V1 Ark's City Goblin #187 (2008 SS/TC donor)

[Ark :D]

Gone..... part Deux?!

Next up, engine cleaning and thinning the harnesses.

 

[Ark :D]

Got my new fuse box today. I pulled it from a wrecked 2009 LS, thinking it would be interchangeable with my slightly-damaged 2008 SS/TC fuse box. But, they do not appear to be interchangeable after all.

Differences:
LS fuse box is missing one 10A fuse (red circle)
LS fuse box is missing a relay (red circle)
LS fuse box has a slightly different relay (yellow circle)

The spots for the missing fuse and relay do not have metal contacts inside and thus, do not hold a fuse/relay in and there's no contact being made.

It's not a big deal, I needed the plastic mounting arm anyway and my 08 TC's fuse box is functional, just missing a plastic clip on one side from the accident. Just letting it be known that, if you need a fuse box for your car, you need to match year range AND sub-model (LS vs. SS).

 

[k.rollin]

They may be functionally interchangeable for the purposes of the Goblin, depending on what circuits the missing fuse/relay are for. Easy way to check; refer to the fusebox cover. Things like AC or cooling fan two aren't necessary.

 

[Ark :D]

Good point.

The missing relay is labeled "AIR SOL (TURBO COOL FAN2)".
The missing fuse is labeled "ENG VLV SOL".
The different relay is labeled "COOL FAN 2 (TURBO COOL FANS".

So I think I might be .... SOL. Get it? Hahaha!

 

[Motoracer110]

I thought i needed another one on my build because my goblin was in no crank condition. I ordered off ebay and it stated it was meant for my 2009 turbo, but those same ports were missing like yours. I figured out my problem and didn't need it so $50 down the drain

 

[Lonny]

You can disassemble the fuse box and put it's guts into the good housing. You will have to remove all of the fuses and relays so get some images before you start.

 

[Ark :D]

Oooooh yeah you're right, I did not notice I could separate the two pieces of the main fuse box. Nice, thanks!

 

[Karter2026]

As far as I know and like K. Rollin said. the ones with cooling fan 2 are not used.

 

[Ark :D]

Yep, it's not really the relays I'm worried about. The fuse sounds necessary to me: ENG VLV SOL. Regardless, like Lonny said, I can split the fuse box halves apart and move the guts to the good housing.

 

[Ark :D]

Since I messed up my shoulder pretty bad sometime in the last two or three weeks (!!), I decided to take it easy since Sunday, when I finished up stripping my second donor and was done with heavy lifting and wrenching for a while.

Today, I delivered my second donor's title to the scrap yard (as is required in PA), and got paid for the car shell. $51, woohoo!

I decided to get to know my motor a little better. The harness looks quite complicated and I know I want to re-wrap it, as well as degrease and pressure wash the motor, so I decided to start labeling every connector on the motor harness as thoroughly as I could, and remove the harness as I was labeling. I got pretty far with it.

But I did run across a few connectors that I couldn't easily figure out how to remove. And, since I already hamfistedly busted a few connectors on my original donor, I did not want to repeat the same mistake again. Can anyone tell me how to best remove the below connectors, without damaging them??

Lastly, I got out my drill and wire wheel and lightly went over part of the valve cover, just to see what it could do. I was pretty impressed. I'll do a more thorough job once I get the valve cover off, but I have to ask: what's the best way to remove the below connector? Looks like a 3/8" disconnect tool would work but there's no way to get it in there.

As always, thank you guys for the pointers!

 

[Justin]

On one end you can use a 3/8 disconnect tool. For the valve cover side you will most likely have to use a flat head screw driver and pry it off. Which will destroy it. That's what I did. I read on another forum that some people have been able to wedge stuff in there to release the line but it didn't work for me. A new one is $25 on Amazon. Acdelco 12606566

 

[Indy Lonnie]

I used zip ties to shove in and release the hooks. It took a while, but I didn't want it to beat me. PITA I was able reuse the old one.

 

[Ark :D]

Well, I didn't get that end off the valve cover, but I did disconnect the other end from the turbo, which is good enough. I cleaned up the valve cover and will mask and paint it once it's dry.

And with that, my last bad memories of my first donor are gone! I haven't seen the inside of a whole lot of motors, but this one sure is a hell of a lot cleaner than the blown 07's.

And, just for comparison, the blown 07:

 

[Briann1177]

Make sure you get a new valve cover gasket. They are technically single use.

*Edit* Maybe they're not single use. I thought I read somewhere they were.

 

[Ark :D]

Yep, already got one.

*edit* I am reading that they can be reused as long as the surfaces are clean and the gasket isn't crunched at all, but I wanted to err on the safe side anyway.

 

[Ark :D]

Thinned the dash harness tonight, per video #9 in the Build Guide.

Surprise! I have a few wires and connectors left in the harness that I am not sure about.

First, the ones I have labeled:

Lighter - think I can remove it but might want it later for an aux power source?
Keyless Entry fob - any reason to keep?
Hazard lights - Any reason to keep?
Daylight Sensor - any reason to keep?
Steering Wheel controls - I imagine I will need these for the button controls in the Goblin.

Now, I have a few that I don't know what they are, if anyone can tell me, please do!



I have one I labeled "Ignition Switch", but clearly is not that. I found the actual ignition switch connector as well as the second one that connects to the security module on the ignition, but what is this one?



Last but not least, what is this? It has a white cap on it and does not appear to plug into anything, and has one (long) green wire in it that I cut somewhere early in the video.



Thanks!

 

[Ross]

'
Lighter - think I can remove it but might want it later for an aux power source? Great for a radar detector...
Keyless Entry fob - any reason to keep? It also does the tire pressure monitoring, but for too high of a pressure for a Goblin.
Hazard lights - Any reason to keep? Just keep the switch.
Daylight Sensor - any reason to keep? I kept mine, but I would ditch it, unless you plan on a lot of night driving
Steering Wheel controls - I imagine I will need these for the button controls in the Goblin. Up to you.

Now, I have a few that I don't know what they are, if anyone can tell me, please do!

View attachment 10186View attachment 10187View attachment 10188

I have one I labeled "Ignition Switch", but clearly is not that. I found the actual ignition switch connector as well as the second one that connects to the security module on the ignition, but what is this one?

View attachment 10189

Last but not least, what is this? It has a white cap on it and does not appear to plug into anything, and has one (long) green wire in it that I cut somewhere early in the video.

View attachment 10190 This is just a big connector joining all the green wires together. I cut mine out.

Thanks!

 

[Briann1177]

Def keep the aux power and key fob. Even though you won't be able to get rid of the tire light on the dash for the reason Ross mentioned, it will still display the pressures in the info display. It comes in handy.

 

[Ark :D]

I'll definitely keep all of them: Lighter, key fob, hazard (though the switch is gone), daylight sensor, and steering wheel controls.

This is just a big connector joining all the green wires together. I cut mine out.

Ross, does this mean you also cut out every green wire connected to it, all the way to the other end?

I was able to help myself for a change ... realized I still have the dash harness from my original donor, also labeled. So I checked on that and figured out some things. Just posting in case it helps someone else someday.

This is the gauge cluster connector:


This is the boost gauge connector:


I still have no idea what this is. My 2007 SS/SC dash harness has nothing that looks like this. Any ideas?


And finally, my 07 harness has this connector, but it's unlabeled on there too, leading me to believe it's a larger connection to another harness.

 

[Ross]

The green wire connector was one of the last things to get removed. If I remember correctly, it got reduced to 3 green wires, and the rest were removed.