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Fleetwood CCM integration with Torqhead

2K views 3 replies 2 participants last post by  schlicky13 
#1 ·
I finally got on the phone with Paul at Torqhead this afternoon to ask him some questions and primarily I was curious if he had been able to get the LS PCM he uses to fully integrate with the CCM that the Fleetwood uses. I wondered about it after seeing the info on his website about successfully getting the Corvette CCM fully integrated. Turns out he wasn't aware that the Fleetwood also utilized a separate CCM, but given the lower production numbers on those and that fewer people mod them I wasn't surprised. He asked me a few questions to see what I knew, and while my knowledge of that CCM is limited I did the best I could.

And so that brings me here with another of my weird questions: does anyone know for certain what functions are handled by the CCM that the LS PCM would need to cooperate with? I did a little digging and found a very old post from Bill that listed out the functions it handles according to the FSM, at the time someone was researching the possibility of adding the Fleetwood 4-channel ABS system to a B-body. Those functions are as follows:

Courtesy Lamp Control
Retained Accessory Power
Variable Effort Steering
Illuminated Entry
Delayed Interior Lamps
Daytime Running Lamps
Security System
Twilight Sentinel

I was under the impression that the CCM was somehow involved with the ABS and ASR systems, since to the best of my knowledge no one has yet put an LS PCM from any available source into a Fleetwood and been able to get the traction control to work. It's not a deal breaker for me, but until I'm able to do my rear axle swap and put in a limited slip unit, I would prefer to keep the traction control functional for when road conditions aren't optimal. And there may be others who would like to keep it working as well should they opt for an LS PCM upgrade.

And while I don't honestly know for sure if anyone on here has done an LS PCM into a Fleetwood, does anyone know of any other issues that may come up that could be specific to the D-body? I seem to recall someone having a problem with getting the AC compressor to turn on with an LS PCM, but I believe that had been resolved, although I can't remember if that was just on the D-body or if it was also the B-bodies. And maybe no one has yet put an LS PCM into a Fleetwood, since until Torqhead the only other way I know was with the EFI Connection system, and I don't know that many have put that onto a B-body, let alone the D-body.

Fortunately, Paul is outstanding and emailed me shortly after we spoke on the phone and he seems to believe that it may be a very simple problem to overcome, (if there even are any problems, for all I know his system may work perfectly fine as it is). However if needed, he said it would be a matter of some R&D time to come up with a revision to his PCM that would be specific to the D-body. At which point you would only need to order the version specific to the Fleetwood and his LS PCM conversion would still be a simple plug and play upgrade while keeping every stock function of the Caddy working.
 
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#2 ·
Sounds like this Paul is the type who'd respond favorably if treated to a gift copy of an FSM, - for the narrative and WDs and what-not. Especially if he gleans mostly similar to an old Vette setup. Could pay you off in spades for the $50 investment.
 
#3 ·
Interesting idea, I have a copy for my own vehicle that I'd be happy to scan anything out of he might want. And I don't know if there's any difference between the OBD1 and OBDII vehicles, and with '95 being a bit of a crossover year, he might need an FSM for all three model years.
 
#4 ·
Have recently been in touch with Paul again about a kit for the Fleetwoods. I was in no rush due to it being winter at the time, and he was busy working on getting his C4 Vette kits to market which I believe are or will be very shortly. After some emails back and forth it sounds like it will be a very simple change on his end to his PCMs to account for the variations in the D-body, but will otherwise basically be the B-body kit.

However I hit a snag on this today. I planned to do my Caddy first and have finally just about saved up the money to complete the order and make it happen, but I might need to do my brothers Vette first. I was toying with a Mustang the other night (and by toying, I mean completely blowing the f-ing doors off of it, he actually turned around and drove off because he wanted no part of it after I actually put the fun pedal all the way down).

Unfortunately after that little escapade I noticed the check gauges light come on and quickly found the water temp pegged off the dial. I was within a couple miles of my house so I limped it back home to cool off for the night. This afternoon I started working the problem, hoping for a cheap and easy fix like a stuck thermostat or a bad radiator cap. After replacing those and bleeding the air a few times it still overheated extremely fast. That led me to suspect either a water pump issue or blown head gasket. Oil and coolant both appeared uncontaminated and it wasn't blowing white vapor out the exhaust so I started with the pump.

Pulled the inspection cover off and found I could spin the impeller freely by hand, obviously not copacetic. Pulled the procharger off (because it blocks access to some of the water pump bolts on that side) and then pulled the pump off and discovered fortunately (relatively speaking) that it snapped the impeller shaft clean off. The camshaft drive-end was perfectly fine so basically I just need a new water pump and coupler. But given the overall violent nature of this car, (it's already well past 500hp to the wheels, and like any good addiction I want more) so I'm thinking that an electric water pump might be a good investment.

However at this point I'm only a few bolts away from pulling off the opti, and a few more bolts away from pulling off the harmonic balancer and crank hub, plus I need to replace the timing cover seals due to oil leaks anyways... I might just say screw it, yank it all off and order Torqhead's C4 kit now and do the Caddy later. We'll see, I need to decide yet, but I can't see the point in having this stuff all apart now, only to have to take it all apart again later in the year when I do the kit on this car.

Either way, there will be a D-body specific kit from Torqhead, and from what I gather having talked to and emailed Paul it would only be a matter of months once he has the information he needs. He just needs more info on the various systems, basically wiring diagrams for the PCM, CCM if applicable, the ASR system, possibly the ABS. I can copy pages out of mine, but as previously suggested I finally offered to just buy another copy of the factory service manual and send it to him. So, a Fleetwood kit will definitely happen and I'll continue to add relevant information when I can.
 
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