2013 Escalade ESV Next BIG adventure: Cooling system refresh, Big 3 Electrical upgrade, Reseal intake, and VLOM mod...

[Geotrash]

OK, I am getting cold feet.
I have read through various procedures in the service manual, and this is becoming a steeper and steeper slippery slope.

To replace the VVT actuator (camshaft sprocket):
-lower front differential
-remove oil pan
-remove timing cover
-remove oil pump
-remove timing chain tensioner
-remove VVT actuator and timing chain

And this is on the edge of the cliff of:
Since you was in there...
AMF Delete
-'Just Pop the heads off to replace the lifters.'
-pull the radiator
-pull the AC condenser
-pull the auxiliary transmission cooler
-replace camshaft


To be honest, that is WAY more money and time than I want to do right now.
The scope of what I am doing now was some preventive maintenance. My intent was only to have my Escalade down for a couple-three weeks.
All the above will add considerably more time to this.

Honestly, this is all stuff that can probably wait until you have an event that makes doing the work necessary anyway, which may never happen. The odds are in your favor. There are plenty of people running around with 300K+ on their original cam phaser and timing components. And since you have the AFM tuned out, your odds are better than most that such an event won't happen during your ownership.

The main reason I did my cam swap was because I only had 110K on the thing and wanted to tow a heavy camper with it, so my main goal was more power, with increased durability as a secondary gain.

 

[donjetman]

Why you should pin your harmonic balancer

 

[j91z28d1]

Why you should pin your harmonic balancer

yeah maybe in theory but I completely disagree with what he's saying happened. plus is a corvette, they go out all the time on those because they get used differently but it's not spinning on the crank nose, it just broken out the rubber and the outter is spinning on the inner. pinning won't solve that.. using a better than stock one will but again.. stock hp truck that never sees high rpm or better said fast rpm changes. this just isn't a thing.

only my opinion of course, my 0.02 is it's not going to hurt anything to do. but honestly, it's a 80$ part that will last at least 150k in this application. Just pop the old one off, replace the seal and press a new one on. I am not touching the one on my yukon till it wobbles, the c6 at 100k did, I used a power bond brand 10% under drive. no pin, stock bolt. 2 track days and countless flat foot power shifts later the install mark I made is still there and it's not moved at all.

use the oem bolt and tq it to its crazy spec and you'll never have one spinning on the crank.

 

[skpyle]

OK, thanks for the explanations!

I now understand that my confusion stems from me mistaking the crank pulley for an actual harmonic balancer. It not being keyed made me think there was a specific position the crankshaft had to be at and a specific orientation for the 'balancer' to be at.
I now understand that it is nothing more than a rubber isolated pulley, and can go on in any orientation.
Digging, I figured out the failure mode is 'pulley wobble.' IE the outer pulley sheave is no longer in plane with the hub.

I do not see a need to pin the pulley on my stock L94. Even if I put a hotter cam in if/when I do a full DOD delete.

At this time, I am not going to crack open the timing cover. I am going to gamble that my cam phaser is working properly, and will continue to do so in the future. If I am wrong, I will deal with it.

I am reluctant to have to drop the oil pan on a whim. As well, at 123,*** miles, the selling dealership replaced the oil pan gasket (I actually have paperwork for that. They even replaced the rivets! However...they did not replace the pickup O-ring. So I may very well be back in here sooner than I think. )

In due time, I will address all this, likely when I rebuild the front end. Drop the differential to replace the mounts, pull the oil pan, do the above work. And go from there.

Thank you all for your advice and suggestions!

 

[skpyle]

Last thing to do for the cooling system refresh was to replace both the FAN HI and FAN LO relays in the underhood power panel. I got the old relays out and compared them to the new ones.
And realized I screwed up. Old relays were 4-pin. New relays were 5-pin. OK, not a problem. 5th pin is your N.C. 87a. Relays will work just fine.
Wrong. Sockets for fan relays are 4-pin. And I am not so stupid as to cut the 5th pin off the new relays.

Sooo...the FAN CNTRL got a new 5-pin relay. I will order two new correct 4-pin relays and make it right. Luckily, the old relays still work.

Old relays at top, new relays at bottom. I should have immediately recognized the color difference...

Old relays are 4-pin, new relays are 5-pin.

Circuit diagrams show 4 vs 5 pin.

Two empty sockets are for the 4-pin fan relays. FAN HI is on the left and FAN LO is on the right.
Black 8865 5-pin relay just below is the FAN CNTRL. It got replaced.

 

[skpyle]

On a side note, the LS balancer/pulley tools I ordered arrived today.

All are Chineseum, but will serve my needs. I did ensure the installer I ordered had a ball thrust bearing.

I am going to pick up an M16 x 2.0 x 60mm socket head bolt at work tomorrow. I have seen the little thrust rods bend with the style of puller I got. In searching 'balancer' here on TYF, I saw several references to using a bolt in place of the thrust rod. Good idea!

Puller kit at left, installer tool in the middle, and flywheel lock tool at right.
Yes, may only be used twice by me, but I like tools.

 

[iamdub]

Last thing to do for the cooling system refresh was to replace both the FAN HI and FAN LO relays in the underhood power panel. I got the old relays out and compared them to the new ones.
And realized I screwed up. Old relays were 4-pin. New relays were 5-pin. OK, not a problem. 5th pin is your N.C. 87a. Relays will work just fine.
Wrong. Sockets for fan relays are 4-pin. And I am not so stupid as to cut the 5th pin off the new relays.

Sooo...the FAN CNTRL got a new 5-pin relay. I will order two new correct 4-pin relays and make it right. Luckily, the old relays still work.


View attachment 416378
Old relays at top, new relays at bottom. I should have immediately recognized the color difference...



View attachment 416379
Old relays are 4-pin, new relays are 5-pin.


View attachment 416380
Circuit diagrams show 4 vs 5 pin.



View attachment 416381
Two empty sockets are for the 4-pin fan relays. FAN HI is on the left and FAN LO is on the right.
Black 8865 5-pin relay just below is the FAN CNTRL. It got replaced.

Just bend 87a flat. Done. Unless you can and want to return/exchange them.

 

[skpyle]

Since I am still waiting on the fuel injectors to return and parts to arrive for the crank pulley, I moved on to the electrical upgrades.

My plan was this:
-220A alternator
-1/0ga (-) battery cable with new terminal
-new RVC sensor
-1/0ga (+) battery cable with new terminal to the mega fuse block on the firewall
-1/0ga (+) battery cable to the alternator (+) power stud
-1/0ga ground cable between the engine and the frame
-onboard battery maintainer
-bluetooth battery monitor


Yeah...that kinda went sideways right off the bat. My 2013 Escalade does not have the mega fuse block on the firewall. It has it directly attached to the (+) battery cable terminal at the battery. If nothing else, means I didn't have to install a new terminal on the cable to the starter.
It did mean I would have to run a 1/0ga (+) battery cable from the battery to the power distribution box on the driver's side fender.

Battery cable configuration on my Escalade.

Mega fuse block connected directly to the (+) battery cable terminal.



For the sake of (what I thought would be) simplicity, I started with the (-) cables.
I used the old (-) cable as a guide, cut the new one a couple of inches longer, just because. I crimped 3/8" hole ring terminals at each end and covered them with heat shrink tubing.
The original (-) cable had an additional smaller diameter ground wire going down to the lower front frame. I clipped this off, then put a 3/8" hole ring terminal on it. Both these went to the new (-) terminal on the battery.

As for the new (-) terminal, I put a longer bolt through it, and a nut on the end to secure it. And act as a spacer. This spaced the (-) cables out far enough to clear the battery case. And I could leave the battery in its original orientation, with the terminals towards the fender.

Original (-) battery cable with RVC sensor.

Cylinder head end of new and old (-) battery cables.

Battery terminal end of old and new (-) battery cables. Yes, new terminal is a touch janky, but it is solid and will work. I have done worse...

 

[skpyle]

Old RVC sensor at left, new one at right. NOTE: You can install the mounting peg in one of two positions on the RVC sensor. Wanna guess which one I installed it on? Yep, the wrong one. Took awhile for me to figure out why I could not install the sensor like it was in the photos.

(-) battery cable assembly and RVC sensor. I covered various parts of the cables in braided loom. This replaced the corrugated loom on the original cable.


I fabricated a 1/0ga cable with 3/8" hole ring terminals and heat shrink tubing at each end. It ran from the cylinder head ground stud to the outboard upper shock assembly stud on the passenger's side. I put an internal toothed star washer under the ring terminal against the shock mount.

Short ground cable from cylinder head to shock mount. Note internal star washer and shock mount nut at the left.

(-) battery cable and short ground cable both go to the front of the passenger's side cylinder head. NOTE: the injector harness ground is not connected to this stud right now because I am installing braided loom on the various harnesses.

Short ground cable loops around to shock mount stud.

 

[skpyle]

On my 2103 Escalade, the (+) power feed runs from the (+) battery terminal up across the firewall, and down into the power distribution box on the driver's inner fender well. My intent was to replace it with a 1/0ga cable for blessed overkill.

I had to remove the distribution box upper panel to access how the (+) power feed attaches to it. And ran into a wall. This cable is crimped to a specialty terminal that mates with the underside of the distribution box upper panel. Short of cutting the terminal off and making an ugly splice to the 1/0ga cable, I don't know what to do here. Sooo...I left it alone.
In reading articles on the 'Big 3' electrical upgrades, I don't think I read anything about replacing this cable. So I will leave it. If I come up with a better idea, I will address it in the future.

I did take the opportunity to hose down the underside of the distribution box upper panel and the receptacles in the base with contact cleaner. All terminals were nice and clean.

(+) power feed cable from battery into the distribution box.

(+) power feed cable runs to a specialty female spade connector in the base of the distribution box.

Cable is crimped in multiple places. I don't think I could recrimp this onto the 1/0ga cable.

Underside of the distribution box upper panel.

Receptacles in the base of the distribution box.

 

[skpyle]

I installed a NOCO Genius 2D onboard battery maintainer. Actually, I used two large zip ties to secure the mount to the side of the battery. I could not find a place to mount the unit near the battery that I was happy with. Side of the battery is not ideal, but it will work. Even though my Escalade is my daily driver, I like having a maintainer installed. Just in case. All 4 of the vehicles at my house have the NOCO Genius 2Ds installed.

Not the most elegant install, but it works.

Location of battery maintainer on the side of the battery means I can't see the indicator to see if it is charging. However, I can look at the battery monitor app on my phone and see the voltage.



I also installed a QUICKLYNKS BM2 Battery Monitor II bluetooth battery monitor. Same as above, I have one on all my vehicles. Just because. I mounted this one on top of the battery, and will secure it with a zip tie to the (+) power feed cable once all is said and done.

Battery monitor will live on top of the battery.

Both the battery maintainer and monitor (+) terminals have been connected to the battery side of the mega fuse at the (+) battery cable terminal.

New (-) battery terminal. Not as elegant as I had wanted, but it is solid and functional.

 

[opfor2]

Must be nice to have unlimited funds to replace perfectly good parts.

 

[skpyle]

You know, I could respond to this in one of two ways…

I choose to be polite and professional. I have been a gearhead for over 30 years. I cut my teeth on rusty deathtraps. Reliability was a mythical concept.

I am a repair technician and lead a crew in a heavy stamping facility for my day(night) job. I regularly see equipment run into the ground. Deferred maintenance is the name of the game. I routinely have to make band-aid/hack repairs that I am not proud of.

I have worked my ass off for years to get where I am and am well paid for it.
My Escalade is the nicest thing I have. I want it to stay running tip-top and balls out.
I have researched the care and feeding of the GMT900 platform. I have identified the known issues, and am addressing them in due time.
I do not have unlimited funds, but I do OK. And I chose to spend my money on preventative maintenance on my vehicles.

I am sorry if my spending seems a frippery to you. I do respect your opinion, though.

Good day to you.

 

[j91z28d1]

is that terminal discolored from heat?



I wouldn't worry about he o'ring till you see oil pressure issues or at least a different in pressure if you face down a steep driveway or something. I know gm used different rings in different engines and I've not had my yukon apart but my ls3 I had the pan off so I switched it out because I was there. the oem o'ring was perfect, no hardness to it or anything. I was surprised as I've hit over 300deg oil Temps a few different times with that engine before having to cut sessions short and needing cool down laps. I thought forsure it would be baked. even threw a belt once and over heated it to the moon, ful ecm reduced power mode type over heat. I just got a oem from the dealer and replaced it for the heck of it.

I know they do go bad, but I honestly have not idea why some do and some don't. gotta be different oils or types of rubber used in different years. either way, definitely agree to not dropping all that stuff till you have a reason.

for all your battery connections, I've started using no ox on a lot of stuff. at work we are switching the fleet to electric equipment and one of the trainers talked about it for big cabling outside in the elements. I guess it's used a lot in the wind mill world too. it's like a dielectric grease but it's conductive.

the jury seems to be out on using it on the bus bars themselves inside a battery box, pure metal to metal might still have lower impedance but for crimp lugs outside in the elements, they recommended it. I've started using it on a lot of stuff. especially something like a ground cable to a block.

just something you might research. it's cheap, like 6$ on Amazon. Just watch out using it somewhere that it can cross from pos to neg, it's said to cause a small voltage drain.

 

[Geotrash]

is that terminal discolored from heat?
View attachment 416470


I wouldn't worry about he o'ring till you see oil pressure issues or at least a different in pressure if you face down a steep driveway or something. I know gm used different rings in different engines and I've not had my yukon apart but my ls3 I had the pan off so I switched it out because I was there. the oem o'ring was perfect, no hardness to it or anything. I was surprised as I've hit over 300deg oil Temps a few different times with that engine before having to cut sessions short and needing cool down laps. I thought forsure it would be baked. even threw a belt once and over heated it to the moon, ful ecm reduced power mode type over heat. I just got a oem from the dealer and replaced it for the heck of it.

I know they do go bad, but I honestly have not idea why some do and some don't. gotta be different oils or types of rubber used in different years. either way, definitely agree to not dropping all that stuff till you have a reason.

for all your battery connections, I've started using no ox on a lot of stuff. at work we are switching the fleet to electric equipment and one of the trainers talked about it for big cabling outside in the elements. I guess it's used a lot in the wind mill world too. it's like a dielectric grease but it's consecutive.

the jury seems to be out on using it on the bus bars themselves inside a battery box, pure metal to metal might still have lower impedance but for crimp lugs outside in the elements, they recommended it. I've started using it on a lot of stuff. especially something like a ground cable to a block.

just something you might research. it's cheap, like 6$ on Amazon. Just watch out using it somewhere that it can cross from pos to neg, it's said to cause a small voltage drain.

Nice. Is this the right stuff? https://a.co/d/6RVCykS

 

[j91z28d1]

Nice. Is this the right stuff? https://a.co/d/6RVCykS

yeah, that's it. seems it's gone up some since I got some, but it seems to go a long way.

 

[skpyle]

is that terminal discolored from heat?
View attachment 416470


I wouldn't worry about he o'ring till you see oil pressure issues or at least a different in pressure if you face down a steep driveway or something. I know gm used different rings in different engines and I've not had my yukon apart but my ls3 I had the pan off so I switched it out because I was there. the oem o'ring was perfect, no hardness to it or anything. I was surprised as I've hit over 300deg oil Temps a few different times with that engine before having to cut sessions short and needing cool down laps. I thought forsure it would be baked. even threw a belt once and over heated it to the moon, ful ecm reduced power mode type over heat. I just got a oem from the dealer and replaced it for the heck of it.

I know they do go bad, but I honestly have not idea why some do and some don't. gotta be different oils or types of rubber used in different years. either way, definitely agree to not dropping all that stuff till you have a reason.

for all your battery connections, I've started using no ox on a lot of stuff. at work we are switching the fleet to electric equipment and one of the trainers talked about it for big cabling outside in the elements. I guess it's used a lot in the wind mill world too. it's like a dielectric grease but it's conductive.

the jury seems to be out on using it on the bus bars themselves inside a battery box, pure metal to metal might still have lower impedance but for crimp lugs outside in the elements, they recommended it. I've started using it on a lot of stuff. especially something like a ground cable to a block.

just something you might research. it's cheap, like 6$ on Amazon. Just watch out using it somewhere that it can cross from pos to neg, it's said to cause a small voltage drain.

The large female spade terminal for power into the distribution box is not heat discolored. I looked at it closer with a good light.

That's was what I was thinking about the oil pump pickup O-ring. I have great oil pressure right now. I keep track of it at oil changes and such, and for giggles at most engine starts. If I suddenly develop low oil pressure, I will do the 'overfill the oil and point the nose of the vehicle downhill' and see what happens. If I have to replace the O-ring then, I will.
Until then, I will leave it be.

You bring up a good point. The failed O-ring is common, but does not seem to be inevitable. Some do, most don't...

Very good advice about the No-Ox, thanks! I have ordered some from the link posted. Since I am not done with the work, I have no problem pulling the freshly fabricated (-) cables back out. I will strip the heat shrink, and work a little No-Ox into the open ends of the crimp terminals. I have plenty of heat shrink. I will use it building future cables.
As well as at the connection on the cylinder head.

Thanks!

 

[skpyle]

Friday, before I laid down for a nap, I tried replacing the locks, O-rings, and spacers for the rear heater core hose quick disconnects.
And failed miserably.

Rear heater core hose quick disconnects under the passenger's side rear of the vehicle.

Could not depress the locking tabs enough for the quick disconnects to release. Did not want to get medieval and break anything.



As far as I can tell, the quick disconnects are the same as the heater hoses that connect to the heater Tees under the hood. However, I could not get the locking tabs to release for love nor money. I tried my fingers, hose pliers, and Knipex pliers. No love. I gave up before I broke something.
I will revisit this in the near future.
In my mind, the O-ring seals and locks are 10 years old. Couldn't hurt to replace them.

GM seal and lock kit for rear heater core hose quick disconnects.

Spacer goes between the two O-rings. The lock inserts snap into the heater hose quick disconnect housings.

 

[skpyle]

Saturday, I successfully replaced the crankshaft pulley and bolt, front crankshaft seal, and the crankshaft position sensor (CKP).

NOTE: all of this work was done under my Escalade up on jack stands.


My first mistake was reading the service manual. To replace the crankshaft pulley, I was to:
-drain cooling system
-disconnect upper radiator hose from radiator
-disconnect both oil cooler lines from radiator
-disconnect both transmission oil cooler lines from radiator
-disconnect and remove fan/shroud assembly

I am assuming all this is for clearance to use the factory removal/installation tools.
Heck no!
I gambled that the aftermarket tools I was using would be shorter and not need all the extra clearance. However, I was pretty sure I would not have clearance for my pneumatic impact gun. Hand tools only...

Even the service manual instructions for starter removal were ungood. It talked about removing the right front wheel and wheel well liner, and working from there.
Luckily, I read a post here on TYF that said just to unbolt the starter and move it out of the way.
That made sense.

Reason for removing the starter: installation of the flywheel lock. I deemed it necessary, and subsequently proved this out. I had read posts about bracing a pry bar in the crankshaft pulley against the AC compressor to hold the pulley while removing/installing the bolt.
The amount of force both those events took for me meant I wasn't comfortable trying to manipulate the prybar.

Starter removed, also showing access to the newly replaced CKP sensor.

Flywheel lock bolted in place of the starter.



While I had the starter moved out of the way, I replaced the CKP sensor. Since it is right above and completely blocked by the starter. It wasn't a bad job. I was able to get my left hand up to the sensor to remove the retaining bolt and then the sensor. Same for getting it all back together. There was JUST enough room to swing my torque wrench to tighten the CKP sensor retaining bolt to 18 ft/lbs (216 in/lbs.) Only just. Pretty much one tooth at a time on the ratchet.

Old CKP sensor at left, new Delphi SS11397-11B1 sensor at right. OEM GM 12703627 CKP sensor was unavailable. I took my chances with the Delphi.

 

[skpyle]

OK...main event: the pulley itself.

I had read posts of people having a heckuva time getting the old pulley off. Requiring heat and violence. Or at least a strong pneumatic impact. Which I had, but I wasn't sure I had the clearance to use it.

Getting the old bolt out was actually the worst part. Using my arms to pull on the breaker bar just moved my body. I had to pull with the breaker bar at around 7:00 o'clock because of interference with stuff in the engine bay and the fact I was using a 6pt 24mm deep impact socket. I ended up laying on my back, grabbing the passenger's side front tire, and pushing with my left leg. Finally got the bolt to break loose. I was a hair's breadth from going to get my pneumatic impact and running air out to where I was working.

Finally got the old bolt out.


Next trick was the removal tool. I have watched this type of removal tool used repeatedly by 'I Do Cars' on youtube, but hadn't really paid attention to how the tool was set on the pulley. That took a little finagling to get it set right. The notches in the tool arms fit into flats on the backside of the pulley hub. Took me a few tries to get everything lined up correctly.

I ended up trying the long removal rod. I had watched videos of the long rod getting bent in use, and had gotten three different lengths of M16 x 2.0 socket head bolts to use instead. However, I was concerned the tapered tip of the tool forcing screw would be deformed in the socket head of the bolt.

Removal tool forcing screw and the long removal rod.

Forcing screw and an M16 x 2.0 socket head bolt.

Concerned that the tapered end of the forcing screw would deform in the socket of the bolt.

Pulley removal tool installed on the pulley. Note the grease on the forcing screw threads. Never go in dry.