The 03 Bastards Club

[4XLGator]

Greg, good luck on your install and your overseas issue.

[Redtruck-VA]

Lee thanks, ole red is running better than ever. Almost hate pulling her apart.... lol

[Redtruck-VA]

Post cam install observations. Red is running great, apparently there are several 03's that have cams installed with tighter than 114 lsa. Looking at all the different cams I decided to go with a Crazy Spartan, the numbers just plain look too good to pass up. I have always believed to make the cam happy the idle would need to be raised. This has been a problem as everyone is aware of with the 03. So installing the "high idle mod" was a big step for red and I believe a must. Picked up a good deal on a Crazy Spartan 112 lsa and Red was ready. The 6.1 Valve spring install is a PIA since you are doing the same steps oveer and over. You need to check your spring tool to see if the holes line up correctly and make the necessary changes. I clearanced the hold down holes and replaced the main thread with a grade 8 bolt. Also ground a little more clearance on the body to give a more clearance to the spring. The easier you make this tool work for you the happier you are going to be doing the job. I kept the metal buckets on the 6.1 springs. Some folks remove them and some don't There is an open area on each bucket I faced it to the side of the head to eliminate possible spring binding. If I were to remove them I would shim the spring the thickness of the bucket material. I didn't check install pressure and took it on faith from all the folks saying to use the 6.1 spring. I installed the cam straight up. I didn't change my filter as it is full of oil and at start up I wanted the oil going to the valve train and not side tracked to the filter. I did change the filter today and will cut it open to inspect for startup debris. There was very little noise at startup which surprised me. I'm using standard 6.1 push rods. Installing the intake push rods is a tedious affair. I used pieces of shop rag under the rockers to hold the push rods in place as I put everything together. Then as I pulled the rocker shafts down I pulled the rags out. This helped keep the damn push rods in place. Everything was pretty easy to do, but I did trash my Ac compressor by breaking the seal on it's body. There are the two main bolts holding the pig in place, well there is another hid behind it bolted to the head. I didn't see the hidden bolt and when I levered the housing it sprung a leak. Recommend having spare valve stem locks and a retainer as they are dealer items only. Any specific questions just post away and I or someone I'm sure will answer. OBTW, I'm using a SC3865 91 tune, PSC1, high idle mod, restricted MAP sensor and 6.1 dual coils. And finally make sure your shift light is adjusted correctly because you are going to need it. Good luck...

Edit: I have the speed restrictor set for 140 mph and the rev limiter at 6400 rpm. The current problem is first gear spins hard causing a short shift at around 4500, this causes a bog on the shift. If I manually shift it absolutely rips but you got to watch the rpm's or you'll smack the limiter. I thought I had my shift lite set but it didn't flash, so I need to check that and the column shifter is horrible. So a floor shift would be slick. We will see, and of course everyone knows it never ends...

[ramn it]

definitely belong in this club ! I have new motor in my truck because the "03" have a problem with weak valves and one broke and scorched my piston, it happened at 30,000 miles but was still covered under warranty so now I have a new motor with 100,000 miles on it.

[Redtruck-VA]

Originally Posted by ramn it definitely belong in this club ! I have new motor in my truck because the "03" have a problem with weak valves and one broke and scorched my piston, it happened at 30,000 miles but was still covered under warranty so now I have a new motor with 100,000 miles on it.

That was probably painful at the time, but sounds like it is working for you now. Was the replacement motor a 03? We do have our challenges. lol..

[ramn it]

I hope everything I got for it was for an 03

[Redtruck-VA]

Originally Posted by ramn it I hope everything I got for it was for an 03

Well actually a crate motor would have been nice. What I meant was did the new motor correct the problems the 03 motor has been reported having?
The ones that come to mind are:
1. valve springs
2. rocker arm spacers
3. Crank toner ring

Upgrades being,
1. 6.1 valve springs
2. 05 rocker arm spacers
3. late 04+ crank toner ring.
4. 6.1 oil pump
5. 6.1 dual coils ignition

But with that said, since you have 100k+ miles on her. I wouldn't be concerned about anything unless you change your driving style.

[Redtruck-VA]

Seems no one has posted for a while. So let me note a couple of things about our beloved 03's. The wiring harness for the injectors and ignition coils come from the IPM (Intergrated Power Module), newer models it's called the TIPM. The Injectors and ignition coils are powered from the ASD (Automatic Shut Down) relay which is a 12vdc supply. The Injectors and ignition coils have two wires connected to each unit. One is the 12vdc source and the other is a trigger. The trigger in both cases is controlled by the PCM in which a ground is opened and closed activating either the injector or ign coil. The 12vdc source is one wire that splits and branches to the coils and injectors on each bank. There is a lot of reduntant wiring in there. I thought I might be having some cross interference between the wires after I installed a Tach Adapter recently and dismantled the wiring harness to see if I could find anything wrong. In the proccess I separated the injector harness and the ignition harnesses. It didn't fix the problem I was having. But I did manage to simpify the harness some. These are the same wires that have to be re-routed if you choose to use a car intake manifold. Along with the inj and coil wires there is the TB wires, IAT and MAP wires. These can be cleaned up nicely once everything is the way you want them. The problem I was having was the rpm trigger for my shiftlight would deteriorate above 4500 rpm. I finally fixed it by taking the trigger from #1 injector. I also changed ground location at the same time, so can't really say which solved the intial problem. If any of you should ever choose to install a AutoMeter 9117 Tach Adapter as a source for a RPM trigger you will need to modify the coil wiring to get a clean pulse for the Adapter. This is done by parallel wiring the 12vdc source to four coils (one bank or the other) and then routing the 12vdc source through the adapter which then provides a separate output that is a trigger for a tach or other gadget. I use it to trigger a Granatelli RPM window switch that controls my "high idle mod". But honestly almost all gadgets can be triggered from an injector. So Red has the PSC1 triggerd from #8 injector, AutoMeter Shiftlight from #1 injector and the window switch triggered from the Autometer Tach Adaptor. Everything runs as it should when shifting at 6200 rpm there is even a nice second gear bark. She's ready for another trip to the track. Good luck and give your 03 so love...

[Redtruck-VA]

As everyone knows 03 doesn't have a easy way to raise it's idle. I've come up with the High Idle Mod using the PWR steering sensor. But started to hear again reference to what Bob (Moe's) did back when he ran a 03. and that was to drill some meter (bleed) holes in the TB butterfly. I have a old TB that I thought I would experiment with to to see if it worked. But first I took the cover off to see if there was anything that can be adjusted to raise the idle. I tried a could different things and it threw codes. Finally I drilled a couple 3/16" holes in the throttle blade and it raised the idle, but the A/F went fat as the PCM dumped fuel trying to compensate for what it saw as a lean condition. None of this is surprising as the 03 PCM is set to idle at 500 rpm and will do it's best to make adjustments to make the engine maintain that rpm. The only variation is when the AC and PWR steering signals the PCM that the idle should be raised. Just a note B&G performance says it can raise the idle on a 03 with a reflash.

[ramn it]

would a ported throttle body help?? I ve got one on my wish list