GrimsterGMCs Kiwi1500

[GrimsterGMC]

This weekend was more troubleshooting the gauge cluster. For the last year it has had that fault where the gauges don't read right, the back lights are dim and then when you use the turn signals it looks like the whole thing has been possessed. The gauges will bounce from one end of the scale to the other with the indicators, and if the headlights are on then they flash as well. I thought I had it sorted a while ago when I was tidying the trailer connection wiring up and discovered the rear tires had been driving mud into the trailer connection. I had figured that when that got wet it would track power between the connections as they were so close together. As is the case with electrical gremlins, when you make a change it comes right and fools you into thinking you have fixed it, wrong. While it worked fine for a while, it was just a coincidence and later it came back. I checked all of the earths as they are the first go to on these trucks and they were all clean. So then I read @someotherguy mention a dry soldered joint on the circuit board so it was time to pull it out for an inspection. Everything looked good so before getting too committed I thought I would check the socket wiring in the dash since I had a wiring diagram. There are 2 contact points for earths, one goes to the dash frame rail next to the ALDL socket and one goes through to the engine bay. Well the engine bay tester 0 ohms and the one to the dash frame showed 36 ohms. Now I didn't think that 36 ohms would be enough to cause any issues, but that one was the actual problem. Luckily, the metal cover on the back of the cluster has a screw going through the earth track on the circuit board meaning all I had to do was make a short jumper lead that went on one of the cover screws and ran it down to the metal dash frame. I started the truck up with out finishing the connection and the gauges were all off but when I touched the jumper to the metal dash frame it instantly came right, even with the turn signal on so a rear win for me. Now to go through all of the boxes to see what gets done next weekend.

 

[fancyTBI]

Nice job! We’ve all got those “things that need done” that we just keep putting off. Then you wonder why you didn’t do it ages ago! Understandably if you’ve been busy then stuff doesn’t always get done either.

Looking forward to next weekend’s success.

 

[SNCTMPL]

Glad to hear that about the fan. I got an 11 blade and new clutch for my son’s truck. Did the fan sit in the same place as the steel one?

 

[GrimsterGMC]

Yes

 

[termite]

Any idea if that 11 blade is a direct fot for the 454 TBI as well? The metal 5 blade I have is obnoxiously loud, to the point I shut it down to talk to someone out the window.

 

[GrimsterGMC]

I had an issue with an oil and filter change that could have cost me my engine. I changed the filter with the same one I have been using for the last 10 years. It is a Ryco Z9 that has the 3/4 inch thread. When I screwed the new one on it was loose on the threads but done up all right. Luckily, when I moved the truck I had to back up first as there was an oil slick where I had been parked. When I climbed under to check the filter it was loose and leaking oil. I tried tightening it again and it would get tight then click over a thread and come loose again. I went and got another filter but it was the same store so the same batch and that one was even looser. I measured the ID of the hole in the filter and it was considerably larger than the old filter, and while the old filter was the same brand the stamping for the thread size on the new filter was "34" were the old one was "3/4" so quality control was questionable. I ended up putting the old filter back on as it had only done 3000 miles so a few more wouldn't hurt as much as dumping a sump full of oil at 60 mph. I ended up ordering the filter adapter for the 2wd engine with the shorter vertically fitted filter since I hate having oil pour out of the horizontal ones when you unscrew them. Just another one of them "who would've seen that coming" situations that you need to look out for.

 

[GrimsterGMC]

Any idea if that 11 blade is a direct fot for the 454 TBI as well? The metal 5 blade I have is obnoxiously loud, to the point I shut it down to talk to someone out the window.

I wouldn't know, you will need to measure the point to point diameter as there are different sizes available.

 

[termite]

Down another rabbit hole I'll have to go. You're running a TBI 350 correct?

 

[GrimsterGMC]

Down another rabbit hole I'll have to go. You're running a TBI 350 correct?

Yes, there is a thread on here somewhere with a lot of info on the fans and the fan clutches that is well worth reading first.

 

[GrimsterGMC]

Well I am impressed, I ordered the new belt and tensioner from Rockauto on the evening of the 10th, and it arrived this morning of the 15th, after having to travel half way around the world, can't ask for better than that. Now I have to make time to install it, luckily it's only a 10 minute job.