SOLVED: Another misfire chasing threads (2008 express van)

[07Burb]

You didn't get all them youngsters by being slow....

That's a fact. Ain't got no time for d1ddle daddling around. Get in, get out, get back to dad bidness

EDIT: yes, apparently d i d d l e is a "blocked word" on TYF BRB, gotta go change that real quick

EDIT 2: And after perusing that list, don't none of y'all potty mouths even THINK about saying a dang thing about "thvndercvnts". We ain't got no time for that in the TYF list of profanities!!

 

[Tonyv__]

Still working out a few kinks but overall engine is running great

Apparently I didn’t line up the timing cover correctly and have a leak through the front crank seal…

What centering tool do you guys recommend? I didn’t use a tool I used the balancer itself to center the cover and now I see it didn’t work.. Do I have to drop the oil pan again? What about the rubber gasket for the timing cover? Reuse or toss it? Was just installed a couple weeks ago


Minor leak but I want to address it sooner than later

 

[pwtr02ss]

That sucks

I don't think you have to drop the oil pan unless it was far enough out of alignment to make the cover not sit flush when you reinstall. Me personally, I'd probably replace the front seal, just to eliminate any chances of it being disfigured form being misaligned for a bit. Cheap insurance. Also, don't forget to dab a bit sealant on the corners.

I have the Alignit tools from Sac City Corvette

LS Rear Main and Timing cover AlignIt Tools

Must have tool for aligning the rear main and timing cover on the GM Gen III & IV LS based engines to eliminate premature seal leaks.

www.saccitycorvette.com

I bought the pretty aluminum ones because, well, they're pretty. The plastic ones seem to work ok as well

Edit: here are some pics. They seem to be very high quality. Being they're aluminum, you'll still need to care for them gently so they don't get dinged up

 

[Tonyv__]

That sucks

I don't think you have to drop the oil pan unless it was far enough out of alignment to make the cover not sit flush when you reinstall. Me personally, I'd probably replace the front seal, just to eliminate any chances of it being disfigured form being misaligned for a bit. Cheap insurance. Also, don't forget to dab a bit sealant on the corners.

I have the Alignit tools from Sac City Corvette

LS Rear Main and Timing cover AlignIt Tools

Must have tool for aligning the rear main and timing cover on the GM Gen III & IV LS based engines to eliminate premature seal leaks.

www.saccitycorvette.com

I bought the pretty aluminum ones because, well, they're pretty. The plastic ones seem to work ok as well

Edit: here are some pics. They seem to be very high quality. Being they're aluminum, you'll still need to care for them gently so they don't get dinged up

View attachment 357401View attachment 357402

Yeah I intended on replacing the seal again. Thanks. I seen the sac city brand on other forums. Just wasn’t sure if the different LS configurations had different alignment tools

 

[pwtr02ss]

Yeah I intended on replacing the seal again. Thanks. I seen the sac city brand on other forums. Just wasn’t sure if the different LS configurations had different alignment tools

As far as I know, they're all the same. And sorry, I read that too fast and didn't catch that you were asking about the timing cover gasket. Honestly, Id say it would be fine...others may have a different opinion though. @randeez @iamdub what's your opinion?

 

[Tonyv__]

As far as I know, they're all the same. And sorry, I read that too fast and didn't catch that you were asking about the timing cover gasket. Honestly, Id say it would be fine...others may have a different opinion though. @randeez @iamdub what's your opinion?

the more I read it. I keep asking myself. Is $30 worth the risk? The water pump gaskets are cheap too. It’s Dejavu all over again lol

 

[pwtr02ss]

the more I read it. I keep asking myself. Is $30 worth the risk? The water pump gaskets are cheap too. It’s Dejavu all over again lol

well, good luck on it, either way you go

 

[Tonyv__]

So no surprise the express van has been acting up lately.

Symptoms: cylinder 8 misfire only in the morning. Literally only in the morning. I cannot reproduce the problem throughout the day even if the truck sits on the job for 8 hours. Won’t throw a CEL. It just reads cyl 8 mis pending on the OBD scanner. Then it eventually smooths out.

Tonight I got around to checking out the coil and wires and I couldn’t believe my cylinder 8 wire was pretty much deteriorating internally. The ceramic part that connects to the coil pack pretty much crumbled away and the connector that connects to the plug broke off.. the plugs are about a year old. So I ran to autozone unfortunately because I need wires now. Replaced all 8 while I was in there and 5 of 8 broke during removal. Total junk. I’m pretty hopeful that crap wire was the cause of the misfire and I got it under control again


ouch! Every brand on rock auto including GM original parts are cheaper than what I paid for the junk at autozone. Ordering now so I don’t run into this problem again next year

 

[Rocket Man]

If you put a little dialectric grease on the terminals before you install them they won’t rust up like that and seize onto the plugs and coils.

 

[Tonyv__]

If you put a little dialectric grease on the terminals before you install them they won’t rust up like that and seize onto the plugs and coils.

I’ll do that when the new ones comes in. Good thing it’s only like 1/2 hour to replace the wires

 

[Tonyv__]

The wires definitely fixed the morning misfire issue. But I noticed as I was trying to pass someone on the highway (pretty aggressively) my CEL was flashing and detected random misfires. The code is gone for now as long as I take it easy on her.

I’m fairly convinced I’m just running on borrowed time since I had to open the engine up at 60k ish Miles last year.

 

[Rocket Man]

I don’t remember, but have you had the cats checked for restriction? That’s exactly what mine was doing
, the cats were 60% restricted.

 

[Tonyv__]

I don’t remember, but have you had the cats checked for restriction? That’s exactly what mine was doing
, the cats were 60% restricted.

so before I tore the engine apart last year I definitely borrowed a cheapy tool like this pressure tester and it showed nothing significant to make me think there was a clog.. however that was a year ago. And earlier this year I definitely put a cheater bung extender on my downstream 02 sensor because it was throwing codes. The codes stopped after that.

I can order a tester for myself and try again. Or would 1 get significantly hotter than the other like if I used a temp gun?

 

[OR VietVet]

so before I tore the engine apart last year I definitely borrowed a cheapy tool like this pressure tester and it showed nothing significant to make me think there was a clog.. however that was a year ago. And earlier this year I definitely put a cheater bung extender on my downstream 02 sensor because it was throwing codes. The codes stopped after that.

I can order a tester for myself and try again. Or would 1 get significantly hotter than the other like if I used a temp gun?

View attachment 379770

You want the cat to show close to the same temp at front middle and back.

 

[Tonyrodz]

The wires definitely fixed the morning misfire issue. But I noticed as I was trying to pass someone on the highway (pretty aggressively) my CEL was flashing and detected random misfires. The code is gone for now as long as I take it easy on her.

I’m fairly convinced I’m just running on borrowed time since I had to open the engine up at 60k ish Miles last year.

I'm starting to think Express Van's are pieces of shit. Mine has been nothing but problems, and I think the motor is going. I had that flashing cel before too. 1 of the cats was more restricted then the other, so I gutted it. I also had a hv Melling oil pump installed maybe 2 years ago because0 oil pressure. Also did the O ring, cleaned the pickup and cleaned all the sludge out of the oil pan. Cold idle was almost 80 psi, and warm idle was around 60 psi after that. Now at idle it's 0, and when I rev it, it's maybe 10-20 psi. Only has 161,000 miles too. I'll never buy another one!

 

[Tonyv__]

I'm starting to think Express Van's are pieces of shit. Mine has been nothing but problems, and I think the motor is going. I had that flashing cel before too. 1 of the cats was more restricted then the other, so I gutted it. I also had a hv Melling oil pump installed maybe 2 years ago because0 oil pressure. Also did the O ring, cleaned the pickup and cleaned all the sludge out of the oil pan. Cold idle was almost 80 psi, and warm idle was around 60 psi after that. Now at idle it's 0, and when I rev it, it's maybe 10-20 psi. Only has 161,000 miles too. I'll never buy another one!

I really only bought it because I’ve had good experiences with all my Gm trucks in the past. But this one is really a pain in the ass.

I also couldn’t afford any of the newer vans on the market lol


My oil pressure never improved after new pump, o ring , and rebuild on the top end. I still idle at like 10psi

 

[Tonyrodz]

I really only bought it because I’ve had good experiences with all my Gm trucks in the past. But this one is really a pain in the ass.

I also couldn’t afford any of the newer vans on the market lol


My oil pressure never improved after new pump, o ring , and rebuild on the top end. I still idle at like 10psi

I think the root of my issue is one of the 862 heads might be cracked.

 

[Tonyv__]

I think the root of my issue is one of the 862 heads might be cracked.

How does that even happen? Overheated in the past?

 

[Tonyrodz]

How does that even happen? Overheated in the past?

No idea. It has the 4.8 which has the 862 heads. I read somewhere the 862's are also prone to cracking like the Castech heads. I'd have to add coolant maybe once a month to the overflow bottle. It would just be empty. Actually I had the same issue with my 03 Tahoe, which also had the 4.8 with the 862 heads.
I think it's just a lemon. Bought it with 110k, driving it home the water pump went. This summer I replaced the trans--160k--and it already had a GM reman trans in it. If I keep it I already know I'm gonna need to replace the motor. Should've got a ferd lol.

 

[Rocket Man]

so before I tore the engine apart last year I definitely borrowed a cheapy tool like this pressure tester and it showed nothing significant to make me think there was a clog.. however that was a year ago. And earlier this year I definitely put a cheater bung extender on my downstream 02 sensor because it was throwing codes. The codes stopped after that.

I can order a tester for myself and try again. Or would 1 get significantly hotter than the other like if I used a temp gun?

View attachment 379770

IDK. I paid a shop to test mine, cost me $60 or something.