Help!! :)

Disclaimer: Links on this page pointing to Amazon, eBay and other sites may include affiliate code. If you click them and make a purchase, we may earn a small commission.

77georgec

Junior Member
Joined
Oct 4, 2021
Posts
17
Reaction score
3
Location
ohio
First Name
george
Truck Year
1986
Truck Model
scottsdale
Engine Size
350
Or as stated earlier… run one hose between both ports on the water pump to test?
 

Octane

Full Access Member
Joined
Dec 31, 2019
Posts
2,007
Reaction score
3,573
Location
Atlanta
First Name
Eddie
Truck Year
1977
Truck Model
K10
Engine Size
350
. One hose from core to pump.One hose from core to intake manifold.
Only other way I've ran them is one hose to radiator and one hose to manifold,then plug the water pump nipple.
 
Last edited:

Bextreme04

Full Access Member
Joined
May 13, 2019
Posts
4,187
Reaction score
5,085
Location
Oregon
First Name
Eric
Truck Year
1980
Truck Model
K25
Engine Size
350-4bbl
Or as stated earlier… run one hose between both ports on the water pump to test?

The normal factory way would have been as stated with both water pump ports blocked and from intake to heater core, out of heater core into radiator. Some trucks don't have the port on the radiator, so they returned the heater core outlet to the pump. Your truck has the nipple on the radiator, so no need to go to the pump. You need to eventually plug both ports on the water pump.
Upon closer inspection, it appears there are two hoses coming from the water pump? Looking at the zz4 350 on the innerwebs, there appears to be a bypass port in the intake, as well as the heater nipple port.

http://gmhorsepower.com/350-ZZ4-Base.php
There is no bypass port on the ZZ4 intake like a BBC has. It has the same ports that my factory 1980 truck manifold has with the nipple for the heater hose on the front passenger side and two open ports, one on each side of the thermostat housing. Those open ports are used for TVS's on my truck from the factory for emissions stuff.
 

77georgec

Junior Member
Joined
Oct 4, 2021
Posts
17
Reaction score
3
Location
ohio
First Name
george
Truck Year
1986
Truck Model
scottsdale
Engine Size
350
Its been along time working on this man. Guy i bought it off of said the heat should work as soon as i hook up one vacuum line. Literally had to wire it up, fix all the vacuum lines, replaced blower motor, fixed vent doors that were broken. Nice to finally be close to the finish line.
 

Bextreme04

Full Access Member
Joined
May 13, 2019
Posts
4,187
Reaction score
5,085
Location
Oregon
First Name
Eric
Truck Year
1980
Truck Model
K25
Engine Size
350-4bbl
Its been along time working on this man. Guy i bought it off of said the heat should work as soon as i hook up one vacuum line. Literally had to wire it up, fix all the vacuum lines, replaced blower motor, fixed vent doors that were broken. Nice to finally be close to the finish line.
lol, the infamous "ran when parked" and it just needs this one little thing. I've been almost done getting my truck back together for about a month now:banghead:. There's always just one more thing that needs to get done on it.
 

77georgec

Junior Member
Joined
Oct 4, 2021
Posts
17
Reaction score
3
Location
ohio
First Name
george
Truck Year
1986
Truck Model
scottsdale
Engine Size
350
lol, the infamous "ran when parked" and it just needs this one little thing. I've been almost done getting my truck back together for about a month now:banghead:. There's always just one more thing that needs to get done on it.
True words man. In all fairness, i can’t complain too much. Dude really did a good job fixing this thing up. The only issues were the heat/ac and of course… ive been dabbling with the steering. Swapped out rag joint for a solid shaft from a jeep and replaced the steering box.
 

Bextreme04

Full Access Member
Joined
May 13, 2019
Posts
4,187
Reaction score
5,085
Location
Oregon
First Name
Eric
Truck Year
1980
Truck Model
K25
Engine Size
350-4bbl
True words man. In all fairness, i can’t complain too much. Dude really did a good job fixing this thing up. The only issues were the heat/ac and of course… ive been dabbling with the steering. Swapped out rag joint for a solid shaft from a jeep and replaced the steering box.
Its a good looking truck. Once you get all the little things sorted out it should be a great cruiser with that ZZ4 in there.

I did the jeep shaft upgrade about a year ago and really liked it. I just rebuilt the steering box this weekend. It wasn't planned since the truck steered fine when I parked it for the motor rebuild, but when I got the new motor in and power steering connected and filled, it leaked all the fluid out of the input shaft within a few days. I thought I could maybe get away with just replacing the input seals, but then when I went to pull the input piece, the worm gear pulled out and all the ball bearing dropped into the case... so I ended up needing to pull it all apart and rebuild it, which was actually easier than I expected. It was actually in surprisingly good shape, just old and all the rubber and teflon seals were obviously trashed.
 

77georgec

Junior Member
Joined
Oct 4, 2021
Posts
17
Reaction score
3
Location
ohio
First Name
george
Truck Year
1986
Truck Model
scottsdale
Engine Size
350
Its a good looking truck. Once you get all the little things sorted out it should be a great cruiser with that ZZ4 in there.

I did the jeep shaft upgrade about a year ago and really liked it. I just rebuilt the steering box this weekend. It wasn't planned since the truck steered fine when I parked it for the motor rebuild, but when I got the new motor in and power steering connected and filled, it leaked all the fluid out of the input shaft within a few days. I thought I could maybe get away with just replacing the input seals, but then when I went to pull the input piece, the worm gear pulled out and all the ball bearing dropped into the case... so I ended up needing to pull it all apart and rebuild it, which was actually easier than I expected. It was actually in surprisingly good shape, just old and all the rubber and teflon seals were obviously trashed.
I debated rebuilding mine but decided to just replace it. Knowing what i know now, i would have bought a quick ratio steering box. Thing feels like it’s floating on the highway, probably just the 6” lift and 33x1250 15 tires. Next step will be to get an alignment.
 

Bextreme04

Full Access Member
Joined
May 13, 2019
Posts
4,187
Reaction score
5,085
Location
Oregon
First Name
Eric
Truck Year
1980
Truck Model
K25
Engine Size
350-4bbl
I debated rebuilding mine but decided to just replace it. Knowing what i know now, i would have bought a quick ratio steering box. Thing feels like it’s floating on the highway, probably just the 6” lift and 33x1250 15 tires. Next step will be to get an alignment.
The loose, floaty feeling is likely from alignment. I've never had an issue with my steering feeling "twitchy" unless the alignment is off.

One other issue I have seen with "new" or "remanufactured" gearboxes is that they may or may not have done the proper adjustments to the box when it was rebuilt. It only has two adjustments, but they can have a huge effect on feel and drivability. You also have to make sure it is adjusted right so that the box is centered when the wheels are centered. This mean the pitman arm should be straight out from the box(perpendicular to the frame) and the input shaft flat should point straight up.

The first adjustment is bearing preload on the input shaft. You tighten the plug down to tight(about 20 ft-lb) and then scribe a line to the box and input plug. Then you measure 1/2" back on the case and scribe a new line. Then you back off the plug to the 1/2" line and then tighten down the lock nut.

The second adjustment is load on the sector shaft. With the pitman and input shafts disconnected and the box in the centered position, you loosen the locknut on top and back the shaft all the way out. Then screw the shaft in one turn. Then get a bar type torque wrench and measure the torque to turn the input shaft in either direction from center. Then you turn in the shaft until you add 5-10 in-lbs of force to turn the input from center from the initial torque measurement. If either of those adjustments are done wrong, or not done at all, the steering will not feel right or will be sloppy or too tight feeling.
 

77georgec

Junior Member
Joined
Oct 4, 2021
Posts
17
Reaction score
3
Location
ohio
First Name
george
Truck Year
1986
Truck Model
scottsdale
Engine Size
350
The loose, floaty feeling is likely from alignment. I've never had an issue with my steering feeling "twitchy" unless the alignment is off.

One other issue I have seen with "new" or "remanufactured" gearboxes is that they may or may not have done the proper adjustments to the box when it was rebuilt. It only has two adjustments, but they can have a huge effect on feel and drivability. You also have to make sure it is adjusted right so that the box is centered when the wheels are centered. This mean the pitman arm should be straight out from the box(perpendicular to the frame) and the input shaft flat should point straight up.

The first adjustment is bearing preload on the input shaft. You tighten the plug down to tight(about 20 ft-lb) and then scribe a line to the box and input plug. Then you measure 1/2" back on the case and scribe a new line. Then you back off the plug to the 1/2" line and then tighten down the lock nut.

The second adjustment is load on the sector shaft. With the pitman and input shafts disconnected and the box in the centered position, you loosen the locknut on top and back the shaft all the way out. Then screw the shaft in one turn. Then get a bar type torque wrench and measure the torque to turn the input shaft in either direction from center. Then you turn in the shaft until you add 5-10 in-lbs of force to turn the input from center from the initial torque measurement. If either of those adjustments are done wrong, or not done at all, the steering will not feel right or will be sloppy or too tight feeling.
I bought mine brand new. I can already see the difference. I could turn the wheel a 1/4 either way on the old box before the wheels would even begin to turn. Couple that with the lift and tires and it made for a pretty sketchy ride down the road. At some point i will probably just go with a quick ratio.
 

Bextreme04

Full Access Member
Joined
May 13, 2019
Posts
4,187
Reaction score
5,085
Location
Oregon
First Name
Eric
Truck Year
1980
Truck Model
K25
Engine Size
350-4bbl
I bought mine brand new. I can already see the difference. I could turn the wheel a 1/4 either way on the old box before the wheels would even begin to turn. Couple that with the lift and tires and it made for a pretty sketchy ride down the road. At some point i will probably just go with a quick ratio.
The quarter turn either direction is correctable by doing the second adjustment. Lots of people say that it is due to wear and you can only fix it with a new unit, but that hasn't been my experience at all. I had that same sloppiness and had done the second adjustment and it fixed it immediately. Then I just had it apart and the sector shaft surfaces were polished at the points of contact, but had almost no discernable wear. There's nothing wrong with just buying new.. time is money and rebuilding the gear is a pain in the butt and took me almost a whole day to do right with all the cleaning and not being super familiar with it.

I've never seen a quick ratio 4wd box, what is the benefit in doing that? Do you not have a variable ratio box on your truck now? Most squares came with a variable ratio box, so it is less twitchy at highway speeds from center and has quicker ratio as you turn away from center.
 

77georgec

Junior Member
Joined
Oct 4, 2021
Posts
17
Reaction score
3
Location
ohio
First Name
george
Truck Year
1986
Truck Model
scottsdale
Engine Size
350
I could be wrong? Maybe they only make them for 2 wheel drive trucks :( is there a diagram or anything to show step by step how to do the second adjustment?
 

Bextreme04

Full Access Member
Joined
May 13, 2019
Posts
4,187
Reaction score
5,085
Location
Oregon
First Name
Eric
Truck Year
1980
Truck Model
K25
Engine Size
350-4bbl

Latest posts

Forum statistics

Threads
42,109
Posts
909,277
Members
33,595
Latest member
T3rraBeara
Top