I just helped a friend install a new JL 4# pulley and chip, and when I spun off the stock pulley a small amount of oil (about a tablespoon or two) trickled out of the thread area where the stock pulley came out of. There wasn't much oil, but I was surprised to see ANY oil. The flow seemed to stop immediately, and after driving the truck for a while we haven't seen any additional oil show up. Has anybody else experienced this when removing a stock pulley? Is this normal? What could the oil have come from? Could the front main seal have been damaged somehow? BTW the stock pulley was on there EXTREMELY tight.

After installing the pulley, we took the truck for some test drives. Under WOT, we heard an occasional "tick" sound coming from the engine, sort of like "tick.....tick, tick.......tick.........tick". It wasn't loud or very frequent, but you could hear it only at WOT. Is this pinging/detonation? Does the chip need to be reprogrammed to increase the fuel richness, or retard timing? Or should I retard timing manually on the L?

Also, the new chip coupled with the Diablo line valve mode seems to shift the L MUCH harder than just the shift kit alone. When the L hits second now at WOT it barks the tires for about a full second (i.e. definitely not a chirp, more like a scream). Is this normal, or should the chip have the line valve pressure reduced?

Thanks all for the help

 

I put my pulley on last Friday afternoon and I noticed the EXACT same thing. there was oil underneath my factory blower pulley coming out of the center of the rear crank pulley. I washed off the entire area with brake clean and I will be keeping a close eye on it to see if any more comes out.

I also got a TINY bit of spark knock during REALLY WIDE OPEN DRAG STRIP RUNS, REPEATED RUNS for that matter, I made about one every 5 minutes for 20- 30 minutes so that repeated load could have contributed to the condition. some 100 octane cured that.

gotta run.

later,
chris

 

i also had the same thing happen i wondered if the oil
was from assembly at the engine plant if you noticed
the oil was very clean? just a thought

 

As far as the oil from the center of the crank in all my years of being automotive tech.I have seen this almost every time I removed the harmonic balancer bolt! I would not be alarmed it is normal. BL

 

Whew, that's good to hear. I'm glad some others have noticed a bit of oil when removing the stock pulley. I'm kinda surprised more people didn't respond though. Surely there were more than 4 of us that experienced this.

What about the "ticking" sound at WOT? Last night during a 3rd gear WOT run on the highway the ticking sounded worse, sort of like heavy sleet hitting the windshield (except the sound came from under the hood). Is that pinging/detonation?

 

martyr,

I would highly recommend a chip reburn as it sounds like your truck is pinging. (read: NOT GOOD)

Call your chip tuner and let them know what is happening.

Bob

 

I've replaced two lower pulleys and have seen no oil drips. You need a chip reburn(pinging) and/or higher octane gas.

Dan

 

What brand & octane fuel was in the rig when she was pinging!

 

We are running 93 octane gas (always do). I *thought* it might be pinging but wasn't sure, so we'll be staying out of the boost until the chip is reburned to compensate.

BTW, just curious, would adding a bottle of that 104+ Octane boost eliminate the pinging? One bottle of that per tank might be expensive...but if it eliminates the pinging and keeps the performance level...? Does anybody do this routinely? Is it even a viable idea (i.e. filling up your tank with 93 octane and adding octane boost (or using race/avgas) constantly)?

For that matter, is there ANY performance advantage to using octane booster or high-octane racing fuel if your motor already runs without pinging using 93 octane? For example, would a normal Lightning run any better using 100 octane fuel than 93? Or do guys typically only use race or avgas on engines that are highly tuned and which will detonate on lower (i.e. 93) octane fuels?

I am thinking that getting the chip reburned to handle 93 octane might just be the safest route, even if it slightly reduces performance.

Thanks,

Martyr

 

I would just have OL' JL pull a bit of timing or add a tad more fuel. JL will fix rest assured . BTW for some reason I have always gotten away w/ 89 octane! but she's still a virgin to the mods. BEST OF LUCK. BL

 

Octane boost is garbage. When the bottle says it raises the ocatane "XXXX" points, those are actually 1/10 points. Just FYI, you maybe go from 92-93 octane, not noticable at all for the money.

 

if you want a good octane booster go with the torco mach 1 accelerator.

now, if a car is not pinging, higher octane will not help, it will actually hurt performance.

get the chip reburn

 

Great info, thanks for the help guys! The chip is going back tomorrow for a reburn to cure the detonation and soften the shifts a bit (JL is taking care of it).

Thanks again,

Martyr