01 WH International

[Jezza]

So small update on the car. Had a small scare with the car when we did a oil change at 500km since the engine work as we put an engine flush through the motor and since the oil pump was working properly now it got a lot of crap dislodged and scared us a bit and also found some very fine metal shimering in the oil, I took it back to Morpowa to check and they couldnt see anything wrong at the time and said to do 1000kms and they'll check it over again (currently at 780/1000kms).

Last week I decided to get the tail shaft couplings changed since I knew the transmission end was worn and had all the bolts had been put in going 1 direction and I figured I'd get it done before i go up to The Bend Motorsport park with some mates to do the Roll Racing this weekend. WELL doing that seemed to cause even more issues, picked up the car and i was suddenly now getting vibrations through the whole car from about 40+km/h under certain loads (like moderate acceleration) up till about 70km/h or so, I got the place to look at the car again on monday and they suspected the previous people to do work didnt align the tail shaft properly so it was out of balance and the worn coupling was masking the issue so TODAY 2 days before roll racing I found a place with a reconditioned tailshaft and they've swapped it over and thats solved most of the vibrations now and i suspect the tiny amount im feeling now is probably a worn mount elsewhere in the vehicle but the car is fine for Roll Racing.

On monday i've got the car booked to have the Transmission lines replaced because thats leaking along with a power steering line. Both of those have been fun to find. When those are fixed that'll stop the leak in the driveway from appearing.

From here its now just looking at some smaller things. I want to get the strut-top bushes replaced and I'm looking at replacing the suspension soon too but with the self-leveling rear im not sure how to go about with it. The pump seems to be running a fair amount of the time and im not sure if its easy to replace the rear shocks and who even sells them now/could service it if there are leaks.

 

[Jezza]

Oh yeah I also forgot that over the weekend installed a SAAS LS1 Oil Catch can kit with the help of fellow forum member someguy360. Was a fairly straight forward kit to install but drainage will be the interesting part as its sit just over some piping

 

[Jezza]

Well its certainly been an interesting weekend.

So despite still having a slight vibration I still risked going Roll Racing since I'd paid for it but I only managed 5 runs before the rear resonator decided to come loose and scrape along the about 1/4 into the 5th run. We couldnt fit it back onto the car that night so I ended up sticking it in the boot and then driving back to Adelaide and it was so loud. Today got some help in fitting it back on again and hopefully it'll stay on properly.

Whilst we were refitting the resonator mate noticed the couplings which were band new not looking too good, I'd had them fitting to the old tailshaft first but it still had a slight vibration so 1 week later I'd managed to source a recon one but I had to use my existing couplings which i thought should still be on since i'd only driven the car for 1 week. As you'll see in the photos below I'm wondering if in that week it was enough for this sort of wear to happen or if the workshop doing the swap over to the recon messed something up.

Front Coupling

Rear Coupling

This is the final run I did and you can hear at about the 10-11 second mark the sound of the car get a little louder and that when the exhaust came loose and then I open the windows at the end and you can hear the scraping of it

 

[Jezza]

So had the car at the mechanics on Monday to get the leaking trans and power steering lines fixed and they took a look at the couplings too. Leaks are now all fixed and new couplings fitted and its sorted the vibration issues all out now.

Trying to investigate why and its looking like the couplings werent fitted the right way around resulting in the damage. As the front coupling bolts are the wrong way compared to an installation picture.

 

[Jezza]

So getting around to replacing the aging suspension on the car and got some Monroe shocks fitted to the fronts and car feels a lot nicer now going over bumps. The auto-leveling rear suspension wont be available for another week or two's time according to Monroe as I'd tried ordering some but got told they're out of stock. Thankfully Bridgestones offer a free wheel alignment if its within 3 months so i'll get the rears done soon and then can get it rechecked.

 

[Jezza]

The Nicer weather is back so took this photo the other day of it.

Got some Pacemaker Tri Y's and some high flow cats on order to finally finish the exhaust system off. Sadly Pacemaker is behind on orders so it might take another week or two before it arrives.

I've also tried placing an order on the rear shocks again and hopefully this time its available and will be able to fit those.

 

[Jezza]

So back in October got told that the rear shocks wont likely be ready till December due to shortages etc so I'd said i'll wait since i didnt know where else to get them from otherwise for the price im getting them at.

Pacemaker are still behind on orders but hopefully they'll be ready soon.

Changed my belts on the engine today and was the first time doing them on an LS1 and was fairly straight forward. Did notice when I started the car it had a small backfire thats happened 2 other times in the last 2-3 weeks. Plugged the tech2 onto it and no error codes and it started fine on the 3rd attempt and idles/drive fine.

 

[Jezza]

So small update.

Found the issue initially was the Cam position sensor as it threw a code a day or so after this. Got it replaced with a mate and the old sensor looked horrible

After it was replaced it'd seemed fine at first but am still finding it not starting on the first try about 50% of the time but it then starts straight away 2nd try. No fault codes so will see how it goes.

The rear shocks finally arrived the other day after 2 months or so of waiting

Also my mate let me know the Pacemaker headers and highflow cats have arrived also after about 2 months since ordering. Covids made getting things done to the car take a lot longer then expecting.

Thankfully my mates got some free time soon and will get the rear shock and the exhaust fitted.

Then I've got a trip over to Vic early Jan for a mates wedding and once thats over I can start saving for a higher ratio diff + lsd

 

[Jezza]

So with the assistance of another member on here I got my Pacemaker Tri-Y's fitted today with the high flow cats and oh boy did it make a difference. I'd been thinking "yeah it'll make it a little louder but probably not much". I certainly got a surprise when I gave it a boot after it'd warmed up and the video I'll link you'll hear.

We'd tried to fit the rear air shock but realised that it'll need new airlines fitted that the shocks came with and it'll require the diff out for that and i was planning on replacing that next anyway so we're waiting for that before doing the shocks

 

[Jezza]

So was out cruising on the evening of the 26th for the Jaf Cruise and whilst idling along the esplanade the powertrain light came on again but car still seemed to be running fine other then the litres per hour being 30, drove it home and connected a tech2 and discovered the O2 sensor on bank 2 was faulty. Went to Repco yesterday to replace both since they looked pretty bad when changing the headers a week or so before. Whilst changing them discovered that the Drivers side sensor had become suddenly disconnected. I replaced both anyway and connected them and only took 20m all together with most of it being on how to disconnect and then reconnect the plugs. So hopefully my fuel economy improves a little.

Also the starting issue is still happening (sometimes wont start first try but instantly starts 2nd) and no other errors are popping up so i'll have to start working out whats causing it soon as it's starting to get quite annoying