What did you do to your GMT today? [Part II]

[Mooseman]

In our FAQ, we have a couple of threads that have some tricks to re-re the mounts. One is to grind/cut down the studs on the mounts. The other is to drill a hole in the PCM bracket so you have a straight shot at the stud using normal extensions. Lots of info in those threads.

 

[Blckshdw]

Not today, but over the course of the past few weeks, I found a rare way for our I6s to throw misfires. Had a P0305 pop on me 2 weeks ago. Picked up a new ignition coil, got that swapped out in short order, but still had the problem. Figured that meant it had to be the spark plug, so picked up a few of those since they were cheaper, and swapped that in. Rough idle still persisted...

Throwing ideas at the wall, I unplugged the connector, messed with a few other random things, and when I plugged the connector back in, the engine calmed right down. Not understanding what changed, I took the win (for the moment) Engine ran just fine until Tuesday, when on the morning commute to work, the same cylinder went out again.

Long post, not as long as it could be, the issue seems to be the connector itself. I started by jiggling the wires thinking one might be broken inside the insulation, and nothing changed. But when I grabbed the connector and twisted it counter clockwise (not very hard) something in there made enough contact to resolve the misfire. Letting it go, brought the problem back. On a hunch, grabbed my can of electrical contact cleaner and sprayed the socket pretty good, then plugged and unplugged the connector about half a dozen times, before leaving it unplugged so they could dry.

Truck has been running normally for the past 2 days so far. Did take a peek at replacement pigtails, and had no idea they'd be so expensive for what they are. Had been trying to find the model number of just the connector/pins, and go find it on Mouser or something, but with the shipping they charge, I'd be likely spending just as much in the end.

 

[LikeEnvoy]

I just upgraded to a DIC instrument cluster yesterday and today I drove the truck for the first time with this cluster! Lovely big characters displaying the odometer and two trip counters.
Also the messages, like Drivers door ajar. Can't wait to put a steering wheel with switches in when the weather warms up.

 

[Blckshdw]

<snip>
Long post, not as long as it could be, the issue seems to be the connector itself.
<snip>

Well, circled back to this, as my 6 pack of connectors arrived. Had one trimmed, crimped on butt connectors, and was about ready to cut the harness on cylinder 5, when warning bells started going off in my head. "Why not take the connector apart, and see if anything inside is an obvious (meaning fixable) problem."

Took the connector I had, and after maybe 15 minutes (10 wasted with the depinning tool, that wasn't doing anything) figured out how to dismantle it. The purple insulating piece, can be pulled off with small pliers. That exposes the 3 plastic hammers that sit above the pins, locking them into place. From here if you lift the hammer on one of the pins, you can easily pull the pin out from the connector.



Armed with that knowledge, I did the same to the connector for cylinder 5, and this was the result. Anyone see the problem here?



A little annoyed that I spent $30 on a batch of connectors, instead of trying this out first, but it was 100x easier taking a connector apart at a bench, than leaning over an engine and reaching back towards the firewall.

But yeah, used a pick tool to push the pin further in place until it locked, reassembled everything, and fired the engine up Smooth as silk, like it should be. In hindsight, I probably should check all of the connectors. No idea how this one could have ended up like that, since they don't move at all.

 

[Mooseman]

Anyone see the problem here?

The one retracted because of the cold?