Sunday, January 5, 2014

Finished the engine change on the Yukon.

Saturday we installed the engine into the Yukon and took it for a spin. Here are some comparison pictures of the 2 intakes. This first photo shows the intake of the engine we pulled out.
 Here is the one on the engine we installed. You can see how much of a difference there was between the two.
It all started Saturday morning. Here is a summary in pictures of the fun we had. We decided to leave it up on the jack stands to install the engine. It worked out great because we were able to jump underneath it and take care of the bell housing bolts, torque converter bolts, exhaust and starter. We then installed a lot of the accessories on the engine so we didn't have to bend over the whole time.  Here we are lining up the motor mounts. It went in easily and the motor mount bolts installed nicely.

 We changed the way we had the chain hooked up so it wouldn't be so tight against the firewall and the heater core. This way worked much better.
 The hard parts over, now we just have to put everything back together. Ha Ha
 AC pump and belt, power steering pump, and new idler pump installed.
Another view of the progress.
 My Dad let us borrow this little propane heater. It worked awesome and heated up the whole garage. We had it turned off half the time because we were hot. It worked a lot faster then my electric heaters do. Thanks Dad!
 Getting ready for the intake manifold to be installed.
Here is a crappy picture but this is the intake manifold. The manifold has the injectors, fuel rails and throttle body all installed on it. It comes out and installs as a whole assembly. You need to remove this when you remove or install a 5.3. Make sure you replace the gaskets when you do.
 Here Ian is torquing the intake manifold on. It gets torqued in a specific way so make sure you read the service manual when you do it. Here is a word of caution, *****Make sure you watch the back wire that goes to the knock sensors. It can easily fall down into the cylinder head if you don't watch it closely. Make sure it is free before torquing the manifold down.*****
 Intake manifold, alternator, serpentine belt and heater hoses installed.
 The belt was really easy to install at this point.
Radiator and the AC evaporator installed. Isaac came out to the garage to hang out for awhile. He said it was boring in the garage and boring inside the house but less boring in the garage so he decided to stay and watch.
 Moving right along now.
 And now it is almost done. We installed the grill, headlights, radiator cover, intake cover, and battery.
 Also the radiator hoses and other harnesses and hoses.
 And finally the air cleaner box, intake tube the hood. We cranked it over and it started right up. It is a good running engine. This truck should be good for many, many miles now.
We finished it up that night and took it for a spin. It drove great. We couldn't of been happier. It is always a little nerve wracking to fire up a junk yard engine for the first time. You usually don't have a problem but if there is you will be doing all the work again. Dixie is happy to have her van in the garage again. I still need to clean the other side of my garage to get my car back in. Shouldn't be too long before that happens. It was a good weekend and I am finally looking forward to not working in the garage for awhile. Ha Ha.

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