Pully that 454

[DA TAZ]

I have a 3 stage converter and a 105a high output si alternator with the sense wire connected to the engine battery post of the isolator. The diodes in the isolator keep the converter from fooling the alternator when driving with the genset running i run @ 13.2 to 14.4vdc depending on load weather the genset is running or not.



Engine battery post is upper right

[choctawmel]

Originally Posted by Dakota

Most 1-wire conversions are replacing externally regulated systems. Most internally regulated alternators have a remote voltage sense (exciter) wire and a power terminal. The sense wire can be wired directly to the power terminal to work as a 1-wire Installation. Not optimally but it will work. Just saying that there is often confusion between internally regulated and externally regulated alternators with an incorrect association between 1, 2, or 3 wires.

Yes, true. Three wire internal regulated is: Battery, sense (ignition), and warning light. The battery will go to the isolator and the sense will go to the coil wire. The Ford reg sense wire (I think) just goes back to the wire harness. I'll strip all that out and see. It the sense wire is on the alternator side of the isolator, would be a 1-2v drop across the isolator. Not good. The sense wire to the battery would more than likely give you a voltage drop to everything else.
You guys are making my brain hurt.

[choctawmel]

Originally Posted by Paul J Mauro

This winter I will tackle the engine on my 86 345 .265k miles so its beat and always underpowered.lookin for ideas , new rebuilt,upgrades etc.what would you do different this time if you already did yours .
I bought this baby brand new and I have lots of great memories so Im ready to give her the best for the next round of travel.
Looks like Ill have plenty of time sicne its snowing already in mt washington NH .

I'll let you know when I got this thing back together.

[choctawmel]

Got home from Church, went for a walk and then took the top apart. Guess the oil fill tube is anchored inside the tappet cover, loose, but don't pull out.

Should of put the front jacks down before I got this far. Now I get to jack it up and start breaking header bolts off. Will wait to do that till the doctor releases me to lift, I hope this week.

[bkahler]

Originally Posted by choctawmel

Got home from Church, went for a walk and then took the top apart. Guess the oil fill tube is anchored inside the tappet cover, loose, but don't pull out.

If I remember right when I was tearing down the engine compartment of the 345 the oil fill tube was just pushed into the valve cover. But then again my memory isn't what it used to be

Brad

[bkahler]

Originally Posted by shelocta

I have been puzzled about how airstream has done the sense wire when they installed the battery isolator. On my 310 they put the sense wire on the alternator lead and I have over a volt drop across the isolator. I always thought this may have been a wiring error but I keep finding the same setup in various airstream publications. I went digging around on the Internet tonight and I cannot find one article that advocated putting the sense wire on the alternator side, everybody's in agreement that it should go to the engine battery side so you can have 14.4 V and nice bright lights. I have a updated 12 volt converter and my best guess is applying 14.4 V from the alternator to its output when it's set to 13.3 will not do any harm. I may try this tomorrow and something burns up I will post the tragic results.
Regards
Bill

Bill,

I'm very interested in the results of any tests you perform. Our 310 lights are on the dim side and the dash voltage always reads low yet the alternator is putting out the correct voltage.

Definitely post your results when you have the opportunity.

Thanks!

Brad

[Keyair]

Awesome progress and writeup Choc!

I have pulled at least 2 454's out of their resting places(Suburbans)...
You comment about the oil fill tube had me thinking...
Did you mean the dipstick tube?
If so, it is like the ones I have done, they are a push fit, but do have a tab that is under one of the header bolts.

When you have the motor out, I want to see how your timing gears look...
On my '87 'Burb, they disintegrated....Common issue... You will be happy if you find it early!


The stock cam gear is aluminum couted with nylon/plastic for quietness..
The plastic gets brittle with age, and breaks up, allowing the chain to eat the sprocket..
Oh, and whilst its doing that it drops this kinda stuff into the oil pan...


I didn't, leaving me with this to fix...

[choctawmel]

Originally Posted by Keyair

Awesome progress and writeup Choc!

I have pulled at least 2 454's out of their resting places(Suburbans)...
You comment about the oil fill tube had me thinking...
Did you mean the dipstick tube?
If so, it is like the ones I have done, they are a push fit, but do have a tab that is under one of the header bolts.

I mean the fill tube, the pipe you put oil in. It didn't pull out of the valve cover.
With all the bent push rods, how did the valves/pistons look?
I can't do anything much till I can bend over again. Had eye surgery last Wednesday. Did too much already and my eyes swelled shut on me. Back surgery in May, eye surgery in October. Now it only I can get a functioning brain, I'll be rebuilt.

[Keyair]

Ok to fill tube...
I am gonna hit the "Fill tube delete" button on mine and put some nice valve covers on I already have... It really is not too much of a chore to pull the doghouse off to check, and that will encourage me to check the trans fluid at same time!

On my Suburban, nearly every intake valve was bent... but the pistons were fine. It was 20 years old and had about 150k on it at the time. The bores were well within spec, so I put a new set of rings in, an RV cam, and swapped another set of heads on. I has almost 170k on it now and runs like a train!

Take it easy there with the eye and the back....

[bkahler]

Originally Posted by Keyair

Ok to fill tube...
I am gonna hit the "Fill tube delete" button on mine and put some nice valve covers on I already have... It really is not too much of a chore to pull the doghouse off to check, and that will encourage me to check the trans fluid at same time!

Or if you're like me, cause you to neglect putting oil in

[choctawmel]

Originally Posted by Keyair

Ok to fill tube...
I am gonna hit the "Fill tube delete" button on mine and put some nice valve covers on I already have... It really is not too much of a chore to pull the doghouse off to check, and that will encourage me to check the trans fluid at same time!
Take it easy there with the eye and the back....

A real (under the dog house)dip stick maybe in the future. That thing that's in there is a pain in the butt! Got to use a pair of pliers to get it back down the tube. And every time I put oil in, I always get some on the cooling fins which collects dirt. Not good for air flow.
Got with the guys I'm thinking of buy the strocker kit from and he is telling me to go with 9.0:1 compression 'flat top' pistons. I was thinking no more than 8.6:1. I still got time to look around/talk till I get the block out, apart and to the machine shop. Well, hopefully next week. Then I can get exact on the cam grind. In the neighborhood of: Duration @0.050 206/212; Lift .510/.510; LSA 110. Can't be sure till I know the actual bore size. To get 496ci the bore would be 4.310", stroke- 4.25" That's .059 over stock bore and .25 over stock stroke.
If it looks like I'm going of the falls in a barrel, please throw me a rope!

[bkahler]

I just want to know what drag strip you're going to be running at so I can come and watch...

[Keyair]

Turn the tag axle around to act as wheely bars!

[shelocta]

With the ignition key off I was reading 8 V on the alternator lead. I think that's a bad omen. So this is what I did. Took off the lead from the coach batteries and tied it back out of the way. Took the three remaining wires and put them all on the post that was originally connected to the engine battery, effectively taking the isolator out of the picture. This did help but I still have one more gremlin in the system. At the post where the sense wire connects I have 14.44 volts. But across the engine battery I only have 13.2 with the engine running which probably means the wire is underrated for the amperage it's carrying. I could move his sense wire down to the battery but I rather have the proper gauge wire in this circuit. What I believe this shows is I have a bad battery isolator and the diodes are really leaking bad in the reverse direction. Rather than replacing the isolator I'm thinking about either a relay or a switch because the majority of the time I either connected to shore power or have the generator running. When I have the ignition switch in the run position and the engine not running I have about 10 V on the dashboard meter. Because I have two fuel pumps, heated O2 sensor and the computer running this is probably something close to normal. Can anybody give me a guess on how much current the hundred amp alternator would supply to a battery that was discharged down to around 10 V?
Regards;
Bill

[92landyacht]

The lower voltage probably means that you have a high resistive contact somewhere between the sense wire post and the battery. Could be any connection along the way. Are you measuring the voltages using the same ground point? If not, then a poor ground may also be a factor. Not likely that the battery cable it self is too small a gauge to account for that much loss.

[Paul J Mauro]

how is the engine job going ? Got a quote for a crate engine from auto zone $ 1,845 which sounds like a decent price for a 454 - I am getting my ducks lined up for the big family xmas present - a new engine in the 85 345 after 220,000 miles .its smokin like a cigar bar

[choctawmel]

I pretty much got everything stripped off I can. Need a good strong tree limb now. Still need to put a strap around the frame to hold the front of the transmission up.

Hope I don't have to take this front cross member and brake plumbing out.

This is all the big pieces of scrap iron. Broke on of the studs on the collects and I need to get a O2 connector welding up close to the head. When I put the EFI on I put the O2 sender back behind the collector thinking I needed at least half of the cylinders to be sensed, but the exhaust cools too much by the time if gets to the sender.
I need to get with my friend that has a boom hoist and get-er done!

[bkahler]

You do not have to remove the crossmember or brake tee and piping. You need one of the lifting plates that mount to the intake manifold in place of the carburetor. You can get lifting plates on ebay for $15. Just use a good grade of bolt when bolting it to the intake manifold. This is the only way to pull the motor.

Below are pictures of when I pulled the 454 from the 345 as I was dismantling it. Sorry about the quality of the pictures the sunlight was streaming in and there wasn't much I could do about it. I wasn't about to wait until the sun moved to finish the job

Let me know if you have any questions.

[LimeyRich]

Good luck with the project! Stay safe! and Really question the benefit of going to 9 to 1 compression, it would definitely give more torque and horsepower. 91 or 93 octane may permanently be your only choice though. As my 454 only has 20,000+- miles on it, I have no interest in opening her up, except for an RV cam if I get really froggy about it.
All the best. Rich.

[LimeyRich]

In 2000 we were buying 454 rebuilds to Mercruiser 340 HP spec' for $2200.00 with a 3yr full engine warranty.. If I was changing engines (and wanted more power) today I would consider doing the same.
All the best. Rich.