Yesterday I dropped the Jeep off at CK Customs in Ennis, Texas. Cal, the owner, is a trusted friend that is just about the only other person I will allow to turn a wrench on my Jeep. The list of checks and changes seemed long, but it was all wrap up items on the build that he was going to do anyway, aside from the transmission. This “should” be the final shop stop for the Jeep before we have a completed working build.
So here is what we know, transmission seems to have a bad fluid pump, but not sure which one is bad. The 8L90 has two fluid pumps, one in the bell housing, and one in the valve body. I was seeing very mediocre fluid flow rates, and cavitation after running several checks and diagnostics. Cal will be able to determine which pump is acting up and then make the corrections, and hopefully get the transmission to play nice.
The experience with Texas Speed Dynamics was less than pleasing. The guys are trying to get a foothold in the LS/LT swap and tune community, and they just don’t have the expertise or maturity quite yet. While the Jeep was at the shop they lifted my intake to check a fuel rail sensor error. When the intake went back on, a wiring harness for my purge canister valve went inside with it. The wire was pinched between the head and the intake plenum hard enough to short the wires to the head. When I got the Jeep back it was running like crap and blowing fuses left and right. Also, the jeep pretty much just sat at their shop with no eyes or attention even though the shop owner was giving me [bogus] updates. The battery was so dead I had to buy another one to even load the Jeep on the trailer. The power steering had developed a leak at the steering ram (lowest point in the system) and drained the PS system dry. Meanwhile, the guys at the shop were running the Jeep and working on the tune – with a dry power steering system. Needless to say I was a little angry. Since I didn’t have PS fluid when I picked up the Jeep, I had to use transmission fluid to wet the steering components. This sucked because I just flushed and assembled the system with brand new hydraulic fluid, so I had to start all over and flush the entire system when I got the Jeep home. So the short of it, a lost recommendation.
My hope is the next WJiL post will be pics and vids of the beast back in action, even if on the streets! Until then I am adding an audio file of the exhaust tone from the modified Kooks LS swap system.