EndeavoredH3
Well-Known Member
- Messages
- 419
- Location
- Arizona
This is something that I have been meaning to do for a while now, so lets get into it.
I have been lurking around this forum for a couple years now ever since I started driving my H3(backstory to come). I am the type of guy that typically figures out stuff on his own, but this forum has laid every simple and complicated procedure out for me. Even though occasionally I have to go to another forum sometimes to get the information I need :giggle:. And plus Im going to college at NAU so I need to procrastinate in some ways right?
Buckle up, here is the backstory:
It all started with my father buying the 06' 3.5L H3, he enjoyed it while wanting some more power but never really thought twice on it. We would always drive up to the Christopher creek area to fish and camp along the white mountains. All was well until my mother drove it home from Payson to Gilbert Az on 4HI locked. Fearing mechanical woes, my father went to get an "oil change" (Mother didn't need to know, and he pretty much broke even with payments anyway) and came back with a 07' 3.7L H3 Lux "unintentionally":giggle:. This is where I come in.
After putting 130,000 miles on the H3, My father passed the torch down to me to take care of the thing. He drives to scottsdale everyday for work so he needs a more reliable car with better gas mileage. This was a very nice car to learn on, had a simple enough powertrain, general maintenance wasn't too bad, and more importantly this forum helped me figure out some issues I had. Anyways here it is pretty much stock with a leveling kit ( -Leveled- Torsion bolt spacer and extended shackles):
Before I added the kit, there has been on 2 issues that caused an engine light to come on and one that my father caught at 75,000. One for the thermostat failed open at around 120,000 and another for not enough electrical load at around the same time (alternator) The one my father caught was a slight noise coming from the top part of the motor, he took it in to the dealer and a technician yelled at him to shut it off when he arrived. Apparently a valve came loose and was rattling around inside the cylinder. Luckily it didn't cause much damage and they replaced the entire cylinder head since the early ones were known to warp under the heat these engines produce. After the kit was added, on the cv boot on the passenger side tore and the torque convertor couldn't keep up so it was fail and open up, causing an engine light. However ever since I removed the kit the torque convertor has been happy.
Now I am sitting pretty while nearing 160,000 miles with a partially rebuilt motor and factory transmission. Besides some normal parts wearing out I have had no big issues. knock on wood. But enough of the history, let me dive in to what I want to do with this rig. Ill start out with the little I have done thus far, Ive added OEM style roof bars, a small light bar with factory lighting switches, ScanGuage 2 and of course the daystar dash insert.
On the way is a Rola roof rack I ordered from amazon along with the extension piece (Picture to come when installed). My plan is to fabricate a Fly Rod holder so I don't have to disassemble my fishing rods when creek hopping
. Another reason is to get some more light on this rig, an area where this truck is lacking besides engine power. Going for this style of lighting:
Once I get this roof rack installed and plugged in, Im pretty much done with the looks I want besides leveling it with the torsion bar lift. Unless a front brush guard comes around at a decent price. (Remember Im in college so that = no money until summer).
Okay so now I want to cover the performance/cooling part of my rig. The temperature of the coolant has always concerned me. The temp gauge from what I read is a dummy light with a gauge, so this motivated me to get a scan gauge. I read in the service manual that the expected values are in-between 198-225 degrees F. Over the past couple summers and the heatwaves that have come to Gilbert az, I ran 222 F with A/C going 70 MPH on the loop 202 for a few miles. And then when going up the mountain grades to go to Payson I hit 232 F and stayed there until the next down hill grade. Before this coming summer some things have to change. As far as I know the only thing that has been replaced in the cooling system has been the radiator that cracked up top from rubbing against the rail. Plan is to install a heavy duty fan clutch so that it engaged a little sooner and more viciously. I may go down the electric fan route at some point but this should help me out for now.
I don't even want to know what the temperature of the transmission was during those coolant temperature durations, but ever since I added the code to my scanguage I read 230F going up to Mt Humphreys in the WINTER, from what I always known about transmission, Im about 20 degrees F from frying this transmission. Alrock posted an excellent walk through of his transmission cooler install. And Im going to go by that to install mine, except I may run it in-line with the transmission cooler already in the radiator so that the transmission still warms up properly during the winters I have up in Flagstaff. But Im always open to opinions.
In the future I want to add:
- Airdoc Intake
- PCM Tune (Once everything is installed)
- Oil Catch can (Sick of Cleaning TB)
- Transmission cooler
- Torsion bar leveling (will do after replacing shot steering rack bushings)
- Electric Pusher fan?
Thank you to everyone that reads this, hope you enjoy following me on this endeavor! (Intentional wording)
Heres some other photos:
I have been lurking around this forum for a couple years now ever since I started driving my H3(backstory to come). I am the type of guy that typically figures out stuff on his own, but this forum has laid every simple and complicated procedure out for me. Even though occasionally I have to go to another forum sometimes to get the information I need :giggle:. And plus Im going to college at NAU so I need to procrastinate in some ways right?
Buckle up, here is the backstory:
It all started with my father buying the 06' 3.5L H3, he enjoyed it while wanting some more power but never really thought twice on it. We would always drive up to the Christopher creek area to fish and camp along the white mountains. All was well until my mother drove it home from Payson to Gilbert Az on 4HI locked. Fearing mechanical woes, my father went to get an "oil change" (Mother didn't need to know, and he pretty much broke even with payments anyway) and came back with a 07' 3.7L H3 Lux "unintentionally":giggle:. This is where I come in.
After putting 130,000 miles on the H3, My father passed the torch down to me to take care of the thing. He drives to scottsdale everyday for work so he needs a more reliable car with better gas mileage. This was a very nice car to learn on, had a simple enough powertrain, general maintenance wasn't too bad, and more importantly this forum helped me figure out some issues I had. Anyways here it is pretty much stock with a leveling kit ( -Leveled- Torsion bolt spacer and extended shackles):
Before I added the kit, there has been on 2 issues that caused an engine light to come on and one that my father caught at 75,000. One for the thermostat failed open at around 120,000 and another for not enough electrical load at around the same time (alternator) The one my father caught was a slight noise coming from the top part of the motor, he took it in to the dealer and a technician yelled at him to shut it off when he arrived. Apparently a valve came loose and was rattling around inside the cylinder. Luckily it didn't cause much damage and they replaced the entire cylinder head since the early ones were known to warp under the heat these engines produce. After the kit was added, on the cv boot on the passenger side tore and the torque convertor couldn't keep up so it was fail and open up, causing an engine light. However ever since I removed the kit the torque convertor has been happy.
Now I am sitting pretty while nearing 160,000 miles with a partially rebuilt motor and factory transmission. Besides some normal parts wearing out I have had no big issues. knock on wood. But enough of the history, let me dive in to what I want to do with this rig. Ill start out with the little I have done thus far, Ive added OEM style roof bars, a small light bar with factory lighting switches, ScanGuage 2 and of course the daystar dash insert.
On the way is a Rola roof rack I ordered from amazon along with the extension piece (Picture to come when installed). My plan is to fabricate a Fly Rod holder so I don't have to disassemble my fishing rods when creek hopping
. Another reason is to get some more light on this rig, an area where this truck is lacking besides engine power. Going for this style of lighting: Once I get this roof rack installed and plugged in, Im pretty much done with the looks I want besides leveling it with the torsion bar lift. Unless a front brush guard comes around at a decent price
. (Remember Im in college so that = no money until summer).Okay so now I want to cover the performance/cooling part of my rig. The temperature of the coolant has always concerned me. The temp gauge from what I read is a dummy light with a gauge, so this motivated me to get a scan gauge. I read in the service manual that the expected values are in-between 198-225 degrees F. Over the past couple summers and the heatwaves that have come to Gilbert az, I ran 222 F with A/C going 70 MPH on the loop 202 for a few miles. And then when going up the mountain grades to go to Payson I hit 232 F and stayed there until the next down hill grade. Before this coming summer some things have to change. As far as I know the only thing that has been replaced in the cooling system has been the radiator that cracked up top from rubbing against the rail. Plan is to install a heavy duty fan clutch so that it engaged a little sooner and more viciously. I may go down the electric fan route at some point but this should help me out for now.
I don't even want to know what the temperature of the transmission was during those coolant temperature durations, but ever since I added the code to my scanguage I read 230F going up to Mt Humphreys in the WINTER, from what I always known about transmission, Im about 20 degrees F from frying this transmission. Alrock posted an excellent walk through of his transmission cooler install. And Im going to go by that to install mine, except I may run it in-line with the transmission cooler already in the radiator so that the transmission still warms up properly during the winters I have up in Flagstaff. But Im always open to opinions.
In the future I want to add:
- Airdoc Intake
- PCM Tune (Once everything is installed)
- Oil Catch can (Sick of Cleaning TB)
- Transmission cooler
- Torsion bar leveling (will do after replacing shot steering rack bushings)
- Electric Pusher fan?
Thank you to everyone that reads this, hope you enjoy following me on this endeavor! (Intentional wording)
Heres some other photos:
![IMG_8846[4808].jpg](https://hummer4x4offroad.com/forum/data/attachments/15/15360-93919e51f08cef289915115832411216.jpg "IMG_8846[4808].jpg")
