ford5of5

@JimCost2014 The term you're looking for is Rally Gauge pack and it usually came with the Formula steering wheel. This is a link to my current resto: https://flic.kr/s/aHsmhNR4hF I had a full write up on this car but there was a catastrophic server failure at the site I was using and it's been lost; I wasn't smart enough to make my own backup. It's a 1979 Formula that a previous owner changed to a T/A. I bought this to kick around in while building the '72. I knew it was POS and I was just gonna beat the balls out of it and then part it out. BUT I accidently started restoring it instead. Honestly, it started with one quick fix and the next thing I knew it was stripped and I was welding in new steel. When finished it will be a white TA with red interior and red graphics. The pic below is what I'm aiming for.

Well, the one in the avatar is a '72 Ram Air Formula 400; super rare, all '72's are rare because of a UAW strike but Ram Air and Super Duty's are the rarest. My '72 is an Esprit, basically the non performance, luxury model with chrome trim and nicer interior than a base 'Bird. It has a Pontiac 350 with 2 barrel carb, a TH350, slick 1970's simulated woodgrain dash, 14" Rally wheels, and A/C. It also has a posi rear end but it's a 2.43 gear; great on gas but disappointing at stop lights, LOL!. It also has what's referred to, in the 2nd gen circles, as the "peasant steering wheel", not the cool Formula steering wheel but, I like it so, it's gonna stay. Here's what happened last time I went looking for a strange tick in a General Motors product: Here's a link to a photo album of my stalled restoration: https://flic.kr/s/aHsmVUqhSg When I get back to it all the rot will be gone. I will keep the origional orange exterior and white on black interior. I will be adding tilt steering, PW, PL with keyless entry, Speed Hut gauges, Vintage Air, a lot of heat insulation and sound deadening, and maybe a cheap Chinese infotainment system. I think this car is gonna go full resto mod. I want to upgrade to an independent rear suspension with 3.50ish gears, 18" wheels, Iroc steering upgrade, and front coil overs. The engine will either be a FI Pontiac 400/355 or an LSX conversion. Transmission will be dependant on engine choice. I just need to finish my '79 resto and my brother's '51 Ford stuff first. I don't expect to be back on this project for about 5 years, LOL!

So, I found out what the noise was. It actually took longer to find my stethoscope than it did to fix. The #2 spark plug wire wasn't fully seated into the coil. The noise I was hearing was the arc jumping the gap from the coil to the wire. No more tick, just the usually sewing machine sound, LOL! I bought the truck at 9k miles so, it's a really good bet that these are the origional wires. With the exception of the last 3 or 4 oil changes I've done all my own maintenance. I'm gonna give the stealership the benefit of the doubt on this but, the noise showed up shortly after having them change my oil. I don't really trust this particular dealership's service department because they gave me one of those reports that said I needed new rear brake pads. I wish I saved the report, they stated that the pads were at 3mm. When I measured them, they were at about 1/4"-5/16" which converts to well over 3mm. Also, they keep trying to screw me out of the $25 oil change coupons that they constantly send me.

Ya, just found out about the high pressure pump. Learning a new engine should be fun.

I think I'm trying to come up with anything other than a lifter problem, LOL! I don't really want to tear that far into this engine right now. I'm only 90% sure this is a lifter tick mostly because I've never heard a loud injector. Also, it's not the usual light sewing machine sound the LS has. When I get it into the garage I'll take a stethoscope to the injectors and the rocker to see if I can isolate the sound. I might get lucky and it's just an injector. You mentioned loud injectors in another thread. Thanks for reminding me about them.

I have a 2015 Sierra 5.3 with 40k miles. 2 or 3 oil changes ago I noticed the oil pressure went from always being at 40 to just over 30 at idle; it does jump to 60 when revved like it's suppose to do. Most of what I've read says this is acceptable. In my research, this condition was often caused by an o-ring on the oil pickup tube going bad on 5.3's from around 2003-2012. I noticed that the pickup tube was redesigned on my 2015 and lacks the o-ring. My question is: does the same issue exist on the newer 5.3's? If so, what's the culprit? I've also developed a lifter tick on either the 4th or 6th piston. I'm trying to decide which issue to check out first. I'd imagine that more than 1 lifter would be ticking if there's an oil pressure issue but really don't know. Any opinions?

I'm experiencing the same tick at 40k miles on my 2015 Sierra with 5.3. To me, it sounds like a lifter tick. I'm basing that on my experience with cars from the 60's, 70's and 80's, so it's entirely possible that CamGTP is correct . On my truck, the tick is on the passenger side, about mid engine. It only started recently and I haven't had time to check it further. I have noticed a drop in mpg based on the trucks DIC; I drive like a granny, mostly suburbs and highway, and can keep it close to 19 mpg. 2 oil changes ago, I saw a drop in oil pressure at idle from 40 to 30. I believe I may need to swap out the pickup tube O-ring. If restoring the the oil pressure back to 40 doesn't make the noise go away then I will start tearing into the engine. I'm not getting any CEL's, noticeable misfires or loss of power; haven't tried checking for codes yet.

I spent an entire 15 minutes installing the MVI IO6 upgrade in my Dad's '15 Silverado and a new battery. The battery was harder and took longer to do! He's 73 and loves the voice control compared to typing.

@lectrician7, I just tried Waze. WOW, it's pretty great. Thanks for giving me a reason to try it. On my unit, I can only get voice directions on any nav app if I'm using a music player. When I use Console, it will not release audio focus for the nav app. I've had good luck with using split screen for nav and music players but it takes some practice to do it while driving. As a side note, the lag issues went away. A reboot may have fixed the issues. I got a funny feeling that they'll be back. @g2full -Most android head units are consumer grade and that's reflected in the price. A lot of what you're buying with these particular units is the system integration and the huge screen. These units are lack-luster but do not judge all Android head units by this one. Some are better than others. For the cost, I wish I invested in one of the smaller, cheaper units with an independent stereo attached that did not integrate with the GM systems. The big issue you run into with Android based units is that the bezels never fit perfectly without a little modification. -Most of the climate controls are not on the screen, on these units. We have hard buttons and a knob. Lag time is with the displaying of the climate settings change, not the control of it. Ironically, this is reversed with the volume controls. It will lag in turning it up or down in both control and display. As discussed, this may have been caused by using alternate launchers. -Boot time is horrendous at about 40-50 seconds, I can confirm this. The unit will only need to be rebooted if your vehicle hasn't been started in 2 days. -The volume switch doesn't bother me and, I swear I'm not sticking up the guy that came up with idea because I think it's silly too but, the heat knob on the left is working out for me very well. I always end up playing with it a lot when on a long trip. I also play with the home thermostat a lot too, LOL. I was planning on using a remote like the one in the pic below. Now, I may have a chance to get my steering wheel controls to work. Either way, I will not be trying to get any remotes to work until I have a functional head unit. ***At this time, I do not recommend these units to anyone. I purchased mine because I'm a tech geek and can handle playing around with them. Also, I can technically afford the hit should I turn the unit into a brick or maybe, a clay pigeon. I have a WT with I03. My opinion for people looking to upgrade would be to look into the Alpine 110x/i209 or an MVI upgrade. If you're on a budget or like me, just plain cheap, then a $200-300 Joying unit would be an ok choice.

You know what really stinks about this entire situation for me? I'm 43. I've been careful with money most of my life. I'm not even close to being well off, but if anything goes sideways I'll be ok for awhile. I could have went the MVI I06 route or bought a highly optioned truck, but I'm still stuck in that "be careful with your money" mindset. I guess this is what happens when you try to save a buck when you don't have to.

Lectrician, sounds like you already have the upgraded Maps. The version mine comes with still has the robotic voice but works well. When I update it to get the modern voice, then I get the green bar. Other than the green bar taking up a bunch of space and the search bar being a few inches too low Maps technically works. I've had occasional issues with voice guidance on Here and Maps. I think it comes down to the audio focus of the unit. I'll give Wazes a shot and report back what happens. I've heard good things about it from others but never tried it cause I was a big fan of Scout and had Maps as a fallback. I bought my unit from Kirinavi, a reseller, but it's a Phoeinix 7.1 fast boot. Kirinavi's engineers have been trying to help but there's the language barrier. They told me to go Pheoinex for an exchange; I'll reach out to them later today. There was a 30 day money back guarantee on the unit but I'm way past that. I can deal with software issues but the climate control buttons not working is a total deal breaker and now I want an exchange. I did the Phoeinix MCU upgrade but it did not fix my off center issue. I've tried 3 launchers now. So that's probably why I'm having so many issue with lagging. Have you checked out XDA Developers? It's an Android modding site. There are people out there ironing the bugs out of these units. There is a way to reset audio focus and to reassign the top bar icons. Unfortunately, a lot of the info is from a Russian site and I only got a C in high school programming so I don't know how far I'll go down that avenue. I did have Google voice working but it was SLOW! It allowed me to make calls, search the net and choose music through voice commands. I thought I was all set when I found the Agama launcher because it put EVERYTHING on a single page. I have the same issue with wi-fi but only when the device reboots. I have mine set to stay on for 48 hours.

Lectrician7, that's the Agama car launcher. It's on the Google Play store. https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=altergames.carlauncher The logo in the middle can be several things from a compass to a clock and even an info center for other apps. I had to change the theme and colors a little to make it look like that but it was real easy. To be 100% clear, neither this launcher or any other launcher I've tried on my device works correctly. I've never used Waze. I can tell you that the Google maps that ships with the device works fine. The problems start when you upgrade the old Maps and the new Maps will not scale correctly. It works but the upper green bar is way bigger than it should be. I use the default Here nav app and it so far it works great. Did your unit come in a box marketed as a Phoeinx device? Is it the fast boot 7.1 model? There are only 2 or 3 manufacturers and many, many sellers. Some of them come with android 4 and others android 7. ***READ THIS PART*** My unit has become useless in the last week. The lag times on the volume are getting to be around 30 seconds. I had this issue when I first installed the unit. I pulled it out and THOUGHT the issue was caused by a loose wire connector. The climate control lags too but only on the display changes; for actual function there is no lag. About a week ago the issues came back. I checked the wires and they are all tight. Another issue is that the upper left climate button doesn't work anymore and it seems like the second button down is starting to have an issue. Yet another issue, is that the device will not release audio focus from the Console. So what that means is when I switch from Console to Music the radio continues to play. An issue I had from the start is that when in Console mode the factory emulated screen is off center. The seller told me I had to run through all the parameters in one of the menus and find the right one. I've been through that twice now. The seller isn't terrible helpful, so far. Their engineers have been on vacation for the last few weeks. I MIGHT hear something from them on Monday. Are you having issues with your unit? Is your truck I03? Please let me know. Are your issues only with Waze? At this point, I can't decide if I want to push for an exchange for another unit or a total refund. I'm not sure how far I'll get with either one.

Here's a few pics of my setup.

@Fullthrottletwo, I used this clockspring: https://www.ebay.com/itm/New-Airbag-Air-Bag-Clock-Spring-for-Chevrolet-Silverado-Replace-OE-23381964/292114650884?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649 and this steering wheel: https://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItemVersion&item=183591799954&view=all&tid=1908451851008 The wheel I used is the part# for a 2500. My 1500 had a weight attached to the old wheel that needed to be swapped over to the new 2500 wheel, took about a minute to do. The weight is the only difference. The orange piece on the clockspring holds the spring in place. do not remove it until you install the clockspring. If you already pulled it off then use tape or caution to prevent the spring from moving around too much. I have an IO3 system so my wheel doesn't light up but the cruise control and heat does work. I got worried when my wheel didn't light up but a member here reminded me that there's an extra wire that needs to be run for it. Another member mentions that if you make your own harness do not oversize the wire or else it will short cycle the heating functions. I can confirm this as I used 14g wire from the RAP for power and ground. I changed it to 22g, which is scarring me, and the heat function works a lot better. I don't have a wire gauge tool and I can't see any wire markings on my clockspring. Can anyone confirm the wire size coming from the left dash fuse box to the connector on the clock spring, the purple wire with white strip? I've read Pgamboa as pagoda too, LOL! He and several other members deserve a big thanks for figuring this stuff out for the rest of us. Thank you!

Uh oh, I think I bought the wrong wheel. Can anyone advise on this? I got it hooked up. The heated wheel works but the right and left switches do not light up. I have a BW Dic so not sure if the right side switches work. I was too tired to test the cruise control to see if that still works; I'll check it tomorrow. The first pic is the connector from my origional non heated, no swc wheel. The second pic is of the new wheel I purchased from Ebay, part #84222916 I used clock spring part # 23381964. I have a 2015 GMC Sierra WT SCLB. Would it be a bad idea to move the grey wire with the orange tracer over one pin spot to the left? Would the missing wire to the cluster provide power for the lights?