I need help fast! H/c install had fire!
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From: Coffeyville, Ks
I need help fast! H/c install had fire! Ok installed prc 5.3 heads and 228r. Got everything done and fired it up. Ran good for a few minutes and had a fire. The starter wire was up against the header and burned the insulation. Turned car off and dumped water down to get it out. Unhooked the negative wire on battery and got under and pulled the wires back and moved them around where they shouldnt touch. Soo started it back up and fires up fine but wont idle. Had a person keep there foot on the gas at a low idle so I could dump fluid in it. I didnt get to see the temp so I dont know how hot it was getting but he turned the car off because the check engine light started flashing. The codes where for the air I took off, evap, o2 sensors, and its saying multiple cylinder missfire. I remember this on my car but mine stayed alive at an idle. What did I do wrong and what do I need to do. Please help. Thanks
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From: Coffeyville, Ks
another thing. If I hold the throttle body open just a hair it stays alive. I cant find any adjustment in the line though. Non tcs car. I had a buddy who put a cam in his car and it fouled plugs till he got it tuned. I'm gonna put plugs in it tommorow and see what that does. Any ideas. Thanks
well the po300 code is common after cam installs, dont worry its normal. if it goes from po301 to po308 then you individual cylinder problems. as far as the o2s go make sure theyre connected, and make sure the ports for the air are plugged right. you should be able to adjust youre idle with a little screw on youre throttle body just below the plate stop on the bottom. i would get the car tuned though, i would say thats why you cant idle. also dont reccomend getting on it till its tuned, period.
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From: Coffeyville, Ks
just went out there and checked some things again. The abs inop light is on too. The two ground straps on the back of the head were on just not tight all the way 
am i f'd
am i f'd Not tightening the ground straps is a very common problem.. and can case many issues.. pull them back off and clean the whole area with some sandpaper and re-install them.. may want to disconnect the battery while you do it
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From: Coffeyville, Ks
I tightened them. ABS inop is on though and still wont idle. Like I said i'm gonna get some plugs and adjust the trottle body or drill a bigger hole tommorow. The car seems to rev fine just wont idle. Any ideas on the abs light. Thanks for the help
po30* is a misfire code.. The * is for the CYL #. Again, Common with some cams. THe knock sensors pick up on the valve train noises and think it's a misfire. The LS2 did a NICE fix on the knock sensor location! 
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I'm not sure if I can help, but I do have a couple of ideas. One, the idle issue could be do a lack of ecm tuning. I realize that your cam isn't the biggest out there, but the heads and combo are a signifigant change. It did idle for a brief period before the fire, but that was also before all of your codes.
Is it possible an O2 wire got burned? One of the front ones I mean. The lack of an o2 sensor AND the valvetrain change (without a tune) could definetely be an issue in trying to get it to idle.
I would think checking for anything else that may have gotten burned by the fire could help out. Also, it may be worth while in clearing the trouble codes and seeing which ones come back now that the ground straps to the heads are tight.
Best of luck
Is it possible an O2 wire got burned? One of the front ones I mean. The lack of an o2 sensor AND the valvetrain change (without a tune) could definetely be an issue in trying to get it to idle.
I would think checking for anything else that may have gotten burned by the fire could help out. Also, it may be worth while in clearing the trouble codes and seeing which ones come back now that the ground straps to the heads are tight.
Best of luck
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Brett Foote Thread Starter
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From: Coffeyville, Ks
yea i was wondering about the 02 wire also but I didnt see one burned. I'll drop the starter again and move the wires where there for sure out of the way and check those o2s while im there. Besides the lil starter mishap the car sounds good mechanicaly. Do you think I have a major problem or is it just something im missing? Thanks again
Double check all of your grounds, clear your codes see what comes back. After you get the codes down to the ones being caused by the cam go get a tune. I would hold off on drilling holes in your throttle until after the tune.
your idle problem is most likely a tuning issue.
you can`t throw heads and cam on and expect the car to idle like stock.
you need to bump up your idle RPM and desired airflow.
you can`t throw heads and cam on and expect the car to idle like stock.
you need to bump up your idle RPM and desired airflow.
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From: Coffeyville, Ks
Drilled a little bigger hole and it idles now. Let it get up to temp and the thermostat opens so i filled it on up and let it run. Noticed a tiny tiny drip from the rear passenger. So gonna pull the head back off and get new gaskets. I cleaned it really really good and torqued to spec in the right pattern. I dunno what happened but I'll check everything out again while i'm back there.
Noticed a tiny tiny drip from the rear passenger. So gonna pull the head back off and get new gaskets. I cleaned it really really good and torqued to spec in the right pattern. I dunno what happened but I'll check everything out again while i'm back there. Thread Starter
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From: Coffeyville, Ks
Ok so i pulled the intake off and the rear coolant plug was leaking. Hopefully thats all it is. It wasnt smoking or coming out of the exhaust and theres no coolant in the oil or vis versa. Like I said it was a very minute drip.
yea I was going to say it sounded like it needed more air at idle it was pretty much chokeing its self to death.
make sure you tighten the plug on the pass side that plugs the whole where the coolant temp sensor goes on the driver side (you know since there is a whole on both heads and a sensor goes on the driver side and a plug goes on the pass. side) for the coolant leak and the coolant bypass tubes (or plugs for a LS6 intake) under the intake on the back side of the heads
make sure you tighten the plug on the pass side that plugs the whole where the coolant temp sensor goes on the driver side (you know since there is a whole on both heads and a sensor goes on the driver side and a plug goes on the pass. side) for the coolant leak and the coolant bypass tubes (or plugs for a LS6 intake) under the intake on the back side of the heads
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From: Coffeyville, Ks
yup thats what I did. checked that plug where the sensor would go first and it was good. So I prepared to pull the head. I got the intake off and the coolant plug on the back where the cross over pipe would have went was leaking. I'm really hoping thats all it is.
dude i am sure that is all it is. We all worry the first time we do a cam head swap. i like to tease people when I am done with a swap to make them start their car and I prep them by saying, "Are you positive we lined up the dots on the cam and crank gears?" They usually frighten at that point. Then I tell them to go ahead and turn the key and lets see what happens. As soon as they cank it they hear the new lifters tap for about 5 seconds and get scared and I start laughing when it dies out, I, start screaming. "What did you do?" My brother punched me when i did it to him and I almost made one guy cry so I stopped. If you lined up the dots, cleaned head bolt holes, torqued to spec and installed oil pump in right. Usually there never is aproblem. My point is dont worry man and congratulations on taking you f-body to the next step and make sureyou get ittuned fairly soon. Drive it for around a week, Change your oil after after about 2 weeks and get tuned b/w 2-8 weeks. Hell I went 8 months without a tune on a cam only car but you'll need to make sure it gets taken care of since the heads wne ton
I got a misfire at one pt b/c my o2 wires were touching the primaries. When wire gets hot, it's conductivity goes to crap and relays the wrong frequencies. Make sure no wires are pinched and so forth.
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From: Coffeyville, Ks
Thats the thing. This is the 4th time i've done this. First auto though so I've never messed with the starter and never had to worry about that wire being on the header. I've never had this many problems. I think i've got everything worked out almost as long as that plug was the leak problem except for the abs light. I'll check the fuses again but I thought I did that and they looked good.
