Once again the junk yard provides... new projects!

Found a 48" Hi-lift literally laying in the back seat of a Jeep, and I can honestly say that I don't think it's EVER been used. Not a scratch or scuff anywhere on it.

So now I want to fab up a mount on the rear spare tire carrier for it

 

Finally had to change the battery in the 'ol girl. Haven't been driving it as a daily recently, and I've had to jump it off every time to get it started after sitting for a couple days. Yellow top Optima that was in it had a date code of 04/11, I actually got it used, so being 8 years old I guess I got my monies worth out of it lol. So I put another yellow top Optima right back in it's place

Then proceeded to try and find out where my oil leak is coming from. I either have a bad front main seal or it's the oil pan... Hoping for the main seal, looks like that would be a relatively easy fix. The oil pan gasket looks like the motor would have to be pulled because it being a 4x4... Cleaned it all up for a clean start and I'll check back on it later. It's leaking pretty fast, was a whole quart low...

 

The front seal is part of the timing cover on mine. If yours is the same way, you're going to have to drop the pan either way.

 

Well, if the motor is coming out, the original 220k unit is not going back in lol. Not quite ready for the LS3 swap right now, but I'm looking into what it takes to drop in a newer gen 4.3 out of the 07-13 model full size trucks and vans, as I'm sure I could source a pretty low mileage one of those easier than a decent one from an S10 or Blazer... From what I can gather, the only real difference is the tone ring on the crank pulley for the positioning sensor, and a different timing cover to accompany it. Not sure if that tone ring is swapable or if you'd have to drop in a previous generation crank... They've both LU3 series 4.3's so the block and heads are identical I do believe. The newer gen ones used a cam positioning sensor and coil pack in place of the distributor using the same hole down through the intake that the distributor uses.

 

Found the leak. Wasn't the pan gasket OR the front main.

Darned oil cooler line running from the filter housing to the engine, steady stream form the crimp... Crazy they're not that old either.

So I just dropped $50 an AC Delco hose assembly...


Guess the 220k mile 4.3 will stay in it just a little longer lol

 

I feel your pain.

 

It's always nice when a job turns out to be easier than expected. 👍

 

When I did my build, I cheaped out and bought a Dorman oil line assembly. Was weeping oil in 7 months!

In auto repair circles, the name "Dorman" is a running joke. If a car comes in with a problem, and you see a new part with the "wallet with wings" emblem on it, that's where you start your diagnosis, because 9 times out of 10, the new Dorman part is junk! They suck, at least for electrical parts, or anything that has to retain a fluid. Some of their parts are handy, like door lock ***** for old school cars / trucks, and those plastic retainers that hold door latch rods to the latches or lock solenoids. There's several other hard to find parts they make as well - they should just stick to that market!

 

Well I can't complain too much about it really. I was actually given the hoses as a pay-it-forward from someone here on the forum so I have no idea what brand they actually were

 

Worked on some wiring for my overhead console. Wiring up a new rear view camera with a built in backup monitor. Also hard-wiring my dash camera.

All the while the LS3 was teasing me in the background...