Things are looking better tonight. I am 99.9% sure I narrowed down what the culprit wire is in the harness. By process of elimination, and with Pocket's help I am sure the extra wire that was never connected to anything is the 12v source for the ECM (which, I might add, is important )

Also, a friend of mine said he can remove the aftermarket alarm system for me, which should clear up another issue. Now I just have to disable VATS and have my tuner come over this Saturday.


Oh, also, I want to show you guys what I did for the coolant hose that goes from the stock radiator to the outlet on the cross over tubes under the intake manifold. I'm sure you guys know that there is a big size difference between the port on the radiator and the outlet on the tubes, so I ran a small hose from the tubes, under the throttle body over towards the radiator and then got a Watts brass fitting from Home Depot that has a barb to fit the small hose on one end, and it has 1/2" pipe threading on the other end. I couldn't find another fitting that had a barb on one end that fit snug inside the bigger hose AND had pipe threading to work with the other fitting, so I just used the one and put a hose clamp over the hose and the pipe threading. It works, that's all that matters to me.





Also, I had to rig up something for the over-flow hose that goes into the 4th gen coolant bottle, because the hard line that comes out of the rubber grommet on the coolant bottle is discontinued from GM. Luckily I still had my factory fuel lines from the car sitting by the garage. I took a pipe cutter and cut off a few inches of it, bent a 90* angle in it and put it down in the grommet and ran it under the battery. It comes out on the side of the battery like factory 4th gen ones, and I hooked it up to a rubber hose that fit the small port at the top of the radiator. I don't have a picture of my rigged up fuel line deal, but you can see the hose I used in the first picture above.

 

This is officially a nightmare. The issue I was having with the alarm making the lights go crazy, wasn't an issue with the alarm after all. I put a test light on my grounds with the battery hooked up and the chassis and motor are both getting power which was making the lights come on because their grounds are bolted to the frame which is now a power source. I am so frustrated now... Something isn't hooked up right. Could it be that the ground from the negative side of the battery isn't grounded well enough because I bolted it to the Spohn k member without scuffing up the paint on it first?

 

It probably wouldn't hurt to remove the paint on that ground yeah lol.

 

How many grounds do you have? The more the better. I've got one off each end of both heads (4), one from the battery to the rear framerail-ish thing (battery is mounted right behind the passanger and one going to the front framerail.

 

I was using one ground strap from the passenger side head to the firewall, the negative battery cable to the kmember, and 3 small ground wires that are in the harness that twi went to the firewall and one went to the block.

 

I presume your battery is still up front? Run one to the block and one to the kmember/framerail from the battery. (in addition to the ones you have)

 

seriously, these things run completely off of the grounds, and if you don't have good connectivity from the k-member to the frame rails you'll have a poor ground too. definitely ground that one to the motor, and ground the motor to the framerails. i have mine engine grounded to the front of the frame rails where the front sway bar mounts, and there is no paint there either.

 

I bought two more ground straps from AutoZone tonight, they're 13" long each. I'm hoping this will solve my problem. I'll keep you guys updated, and get a video of some sort if I can get it running tomorrow night.

 

updates?!

 

Yea, right here.


https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/ltx-...crank-but.html

 

I started with the easiest test to do just to see if I could get it to fire, and that was to replace the crank position sensor. I fully trust Pocket's wiring job so I really didn't think that the wiring or pinning was the issue. Sure enough, after I put a new sensor in she fired right up! It doesn't stay running for more than a few seconds but my tuner needs to come back over and finish what we started on Saturday, plus I haven't adjusted the screw on the throttle body so the idle is out of whack anyways. But nonetheless, she fired up and I am SO excited!

Just a few videos, it ran for only a second or two in the first one, but the second one it stayed running a little longer. Just enough to hear how completely awesome this thing is going to be once I get it back on the road.

 

YES! Congrats!

is that vats that is not allowing it to run longer than a few seconds?

I'm on my way to finish up my wiring to see if i can get mine to crank. i'm using the full 4th gen engine, engine bay, and interior harnesses. It seemed easier since i'm going to a 4th gen dash anyway. Making it look clean... another story...

 

I thought about VATS, but wouldn't it not even crank if the 3rd gen VATS system wasn't over-ridden? I know the tuner disabled it on the computer...I am not sure, I guess I'll see what input some other guys have to say about this.

Good luck on your swap. It has been a long road for sure, but I'm almost at the end, just need to finish putting it together so I can drive it to the exhaust shop.

 

Betcha that felt good hehe. Dont forget to add grounds.... as mentioned above and in sticky and me broken record grounds grounds grounds

 

My friend's dad is an electrician and he helped me figure out the electrical issue. He thinks that one ground strap plus the negative battery cable going straight to a cylinder head is enough ground. Plus the swap harness has like 3 small ground wires inside it too.

 

fast and clean..........congrats

 

Suit yourself but a few pieces of wire dont weight much, dont cost much, can be done very very neatly, and will certainly only help, never hurt so I dont see the logic in not adding them personally but dont take it from us guys who have had good running swaps for years or anything...

Seriously you probably will be okay with what you have but why take the chance?

 

Congrats! I bet thats the best feeling in the world. I cant wait to feel it myself.

 

That sounded absolutely amazing through my sound system. Can't wait to hear that thing run for a bit longer ...aaaaand I can't wait to do my own swap.

 

I did add other strap to it but I don't like the location so I am going to re-locate it. I had it going from the driver side head to the frame rail kind of where the old cruise wiring and vacuum lines were run.

 

Congrats Nick! Can't wait to hear that myself. Sounds awesome.

 

Just wait until after Christmas. My grandma bought me a nice digital camcorder so I will take some GOOD footage. I was using the video feature on a regular point and shoot camera...I'll show you guys how to lay down some black marks with the new equipment.

 

That sounds REALLY good! Awesome feeling. It sounds like VATS (not the thirdgen one). The initial start/die sounded like what mine does when I unhook the battery for a bit. I guessed it was relearning the crank position sensor.

 

Hey more good news...it was dying either because it was re-learning the new crank sensor or because of the fact that I had made all new fuel lines and the rails were empty, even priming the pump wasn't filling it up enough or something, because I just went back to it about 10 minutes ago and it ran for a longer amount of time. I'll bet it would have stayed running if I let it, but I shut it off after about 10 or so seconds because it's almost 8:00 here and I don't want to **** off the neighbors (yet).

 

'Bout time.

 

Congrats! welcome to the 3rd gen lsx club!

 

Good job man! Sounds good...will be good to see some good vids with the new camera!

It sounds like VATS to me still... Funny thing about VATs. I had mine programmed out before I did the swap. When I tried to start it for the first time, VATs was still interfering. I confirmed this by building a VATs box, and she fired right up. So...fast forward a bit, it eventually started to run without the VATs bypass box. Fast forward again...it started needing the box sometimes. When I tried to start it without the box, I was actually able to get it to run for like 8 seconds before it shut off, but only on occasion. It sounded bad...but it stayed running.

Just a weird condition that I went through with my car. Hopefully yours is just the new sensors or whatever. Havent really heard anyone complain about this besides me...so maybe my car was just weird.

J.

 

Yea it wasn't VATS. It was a mixure of a bad idle and some other small issues. HP Tuners shows that the only code it is throwing now is the MAF because it's not hooked up. But alas...

Here it is, actually RUNNING instead of choking out every two seconds. The second video is after the idle was lowered a bit, I think it sounds pretty sick.

I have to figure out why it's overheating now. Apparently there wasn't enough coolant in the system even after I put 2 gallons in it. It still keeps taking more in. The heater core lines weren't warming up even after the first fan kicked on at 195* or whatever it is set at. I'm gonna try putting more coolant in it and see how much more it takes. If it's not because there wasn't enough coolant or because of air pockets, does this mean the water pump is shot? Or maybe the t-stat?

 

I've heard of the lsx's needing to be "burped" but am not sure what it really means. Might be worth looking into along with the t-stat and water-pump.

 

according to z06vette.com

Start w/ a cold engine
Remove rad. cap
Idle for 1 minute
Install cap
Cycle RPM from idle to 3000 until coolant reaches 210F
Shut off engine
Remove cap
Start engine
Idle for 1 minute
Install cap
Cycle RPM from idle to 3000 until coolant reaches 210F
Shut off engine
Remove cap
Top off

thats the "burp" procedure

Use Caution when performing this procedure, serious injury could result

 

That brings another problem to the table. The gauge in the cluster showed a lower reading than HP Tuners. So I don't really know what temp it is, and I wouldn't want to risk burning the motor up.

 

How much lower

 

About 50*

 

pay attention to the hp tuners gauge. the gauge clusters in our cars are terrible. budget for autometers, or an Aeroforce Interceptor scanner gauge.

 

Is there no way to correct it? I may need to get an Autometer gauge if it's not possible


Here's what I was working on today. I have a pile of screws and bolts, and I can't remember where they all go when putting the center console back in. Also, can anyone show me a picture of how the big black "V" shaped brace is supposed to mount under the steering column? It's a support brace for the column, I can't seem to remember how it went on.

 

Good to know. I seem to remember with the old L98 removing the cap on a hot radiator causing a coolant explosion...

 

Thats the same approach Im taking. I positioned mine on the passenger side tho. That way I dont have to deal with the radiator hose on the driver side. I just relocated the battery in the trunk.

 

^^^ I am using an LT1 Fbody upper radiator hose, but I flipped it around backwards so it shoots out further from the radiator, allowing a 4" intake tube to go underneath it.




My dad helped me finish the cold air intake today. I think it looks pretty good! Everything is 4", and the K&N filter is a 4" diameter, 9" long piece. We ended up cutting about an inch off one end of one of the 90* elbows in order to get it to sit low enough to clear the upper radiator hose.













I'm kind of wondering if it's going to take a long time for the springs to settle again, or if this is really how bad it will look since the block is lighter than the old one plus I have a tubular k-member now. The car used to sit pretty darn low with the Hotchkis springs...






Here is how it sat before.

 

It should settle a bit, once you do some actual driving at least.

 

yeah i would take that with a grain of salt, just like everything else on the internet. I could see that exploding in someones face and causing serious injury. So anyone doing it be careful i dont know if the ls1's blow out like the older cars or not. Although i assume they do.

 

just bring it up to operating temp a few times with the cap off and keep filling the radiator. simple procedure IMO. I leave the electric fans off and wait until the thermostat opens and dump in more coolant.

 

That's a great idea Nick, I think I'll use it with mine as well.

I don't suppose you'd have a part number for it, would ya??

 

Easiest way Ive found to prevent air locking a coolant system is to drill a tiny hole in the T-stat so air can pass by allowing hot coolant to warm up the T-stat

1/16" is usually as big as Ill go, some T-stats have holes from the factory

 

It should be done settling within a month of starting to daily drive it. Several times, several vehicles, including third gens, I've had springs take that much to get them where they're gonna be for years after.

 

Well this was a really great read haha! I am seriously considering going for the Lq4 now since it seems to fit the same... Just a little more work right? I like the fact that you can get a pull out for like half the price or less than a 5.7 LS1 Fbody pullout.. Well I should be going this route sometime next year. Thanks for the great write up! I cant wait to see the burnouts...

 

I would think it wouldn't take much to make it settle now though. I bought the springs used and don't even know how many miles are on them. All I know is they have about 7,000 miles from being on MY car, don't know about before that. The car was on jackstands since July though, I don't know...I'm really hoping it settles a bit more so I don't have to hack up the springs too bad with a cutter.

Good luck to you, it wasn't as hard as I thought it would be, but at the same time, I didn't do all the wiring stuff so that eased the process a lot. There's a ton of good resources on this site, take advantage of everything you read.

 

How's the exhaust coming Nick?

 

Did you wait until the car was at ride height to do the final tighten on the control arm bolts in the front? Sometimes if the bushings are a little old they can bind if you tighten them out of their ride height area.

I put used eibach pro kit springs on my car during my swap. Used the stock isolators in the front and the back. I fully expected the front to sit higher, and was planning on cutting the springs, however it ended up sitting perfectly level...more or less. Im surprised that yours would be that much taller...but you gotta drive it around some and see what you end up with. It had a nice stance before, and it'd be nice to get it back to that.

J.

 

I like how the radiator return hose wraps around the cold air intake. Kind of like a de-icing unit. The swap is looking good.

 

It's not...yet. I have a paper to finish writing and a final on Tuesday then I'm done with school forever. I intend on taking the car to the shop on Thursday for exhaust.

The car was on jackstands when I put the a-arms back on. I'm hoping that didn't mess up the bushings. But I want to get tubular ones later anyways.

I think I'm going to probably put some kind of heat wrap around part of the intake so the coolant hose doesn't make the idle air hot. It only touches it barely right now, but just to be safe...