The First 10,000km and the issues

[Smurfeh]

Hey everyone!

As you know this was my second swap.. the first one I don't get to use very often, but my second one I've been highway driving the bag off it. Put roughly 10,000km on it in the last 4 months. These are a few things I have noticed hat are slightly annoying and wondering if anyone has experienced the same.

Engine is a 5.3 LH6 DoD, Trans 4L60e 84 k5 blazer.

Issue:
1) The Trans does not down shift what so ever unless I come to a complete stop. Ive gotten used to manually shifting by this point. On hills it especially terrible.

2) The acceleration is trash.. however I have feeling that this is because I asked my tuner to change when the fuel enrichment comes on. I also noticed that he accidently changed my tire size in the ecm from being 31s to being 30s for some reason.. any idea on the effects that would have?

3) Engine temp is getting around 129 and then the tstat is opening and will close at 120ish.. I think that this is too cool and that the engine is really getting up to ops temp at all.. what is the average running temp you guys see with the ALUMINUM BLOCK 5.3? I assume it would be slightly cooler than an iron block 5.3?

Other than these issues the thing has been running like a top.. its first drive was a 5,000km trek across Canada to its new home.. kind of risky without having done really any trial run with it.. all I did was leak checks and then off I went.. hahaha drove with more spare parts and tools than I did of my own belongings when I moved!!

Thanks for your time guys!!

[ls1nova71]

Aluminum or cast.doesn't really matter on engine temperature, the thermostat regulates it. My swaps all run around 195, thats cast 5.3s and aluminum LS1s.. As for the no down shift, that isnt right at all and sounds like a tune issue. How good is your tuner?

[Smurfeh]

My Tuner is quite proficient he's not a rookie by any means.. it was even baffling him, he spent an entire day troubleshooting it.. It should be noted that I also have had this down shift problem with the original tune from "current performance" so maybe its on my side, maybe the TCM is having issues communicating with the trans.. not sure.. My tuner is now 4000kms away no way I can bring it to him and would need to find a new guy to do it anyways.. Been thinking of buying hp tuners and learning how to do it myself.

As for the engine temp 129 for a tstat to be opening is too early in my mind.. every engine I have ever worked with avgs 190-195 for a run temp.. Either my tstat is opening too early or I'm getting a false indication from the ECM.. I've monitored it using various different methods and all show the same temps so the indication could be erroneous.

[KSD]

first off make sure your 4l60e is pinned for the newer TCM.Pre 06 4l60e are 15-17 pin and the newer gen 4 engines need to be 17-19 pin depending on year .If your tuner is stumped it would tell me they arent that good because if they are using HP tuners the can use the scan function and see the trans gear state and what gear is is being selected .Also is the TCC switching ?Again something your tuner can or should be able to diagonse .
Engine temp on all of the LS swaps ive done "I have done alot" run in the mid 190s and stay about there until the fans are commanded to go on,
Good luck and find a different tuner IMHO

[Smurfeh]

Nah the guy is good... he's sees the TCC locking and unlocking for the up swing of things, its just not unlocking for the down swing and is able to see the gear state. Just he doesn't understand why it isn't when it clearly should be.. Also, Try to not Hack up someones tuner when it is clear you haven't read the entire post.

Yeah 190 is what my other swap runs at as well.. I'll be looking into the tstat later on in the next month or so just wasn't sure if the aluminum block versions ran cooler than the iron block brothers....

If you're able please provide the pin out for the Pre-06 4L60e 15-17 pin hook ups and one for a 2007 New body style 4L60e 17-19 pin and I'll go through the pins and see which one was done.. this could very well be the issue.

[68c10airstream]

Smurfeh, I looked at your posts and i'm assuming that you are using your stock dash gauge to read engine temp. Is it farenheit or celcius? Did you use the stock 1985 sender screwed into the ls? My swap of a 2001 5.3 into my 68 stock dash cluster caused my stock temp gauge to read about 3/4 scale when fully warmed up (a true 195 degree farenheit). The 3/4 scale would have been very hot for 1968 so to get the stock gauge to read 1/2 scale i installed an adjustable potentiometer in-line temporarily and dialed it from 3/4 scale down to 1/2 scale. I removed the potentiometer and read the resistance. It was 4 ohms if i remember correctly. Got a 1/4 watt 4 ohm resistor and soldered it inline on the wire before the 1968 sender that i mounted to the face of the ls water pump. Works great and i can trust it to read correctly now. A lot of assumptions here and sorry for the rant but maybe it will help you and others if using a stock gauge cluster. Good luck, Brian F.

[Smurfeh]

unfortunately I am not using the stock temp sensor. I've been reading it right from the ECM via the obd port. The reading is in F. Its uncomfortably low. Thank you for taking the time to reply! your suggestion may help others though!

[83 Silverado]

What is your cooling setup, stock rad or HD 3 core rad and are you running mechanical or electric fans. I see Yellowknife as your location, and got to think the day time temps are floating around -20F right now, maybe your setup is overcooling.

As for the trans, see if a shop can cycle the shift solenoids with a scan tool to check function.

[Smurfeh]

Stock rad, mechanical fan.

the Truck is actually in Ontario right now at the moment.. North Bay to be more precise. Overcooling shouldn't be the issues here I think but can't eliminate anything yet.. I truly believe that I should at lease check the tstat out..

I'm assuming I could throw it into a pot of boiling water with a thermometer in it and see what temp it opens at? and then let the pot cool and see what temp it closes at? Assumptions here..

Yeah as for the trans, either the trans harness is pinned out slightly incorrect for the year range or I have a shift solenoid not behaving properly.

I'm currently in Yellowknife right now with the truck sitting in Ontario, I'll be back to her in 2 days time here so I wont be able to do any troubleshooting til I'm there.. just looking to get my poop in a group before I get back to her.

[72MARIO]

You really have put the miles on it.!! You not too far from me. I am just south of your truck in Huntsville.