Just Fishing's 09 Tahoe Build thread

[Just Fishing]

Got the crank fully installed and torqued down after getting the bearing clearances nice and uniform.
used 600 grit on the bearing caps to help loosen it a tiny bit.

ended up with a nice .0015 - .002 (in) per the plasti gauge.

Factory Spec,


Internet seems to want .0025 +
but i'm guessing that's more for engines that are boosted.
So I worked to get that closer to the .002 for good measure.

Thrust bearing also has the classic mod to help lubricate the thrust surface.
New thrust bearing can be installed either direction (no tab), so lots of careful attention to ensue it's facing the correct direction.

and finally the thrust bearing clearance.
Illustrated above for the factory spec.
I got a nice .005 if I pry on the crank to ensure it's at the extreme compressed range.
then drops down to .0045 if I'm doing it by hand.
I do have the bearing lightly lubed with redline assy lube.

When installing, i followed the factory service manual where it notes to tap the crank in order to align the thrust bearing, then used a pry tool while torquing to ensure it stays there.
I got maybe another .0004 by doing that pry tool trick for some strange reason.

FSM instructions.

 

[Just Fishing]

So, while I wait for the new rods, I started thinking about tasks i can complete.

Crank install - check!

Then the timing chain and oil pump install next!

I threw my Melling chain in the ultrasonic to give it a good cleaning, no metal picked up by the magnet.
Then I noticed this on the guide.



WTF!?!

 

[Just Fishing]

When inspecting the timing chain, I noticed some raised burs on the side that would have run against the guide.
I didn't check it when installing the first time, I just cleaned, lubed, and installed.

I still have a decent guide from when I did the AFM delete on the old engine, but missed the Faling rear cam bearing.
That engine pumped metal,
Ultrasonic caught some metal for that chain during cleaning, so i opted to replace with this Melling chain.

So, the guide from that old Cloyeds setup looks pretty good.

Then the melling had this nice setup for the bolts that it included.
Nice allen head sockets grade 8 bolts.
but they also included this little rubber insulator thing.
When disassembling the engine, that rubber had melted or something.
I assume this was by design, it seemed to really seal up the tensioner

Because of that, the Melling tensioner/guide has these cutouts in the mounting hardware.
Likely needing me to buy new bolts from Melling.
One option would be to buy just the chain and tensioner from Melling...
Or try and fill the spot with some small o-rings.

I played around with the cloyeds tensioner, confirmed the plastic part would have been interchangeable, but i decided to just rock that one instead.

I also looked at the cloyeds chain, but noticed the Melling chain is quite a bit beefier

Comparison,
Cloyeds chain on the top, Melling on the bottom.




Opted to rock the Melling chain again,
So I took a fine file, cleaned up the surface, paying attention to sharp corners and things that might dig up the tensioner.
Then finished up with some 600 grit to smooth it out a little more.

Back to the untrasonic and ensured all of the grip was out of the rollers.

Made a nice prelube out of some 30 weight break-in oil and my redline assy lube, then worked it into the chain and into the rollers for good measure.
Hoping it will encapsulate any left over grit from the sanding...


So timing chain has been installed, then i moved onto the pump.

I did the same feeler gauge trick to ensure the pump and rotor is perfectly aligned/centered.
Per Melling, you just need to finger tighten the mounting bolts, rotate the engine, and then torque down.

But me, needing to overdo everything...

Once i had it nice and centered, I used a flashlight to look into my nicely ported pump, nice clear view of the pump outlet to block inlet.
Lined the holes up perfectly.

I tried to get a picture of that with my Cell, but it wouldn't focus down the hole.

And here we have the block, I'm pretty much ready to slap on the front and rear covers.
Then from there, I just have the rods, pistons, and bearings.




Pump, I did lots of reading about pressure springs.
Me trying to avoid flooding the cylinder head/valve covers this time around...

Apparently there is this expected oil pan volume related to oil pressure.
If i ran the high pressure spring, I might have issues.

I re-read my cylinder head instructions and noted that's in there with the note about high volume pumps.

What I really want is to ensure I have enough pressure for 7k rpm, and I want to be over 40 lbs hot oil pressure at idle.

Doing some reading, the suggested tatic is to use the standard volume spring, and then shim the spring by .100in

So i used an old copper headgasket that i have been using for various projects since going with an MLS on the old sbc vette...

That stuff is a good .020 thickness.
So, I spent lots of time making perfect little circles that fit into the cap exactly with no gaps and loose enough to fall out easily.
I wanted no binding, and to ensure they sit perfectly flat.

I ended up going with .060 shim.
Still tempted to remove one of those and to reduce to .040...

 

[Just Fishing]

When I have the engine fully assembled, I'm planning to re-paint the block.
I'm very disappointed about how badly that clear coat yellowed.
I'm going with silver again, but no clear.

Also noticed that my engine mount bolts rusted, only water this thing ever saw was when washing the block off due to a valve cover oil leak at the back.
So I'll be cleaning that up too.
Planning to do some light sealing to prevent water intrusion this time around.


and my task today, get some more space in the garage, then pull the transfer case off.
then get the transmission out of there.

I decided I'm doing a tear down.
At a minimum I'm replacing the little roller bearings that sit between each hard part/drum, and slapping on new clutches while i have the pump off.

I'm also planning to inspect the rear sprag while I'm in there.
Concern is related to a possible blockage of rear lubrication.
Also possible i got some metal back there...

Seems there is a known issue say when the converter fails, and metal enters the cooling circuit.
metal can build up in the pistons at the back, and slowly destroy things.


Adventure!!

 

[Just Fishing]

This was an adventure.

Since i removed the engine first, it ended up being "easier" to just remove the swaybar and them wheel the entire assembly forward, then down.


When this thing goes back in, I'm probably going to build a little carrier thing for it with some 2x4's

xfer case was heavier than the transmission, I was not expecting that.

Crushed my left middle finger a bit.
I'm pretty sure the nail is going to fall off later...


Transfer case has been separated and shoved to the side.
Shafts are nice and tight, so I'll just do a re-seal of the output shaft.
(+ i crushed that seal removing this thing)



Since I had to know, I pulled the pump and tore into it for inspection.

Looks like it passed some trash through it, but it wasn't bad.

That confirms it wasn't me with the first startup of the new engine that caused the issue.

My thoughts about the cause of the cooler line blockage that caused this whole 6.0 build v2.

Either that trash was just floating around and finally made it's way into the radiator.
Could have been in the radiator, but finally moved into a spot where it caused massive blockage.
In that case it came from the original converter..

I still have that thing, so i'll cut it open later.

Other idea, this was left over trash in the new circled converter.
Didn't get fully cleaned out during manufacturing, or was just partially stuck so it didn't come out with a rinse after welding.
Drove it for a good 1k miles, and it broke loose and ended up in the cooler lines.
I wish i still had the piece, but it was magnetic, dark in color, and had some rainbowing.
My gut screamed converter..

and while the pump is not too bad, it's trash due to the damage in the pump surface.
Good thing i'm doing this.

 

[Just Fishing]

Getting ready to order some parts.
I wanted to see if the steels looked good, or if i needed to order those as well.

So far the steels look great, the whole transmission looks great.


Debating if i want to even bother doing the bushings...

 

[Just Fishing]

I did some air testing of that big drum in the picture above.
I found i can use my old pump stator, toss it on there and it air tests just fine.
Carefully looked around the weld for a leak.

I just saw the vent spewing out trans fluid.

It looks good, but i have more reading to do.

I found one stripped drum on ebay that clearly had the tig weld on it.
but it didn't call it out in the ad, so i'm skeptical.
I'm thinking it's an overpriced china drum.

A loaded OEM drum is the same price, but it comes with the clutches and pistons installed.

 

[Just Fishing]

Finally decided on a few transmission parts.
First the bonded pistons,
I kept seeing something about High performance blue, so I finally googled it.

* 6L80 6L90 Bonded Piston Set High Performance Blue Hi-Per Blue Set of Five 6L80E 6L90E - PATC - TransmissionCenter.net

6L80 6L90 Bonded Piston Set, High Performance Blue, Hi-Per Blue Set of Five 6L80E or 6L90E.

transmissioncenter.net

Key features that got my attention.
• Better temperature range
• Higher tear strength
• Better bonding characteristics
• SAP-designed for better seal support

Sounds like it's harder to tear a lip seal when installing.

So, I'm going with a set of those.

then there are these "durabond" bushings.
I tried to locate a set of Sonnax bushings, but I didn't resolve any listed for sale using the part numbers pulled from sonnax's site.

So, the durabond came up next.
Sounds like they went with an improvement over the originals, namely a one-piece design...
so i settled with those.

Then I went with Raybestos clutches.
Then added a seal kit on top of that.

Mostly I need some o-rings from the kit related to the piston sealing...

I'm still on the fence if I should replace that drum that's known to crack, and if i do, what one.

 

[pwtr02ss]

Finally decided on a few transmission parts.
First the bonded pistons,
I kept seeing something about High performance blue, so I finally googled it.

* 6L80 6L90 Bonded Piston Set High Performance Blue Hi-Per Blue Set of Five 6L80E 6L90E - PATC - TransmissionCenter.net

6L80 6L90 Bonded Piston Set, High Performance Blue, Hi-Per Blue Set of Five 6L80E or 6L90E.

transmissioncenter.net

Key features that got my attention.
• Better temperature range
• Higher tear strength
• Better bonding characteristics
• SAP-designed for better seal support

Sounds like it's harder to tear a lip seal when installing.

So, I'm going with a set of those.

then there are these "durabond" bushings.
I tried to locate a set of Sonnax bushings, but I didn't resolve any listed for sale using the part numbers pulled from sonnax's site.

So, the durabond came up next.
Sounds like they went with an improvement over the originals, namely a one-piece design...
so i settled with those.

Then I went with Raybestos clutches.
Then added a seal kit on top of that.

Mostly I need some o-rings from the kit related to the piston sealing...

I'm still on the fence if I should replace that drum that's known to crack, and if i do, what one.

Durabond bushings are good. Make sure you have the correct driver tools or they mushroom super easy

 

[Just Fishing]

been doing some digging around looking for must have upgrades.
Found this little document.

https://atracom.blob.core.windows.net/webinars/gm/6l50_80_90_updates.pdf

Lots of good info.
It appears that my late 08 transmission already has most of the needed upgrades.
And when pulling the pump, i did find that i have a late 08, not an earlier 08.
meaning it had the updated pump already.

So that mostly rules out the cause of the 2-3 shift flare.
that then starts placing blame on the 1-2-3-4 and 3-5-Reverse Clutch housing or pistons.

So the suggested solution as a proactive fix while the transmission is apart, is to replace the whole thing.
Loaded AC Delco Drum pn: 24259848

Summit racing has it in stock, as does amazon.
Amazon had a "sale" listed on that part for a few weeks now, so it was $208.
Sale is now over

I had issues with Amazon and their pump rotor, dragged me through the mud with expected ship dates.
And then when i finally gave up, i canceled the order and bought one off of ebay.
ebay rotor came on time.

order cancel failed, tried it like 20 times.
then called customer service to have that stupid thing canceled.
still failed!!
then when i returned something else that i had planned to use towards transmission fluid.
that stupid thing decides they are getting ready for shipping and took it.
Now finally nearly 2 months later, it's out for delivery...
I'm glad it was Prime, because it's going right back.

Summit racing = reliable
so, I paid a few bucks more.

Per the above document, and some other reading, they updated some pistons in that drum.
that prevents cracking.
then there is that Sonnax billet clutch piston to fix other issues seen.

Sonnax piston: https://www.sonnax.com/parts/4332-heavy-duty-1-2-3-4-piston

Summit racing also has that in stock.