2002 2500HD - Solid Axle Tow Rig

Put a little over 700 miles on it since Wednesday. Had to go up to Pax River, MD for work. The AC works great and the transmission cooler doesn't leak a drop and temps stay about 160 degrees in stop and go traffic when it's 90 degrees. However....my oil leak returned.

I think I'm going to check out the PCV system because just driving back and forth to work it didn't leak for 3 days, but after a rowdy 6 hour interstate jaunt, it was back to leaking.

The driver's side diff seal is leaking too, dammit. They're a pain to get to on these SD axles too because of the knuckle seals. FML...

Stay tuned for more!
 
My oil leak has GOT to be the timing cover...I keep seeing oil above the fan hub mount, which is up kind of high. I feel like it's cracked somewhere and I can see it, but it's definitely leaking. Screw it. It's getting replaced...or at least removed and checked out. I'm running out of places to check for oil leaks!
 
Well, good news and bad news!

I got a new timing cover from the guys at Diesel Addiction when I was down there today. We also fixed a few things in my tuning to clean it up. During the test drive we took to go get lunch, he asked me to give it some skinny pedal. Apparently 5000 psi rail pressure at WOT isn't enough....who knew? It's really weird...the truck has been running great, but when I'd lay the hammer down it always felt like it was blowing through the converter, but this explains it all! I'm happy and a little sad at the same time.

On one hand, the plan for tomorrow was to replace the front cover and all associated o rings, gaskets, and seals....but I wasn't planning on spending another 1130 bucks today on a new S&S Sportsman CP3. At least it's modified for higher rail pressure all around and better flow above 3000 rpm.

Good thing is, it's only a few more bolts to change the pump while I'm doing the front cover. It all worked out, albeit a little untimely.

Hopefully tomorrow will go well. It'll be nice to finally have power! :D

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Well, I did it. Changed the timing cover, front crank seal, and put in a new CP3. The oil fill, water pump bypass pipe, and oil pressure relief valve all got new o-rings while I was in there too. I started at about 11am and finished up around 3am. It was a long, hot, tiresome day....but I was too close to being done to stop. Plus, I didn't want to walk a mile back to my house.

There were two cracks in the timing cover from when I wrecked it. They were exactly where I thought they'd be and I feel much better knowing that I was right, but more so because I didn't do all that work for nothing! Having the timing cover off also allowed me to pull the CP3 gear off before removing the pump itself. That let me remove the pump without having to take the Y bridge out.

All in all, it wasn't a terrible job. It was time consuming though and my rib cage is mighty sore. I'm sure tomorrow and Monday will be fuuuun... I'm glad I bought the front seal installer. It made life much easier, but it was pricey for a one time thing.

At least it was a drastic difference once I took it down the road. It'll actually haul ass now! :D

You can see one of the cracks from the front side in this first picture. It's coming down at an angle under that black headed bolt. You wouldn't believe how much of a mess and aggravation those little bastards have caused!

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Below you can see that it's going back together with the new pump. The paint mark is for shits and giggles and in case I want to pull the oil fill tube and make sure it hasn't spun. It shouldn't...it's a tapered fit and I torqued it, but they're not keyed, so you never know!

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The crack in this picture, which is the back side of the timing cover, is to the left of that QA stamp. It's pretty much right through the middle of where the webbing meets. You may need to zoom in a hair to see it.

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Definitely don't need to zoom to see that cavernous defect. This is the inside of the coveras well and this is the left side, just above where the water pump bolts up to the cover.

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The pictures aren't in any particular order. I had to keep reminding myself to take one every now and again just to keep things interesting for my loyal readers. Now I just need to throw a scanner on it again and see how my rail pressure does at wide open. With the LBZ regulator on the pump, it should be able to command 26,000 psi which is about 3,000 more than an LB7 regulator will allow.
 
It definitely is!
 
You weren't getting any codes with the bad cp3? My 01 was throwing "large fuel leak" code, I'm assuming because it was commanding 20,000+ psi and not getting it, so it thought the fuel was going somewhere. It would limp and limit to 2,000 rpm. After the new pump, the guy that swapped it said it was the strongest lb7 he'd ever driven. I'd still have it if the head gaskets hadn't started leaking and it it had 4 real doors.
 
Nope...no codes! I didn't drive it very hard, so for the most part it would keep up.

After all that work, of all things, I can't get the damn lower radiator hose to stop leaking where it goes on the water pump. No clue what's up with that. I guess I'll just pull it all the way off and see if there's a small cut in it or something. I absolutely hate dumping the coolant out of this thing every time I turn around.
 
Figured out the water leak and got it fixed today after work! It was the bypass pipe's lower o-ring. I cut the last one when I was sliding the pipe over and bolting it to the water pump housing.

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It was leaking just inside of the bolt on the left side of the flange. It made it seem like the lower radiator hose was leaking at the hose clamp.
 
Went and picked these rigs up today with a guy from work. They're for him, not me! The front one is a parts car and the one on the back runs and drives, but the interior is out and is in the other car. Apparently is has the Japanese spec motor in it....that little bastard will scoot! It'll smoke both front tires too. Should be a fun little car to ride back and forth to work in.

No power steering, but the AC works beautifully! :D Priorities man...

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If you zoom in on the picture, you can see that I'm in dire need of some strap wraps from @Will Carter !
 
Too bad you don’t have a full set of the rims on the black one. Those are Si rims and worth a pretty good penny if they’re in good shape. I’m curious what jdm motor is in it? I had a 97 hatch with a jdm k24 and that thing was a suicide shoebox!! Still got almost 35mpg if I could help myself from hooning it everywhere
 
He's looking for another rim or two to finish out the set. I'm not sure which motor it is.
 
@skyhighZJ It's a B16B and matching 5 speed with the LSD. Has a nice stainless header on it and a sweet Mishimoto radiator with silicone hoses too.
 
Ever since I did the 45% over SAC nozzle injectors I haven't been happy with my tunes. It only got worse after I replaced the CP3 since it uses an LBZ fuel pressure regulator. I've been back down to have my tuning tweaked two times already....it still lopes in gear with your foot on the brake and I can see a black haze pretty much all the time when driving. Needless to say, my mileage has gone to shit. I used to get 18-19 and now I'm getting about 15.5.

So...if anyone has a suggestion for a new tuner, I'm all ears. I've been thinking of going with Ridge Runner down in SC.
 
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Would go with anyone else beside kory willis. His tunes are hot and Smokey in my experience.

Tony at ridge runner diesel was an efi live beta tester back in the day and is a better tuner for the lb7. Plus he's semi local.
 
I'm definitely not going with Kory Willis. Even the Duramax Facebook Group PPEI shaft riders who used to drop his name alllll the time have dropped him like a bad habit.

I've considered driving down to see my cousin in Summerville and then having Tony do my tunes in person, but I have also considered buying an AutoCal and just having them shipped to me and then I can data log/email if I have issues or need him to fix something.
 
Well, I've been fortunate enough to have escaped any damages during the storm. As a result, I was out and about cleaning up trees or busted up structures for various people, friends, or family. Took out an oak today and hauled off the stump, trunk, and some branches from the guy's neighbor. Everyone has been more than gracious and I've even managed to make a few bucks along the way. I also got to put my excavator to good use. Not a bad week off work, but back to the machine shop tomorrow morning!

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There's an oak stump and most of the tree trunk under those magnolia limbs too!
 
Finally ordered some new tunes from Ridge Runner down in SC. Got an AutoCal too, so it'll be easier to tweak and update in the future.

Picked out: Stock +30, Heavy Tow, DD +50, +100, and +125. As long as he dials in the fuel pressure regulator and pulls the fuel back, I'll be happy. I'm tired of the constant lope at idle and black haze. 14-15 mpg brings the suck too. I was getting 17-18 with a crapped out set of injectors and a wiped out CP3.

I'm really eager to see and feel the differences. I figure with new injectors and new CP3, I should get much better mileage.
 
Finally got the new tunes loaded up earlier tonight. I need to put some miles of them, but at least it idles normally with your foot on the brake!
 
This finally happened and now the rear matches the front. After the break-in procedure that PowerStop tells you to do, the pedal feel is greatly improved and having the all the way around the truck makes a big difference. Especially when hauling my excavator. (Calm down, those spacers are steel)

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I had also been getting aggravated lately with loose steering lately....so I pulled the upper intermediate shaft and lower column bearing again to check them out. The bearing is loose in the column, so it got the clamp trick. The upper shaft was actually fine, except the u-joint was actually loose on the shaft itself....so it got welded. I also tightened up the adjuster on the steering box as well as checking the toe. It definitely drives better now! (Yes, that is a 2" exhaust clamp on the lower steering column.)

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