Serpentine Conversion

[Jrgunn5150]

Well you guys can see it all there installed on my engine lol. True I havent started it yet but I'm not the first one to ever do this, it will work just fine. The reasons for using a 95 and down model water pump were listed earlier in the thread, its the correct rotation for a serp setup and also correct for a older non-vortec block. The alternator is a bolt in popular upgrade for the 96+ trucks for a more reliable unit. I hope to have mine finished up this week as I have a club event to attend saturday. I'm down to the power steering return line, filling the coolant back up and wiring the alternator....

Yeah, the info was just spread across a few post so I just wanted to verify before I go crawl around in the junkyard lol. There's certainly no shortage of 96-98 trucks out there.

 

[bluex]

Got mine running today an drove it around some. The power steering pump is bad no assist at all [emoji19][emoji35]

Other than that everything works great.

 

[Handy Andy]

Got mine running today an drove it around some. The power steering pump is bad no assist at all [emoji19][emoji35]

Other than that everything works great.

Nice! other than the power steering pump being bad that is...

I was able to get over and work on mine for a bit today. Ended up needing to add 1.25" spacers between the ac compressor and it's mounting holes. compressor was hitting the valve cover so it was the only way I could do this with my tall valve covers. Made 3 trips to O'reillys for parts haha. Think I finally found the right serpentine belt. tried a 97" and too short, tried a 101" and too long. last trip through town I grabbed a 99". Hopefully it will work haha.

All I have left is to modify the new upper radiator hose to fit, fill er up with coolant, add p.s. fluid, fabricate and install mounts for the windstar dual electric fan setup, wire up the Derale dual fan controller, and then I am going to pull off my Q-jet and do some inspecting. Truck doesn't seem to want to idle very well, and I can't figure it out for the life of me. Going to have my dad look at it and if he can't figure it out I think I may just say screw it and order a fitech system. Hopefully he can figure it out cuz winters coming and the doghouse is gonna be cold. Wife is gonna murder me if I tell her I have to order a Fitech system hahaha.

 

[Handy Andy]

Welp, I pulled the q-jet off...It was only on the truck for about 5 months and about 450 miles or so after the rebuild... Disassembled it and found some issues with it. Rust in the bowl, calcium build up in it, metal filings inside it, and it looks like either the body or the airhorn are warped because there are parts of the gasket between them that don't have any indentations from the mating surfaces... Needless to say I'm disappointed because I read some very good reviews about the company that built it, and this is the second time I've recieved a cruddy q-jet from them. The first q-jet they sent was worse... Oh well, guess I'm just going to have to go lick my wounds and rebuild an old edelbrock myself to get me by till the spring... At least the weather will be nicer for when the wife kicks me out to the dog house haha. I'm just kinda pissed because I've got $350 into the purchase price of the q-jet rebuild, and $50 in shipping so far because I had to send my old Q-jet in, and then send the one they rebuilt for me the first time back again. Oh well, If you want something done right, you gotta do it yourself I guess...

 

[Honky Kong jr]

Well that sucks...who built it? If you are just 1 person and got 2 ****** rebuilds I'm sure there is more....and the only way things get fixed in these cases is if they get called out regardless of who they are.

 

[Handy Andy]

Well that sucks...who built it? If you are just 1 person and got 2 ****** rebuilds I'm sure there is more....and the only way things get fixed in these cases is if they get called out regardless of who they are.

I'd give you 3 guesses, but you'd probably only need 1. I'm not going to name the company yet because I am going to call them today and see if they are going to make things right. I don't even want another carb from them. I just want some or all of my money back.... He was good about things when I had to send the first carb back because of crappy workmanship, hopefully he will be good about this as well. I'm just sick of taking this carb off and sending it back to them at $25 a pop... If I can find some time today I will be calling them to see what's going to happen...

 

[Handy Andy]

Well, called the company that rebuilt my carb, they won't refund my money, but they'll gladly take a look at it if I pay another $25 to ship it to them... done playing that game... time for the Eddy to be rebuilt I guess.... They said they won't refund my money because the carb was "built specifically for my motor"... I'm not going to publicly blast them because they do have a good reputation and maybe the guy was just having a bad day when he built mine. I am a small business owner myself and I know that sometimes **** just happens... Oh well, it's an expensive lesson learned, If you want **** done right it's best to just do it yourself...

And I know for a fact that my idle issues are with the carb because if I put my old edelbrock 1406 back on, the truck runs awesome... and that edelbrock was on the original motor while it sat stationary for 8 years in the trees......

On the plus side, now I'll be able to eliminate that stupid fuel pressure regulator and glass filter that's mounted under the hood!

 

[Honky Kong jr]

Well that's pretty much ******** imho but if you can stomach it more power to ya especially since there was 2 that gave you trouble. That built to your engine specs is a back door to get out of any kind of warranty.....and it suck. Ok I'm done now. Sorry.

 

[Handy Andy]

Well that's pretty much ******** imho but if you can stomach it more power to ya especially since there was 2 that gave you trouble. That built to your engine specs is a back door to get out of any kind of warranty.....and it suck. Ok I'm done now. Sorry.

I agree with ya on the built to engine spec b.s. but there's not really much I can do.. It says right on their website that no refunds will be issued... and like I said before, I've read nothing but good reviews about the outfit that built it for me, so I'm gonna just chalk it up to someone just had a couple ****** days...

Hunting season is coming up, so I'll be glad to get that eddy done and put on. Then I won't have to worry about it running like crap and being unreliable... I do a ton of driving for bird hunting and deer hunting, so the peace of mind that comes with not having to worry about another cruddy rebuild will be worth the money lost I guess.. Time to start socking cash away for the fitech system!

 

[Honky Kong jr]

I agree with ya on the built to engine spec b.s. but there's not really much I can do.. It says right on their website that no refunds will be issued... and like I said before, I've read nothing but good reviews about the outfit that built it for me, so I'm gonna just chalk it up to someone just had a couple ****** days...

Hunting season is coming up, so I'll be glad to get that eddy done and put on. Then I won't have to worry about it running like crap and being unreliable... I do a ton of driving for bird hunting and deer hunting, so the peace of mind that comes with not having to worry about another cruddy rebuild will be worth the money lost I guess.. Time to start socking cash away for the fitech system!

You are a kinder soul then I. Screw me once shame on me screw me twice it's on....

 

[bluex]

Well swapped my pump today got assist at first start an bled it seemed to be working well. Yay me! Let it back down on the ground an cycled it a few more times an shut the engine off. Topped off the fluid restarted an bam no more assist. Why does everything fight me like this?

Oh an apparently the belt I was using wss to long. I had started getting a squeak an thought it was my throwout bearing but noticed the tensioner was at the end of its travel. Shorter belt seems to have fixed that at least.

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[bluex]

Swapped the pump out at the parts store again yesterday. The flow valve behind the line fitting was stuck in its bore and causing the no assist problem. This "new" one has assist occasoinally, when it feels like....

 

[Honky Kong jr]

Swapped the pump out at the parts store again yesterday. The flow valve behind the line fitting was stuck in its bore and causing the no assist problem. This "new" one has assist occasoinally, when it feels like....

I'd take the pump back, get my money back and go elsewhere or get one from a yard. PS pumps are 50/50 rebuild items and it seems like you keep getting the ****** side of 50/50. Keep your chin up man it can't rain everyday.

 

[bluex]

Well the first one came from the salvage yard with the bracket set, these other two I got from Advance. I had a bad feeling about the first one I got from them too, it just didnt look right out of the box. This one I have now looked a lot better when I got it but apparently its a dud too. I'm thinking I might try flushing the system just for good measure and then swapping it again I suppose.

 

[4WDKC]

You are supposed to flush the system when the pump is replaced, helps from getting any bad stuff from the old pump in the new pump. Also you can remove those valves and swap them to the new pumps. As far as your carb, if everyone let it slide he would never have a bad review and continue on with this kind of work. As a small business owner yourself I would think you know exactly how important customer service and reputation are to your survival.