Thanks Smitty. When we get a little closer I'll have to check into one at the parts store to see what the wire end should look like and then if I can find a wire that would go to it we'll get one put in. If not I reckon I'll buy a plug to put into it If that thing that's in there leaks. (it's broken and I'm clueless about how it's designed)

Meanwhile wish me luck on my old green beast. My '97 Dodge Grand Caravan decided to die and refuses to start. It's not getting spark. I've got a guy who is going to scan it tonight to tell me what the problem is. I already know it's not the coil. It couldn't be that simple. Sure hope it's not something that takes an arm and a leg to fix.

 

Had to change the water pump on my 02 blazer this morning. Not too tough. And just so y'all know, the big but on the fan clutch is a 36mm. Be sure it's in the kit if you rent your tools. Auto zone has the better kit. It's a $108 deposit, fyi.

 

Brian, alot of the times on modern stuff, a no-spark condition is due to a bad crank sensor or wiring, and/or the same with the cam sensor.

The plug for the knock sensor I recall being an odd looking thing. You might have to get a female bullet connector to fit the little stud inside for a good connection. Or, hit the boneyard and see if you can snip one out.

 

My truck runs with the cam sensor unplugged

 

Upgraded my 89 S15 Jimmy 2wd to Dual Piston calipers and hub bearings. At the same time replaced upper and lower ball joints on both sides.

 

Thought I was getting a deal but dude was trying to scam me. He scanned it and it Supposedly said the crank sensor was bad. He said he'd take care of it for $50, which included the scan, if I brought him the sensor. I agreed and took him the sensor yesterday morning. I had asked if he was ready to work on it and how long it would take. He said it'd only take him an hour but he'd just woken up and wouldn't be ready to work on it for a while. I said that was a shame because I was thinking I could wait and then just drive it home since I didn't have any other transportation and would have to get a ride from someone clear across town. He told me he'd call me when it was done and he could bring it out.

When he called he said his wife could just follow him if I could slip him a few bucks for gas. I said that unfortunately the only cash I had on me was what I owed him for the work. I told him if he'd just drive it out I'd be ready when he got here and take him right back home. A while later when he showed up he said, "My wife followed me out because she decided she wanted to go to garage sales. This way you won't have to get out in the heat." I told him I was out in it anyway, paid him, and they left.

Right after that my son and I jumped in the van and headed to town to get gas for the mower. We made it a total of Three miles and then it died. After finally getting a brother-in-law to tow me home and into some shade I cooled off for a while then went to check it out. I found a small piece of wire that had been bent into a little U and shoved in next to the mini-fuse marked Engine.

I KNEW that hadn't been there before. I figured he had done it so I'd have to bring it back to him to 'figure out' what was wrong and he could charge me to 'fix' something else. I pulled out the fuse and swapped in one from the lighter. It started right up. However, it kept popping fuses. I cleaned the fuse block with quick drying electronics cleaner but it still kept popping fuses about every mile or two.

Today I went out, pulled out the battery and breather box, and found the clip was broken where the crank sensor plugged in. Out of curiosity I pulled the new crank sensor, put in the old crank sensor. It fired right up. I tapped the plug connection, put it all back together and started it up. It idled for about 15 minutes without popping the fuse. I had to come in to eat and cool off but next I need to go out and drive it around on the property to see if being driven makes it pop it.

I'm hoping this has it fixed.

 

Good you've narrowed it down.

Geesh, I'd NEVER send a customer away with a jump wire in place of a fuse! Good way to start an expensive fire!

Sounds like the wires were shorting together, or one shorting to ground at the sensor. If there's any frayed wiring, it can sometimes only take one strand to pop the fuse. You'll have to look at it real close. Also check the wiring from the sensor into the harness - alot of the times you'll find a rubbed through wire where the harness lays against the block, or part of the body.

Sounds like you might have moved the wires that were shorting in that connector though. If you can replace that connector, that would be the way to go.

 

Some do, some don't - hard to remember them all. Good to know, thanks!

There's one vehicle I've seen that will run with a dead crank sensor. It uses the cam sensor in that case. Can't even remember the brand, let alone model ...

 

Acquired a complete L31 from a 98 Suburban with what I believe to have a cracked piston ring (possibly two considering the amount of oil it was puking from the exhaust ) Going to tare the head's off this week and have a look inside to make sure the cylinder walls are not gouged beyond use before I hand over the money for it though. Buddy of mine has a set of almost brand new heads for one sitting in his garage for me that he put on a guys truck and the dude slung a rod through the block playing in the woods literally 2 weeks later...

Plan is to put it on a stand, tare it apart, rebuild and beef it up over the course of a year or so, and stick it between the frame rails of my 04 Blazer eventually

 

Started to tare into the 5.7 project

Pulled the intake and the right side head off for today, going to pull the other side head off sometime this week and spin the motor over and inspect the cylinder walls.

So far, the motor just looks NEGLECTED... Nothing a good cleaning and freshening up wouldn't fix though





Originally planned on using a set of heads from a buddy of mine as mentioned before. The heads looked brand new at first glance and we figured they were still in great shape. But I'm hesitant to use them now after looking that them closer today and seeing a small heat sensitive tab the remanufacturer put on them has had the center melted out, indicating that the heads have been overheated... which as we all know leads to warping, possibly cracking... So, I'm still going to get them and have a local machine shop give them a once over, maybe have them install new springs to allow for more valve lift since I plan on camming the 5.7 Going to have them hone the block anyhow... Worse case scenario, I'll just have the heads I'm pulling off this block rebuilt and use them. I'm not planning on porting or anything, but just a freshen up rebuild, maybe new valves too. End plan is to have the motor fairly close to stock both in parts and in looks, but with a cam that gives it a little lope at idle. I don't want to have to redesign the entire electrical and fuel system just to accommodate the engine swap, that's why I'm not going the 5.3/6.0 route. I plan on keeping it a daily driver, not seeking out 500+ HP from it... and want to keep the MPG at a reasonable level as well (said no V8 powered 4x4 driver ever...)