Gatman
Donating Member
How'd. I am the yet again proud owner of a Sy. Truck ran and drove great with the occasional "glitch" and a brief flash of the check engine light. I knew the truck needed some attention and figured I would spend the time doing a full inspection and tune but was never given that chance...
Imagine driving at night in a dark and remote residential neighborhood, just cruising along at about 45mph when all of a sudden everything goes black. The motor shuts down, the lights go out, absolutely nothing! I promptly turn the key off, pop her in neutral and just rolled along not being able to see a bloody thing as the neighborhood has NO street lights (or any else for that matter). My sorry ass hangs out the window and navigates the Syclone to the side of the road completely dumbfounded by what has just happened. Once stopped and out of the truck I am barely able to see some faint smoke coming from under and around all sides of my Syclone's closed hood. I quickly pop the latch, flip her open and realize I've got a MAJOR problem as my truck is currently on fire and I have NOTHING to extinguish the flames. Now don't get me wrong, the motor is not completely engulfed, but rather a bright orange and red flicker reflecting off the passenger side firewall down low enough and generating enough smoke that I cant see the actual source. The flames were coming from where the bell housing would bolt to the engine block somewhere below my limited line of vision in the complete darkness/smoke. I quickly sprinted to the closest house I can see and rapidly knock on the door.... knock again..... then a third time..... finally a middle-aged women shows her face behind the door glass and I franticly explain that "I need a hose", "I need a fire extinguisher", "a bucket, anything... my truck is on fire!!" The woman looks at me with a lowered brow and says in a calm yet skeptical voice "I can't help you", then promptly turns and walks away!! WTF!!Long story short, I called my wife who is at my house (thank god is only three minutes from where I stand watching my Sy burn) and explained how see needs to drop everything, grab a fire extinguisher and hurry, hurry, hurry!! As I wait and watch my truck slowly burn, I desperately grab handfuls of dirt and sand doing my best to remove the grass and then proceed to sprinkle it down my firewall anxiously waiting my wife's arrival. The flame was quickly extinguished with the extinguisher and several hours later my heart returned to its normal pace. The truck was towed back to my house, hosed off and parked back in the safety of my garage.... I am heartbroken.
I have a 5.3 LS1 sitting on a stand in my garage currently and have made the decision to pluck the 4.3L and do the conversion. My truck will unfortunately not be stalking the streets of Ocala any time soon, but the bright side is I will have a complete motor, tranny, transfer case, intercooler, aftermarket heat exchanger, bla, bla, bla, available for those who may be interested. I feel quite confident that the wiring harness was the cause and obviously this is now toast, but all things considered, I WAS REALLY LUCKY!! The Sy will live to see another day, bigger, better and stronger than she ever was before.
Anyhow, glad to be on a member of Sy/Ty and look forward to meeting new friends along the way.
Imagine driving at night in a dark and remote residential neighborhood, just cruising along at about 45mph when all of a sudden everything goes black. The motor shuts down, the lights go out, absolutely nothing! I promptly turn the key off, pop her in neutral and just rolled along not being able to see a bloody thing as the neighborhood has NO street lights (or any else for that matter). My sorry ass hangs out the window and navigates the Syclone to the side of the road completely dumbfounded by what has just happened. Once stopped and out of the truck I am barely able to see some faint smoke coming from under and around all sides of my Syclone's closed hood. I quickly pop the latch, flip her open and realize I've got a MAJOR problem as my truck is currently on fire and I have NOTHING to extinguish the flames. Now don't get me wrong, the motor is not completely engulfed, but rather a bright orange and red flicker reflecting off the passenger side firewall down low enough and generating enough smoke that I cant see the actual source. The flames were coming from where the bell housing would bolt to the engine block somewhere below my limited line of vision in the complete darkness/smoke. I quickly sprinted to the closest house I can see and rapidly knock on the door.... knock again..... then a third time..... finally a middle-aged women shows her face behind the door glass and I franticly explain that "I need a hose", "I need a fire extinguisher", "a bucket, anything... my truck is on fire!!" The woman looks at me with a lowered brow and says in a calm yet skeptical voice "I can't help you", then promptly turns and walks away!! WTF!!Long story short, I called my wife who is at my house (thank god is only three minutes from where I stand watching my Sy burn) and explained how see needs to drop everything, grab a fire extinguisher and hurry, hurry, hurry!! As I wait and watch my truck slowly burn, I desperately grab handfuls of dirt and sand doing my best to remove the grass and then proceed to sprinkle it down my firewall anxiously waiting my wife's arrival. The flame was quickly extinguished with the extinguisher and several hours later my heart returned to its normal pace. The truck was towed back to my house, hosed off and parked back in the safety of my garage.... I am heartbroken.
I have a 5.3 LS1 sitting on a stand in my garage currently and have made the decision to pluck the 4.3L and do the conversion. My truck will unfortunately not be stalking the streets of Ocala any time soon, but the bright side is I will have a complete motor, tranny, transfer case, intercooler, aftermarket heat exchanger, bla, bla, bla, available for those who may be interested. I feel quite confident that the wiring harness was the cause and obviously this is now toast, but all things considered, I WAS REALLY LUCKY!! The Sy will live to see another day, bigger, better and stronger than she ever was before.
Anyhow, glad to be on a member of Sy/Ty and look forward to meeting new friends along the way.
