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1994 5.7 TBI/ Vortec/ Intake/ EGR Question

10K views 25 replies 7 participants last post by  Pre-Tuner 
#1 ·
Ok Guys got a few questions for you. Ive been reading a lot about this topic online and I have seen way to many people saying different things. First of all I have a 1994 c1500 5.7 TBI. Ok I have posted before about my vortec heads (906) and I want to put them on my 94 Truck. I have a intake for these heads, an aftermarket jegs intake. (non egr). So with that in mind my plan was to put all this on my truck and do away with the egr. Currently I have a cam in the truck already that was designed for Low end torque since I haul lots of wood I wanted a good setup. Not that the stock was bad but I like a little more performance. So here are my questions.

1. Will my computer work fine with this setup??

2. Can I do away with the egr as the intake I have is a non egr application??

Anything else you all have on this let me know as Im sure Im forgettin something.

Here are the cam and intake I have.

JEGS Performance Products 200102 JEGS Performance Hydraulic Flat Tappet Camshafts

JEGS Performance Products 513002 JEGS Champion Series 331 Performance Dual Plane Aluminum Intake Manifolds

Thanks Guys
 
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#4 ·
94 still uses an OBD I computer, which has limited computing power. The computer will likely not be able to compensate for the cam without burning a new PROM. Similarly, the fuel and ignition maps in these PROMs are take advantage of the fact that the EGR lowers combustion temps, so they tend to run a more aggressive advance curve in the midrange. The EGR control from the computer is actually the least of your problems, since the computer simply sends a 12V signal to a solenoid. If the solenoid is not hooked up, nothing happens so long as the connector is taped up and can't short out.

Bottom line is that you need a custom PROM.
 
#6 ·
We dont have emmisions testing in Kentucky. I have had this cam in my truck for some time now and has been running strong. As far as the solenoid plug, where would that be located. If its on the passenger side by the throttle body it is unhooked. If thats not it I dont know where that plug goes and I have searched up and down for something to plug it into. I also can not find an egr valve on this truck. Im used to the space ship looking ones on the early model vehicles that bolt on the intake manifold on the passenger back corner.
 
#7 ·
If I remember correctly the solenoid is mounted to the same bracket that the MAP sensor is mounted to, and that mounts to the intake on the passenger side by the throttle body. There will be a nipple on it and the plug is green if I remember right.

It may run fine now but I doubt it will once you get the heads on there. You should have a chip burned for it but that takes time and money if you are going to do it yourself, and money if you have someone else do it. I had a similar setup but with other variables that made the mail order tunes not work for me. You may be able to get something that works going through Brian at www.tbichips.com. I would at least visit the website and check it out to see if that is something that you want to do. The other option is to find someone locally that does it, but it's usually about $1K because of the time involved.
 
#8 ·
Im wondering if the guy who had the truck before me already did all that. The green plug on my truck is the one thats been unplugged since I have owned this thing. When I got it It got bad fuel mileage. I tore it down put that cam in it adjusted the timing a little bit cause it was out when I got it and it runs very strong now. I think Im going to throw the heads and intake on and see how it is. If it doesnt run right ill take it back off. I dont see why it would run bad. I will def. get a chip for it tho. They make them for my truck.
 
#9 ·
If it's unplugged and you are not getting a check engine light, I would say either it has been turned off already as long as he didn't just pull the bulb in the cluster.

It may run ok, who knows. The heads are a major factor in determining what the fuel table should look like. The ECM will adjust it some using the O2 sensor, but the older O2 sensors are not very good (especially the one wire sensors) and the ECM can only adjust it so much anyway.

The heads are also a major factor in the timing table and will require a few degrees less total timing than the old swirl port heads you are taking off. If you end up getting it together and it knocks at WOT, you can disconnect the timing connector and retard the timing a couple of degrees, then reconnect it and that will take 2 degrees out of the entire curve. It's not right, but it should work as a bandaid.
 
#10 · (Edited)
the o2 sensor is a two wire and it is unplugged also. The guy said he put alot of money in this truck and said he changed the engine and it was beefed up but when I tore it down everything was stock and the block number said it was a 89 to 95 2 bolt chevy so i dont think he changed it. The engine light bulb is still in. It does not stay on tho. o2 sensor is a two wire but thats been unhooked the hole time. If I put a carb on this I would have to change nothing would I??? what about the sensor that plugs into the side of my throttle body??? I thinks its my TPS. My mechanic said I could hook a carb right up and it would ber fine. What do you think???? This TBI setup is just like a carb setup but with a computer, If i put a carb on i wouldnt need the computer right????

Thanks
 
#11 ·
I thought all of the truck blocks were 4-bolts. My '91 C1500 had a 4-bolt 350 in it when I took it out.

I'm not sure what the hell that guy did. If you have the computer controlling everything, the O2 sensor needs to be connected. That is the only way the ECM will do any kind of adjustment to the fueling. I have a feeling that he did all of this stuff to it, connected everything up and it didn't run right. If he disconnected the O2 sensor, the engine will always run in open loop and it will always run rich. I bet your fuel mileage is horrible. It the cam is not computer friendly, that also messes with the ECM because of the huge swings the MAP sensor will report to the ECM. Forcing it into open loop would take care of that.

The two wire sensors are also not too desirable because they have to be hot for them to work. At idle, they cool down and if they cool down too much, they won't report the correct readings then either.

You've got some decisions to make and some more investigating to do. I have a feeling the O2 sensor is unplugged because the cam is not computer friendly. That is just a guess because I have no idea what the cam specs are, but it sounds like the most logical reason to need to disconnect the O2 sensor. If that is the case, you won't be able to run it any better than it is now (and it may even run worse once the new heads are on) unless you have the chip burned again. The EGR isn't there an you don't have a check engine light, so it's likley that the chip has been adjusted. The O2 sensor is just for adjustment, so if the chip was altered, maybe it was altered in a way that does not require the use of the O2 just so it would run. Come to think of it, you don't have a check engine light for the O2 not being connected either, so that may be the case.

The heads are worth maybe 20hp, so you have to decide how much that 20hp is worth to you. Maybe you won't want to change them. Maybe you will change them and it runs good, maybe it runs worse and now you're stuck finding someone to custom burn you a chip for $$$. You might want to pull the ECM and see if they put a sticker on it or something. That could be helpful if you wanted to have the chip adjusted. TBIChips puts on right on the chip. The ECM is behind the glovebox.

I spent big bucks doing all of this myself and hundreds of hours of reading, learning, and doing, and in the end threw in the towel and went to a carb. Mine came down to not being able to get my TBI setup to pass emissions though, partly because I didn't know enough about what I was doing to cheat it through, where the carb makes that a lot easier. Out of the box it ran better than the TBI system I had ever did, though it's still a carb and still has cold start challenges that TBI doesn't have. I also don't have very good MPG's but I didn't build it for MPG's, I built it to haul *** and I beat it every time I leave the garage with it.
 
#12 ·
A check engine light will set for the EGR under these conditions

Closed loop operation
Continuous Road speed of XX miles an hour or more for more than X minutes

Not certain of exact time verses road speed, but it is necessary.

When driving, the ECM checks the EGR by closing the valve and measuring the change across the MAP sensor vacuum value.
It checks it after closed loop is achieved, and road speed is over a certain speed- and time elapsed value.Reason being it is assumed after X amount of minutes that the trip will be an extended one, long enough to sustain conditions for testing.
I would bet if you drove it down the highway at 35-55, steady cruise, for 10-15 minutes, the EGR code would set.
 
#13 ·
Ok let me explain to you about the truck when I got it. I bought the truck cauese it had 150000 mile on it and got it for cheap. Figured it would be a good work/farm truck since I haul lots of fire wood. When I got it the fuel milage did suck very bad. I filled the tank up and got 70 miles. Ya crazy right. I had a brand new cam I bought in Feb. that was for low end torque so I decide to use this cam in this truck. I put the cam in put the engine back together and it still sucked the gas down. Come to find out the timing was off so once I got that corrected I get 300 miles per full tank of gas. Thats fine with me, its a truck. The guy who had it before the guy I got it from had headers on the truck. The guy I bought it from had factory exhaust put back on it. The exhaust he had put on it had an o2 sensor in it but it doesnt have the right plug to plug in to the truck so the connecotr is just hangin there. The correct o2 sensor was plugged into the truck and just hanging there. I took the correct one and stuck it in the glove box. The one that is in the exhaust (the one with the wrong connector) is welded on the exhaust. (stupid right). So I was going to cut both connectors off both o2 sensors and put the correct connector on the sensor thats stuck in my exhaust right now so it would be functioning. But I havent because the truck runs great right now. As I said in my last post I would like to switch to carb. I might even get better fuel milage, maybe not but besides I know I would get some power thats being held back. As far as I know I would have to change The distributor but other than that I dont know. Know I guess If I could get by with the TBI I would but a carb does sound like a better route. As far as what you guys are tellin me it doesnt make sense cause I know I have no egr and no o2 sensor but my truck runs like a charm. I have had my glove box out before but never paid attention to any stickers on it. I just thought it all looked normal. This is kinda strange. But what did u have to do to put a carb on your tbi setup.
 
#14 ·
It's not crazy because lots of people do it. I did it. You need a carb, distributor, an intake manifold, and need to do a little bit of wiring. It really isn't a big deal. I went through and disassembled the wire harness and removed the wires to sensors/actuators/injectors that I wouldn't need anymore to clean things up. Outside of removing wiring and connectors, you have to wire the fuel pump relay different and will need to wire the distributor different, but the wires are already there. You will also need to wire the choke if you have a carb with an electric choke. It needs to be an ignition wire, but NOT the ignition wire to the distributor. I ran a separate relay for the choke.

The ECM is behind the glove box and the chip would be behind the access panel that should have two screws holding in on. I believe it sits on top of the HVAC box.

If the O2 sensor is welded to the exhaust it is junk. If you were going to use it, take it to an exhaust shop and have them cut it out and weld a bung in so you can use your new sensor. It shouldn't cost much. With O2 sensors, you cannot cut the wires because they won't work right afterwards.

It's probably running like a champ because the chip was tuned to run in open loop. If you change the heads it probably won't run that good anymore, expecially with no O2 sensor to provide feedback for fuel trim.
 
#16 ·
You won't use the computer at all. The extra info I was giving you about it was just in case you wanted to work with what you have you would have the info. The older HEI distributor is exactly what you will use. You probably want a 650 carb, vacuum secondaries, electric choke.
 
#17 ·
Ok sounds good. the noly other concern I have is there are three fuel line. one on the front of the tbi and two on the back. From what I was told two are return lines and I could not use one. Would these fuel lines screw right into a carb. Also why would I need vaccum secondaries. Just curious what that means
 
#18 ·
Oh ya, you will need a regulator also. I am using a return style regulator and it works fine. There are adapters you can buy to connect to the pipes at the TBI, but I didn't like that. I ran a new line from the filter to the regulator and another from the return pipe next to the filter to the regulator.

There are only two fuel lines. One is pressure from the pump and the other is for the fuel return back to the tank. Both are on the back of the TBI, so I'm not sure what the one on the front is for. Are you sure it's for fuel???

You're driving it on the street, so you would want vacuum secondaries. That will keep them closed unless you are really on it. Mechanical secondaries are for racing. They open and let more air (and fuel) through the carb when needed.
 
#19 ·
Ya I dont know I figured it was a fuel line. It reminded me of the fuel line on the front of the quadrajets. As far as a regulator do you remember which one you have and where you got it. And the fuel lines where can I get the adaptors or do you recomend just running new fuel lines. But are they pre bent already or how did you come up with this setup??
 
#20 ·
I had one that I was using with my TBI setup because it was vacuum referenced. It is way overkill for what you need. It is an Aeromotive universal bypass regulator. I know there are others that will work but I don't know what they are.

As for the fittings, I "think" I found exactly what I am using. I went through some receipts and came up with a summit racing 2200077, -6, 3/8 male hard tube fitting (for return line), and an Earl's 991955, -6 to 16mm x 1.5mm fitting (connects directly to the fuel filter). Where I picked up the connection was at the filter and then ran braided lines to the regulator.
 
#21 ·
#22 ·
I don't think the regulator will work for a couple of reasons. The first is that it isn't adjustable to what you will need. You will need 5-7psi and that one only goes to 4, so you could run out of fuel at wide open throttle. The other problem is that it isn't a bypass regulator. I could be wrong, but you have an EFI fuel pump that is capable of a lot higher pressures, so I think you may need a return style regulator. Maybe someone else could chime in here.

Mine has three connections. One from the pump (filter), one to the return line, and one to the carb.

The other stuff looks good. The one connector says GM TBI, so I hope that is the one that I used for the filter. The hardline one should work great. I would either get two of those hoses or a longer one that you can cut.
 
#23 · (Edited)
http://www.jegs.com/i/JEGS-Performance-Products/555/15912/10002/-1

Looking at the pictures on it the bottom is in and both sides are out. The line from my fuel filter will go into the bottom. Then ill have a hose from the left side go to the inlet on carb. Then ill have a hose coming from the outlet on carb back to the right side of the regulator. Thats the way im understanding it if im correct??????????? I guess I could start a new thread, I know im asking alot
 
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