. The fuel filter is apparently no our problem. After changing it three times, I had the engine code read and it indicates low fuel rail pressure. Of course, the truck feels and does run out of fuel. Now WHY that is happening is what is needed to be determined. It turns out that Josh, whom I approached over a year ago at Rydell Chevy to work on the project, has moved on to private work, and is now ready to receive the truck as a paying client. I have to tow it to Santa Clarita. I need to confirm with AAA that they can handle this long and wide truck. I'll put a call in Monday morning and see what can happen. Meanwhile, Brett came down with strep-throat, and did not make it yesterday. 11/8/05 AAA sent a properly-sized flat bed, and Mike, the driver, was entranced with the race car lineup here. He may call me some time later to get involved in the FC or other projects. I shipped the truck to Santa Clarita to S and W Automotive. They have started, but have not resolved anything as yet. My garage and yard are quite open right now, as the Duramax truck is in the paint shop getting Penske yellow color, the dually is in the shop, and the Impala is also in the shop. With the trailer temporarily out on the driveway, I see an enormous garage! How refreshing! The Buick and Condor are in there with room for two more! 11/12/05 Got the dually back after a week at S/W Auto. Shawn's testing revealed a VERY high fuel vacuum, over 17 inches of suck. That collapsed the rubber hoses which Roy and I installed to relocate the fuel filter. The blue hose we used from the tank to the hard line can withstand 26 icnhes of vacuum, and we should have done the same at the filter. But that was not the core problem. It turns out there is a FICM (Fuel Injection Control Module) THROUGH which the fuel passes BEFORE it gets to the fuel filter. The purpose of this routing is to use the fuel to cool the computer in the FICM. Shawn found a clump of what looks like trash bag plastic and some aluminum foil wadded in the intake side of that module. BINGO! Back to about 3-5 inches of vacuum. Where this debris originated is a total mystery. I WILL put a water separator right at the head of the fuel line just in front of the tank to obviate any future such occurrence. Shawn suggests adding an electric fuel pump pushing about 8 PSI there as well. The truck runs beautifully, and Shawn assures me it DOES smoke the tires at launch. I brought it back and mounted the instrument cluster, welding in two tabs and integral nuts, and using some of the bagful of 6 x 1.00 mm bolts John and I sorted about 10 days ago from the bucketful of 03 leftover bolts, nuts, etc. I was methodical and patient, and the module fits nicely. I also pulled out the original wiring loom for the dash-mounted factory speakers (discarded since I have the righteous Rob Anderson 10-channel hifi now). I also re-routed some wiring under the dash behind the glove box. I pulled out the glove box, cleaned stuff up a bit, and got the flex hose to go onto the AC outlet. I then used Parabond cement to glue the dash trim to the cover, and to glue the AC duct elbow to the back of the dash cover. After an hour of drying it all went in, and works WAY better now with pretty good airflow. I also glued up the foam surrounds on the two duct heads. The dash top is in, the cluster surround (the old piece liberally carved up) is in, and I will address the remaining dash pieces tomorrow. Once those are fit, I'll pull out the surround and get to making it a finished piece around the cluster. I also need to mount the CD/FM head with its sleeve (now where is that sleeve???). I still believe we don't have enough actual COOLING in the AC, but tomorrow's test drive will reveal if it was just all lost air. As noted some time back, if it is not cold, it will go back to Arrow AC and let Val work his magic again. Shawn noted that it appears the left frame is failing. As I look at it now I can see the left side of the truck is lower in the front. I'll get the truck over to Mike's Frame on Monday and see what they can come up with. So my fears were justified and Marlon appears to have been incorrect in his optimistic feelings about the frame's strength. Shawn also connected a missing ground that provided power for the data plug, and cured the left turn indicator malfunction which would appear in the dash cluster when I turned on the headlights. He also left off the second ignition switch and says it only turns out the security icon, and is otherwise not necessary. He thinks this truck is every bit as fast as his majorly hopped up Banks system on his 05 Duramax. 11/15/05 Mike says it is NOT tweaked. He noted the left rear looked at little out of whack, probably from being overloaded in times past. He also noted the camber on the left wheel was +5/8, and the right was +1 degree. Now Marlon has only recently aligned this, so I need to take it back to him for correction. Also, the steering wheel is about 22 degrees out of level to the left. Interestingly, the Impala is 45 degrees out to the left. Hmmm… The EDGE computer is also asking to have its agreement revalidated every time I turn on the ignition. There is something awry. I took it to DPS briefly. I need to take it back for a more thorough fix. It runs fine, just won't give a screen without re-accepting the terms. I t shouldn't do that. Mike noted that the engine's left mount was NOT bolted. The bolt indeed had backed out. Roy and I went up to Sepulveda Muffler and kindly borrowed Harry's rack, and had no luck getting it back in. Back at the house Roy put in several hours and finally got it done on his own. Man, is he persistent!! We had intended to safety wire these bolts and did not do it. So we need to come up with some cap, like a socket, which is then wired to hold the bolt from turning. I was reluctant to go with the welded in nuts, as I knew the exacting alignment required to get these to take would be very tough, and that fear has proven itself true. I don't think this scheme is any worse than many factory impossibilities, but I don't like doing it at all. Mike also noted the steering arm was hitting the left mount, and felt this was a disaster waiting to happen. I'll need to do some grinding on the shoulder of the arm rather than grind more out of the mount. Roy and I also went to Gene Berg Trucking (which claimed to have them in stock), and had no luck getting the elusive hydro-booster master cylinder “butterfly” O-ring or kit. The fellow behind the counter claimed we were about the 300 th person looking for these parts this year. I will try some parts stores and rebuilders next. Someone has to be making these parts, as they come with NEW (from GM) boosters. The truck is riding nicely, the dash looks good, although I need to finish the surround and trim stuff, And it runs great. I need to get the fuel gauge connected. Brett SHOULD be doing that this weekend. While out at SW Auto, Daniel appeared capable of doing some of the electrical stuff ala carte. He is the tech guy at Rydell. I also found a fellow at Von's Truck Repair today who asked to look at the swap, and appeared able to do some of this stuff as well. We're building a database for long-term care. Of course, should someone really want a swap like this, we'll be able to do it.
11/16/05 In an amazing turn of events, someone DID inquire today about doing a swap. With the truck running apparently well, I toped off the tanks (still no fuel gauge) at 29 gallons (11 to spare), got in and started it, and it died 4 seconds later. NO start. I phoned John nearby at DPS and asked if he could run over with a scanner and see what was now (not) going on. He was about to send Romeo when he suggested disconnecting the Edge. I did so and it started, and I promptly booked over the DPS. John/Romeo changed the entire Edge unit out for free, no waiting, no hassles. These guys are so right on. Runs GREAT again. The unit still keeps asking for acceptance of terms and conditions, and I don' understand that. I say nothing, it works, and I don't get my display screen for now. I'll take it over to DOS tomorrow and see if there is some procedure I'm missing on this. I stopped by Arrow AC and gave Val a ride, and he was mightily impressed. He topped off the freon, and we'll see if that makes the difference on cooling. It blows adequately, and cools about 7.5, but not the 9.9 that the 03 does. It should be the same given nearly all components are identical. As I MIGHT have a heater core leak, that could explain less than optimal cooling. Also, there MIGHT be some vacuum door malfunctions exacerbating the condition. Mind you, on low speed I keep turning it down, but on higher fan speeds it seems not to cool as well. Val suggested a fan shroud for additional airflow through the condenser. I DO have a dedicated electric fan on half the condenser. Anyway, while at DPS for the Edge swap, a fellow named Matt inquired about the dually, asked who did the swap, and noted he himself has an 85 Suburban and would love this Duramax setup. The short story is I asked him for ten grand plus the parts and 3 months to do the swap. He has my card and promises to call. How many times have we heard THAT in al the diaries on my projects? 11/23/05 Roy and his INCREDIBLE tenacity got the left mount bolt in. He also started on pulling the heater core out, but found the leak was a bad hose connection in the engine compartment. While apart, he fixed a bent AC door in the unit. The thing blows REAL cold now. BUT, I saw some antifreeze on the ground today suggesting we still have some kind of leak. The truck just boogies. 11/27/05 Brett used the dually to pull the FC trailer for his move, and was mightily impressed. It gets about 13 MPG towing and being driven hard. I've got it on the “1” economy setting for this tankfull, so we'll see how that performs. 6/12/06 The Edge computer has been replaced twice. I'm not sure it's the problem, so so we've run it for several weeks on just the stock computer. It did run out of fuel once, but was NOT empty. It actually had about 15 gallons on board. We're thinking it might be an air lock problem. I will drill out the fuel caps and see what happens there. I am now filling it at about 320 miles, and each time it takes about 25 gallons. I'm going to put a 5-gallon can on board with fuel, and run the thing empty and see just what gives. For now, that translates to about 13 miles per gallon. That should get me at least 520 miles per dual-tank load. The truck rides great, and needs only for me to finish the left side dash. 8/11/06 It has been completely repainted. I have a stainless steel plate to cover the stock rear tailgate trim, and I will have DWC blanked into it once I find a die-cut person. The dash still needs completing. The Edge is again connected, and we'll see how it fares now. I am intending to put the 03 under-dash components in to get the best AC possible, as wheat I have now is underwhelming, particularly during our 110-degree heat blitz of late. As I have just sold the 06 Duramax rebuild, I now DO need to have the dually function. I was just going to blow it out, but I'll probably sell the 03 truck and keep only the red dually. Stay tuned.
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