kwikperf.com Blog

I just received an email from the guy who put me on the right path to figure what went wrong with my 5.3 DOD engine.  He has one additional solution:  many of the late Gen IV engine oil pans have the correct oil pressure regulator built in.   For example, he’s putting a 5.3 in an Advanced Design Chevy pickup (those were the 1947-55 models) and has found that a 2007 Tahoe oil pan fits and has the regulator.

 By the way, if you have any interest in updating those early pickups, this fellow, Robert Hertz, sells a body mount kit that parks the early sheet metal on an S-10 chassis, giving you instant power steering, disc brakes and other modern conveniences.

Robert’s web site is :  www.AD-Engineering.com

Just in case you didn’t see our announcement over on our regular web page, we’ve just introduced a front accessory drive bracket for the driver’s side of LS1, LS2 and all the other Gen III and Gen IV Chevrolet engines.

It’s just one more way we’re trying to make your LS engine swap Kwik and easy.

This new bracket kit mounts the alternator and power steering pump in a position similar to the Corvette LS engine–alternator up top with the PS pump below.

We think this will be especially popular with anyone trying to use an F-body engine (Camaro, TransAm, plus GTO) in some early chassis.  Or anyone using a 5.3 or 6.0 truck/SUV engine and has a hood clearance issue with the high-mount alternator.

 It makes a perfect companion to the air conditioning compressor bracket we introduced some time back.

To see pictures, CAD drawings, installation instructions (or the “Buy it now” button if you’re so inclined) just click on this link:

http://kwikperf.com/lsx_alt_ps.html

Both bracket kits are available to match any of the three GM crank pulley positions.  If you want to see how to figure out which pulley you have, just click on this link:

http://kwikperf.com/pdf/kwik_tips_id_lsx_front_drive.pdf

Last time I told you about my displacement-on-demand (DOD) engine and how I killed three lifters.  And how my LS/BMW engine swap project sat for two months while I figured out what happened.  So, now it’s time to tell you how I fixed the problem.

 When one cylinder went dead I followed the usual diagnostic procedures.  Find the dead cylinder.  Number 1 cylinder.  Does that cylinder have spark?  Yes.  Does it have fuel?  Yes.  Does it have compression?  No.  Hmmmm.  Number 1 cylinder is a DOD cylinder.  Maybe the DOD system is malfunctioning.  Can we shut off the whole DOD system?  Let’s find the solenoid valve wires and unhook them and see what happens.  Hmmmm.  Can’t find the wires in the harness.  Can’t find a connector at the back of the valley cover.

More research.

Turns out some SUV’s have all the DOD mechanism in place but it’s non-functional.  No wires.  No program in the ECM.  Why?  The short wheelbase Envoy and Trailblazer didn’t have enough room for the muffler GM thought was necessary to keep owners from noticing when the engine would cycle back and forth between four and eight cylinders. 

My engine was taken from a short wheelbase Envoy so the DOD was already be dis-engaged.  That’s when I leaned about the special oil pressure regulator and its relationship to the solenoid valves (see previous post).

If I had known all this stuff when I first bought my engine I could have prevented all these problems with one simple step:  Install a valley cover from a Gen IV, non-DOD engine.  Turns out all Gen IV engine blocks have the special oil ports that go from the valley area down to the lifter bores.  Non-DOD valley covers have no oil feed and of course, no solenoid valves.  Plus, they simply block off these lifter ports with O-rings. 

I found a valley cover from an LS2 Corvette but only after I had already killed the lifters.  Since I had to replace lifters on both banks, I pulled the heads and replaced all the lifters with conventional LS lifters.  This requires the appropriate lifter guides as well.

If you aren’t familar with LS roller lifters, you may not understand the role of lifter guides.  They are a rectangular plastic piece with holes for four lifters or two cylinder’s worth.  The bores into which the lifters fit have a shape that keeps the roller on the lifter lined up with the cam lobe.  The DOD guides have a unique shape for the DOD lifters to keep you from interchanging with the non-DOD lifters.

By the way, I’ve been told that all LS lifters, (non-DOD versions) are the same.  Mine came from a guy who buys warranty engines and sells the good internal parts.

My engine swap project is back on track.  Or, I should say, back on the road.  It’s running on eight cylinders.  All the time.  Like a real engine should. 

Does that mean you should avoid DOD engines?  No.  If you follow a few tips.

 1.  If you can use the donor oil pan and the DOD is active, it doesn’t complicate wiring in an engine swap because it’s pretty much self-contained between the ECM and the engine.  And you should pick up a few miles per gallon.

2.  If you need to swap oil pans, then I would recommend you also swap the valley cover and forget DOD.  The lifters will be fine if they don’t get any extra oil flow.

3.  If you want to install an aftermarket cam, then replace the DOD lifters and guides with conventional pieces.  Just be sure that the number of teeth on the reluctor match your ECM.

4.  If you need to swap oil pans and you really want to keep the DOD feature, you might figure out a way to adapt the DOD oil pressure regulator into the new pan.  Not a challenge I want but if you decide to try it, let me know the results.

In summary, I believe the DOD or AFM engines are good candidates for engine swaps for one main reason:  Price.  The demand is still low.  Many engine swappers will be afraid of them, keeping demand low.  Supply is going up as more vehicles are wrecked.  That means prices will stay low.

I gave $1500 for an all-aluminum, 300 horse, 5.3 with 17,000 miles.  Plus $500 for a matching 4L60e transmission.  Even after replacing lifters and the valley cover, even after replacing the tall SUV intake with an LS2 intake and water pump, I still have less invested than a Camaro or Corvette version.  And those would likely be much higher miles.

So I say, “DOD may have killed my engine swap (temporarily) and I was pi**ed off (also temporarily) but now all is forgiven.” 

Next time I’ll give you some ways to identify DOD or AFM engines.

The LS family of engines produce an amazing amount of horsepower for a given size.  And they also generally get good fuel economy if driven conservatively.  (Your mileage may vary Mr. Leadfoot). That means they are excellent engine swap candidates.

However, GM has to meet federal standards for their total mix of vehicles so they have developed new ways to squeeze every possible mile out of a gallon of fuel.  Shutting off four cylinders of a V-8 is one of those ways.  GM first called this system, “displacement on demand” or DOD for short.  Now, for reasons unknown, they’ve changed the name to “active fuel management” or AFM.  These systems started showing up in Gen IV engines around 2005.

So, what’s not to like?  Eight cylinders when you want power, four cylinders for highway cruising sounds like a cool deal, right? 

You bet.  Until gearheads like us start swapping parts around with unintended consequences.

 Let me give you a brief tour of how DOD works:

1.  When cruise conditions are right, the engine control module (ECM) does three things to shut off four cylinders–1.) Turns off ignition coils, 2.) Turns off fuel injectors, 3.) Dis-engages valve lifters.

2.  Turning off coils and injectors is a simple electronic signal. 

3.  Turning off lifters is a little more complicated. The DOD lifters have two sections, one of which can slide inside the other.  Under normal load, the two sections are held together by small, spring-loaded pins.  When it’s time to shut off, extra oil pressure is sent through a special port.  The pressure overcomes the springs and the two lifter halves are now separate.  The lower half continues to follow the cam lobe while the upper half takes a vacation and just sits around doing nothing.

4.  The extra oil flow is regulated by four solenoid valves which are located under the valley cover.  And this is where our story takes a nasty turn.

First, let me tell you about my engine.  I bought a DOD 5.3 engine out of a 2005 GMC Envoy (same as Chevy Trailblazer) for several reasons:  It was low mileage, only 17,000.  It was light weight because it is all-aluminum.  It was inexpensive because there’s little demand yet.  Plus, I thought it would be cool to have the latest high-tech engine in a 20 year old BMW.  It would be the perfect engine swap:  Older, light weight car with a light weight, high horsepower engine.  German handling with American power.  Just perfect.

First thing I did to help the 5.3 fit into my BMW was to swap the Envoy SUV oil pan for a Pontiac GTO pan.  The GTO pan has a front sump and works like it was made for a BMW.

Here’s the nasty part.  What I hadn’t learned yet was that the SUV oil pan has a special oil pressure regulator built into the top of the oil filter ports.  I also didn’t understand that the solenoid valves up in the valley cover are not a typical “off-or-on” type valve.  They are a “on-a-little bit, then, on-a-lot” type valve.

So use your imagination.  If we send unregulated oil pressure to a “always-on-a-little-bit” valve and if enough gets by the valve to overcome the springs on the little pins inside the DOD lifters, and if the lifters disengage without the coils and injectors also disengaging…..well, I can tell you from personal experience, it ain’t pretty.

Here’s scenario for disaster:  The intake valve opens normally on one stroke, we take in a fuel/air mixture, both valves close, we compress and fire the mixture, we get a power stroke–OK so far?  Now, our exploded fuel/air mixture is expecting to find an open exhaust valve.  But let’s just say that this is moment when our exhaust lifter got a little extra oil pressure and decides to disengage and the exhaust valve stays closed.  Now we’re re-compressing our exploded mixture and our poor intake valve wants to open.  Talk about pressure.  It’s enough pressure to collapse and kill the lifter.

I killed one.  I replaced it.  It ain’t easy.  You have to pull the head.  It ain’t cheap.  The DOD lifter is $70 plus the head bolts are one-time use.  I replaced the lifter before understanding why it died.  So I killed two more.  Then the car sat for two months while I searched for the cause.

Next installment, I’ll tell you how I fixed the problem for good.  And I’ll give you my opinions about whether DOD or AFM engines are something to avoid like the plague or something we learn to embrace.

Wayne

Here’s one of at least 13 questions and it’s one you might not think of–

Do you have the patience?

This is related to the one about having the time but there’s also another side to the patience issue.

There are going to be lots of challenges come up, lots of problems to solve. And just when you think you have one figured out, something else pops up that un-figures out the last one. You’ll need a healthy dose of patience to work through those frustrations.

Here’s an example: Ken designed an alternator/power steering pump bracket for my Chevy LS engine to mount the Chevy alternator and my BMW PS pump. He drew it up in a fancy CAD program and I carved it out of a hunk of aluminum. Since Ken had access to GM CAD drawings, we knew it would fit the engine. But, he didn’t have any BMW CAD files so guess what? The bracket rubbed on one of the unibody frame rails. No problem I said. My trusty grinder will excise the offending material. Problem solved.

Until later.

We got the AC compressor bracket prototype built and it fit great. But, when we stood back and looked at the engine with all the brackets in place it just didn’t look right. The alternator/PS pump bracket mounted everything lower than the AC compressor. It was functional but it looked unbalanced.

Here’s where the patience issue comes in. Do we say, “Good enough is good enough. It’s functional and no one else will ever notice or care. Let’s get on with other stuff”?

Nope. Patience my dear fellow. If we don’t change it, it will bug me forever.

So, we start over on the driver’s side bracket and move everything up so it looks balanced with the passenger side. I’ll tell you, making a second prototype is not nearly as much fun for me as making the first one. But, the end result is worth it.

Here’s where the time issue we talked about last time and the patience issue come together. One of the ways to shorten the total time for your project is to do something, even a small something, regularly. Do some little thing every day if you can. At the same time, don’t get in a hurry. Focus on that one little thing. Enjoy the moment. Get into it. Hey, maybe it’s a Zen thing–becoming one with the metal–or something like that. Try to enjoy the fact that you’re making that bracket for a second time and make it the best bracket you possibly can and get satisfaction in that moment. String enough of those together and you’ll have a finished project. You’ll enjoy the journey AND the destination.

Here’s another of at least 13 questions you should ask yourself before starting an engine swap project.

Do you have the time?

This is just like the money question. Everything takes twice as long as you think it will.

If your daily driver ‘88 Chevy pickup is about to puke its 350 on the street and you think it would be cool as well as practical to swap in an LS1 over the weekend, I have a newsflash–you’ll be hitchin’ a ride with your friends for a while.

Just making or buying engine mounts and getting the engine in the car is the quick and easy part. What takes up time are all the little things. Like spending a few hours with the shop manual tracing electrical circuits. Finding a place to mount some electrical relays. Convincing the auto parts guy to let you paw through his whole stock of radiator hoses to find that one special bend you need.

Most of us also have other things to do once in a while. Taking the kids to baseball practice. Fixing stuff around the house. Oh, and you’ll probably have a job (see the question about money again). So it’s a balancing act. Finding time for your life AND finding time for your project. Be prepared for one or the other to suffer from time to time.

Here’s some personal experience to make the point. I started my latest project a little over a year ago. I’m putting an all-aluminum 5.3 LS-series V8 in a 1987 BMW 535iS. At the same time, I decided to shoot sort of a video diary of the project. That meant I had to learn how to edit video. And learn how to post it on the internet (look for Geezer’s Garage on YouTube). And then I decided I should have some kind of web site where I could post pictures and stuff. More learning curve. And then I ran into the AC compressor issue so Ken and Kenny and I started developing an AC compressor bracket package. It looked good enough we decided to turn it into a product and sell it here on our web site. Oh, and I have a day job. And a 1-hour commute each way. And I became a grandfather for the first time last summer. And freezing rain has my shop door frozen shut right now. Are you starting to see a problem Bucky? Yep, my original target date for being on the street got pushed back a little.

In spite of all that, the project still moves forward. I’ll share some tips later about how to avoid getting stuck and stalled but let me put a plug in here for our little company–one of our goals for Ken, Kenny and I being in business is to help guys speed up their engine swap projects. We solve some of those gritty little issues for you–like the AC compressor bracket. Instead of spending hours hacking away at a chunk of aluminum, let Kwik Performance send you a bracket package that bolts on in minutes. Then you can spend your time on the stuff you can’t buy. OK, end of commercial. More later.

We’ve identified at least 13 questions you should ask yourself before you start an engine swap project. Here’s another one:

Do you have or can you get the money?

Every law of the universe you’ve ever heard of will perch and defecate on your engine swap project. Murphy’s Law, The Peter Principle, The Law of Unintended Consequences and most importantly, the law of, Everything Costs Twice as Much as You Think It Will.

The $2000 or $4000 or $6000 you’ll spend for the engine and transmission? Just the beginning. One of my buddies believes there’s a law called, “The $200 Law”. Driveshaft? $200. Radiator? $200. Belts and hoses? $200. AC compressor? $200.

Maybe you can get set up with AutoZone or NAPA with a direct-deposit account. Just have your paycheck sent directly to them and get parts until it runs out.

Part of the reason my buddies and I formed Kwik Performance, Inc. came from our desire to save money on our own street rod and muscle car projects but still have stuff that worked really well and looked good at the same time. Not show quality. We don’t need no stinkin’ polished billet. But parts that looked sturdy and professional. That looked like they might have come from the factory. We first made those kinds of parts for ourselves, then we made them for our friends and now we make them for guys we’d like to have as friends.

I’m not bringing up the harsh financial reality to dissuade you from starting an engine swap, I’m just saying, be ready to invest more than you might think. If you’re having trouble making the rent payment, maybe you ought to wait.

Will it meet emissions standards in your state?

 If you’re going to run this rig on the street, are you ready to jump through the inspection and licensing hoops of your state?  (Sorry about all you California guys.)

This topic could be a whole book by itself but here are some resources to help you understand what you’re facing:

Mike Knell of Jags That Run has a book series but the one to start with no matter what engine you plan to use would be:  “Chevrolet TPI and TBI Engine Swapping”.  He also has specific books on swapping into S-10, Datsun Z cars, Jaguars and even one on  Volvo swaps.  He also sells a lot of useful parts for engine swaps.   Go to: http://www.jagsthatrun.com/index.html   Mike’s books can also be found in many book stores and at Summit Racing and Jegs.

Forums to search and lurk:

http://www.ls1tech.com/forums/index.php

The general rule in most states is that the vehicle has to meet the standards of the engine and it has to have all the emissions equipment it originally came with.  Some states exempt cars built more than so many years ago or before a certain date.  For example, here in Missouri, only vehicles operated in major meteropolitan areas such as St. Louis and Kansas City have to be inspected and vehicles with historic or street rod plates are exempt from emissions inspections no matter where operated.

We’ve identified at least 13 questions to ask yourself before you start an engine swap project. Here’s another of them:

“Is the car worth it?”

Here’s the deal–engine swaps can cost a lot of money. And a lot of time. And it’s always more than you think it’s going to be. So, is the rest of the car worth the new engine and all the rest of the upgrades you’ll have to make?

Two examples:

1. A couple of years ago, I did a pretty easy swap–I pulled out a tired Chevy 350 and bolted in a fresh 454. The vehicle is a 1978 GMC 1-ton dually, crew cab, automatic, 4WD. Something I use once in a while to pull a goose-neck trailer to haul my wife’s bulldozer or to haul a car project.

This kind of swap is about as easy as it gets. No transmission change, no radiator change, no steering issues. Pretty much plug and play. And boy is there a difference in power between a tired 350 and a fresh 454.

I’m glad I did the swap. However…..the truck has the traditional GM rust issues in the front fenders. A windstorm damaged the hood and one door. One of our 4 English Mastiffs (who love riding where the back seat used to be) lunged at something and cracked one of the back windows, and it has a horrible shimmy in the front axle at certain speeds. I’m pretty sure that if I wanted to sell or trade the truck, I would get back very little of the money I spent on the 454 engine and all the little stuff I replaced during the swap. I’ll eventually drive my investment out of it but the engine is probably worth as much as the rest of the truck.

2. My current project is stuffing a 5.3 Chevy V8 into a 1987 BMW 535iS. What prompted this project was the original automatic transmission finally gave up the ghost at 220,000 miles. The BMW dealer wanted $3000 for a factory rebuild. That’s about the value of the car. And I’d still have a tired engine.

So, my gearhead buddies, Ken and Kenny, kept poking at me saying things like, “Hey Mr. Hot Rod, if you had any cajones at all you’d put a nice big V8 in there.” So that’s what I’m doing and I think the car is worth the effort. I’ll end up with more than $3000 in the swap but I’ll also end up with a car that has a rust-free body, an almost perfect interior, great ride and handling and soon, reliable GM power. It will once again be part of the daily-driver fleet taking me on my 100 mile per day round trip commute.

I’m expecting gas mileage as good as the old 6 cylinder, lots more power with no change in ride and handling due to the all-aluminum V8 weighing only about 60 lbs. more than the old 6.

I love the car, I’ve owned it for 10 years and I’ll be happy driving it forever. In this case, market value of the finished swap has no bearing. It’s all about the personal enjoyment and use I’ll get from it.

There you have two examples of the question, “Is the car worth it?” The first is questionable, the second is a definite “yes”. Which is it for your project?

We’ve identified at least 13 questions to ask yourself before you start an engine swap project. Here’s one of them:

“What do you really want from your engine swap project?”

In other words, why go through all the toil, sweat and tears, oh, and money? Everyone has a different motivation–just be clear about yours.

Below are some possibilities. Some of these are my own, some are the ones I used to justify the money to my wife, and some are ones I’ve observed in other gearheads. See if any fit you.

1. More power. Argh, argh. Yeah, gearheads are power freaks and we never outgrow our need for speed. Engine swaps can work well for the guy who doesn’t have the patience to re-work the internals of the engine he already has. Just shoe-horn in a bigger engine and let cubic inches do the work for you.

2. Reliability. Jam in a low-stress big block and get 400 to 500 ft. lbs. of torque at low RPM. Or, build up a peaky small block and that’s always on the ragged edge of breaking. One just keeps on truckin’ with no problems, the other can take a lot more shop time. Or, like my BMW, the old engine was tired, the transmission was shot and it was going to cost a lot of money just to end up with something that would still need a lot of expensive maintenance. A late model Chevy V8 with low miles will outlast the rest of the car with minimal cost. Well, after it’s finally installed.

3. Bragging rights. I confess. This is one of my motivations for my Chevy 5.3 LS family engine swap in a 5-series BMW project. I want to coast in to cruise night at the local drive-in, pop the hood and have people say, “Wow! How’d you do that?”

4. Accomplishment. There’s a big internal pay-off to finishing a complex project like an engine swap. You’ve had to tackle every major automotive system and modify most of them. You’ve solved one obstacle after another and it feels good to come out the other side with something that meets all your original objectives–it looks good, it goes like scat, all your buddies are envious and maybe it’s even practical–something you can drive every day. What would you rather do in your spare time–break 100 in golf (whatever that means)? Or drive a car that you personally built? Yeah, the car.

I’m sure you can think of a lot of other reasons to do an engine swap. My main point is this: Just be sure you’re clear about what your own personal objectives are. So that when you run into obstacles, and you will, you’ll have that vision of the end result to keep you motivated to push on through.

There’s a guy named Stephen Covey who wrote a book called, “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People”. Habit number 2 is, “begin with the end in mind”. In other words, get really clear about what you want to end up with–before you start. You’ll have a much better chance of getting what you want.