Tuning 05 envoy xl and mod advice

Hawaiianbasshead

Original poster
Member
May 2, 2021
54
Kailua Kona HI
Got a new to me envoy xl a week ago 106,000ish miles, 1st 5.3/Ls based motor (yes I know it's techinacally an lh6) Sending my pcm & tcm out today or tommorrow to Jeremey and I'm figuring on dod delete, vats delete, firm up shifts, advance timing and tq management delete.

Anything else anyone recommends and maybe a brief explanation on why?

Also looking to do LT headers, catless y, mandrel catback, mild cam maybe torque or some mild truck cam with around 212/218 haven't decided so kinda taking my time also figuring springs, lifters/trays, gear, chain/dogbone tensioner, hardened pushrods see attachment of cart pic, probably do the pickup tube o ring, trans cooler still debating other mods, definitely replace the cam cover plate gasket while I'm in there and I do know of a rolled tbss near me that I'd love to score the intake mani/throttle body off of. Ideally I think my primary mod goals are 400hp/400tq (300whp) 1st than go from there but I do have some lifter noise and low oil pressure so will be getting that taken care of asap only drove it maybe 20 minutes it was supposedly a non runner with rat chewed wiring so I spliced that after making a partial trade deal for it doing electrical on sellers house plus throwing some cash. Soon as I rev it and oil pressure goes up the noise goes away, so it's not that bad yet imo plus I wanna cam it anyway so lifters are a good idea while in there also getting caged bearing preassembled rocker arm/trunion I'm sure I'll add to my cart as I go. I'm guessing a few months from cam:30 n headers so figured I'd send pcm back when that time comes for o2 stuff if spark plug defoulers don't work on LS stuff 🤷‍ and cam tuning, so anyway back on topic, any recommendations welcome far as tuning or mods in general! Figuring I'll try to keep the 4l60e long as possible but will also be looking into 4l80 swap and maybe tbss rear end if and when the time comes 😋 just in case... but I'm much more of a stereo nut that speed demon. also my name's Tom in case people are into intro's here 🤙been a member of offroadtb and trailvoy but never really post just super excited to get an ls money started (been looking for months at 2500s with lq4 ect 2500 burbans just couldn't spring what they want here and scored this for around $1,000 and a days work so looking forward to dumping my 4.2 swb and burning the money, thus tq management delete while braking 🤣) sorry adhd moments hold me captive 🤦‍♂️middle age says it's time for a budget boosted car eventually 🙃
 

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gmcman

Member
Dec 12, 2011
4,656
Sounds like you want to go all in with tuning....awesome.:cool:

I would strongly suggest a new airfilter, make sure your 02 sensors are good, then go get a baseline dyno run. If you plan on using 87 only then no problem, you could go the extra mile and also get a dyno run with 93 and see how your PCM adjusts, might need to run a full tank through first then dyno the 2nd tank.

There is both a low and high octane table in your PCM, so it might make a larger difference than you expect.

If you want to go with HP tuners at a later date, then adding a wideband sensor would be money well spent.

Good luck, looking forward to your upgrades.
 
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TollKeeper

Supporting Donor
Member
Dec 3, 2011
8,047
Brighton, CO
My experience with the Volant, K&N, over OEM stock, is extreme minimal gains, to the point of being overkill, and of no value. Both do give a better throttle sound, but little to nothing else.

Just my opinion here.

Same goes with the guys that buy the Accel coil packs, no gains at all.
 

Hawaiianbasshead

Original poster
Member
May 2, 2021
54
Kailua Kona HI
I was gonna try the airaid siverado tube and a high flow filter but figured at that cost of both that's $200+ might as well just get the intake molded for the envoy 🤷‍♂️ unless I get a generic tube and heat wrap insulate it and hi-flow filter. Just seemed like maybe alot of work where the extra $100 also has a clean fit and finish I dunno. Doesn't seem like moving the washer bottle is gonna be fun if I were to rig a full setup somehow either. So it's all about higher flow filter and stock intake worst case
 

Mooseman

Moderator
Dec 4, 2011
25,262
Ottawa, ON
The whole thing with HAI's (Hot Ait Intakes) have been debunked countless times. The only thing improved is the esthetics and sound. I had used silicone turbo tubes, a 45º and a 90º, and a shop dust collector pipe to make a resonator eliminator to the stock air filter on the Saab.

For the tune, one thing is turning off the codes for the EV fan clutch so you can use a regular thermal when it fails. Another thing you can request is turn off PWM torque converter clutch engagement so you get no slip when commanded.

Just turning off DOD will prevent lifter failure so you don't need to do a cam swap if just to eliminate the DOD lifters. It's on DOD engagement that they fail to return to normal. So you can keep running it until you want to swap it out for a performance one later.
 

Mektek

Member
May 2, 2017
656
FL
And a hot air intake is not all bad. It may reduce power somewhat, but increases efficiency.
The intake mixture should be over 400f to fully vaporize all the fractions of liquid gasoline.
Smokey Yunick had it all figured out.
 
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Hawaiianbasshead

Original poster
Member
May 2, 2021
54
Kailua Kona HI
Having issues with car not starting after warmed up (also leave negative disconnected so may just be the codes) throwing codes common on fuse boxes but it runs til I turn it off. Brought it 2hrs home Thursday and was ok and I didn't attempt to move it til yesterday. Drove fine to autozone 10 minutes away, than walmart 2 minutes from there, went to my buddies shop to get a safety another 5-10 minutes and after I parked it didn't start just cranked. Buddy shot brake or carb cleaner into throttle body and nothing so I'm guessing that means no spark. (Also got a code for forcing open tb I believe as I've cleared codes and that one didn't come back) does seem to have a slight misfire at idle but no code for it. Pulled fuse box and split case and didn't see anything wrong and all the copper conductors ohm'd through from end to end. I traced them all 🤷‍♂️ my map sensor is spliced but I did that originally. I'll try just cooling and leaving codes to see if it'll start but I'm thinking it may be hard reset allowing starting/running not just cooling down. Originally thought cooling helped something make better contact but having my doubts now. Any help would be great somebody told me in a fb group maybe ignition switch and I saw fuse box causes stalls I haven't had it stall yet and had the ac on pretty much every drive 🤦‍♂️on the positive side, a tbss with rod knock guy got back to me and will sell me his intake mani at least I can soup it up more after it's running good 😭
 

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Hawaiianbasshead

Original poster
Member
May 2, 2021
54
Kailua Kona HI
Pryed at this thing with a pick and popped one at an offset, swear I heard a ping like it wasn't broke til I did that 😳 but the other sections seem to come out with no issue 🤷‍♂️
 

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Hawaiianbasshead

Original poster
Member
May 2, 2021
54
Kailua Kona HI
Used some doorbell solid wire and stripped the insulation off, best 27 cents I spent 🤣 think the starting issue is fine but now I'm leaking tranny fluid and maybe oil from my overheating yesterday. What's a relatively straight forward aftermarket aluminum tranny cooler solution? And maybe aftermarket radiator? Tbss stuff? If it's leaking anywhere else I can figure that out same time tia 🤙
 

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Hawaiianbasshead

Original poster
Member
May 2, 2021
54
Kailua Kona HI
Was power steering cooler leaking so changed it. Also got an oil leak at rear of motor

Realized my coolant overflow bubbling again, while idling/burping power steering. My coolant overflow level dropped seemed like and there's a wet spot from exhaust... thinking headgasket(s) are leaky/cracked... so it wasn't just frozen calipers causing overheating friday going uphill... seeing as I wanted to cam I'm not super concerned, now for sure I'll be pulling the heads 🤔 brakes are nice at least. Debating blue devil maybe til I do my cam (when I get the motor changed out in my 4.2 and sell it) than pull heads to swap lifters/trays out and maybe mill the head a hair..?

Any thoughts on blue devil? Or other stuff used to seal leaking head gaskets?

If I'm not running it hard it seems to run ok temp wise and I usually have the ac going... even stepping on it having fun, temp gauge only goes a little past 12 o'clock maybe 1 line typically. I can run it again today and time how long it takes to get hot but when I brought it home I drove it about 2hrs and it didn't go further than 1 line past 12 o'clock either so must not be horribly leaky
 

TollKeeper

Supporting Donor
Member
Dec 3, 2011
8,047
Brighton, CO
Seeing as the head gaskets are likely NOT the problem..

The LL8 4.2 head gaskets are pretty stout unless it has been overheated repeatedly.

Not saying its not the problem, but you should diagnose it as a head gasket first.
 

Hawaiianbasshead

Original poster
Member
May 2, 2021
54
Kailua Kona HI
My LL8 is NOT the one I'm referring to head gasket. Only bringing that up as when I sell it (0 psi #4 cylinder) after spare motor goes in, I'll be putting the money into my LH6 I'm referring to (thus the 5.3 section) lol
 

TollKeeper

Supporting Donor
Member
Dec 3, 2011
8,047
Brighton, CO
Missed the 5.3 forum.. It seems so rare that anyone has the 5.3, that even thou I have one, I sometimes forget, so do others!
 
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