2002 1500 project beater

BrianF

Original poster
Member
Jul 24, 2013
1,192
West central Sask.
Well boys, my adoptive son at work, well the son I never wanted needed a run about beater. Found a 2002 Chev 1500 from one of the locals. 270,000km, rough body but decent enough as a project. The farmer used it as his beater, trapping wagon and parked it around 2017. Sold it at an auction and the new owner never realized he bought it and forgot it, not worth his time to come back and get it all those years later.

Reg cab, floor shifted 4x4, long box, LM7 (T code). Thing has a decent miss, was showing P0300 when we first ran it briefly. Will test again after a bit of run time. The battery was dead beyond dead and trying to boost it the fuel guage spun around and does not read accurately now.

So, what plugs, O2 sensors etc do you guys recommend? Low budget of course. Will test for intake leaks and such as well. What else you guys suggest?
 

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Mooseman

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Dec 4, 2011
25,257
Ottawa, ON
Could be water in the tank. My son's 04 ran like ass when it had a lot of water in the tank. Got most of it out by disconnecting the inlet to the fuel rail, putting a hose and ran the pump. Make sure the truck is as level as possible so the pump picks up as much as possible. After that, check fuel pressure with fresh fuel.

For plugs, these engines aren't as sensitive as the 4.2 but I'd still stick with either ACDelco or NGK Iridiums. Check the plug wires. Before looking at the O2 sensors, get it running right first to see if they even need replacing. It can run without them if they are borked. I just got some Denso for the Av and they're good. Anything like ACDelco, Denso, Delphi or NGK/NTK will work. I'm always leery of Bosch for plugs and sensors since they seem to be the least compatible although they are the supplier to ACDelco for fuel pumps.

Once you get it running, check the oil pressure hot as these can suffer the same problem as all the others with bad pickup seals. Hopefully it was well maintained with regular oil changes. The tranny and all the other fluids will need to be looked at.

At least it has a nice 5.3L if he needs to do any towing or hauling.
 

BrianF

Original poster
Member
Jul 24, 2013
1,192
West central Sask.
Thanks Moose. It was essentially empty when we first started it. It has a 20L jerry in it now.

My boy got some NGK platinum plugs just not sure part number yet. He just sent me a screen shot from Cambodian tire. He just called and the plugs are seized in there. Sounds like the original plugs.

I noticed one plug wire was not really even connected. There was corrosion in there. Thats one thing that needs to be addressed.

Good call on the oil pressure. Scan guage or is the dummy gauge usable?

The ATF is darker but not burnt, no problem to do the exchange. Will be doing all fluids and a brake bleed as well.
 

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Mooseman

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Dec 4, 2011
25,257
Ottawa, ON
My boy got some NGK platinum plugs
They should be OK and seem to be the right part #. If they're really stuck in there, might have to do this:

After first cracking it, I would spray some penetrating oil so it can creep up the threads and then do the back and forth thing.

Good call on the oil pressure. Scan guage or is the dummy gauge usable?
If there is one in the cluster, it's real and pretty accurate albeit slow. You could confirm using Torque.
 

BrianF

Original poster
Member
Jul 24, 2013
1,192
West central Sask.
So I see what the boy says about the plugs. Well its not the plugs, any tips or tricks to remove the wires without the use of any special removal tools?
 

Mooseman

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Dec 4, 2011
25,257
Ottawa, ON
Your hands? Just normal plug wires. Twist and pull.
 
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BrianF

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Jul 24, 2013
1,192
West central Sask.
So new NGK wires along with the plugs. No dice, still a decent misfire. I didn't stay long enough to see if it was cylinder specific but might try tomorrow.

Plugs were old but not complete garbage. 8 was the darkest. Pics to come.

Used 45 degree plyers to get the wires off.
 

Mooseman

Moderator
Dec 4, 2011
25,257
Ottawa, ON
Maybe do a compression test just to eliminate a mechanical issue. When cranking, does it sound like one cylinder is weak? Check live data for the miss. I assume you have an ELM327 and Torque? It's probably throwing P0300 because it hasn't decided which cylinder is missing but seeing the live misfire data should help you to pinpoint it faster. Then do the usual coil swap to another cylinder and see if the miss follows. Failing that, swap the injector with another cylinder and check if it follows.
 
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Beacon

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Mar 22, 2019
445
SouthWestern PA
a full bottle of dry gas in 20L and some sea foam, will help greatly with a any leftover old fuel that might still be in the tank. I used this combo to get a ranger that had sat for over a year to pass a tail pipe emissions test, that it failed an hour earlier.
 

BrianF

Original poster
Member
Jul 24, 2013
1,192
West central Sask.
Thanks guys, no dice on any additional diagnostic devices other than a little scanner. I got to find the time to run it a bit and see if it can pick up a cylinder. I think a compression check would be a welcomed thing to do.

One thing to try is using an IR thermometer on the exhaust manifolds to check for a dead cylinder.
 
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BrianF

Original poster
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Jul 24, 2013
1,192
West central Sask.
Managed some time with the boy to work on the truck. Looks like cylinder 5 coil was shot. No spark from it. Swapped it to another cylinder and the no spark followed. He will pick up some spares from buddies parts truck.

Next was the spongey brakes. Master cylinder was very low. Suctioned out the remaining dark crap, topped it up and went to work on the rear pass side.

Managed to work the bleeder free and had to completely remove it before any fluid trickled out. Bleeder was blocked as was the caliper. Hell we had to use an awl to clear out crap to finally get the fluid flowing. Did a quick bleed only to find the slid pins rusted with one being frozen. Any smart person would have noticed the rotor corrosion to know the caliper was stuck. Got the pins free, wire brushed and back in with grease. New boots are in order.

So next up is the other brakes.....
 
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Mooseman

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Dec 4, 2011
25,257
Ottawa, ON
Might eventually go to a particular cylinder if it's now just one. Maybe another weak coil?
 
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BrianF

Original poster
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Jul 24, 2013
1,192
West central Sask.
I wonder if more coils are weak, I drove it around yesterday and it tossed the 0300 again and now I question if it runs any better. Idle sounds better but light load and she is rough.

Looks like the rear pass brake is beginning to work but the driverside rear is seized as well. This truck is rough...
 
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BrianF

Original poster
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Jul 24, 2013
1,192
West central Sask.
Well since its been one hell of a hot summer and I've been busy, as has the boy. I decided to rip around the truck today doing some work on the new pasture.

It still fires right up with the miss. Now my code reader is giving me p0171 and 174 along with 0300. Now this speaks to me a bit more. As well thr o2 readings are reading slow and low. The MAF is giving me low 3 to 4 g/s and fuel trims look fcked.

What I'm reading is a vacuum leak for starters. If one cylinder was dead, say dead injector, the lean code should be side specific, not both sides. This would account for a continual 0300.

I cleaned the MAF and began checking possible points of an air leak. Copious amounts of carb cleaner and I could not even get a reaction. The brake hose is sealed, the purge valve is solid as well.

It runs rough in open and closed loop. So more digging is required.
 

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BrianF

Original poster
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Jul 24, 2013
1,192
West central Sask.
Also, if it was say plugged injectors or a fuel filter, it should noticeably power down as the rpm and load increase but she still motors.
 

Mooseman

Moderator
Dec 4, 2011
25,257
Ottawa, ON
You able to put Torque on and watch the misfire counts? That could help pinpoint where it's happening.
 

mrrsm

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Oct 22, 2015
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(1) Start with Cleaning the MAF Screen & Heated Resistor Wires ...only using THIS Stuff:


(2) Then, with the Motor Idling... lightly Spray some of THIS Stuff around the perimeter of the Intake Manifold. If the RPMs Rise... A Vacuum Leak is in evidence and an R&R for New Intake Manifold Gaskets is in Order:



(3) If Item (2) has to be done...Take the opportunity of also R&R'ng the Oil Pressure Sensor and remove-and-clean or replace the Oil Pressure Sensor S/S Filter Screen underneath.
 
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BrianF

Original poster
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Jul 24, 2013
1,192
West central Sask.
I scored a borrowed scan tool that sounds like it should do misfire counts, if weather holds out today the boy is coming down to do some brakes and run the scan tool.

Thanks MRRSM, I have some sensor clean and I doused off the MAF. It looked clean but its immaculate now. No change. I used car cleaner and hit the edges and all over the intake and vacuum lines but no change.

More testing to be done.
 
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BrianF

Original poster
Member
Jul 24, 2013
1,192
West central Sask.
Just a bit of an update to seal off this thread. Due to me busier thsn ever expected, it was left up to the boy for further work. He too was quite busy so he flipped it. A mutual friend bought it, who is a HD mechanic. He changed out the intake gaskets and it apparently runs great now.

I'm guessing the leaks were under the manifold, where I was not able to spray carb cleaner. Regardless, it runs and it is out of my yard.
 

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