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

[Reprise]

Congratulations on your comprehensive assessment!!

Umm... if you want 'comprehensive', that starts at about 2x the length of what I posted... LMAO. Look at some of my other posts over the years -- there are some real "walls of text" within them.

TBH, I used someone else's assessment to arrive at my conclusion. And even it may have been incorrect (I'll spare the treatise on what might be other factors (cheap relays, bad wiring logic), as the ultimately correct assessment is... "this part is no bueno".

That said, I didn't learn my lesson properly. Found a replacement on eBay with "lifetime warranty"... when I inquired about how that warranty worked, should I need it, I received a reply in somewhat broken English to "have a professional install the part".

Between shoddy overseas engineering, and manufacturing cost reductions implemented by name-brand vendors... it's getting to the point where the DIY'er is going to have start making their own parts, in order to have something that lasts.
Expecting something to stay fixed for a "lifetime" is getting to be a cruel joke.

While I'm waiting for the 'right' harness to arrive, I'm using the time to replace the wiper pulse board on the truck (the wipers jerk during intermittent, but not on continuous low / high speed). And of course, now that I have the board out, I'm looking at the worm gear in the motor assembly and thinking... "yeah, I should regrease that" (which means for me, I start going down the rabbit hole of "rebuilding a wiper motor assembly").

It never ends... (especially for those of us who take pride in keeping a vehicle maintained / performing optimally)

 

[Mike534x]

Topped up the Envoy's oil today, because with all the driving we've done I was pretty sure she was a tad bit low. Sure enough, just a bit under the full hash mark on the dipstick. I'm close to 3k on this OCI, using Mobil 1 5w-30 HM. This truck is absolutely hard to read on what oil it likes the best lol. I felt like I was adding more oil when using Valvoline Full Synthetic, vs Mobil 1. I've also been experimenting with oil filters, because so far Mobil, Purolator and K&N all cause a slight "chatter" on a cold start. So far it hasn't been doing it using the FRAM ultra synthetic filter.

Car story time with Mike; figured you'd all like to hear some more misadventures for how unforgiving the Midwest is being with car hunting.

Went out to look at more trucks today. Came across a nice 02 Bravada, small dings here and there but the body was otherwise rust free. Went under, saw the surface rust on the frame and noticed a wet gas tank on this dry truck. Did the ole wipe and smell and yep....gas. Owner starts it up anddddddd the small drips came as a very small stream. One of the gas line must be rotted. He calls off the sale, we still offered him the amount he was asking and we would fix it ourselves but he declined. Alright whatever. Drove out to Joliet IL, and Rockford to check out an Envoy Denali with a dropped lifter, 07 Trailblazer, and a 05 TB Extended with a blown transfer case.

So the Trailblazer; LT model, cloth interior with a sun roof. They told us the only issues wrong with it were the crack in the windshield and a big dent in the trunk. Body was a little rough, but not terrible. Tires were at half tread depth, and it had a new battery. We get there and the sun roof is cracked open in the "vent" position. They then mention the trucks been sitting in the driveway for the last 6 months, and the sunroof doesn't close. I had to ask them "So you guys left the sunroof uncovered, during the rain and some of the snow the last 6 months!?". The other issue was the blower module, it was staying running with the truck off killing the battery. No biggie its like $40 to replace. We tried to haggle, and the owner goes "Well I just paid $800 in new tires for this", uh no....you didn't the tires are clearly old. They wanted the 3.3k, and we just laughed and said that's a hard pass.

Envoy Denali. Clean southern truck, with 4x4. Not bad, the listing showed it had a dropped AFM lifter. The owner wanted $1800 for it. Dude was chill, but holy crap this engine was f*cked with a capital F. His mechanic told him the lifter dropped from bad oil, and did an oil changed. We pulled the dipstick, it was pitch BLACK. It was also overfilled to hell, like half way up the dipstick so I'm going to take a very rough guess it was like at least 7-8 quarts. Asked him to start it up, and yikes. So it started out sounding like the Saab Tollkeeper fixed, clearly defined chattering from the #7 lifter area before the very LOUD noise of a "push rod" banging away somewhere in the head. That was a hard pass, I felt bad for the guy. His used car buddy sold him the truck, the lifter failed the following week. His friend won't fix or repair it, and his mechanic charged him $800 to pull the head and say the lifter was bad and bundled it up. Talk about a series of unfortunate events for the guy. But we just couldn't risk it, especially since we had no idea what shape the tranny was in either.

So last but not least the 05 Trailblazer with a blown transfer case. Clean interior, had about 160k. It looked, a little rough in the images. The driver door looked like someone backed into it, our body guy said he wouldn't charge us for getting it out if we bought it. First thing we noticed when pulling up behind it was the tailgate. The lower half was GONE from rust, and I wish I took pictures, but they used duct tape to cover it up. Tires, we know exactly what had happened. None of the 4 tires matched, each were different brands with tread patterns and the fronts were basically bald. Crawled up underneath to look at the frame, because for whatever reason I had a bad feeling about it. RUST EVERYWHERE. It LOOKED like surface rust, but it wasn't. I had a small hammer in the Envoy, I asked if I could give it some love taps they said sure. Started tapping away and THICK CHUNKS were flaking off, and after a few random hits the hammer went clean through. Yeap....we're done here.

I stopped keeping track of how many we looked at, but out of the whatever many there have been the past 3 weeks the Bravada with the spontaneous combustion problem was the nicest of them all.

 

[Reprise]

Got the Sierra's wiper pulse board replaced; prelim testing shows jerking / juddering issue is resolved.
Tips for those who try this:
- All in all, an easy repair, once you get the wiper cowl off. If your wiper arms are stuck, you should be able to get them off with a few 'love taps' with a hammer on the retaining stud (put the nut back on, so you don't mushroom the stud)

- On the GMT800s, there's a T10 screw on each side holding the cowl on; they're underneath the trim pieces on each side.

- When you finally get the cowl off, there's a brace / cover that, if you remove it, will provide much better access to the working area. 4 x 10mm bolts.

- There's an electrical connector on the pulse board; the latch is on the underside. It's a lot easier to remove it by just removing the pulse board module (3 x T20 screws) first, then flipping it upside down to reveal the latch.

- When you get the module off, you'll be able to see the worm gear / plastic toothed gear of the wiper motor. Mine had red-colored grease inside, so I freshened it up with red bearing grease.

- The instructions with the board advise 'electric safe silicone sealer' be used around the perimeter of the cover to seal against water intrusion. And the old one does have some pliable sealant in this area. I used #2 gasket sealant (waterproof, remains pliable). Take care not to get it in the area of the gearing / electronics; I applied fairly sparingly.

- When attaching the board, angle the side with the 3-pin connector into place first (the end opposite the electrical connector), then lower the assembly in place. You want to make sure those pins are contacting properly. No need to force it in, just use some care in orienting the board.

- Aligning the wiper arms is easy enough, if you took them off in the 'park' position. The windshield has vertical 'witness marks' to use as a guide, when reinstalling them.

- The 13mm nuts that retain the wiper arms (GMT800) have a torque spec of about 25 ft-lb (similar across GM truck applications). That seemed a bit excessive, so I didn't use the torque wrench on them. But 25-28 ft-lb is the spec, if you care.

That's about it. I didn't bother with pics, because it really isn't too hard. BTW, you can get replacement wiper motors with / without the pulse board already installed.


After that, I ordered the inner seals for the Envoy's front diff, so it can be rebuilt / reinstalled.

Today, since the Sierra's still sitting until mid-week, I'll replace the tow mirrors with new ones I got on a Prime Day deal ($75-ish for the pair, which is about half of what they normally run).

 

[Mooseman]

Changed the oil in the Sierra. I have to say that it was the easiest, cleanest and quickest oil change I've ever done. Didn't spill a drop of the old oil, which is a miracle. It was still at 40% OLM and 25,000km but with all the towing I did, figured I'd do it as severe service. This will be its third.

I added some rare earth magnets to the external oil filter can to catch iron filings. I couldn't find my muffler pipe cutter so couldn't do an autopsy on the filter but kept it just in case I do find it.

My fuel filter is at 40% so I'll order a new one along with a filter and oil from RA for the next oil change.

I think the dealer that did the second free oil change screwed up and used regular Dexos 0w20 instead of the DexosD which is specified for this engine. I found it was getting a bit noisier than before and now, it's back to its original quietness. Hopefully that's not a placebo or new oil effect.

 

[Reprise]

Still waiting for the new fan harness (due tmrw via UPS, which generally means 4pm, loco time... )
Just checked, and it's in Earth City, MO, as I write this (which, IIRC, I think is just north of STL). Two full days to get that far, from San Antonio.

Meanwhile, Amazon was able to get me a new main belt tensioner and an idler pulley here in one day --ordered yesterday afternoon from two different locations, delivered together around noon today, per their e-mail. Just got through swapping them out (supposedly, you're supposed to replace both, if one goes bad).

When I went to loosen the idler pulley, I found it was already loose -- which might have been why it was making the intermittent squealing noise.
The old one definitely had miles on it (I think it was OEM), so I went ahead and replaced it anyway. Amzn was nice enough to offer it to me on a return discount -- so who am I to look a gift horse in the mouth? (that's how I knew it came from a different place than the tensioner did).
(me, beating the UPS ground logistics system)

Put the old tensioner in the new part box, to keep as an 'emergency' spare.

BTW, torque on both of these (and almost all engine accessory drive bolts, apparently) is 37 ft-lb.

Decided to return the tow mirrors to Amazon, and hold out for '07-'13 mirrors, instead.

Tomorrow night, the Sierra gets back on the road. And the Envoy takes its place, in the garage.

 

[808]

Umm... if you want 'comprehensive', that starts at about 2x the length of what I posted... LMAO. Look at some of my other posts over the years -- there are some real "walls of text" within them.

TBH, I used someone else's assessment to arrive at my conclusion. And even it may have been incorrect (I'll spare the treatise on what might be other factors (cheap relays, bad wiring logic), as the ultimately correct assessment is... "this part is no bueno".

That said, I didn't learn my lesson properly. Found a replacement on eBay with "lifetime warranty"... when I inquired about how that warranty worked, should I need it, I received a reply in somewhat broken English to "have a professional install the part".

Between shoddy overseas engineering, and manufacturing cost reductions implemented by name-brand vendors... it's getting to the point where the DIY'er is going to have start making their own parts, in order to have something that lasts.
Expecting something to stay fixed for a "lifetime" is getting to be a cruel joke.

While I'm waiting for the 'right' harness to arrive, I'm using the time to replace the wiper pulse board on the truck (the wipers jerk during intermittent, but not on continuous low / high speed). And of course, now that I have the board out, I'm looking at the worm gear in the motor assembly and thinking... "yeah, I should regrease that" (which means for me, I start going down the rabbit hole of "rebuilding a wiper motor assembly").

It never ends... (especially for those of us who take pride in keeping a vehicle maintained / performing optimally)

@Reprise *George W. Bush Voice* : "I FEEL YER PAIN" - Dude, the days of swaptron'ing the agony away -may-, -in fact-, be approaching an antiquated rearview of "the good old days" of "I remember when you could just replace it" historical record. Frankly, I've never encountered the level of horse POOP that I've waded through recently. It's *astounding* - I posted this vid earlier, I'd say it's absolutely appropriate relative your scenario, and should hopefully provide consolation in comiseration, that *YOU AREN'T DELUSIONAL*, this malfeasance actually does exist, and you're not imagining/creating/aggrandizing/innacurate.

 

[808]

Topped up the Envoy's oil today, because with all the driving we've done I was pretty sure she was a tad bit low. Sure enough, just a bit under the full hash mark on the dipstick. I'm close to 3k on this OCI, using Mobil 1 5w-30 HM. This truck is absolutely hard to read on what oil it likes the best lol. I felt like I was adding more oil when using Valvoline Full Synthetic, vs Mobil 1. I've also been experimenting with oil filters, because so far Mobil, Purolator and K&N all cause a slight "chatter" on a cold start. So far it hasn't been doing it using the FRAM ultra synthetic filter.

Car story time with Mike; figured you'd all like to hear some more misadventures for how unforgiving the Midwest is being with car hunting.

Went out to look at more trucks today. Came across a nice 02 Bravada, small dings here and there but the body was otherwise rust free. Went under, saw the surface rust on the frame and noticed a wet gas tank on this dry truck. Did the ole wipe and smell and yep....gas. Owner starts it up anddddddd the small drips came as a very small stream. One of the gas line must be rotted. He calls off the sale, we still offered him the amount he was asking and we would fix it ourselves but he declined. Alright whatever. Drove out to Joliet IL, and Rockford to check out an Envoy Denali with a dropped lifter, 07 Trailblazer, and a 05 TB Extended with a blown transfer case.

So the Trailblazer; LT model, cloth interior with a sun roof. They told us the only issues wrong with it were the crack in the windshield and a big dent in the trunk. Body was a little rough, but not terrible. Tires were at half tread depth, and it had a new battery. We get there and the sun roof is cracked open in the "vent" position. They then mention the trucks been sitting in the driveway for the last 6 months, and the sunroof doesn't close. I had to ask them "So you guys left the sunroof uncovered, during the rain and some of the snow the last 6 months!?". The other issue was the blower module, it was staying running with the truck off killing the battery. No biggie its like $40 to replace. We tried to haggle, and the owner goes "Well I just paid $800 in new tires for this", uh no....you didn't the tires are clearly old. They wanted the 3.3k, and we just laughed and said that's a hard pass.

Envoy Denali. Clean southern truck, with 4x4. Not bad, the listing showed it had a dropped AFM lifter. The owner wanted $1800 for it. Dude was chill, but holy crap this engine was f*cked with a capital F. His mechanic told him the lifter dropped from bad oil, and did an oil changed. We pulled the dipstick, it was pitch BLACK. It was also overfilled to hell, like half way up the dipstick so I'm going to take a very rough guess it was like at least 7-8 quarts. Asked him to start it up, and yikes. So it started out sounding like the Saab Tollkeeper fixed, clearly defined chattering from the #7 lifter area before the very LOUD noise of a "push rod" banging away somewhere in the head. That was a hard pass, I felt bad for the guy. His used car buddy sold him the truck, the lifter failed the following week. His friend won't fix or repair it, and his mechanic charged him $800 to pull the head and say the lifter was bad and bundled it up. Talk about a series of unfortunate events for the guy. But we just couldn't risk it, especially since we had no idea what shape the tranny was in either.

So last but not least the 05 Trailblazer with a blown transfer case. Clean interior, had about 160k. It looked, a little rough in the images. The driver door looked like someone backed into it, our body guy said he wouldn't charge us for getting it out if we bought it. First thing we noticed when pulling up behind it was the tailgate. The lower half was GONE from rust, and I wish I took pictures, but they used duct tape to cover it up. Tires, we know exactly what had happened. None of the 4 tires matched, each were different brands with tread patterns and the fronts were basically bald. Crawled up underneath to look at the frame, because for whatever reason I had a bad feeling about it. RUST EVERYWHERE. It LOOKED like surface rust, but it wasn't. I had a small hammer in the Envoy, I asked if I could give it some love taps they said sure. Started tapping away and THICK CHUNKS were flaking off, and after a few random hits the hammer went clean through. Yeap....we're done here.

I stopped keeping track of how many we looked at, but out of the whatever many there have been the past 3 weeks the Bravada with the spontaneous combustion problem was the nicest of them all.

Brother that's *WILD*, those spectacles you surveyed all sound full of malaise. I congratulate you on not accepting tetanus frames, and effectively dismissing that crapola pre-emptively.

 

[$ Khalid ! 9130]

Technically not today but this week, was diagnosing and fixing a coolant leak on my TB more on that in the thread:

Coolant Overheating

Well I dont know if i’m in for a expensive bill for the TB. So this happened yesterday actually, I was out running some errands and noticed the AC wasn’t cooling properly, but put it off to the extreme temps we got going on here. I stopped at a store just around the block form my house and...

gmtnation.com

Other than that, my Dad was getting annoyed with the CEL on his dash which I had found to be his downstream oxygen sensor. Bought a new one along with ordering parts for my TB and coolant bottles. Replaced the sensor and no CEL and the Yukon and my Dad are both happy.







The sunvisors cloth was tearing on my Dads Yukon so had that replaced. Next up is a steering cover. However the aftermarket radio just quit working, so will have to look into that as well now

 

[Mooseman]

Just a reminder...

This thread is just for posting stuff you do on your trucks and NOT for anything that will have questions, follow-ups or other info that would be useful for others. This thread is basically just like a "game" and not for documenting anything important.

Thanks.

 

[flyboy2610]

Changed the oil in my '04 TB 4.2L Ext.

 

[Mike534x]

Just a reminder...

This thread is just for posting stuff you do on your trucks and NOT for anything that will have questions, follow-ups or other info that would be useful for others. This thread is basically just like a "game" and not for documenting anything important.

Thanks.

My bad Mooseman! Thanks for moving it to the correct area.

Ordered the transmission fluid, and oil to get the oil change done on the Envoy next month. The Walmart van was in an accident, so needless to say nothing arrived and put my order into an indefinite "paused" loop of some sort. Called customer service and was told nothing could be done aside from a refund, and they suggested I go to the store while they sort it out on their end and they'll contact me back via e-mail. Went to the store, found a manager who was extremely friendly (rare it seems for Walmart) and they had someone regather all the stuff in my order. Thought Amazon arrived with some other essential stuff, but nope it was a Walmart driver? Lo-and behold, there's another 10 QTs of oil and 5 Quarts for the Tranny Fluid. It seems the store didn't void out the order like they were going to, and I just got an email from the customer service rep with a tracking number for more........oils/fluid. Tried contacting them about the new shipment they sent out and they just said not to worry about it, and consider it a gift for the mess up? So come Thursday I'll be seeing that. I'm also missing 1 gal of Tranny fluid (second image), that's showing up Wednesday

I'm literally going to be sitting on 30 QTs of Motor Oil, and more Tranny fluid then I was expecting. So I guess the flush I was debating about will be a reality soon enough. Well my next two years of oil changes are covered.

 

[Reprise]

Took the Sierra out for a spin, with its new e-fan harness installed.

Noticed that this new one runs the fans a LOT quieter (which means the wiring logic was wrong on the first harness). The old one was running at 'high' speed by default -- which means not only louder... but more battery drain (especially when both fans are on high). That's why I saw such an amperage drain on the dash gauge, running the old one. And probably also why the relay fried / harness melted, after continuously running for 3-4 hours.

As far as the construction of the new one... definitely a better quality unit, with better parts. The relays are 'skirted' (ribbed, waterproof) -- like the various OEM plugs in the engine compartment, etc. They're also from Hella (yeah, that Hella, although they are made in China).

For an extra $5, they supplied a remote turn on lead, which can be wired to a user-provided switch in the cab and used to turn both fans on 'low', even if the PCM logic dictates that they don't have to be on (so, a manual override). I'll wire that up later; it may come in useful for towing, perhaps.

One thing I noticed was that the A/C doesn't seem as frosty as it was. Remember that I mentioned the windshield fogged up when the truck was overheating -- I have a feeling that the A/C compressor clutch was damaged (as it's activated by an electromagnet, and those are apparently heat-sensitive).

The other thing I noticed is that my 4WS indicator lamp is now out -- none of the three modes light up. I'll have to break out the Tech2 and run some tests. I know it's not a miswiring issue with the PCM, as I used the same pin connections (and the fans are working). But with all of the 'manhandling' I did with the main wiring harness, I may have broken a wire or two that affected the switch / output. We'll see.

 

[fletch09]

it's been awhile since I've been on here.
Yesterday, after 13 Yrs, 7 months, 12 days of ownership, (original owner)
hit 200,000 miles.

 

[6716]

For the upcoming trans cooler install, I got a fresh outlet line and put a couple crappy double flares on it.


Didn't want to try to learn that mid-install, since I'm using a friend's driveway to do the work. Tryna get it done in short time frames.

 

[northcreek]

For the upcoming trans cooler install, I got a fresh outlet line and put a couple crappy double flares on it.

From the picture it looks like you might not have put the nuts on first.

 

[6716]

From the picture it looks like you might not have put the nuts on first.

I see what you mean, if it were better the fold would go down farther towards the base of the outer flare.

I used the borrowed tool from AutoZone, and there didn't seem like there was enough room between the first tool and the pointy bit to make much of the first inner flare/fold-over. Like the throat on the pointy tool wasn't big enough to let the tube section stick out very far to get much fold on it.

Or I was using it wrong. I practiced a couple of times on the middle section of tube I cut out to accommodate the cooler lines.

Maybe we'll call it a flare and a quarter, not a double flare.

 

[TollKeeper]

From the picture it looks like you might not have put the nuts on first.

I dont think there are nuts on the radiator side..?

 

[6716]

Now I see what you are saying @northcreek I totally misunderstood you until I read @TollKeeper 's comment. There are those black covers for the C-clips, but the new line only came with one, which I think goes right up on the connector to the radiator. It looks like it should go over my flare. The other end that connects to the longer back line doesn't have anything there, the black cover goes on the longer line side. So I think I am good. Probably. Possibly. Fingers crossed. Fixable if wrong.

 

[TollKeeper]

...are those black covers for the Jesus Clips, but the...

Fixed! There called Jesus Clips cause they always end up flying during disassembly, and the mechanic always says Jesus and he tries to listen to where it landed!

 

[smitty5150]

Trimmed and bedlined the front bumper, bedlined the rockers, and bedlined/reinstalled the fender flares. Such a crazy change in 6 months.

 

[$ Khalid ! 9130]

Went window shopping at GM : https://gmtnation.com/forums/threads/gm-showroom-update-2022.23099/#post-630390

Also keeping an eye on the coolant temp gauge, but so far seems to have been fixed, waiting on the hoses to arrive to permanently close the issue

 

[Joe_67]

The annual "safety" inspection didn't go well when the inspector decided that some really minor pitting on the outer edges of my rotors was not within spec. (While there was really nothing wrong with my brakes. My guess is that the state popos who oversee the stuff have been on their case. Or someone is late on a boat payment).

So I just finished doing all four corners - pads and rotors. I'll bed them in tomorrow on the way to drop it back to the "safety" inspection nitpicker. Around 90F today with lots of humidity. Far from my favorite conditions! I'm trying to replace the fluids lost with beer. Probably won't work. But at least I won't have to mess with the brakes for quite a while.

Next I have to check on the heater circuit for my upstream O2 which has started throwing a code... sometimes. Sometimes it's just sitting pending. Sometimes it's set. Sometimes it's just... gone. IDK. I'll just have to check it out. No big deal.

 

[littleblazer]

Slapped a new coil pack in the TB the other day. Miss how easy it was to work on... at the same time I don't mind not having to work on my daily so... That is coil 2 that has been replaced since new.

 

[TollKeeper]

The annual "safety" inspection didn't go well when the inspector decided that some really minor pitting on the outer edges of my rotors was not within spec. (While there was really nothing wrong with my brakes. My guess is that the state popos who oversee the stuff have been on their case. Or someone is late on a boat payment).

So I just finished doing all four corners - pads and rotors. I'll bed them in tomorrow on the way to drop it back to the "safety" inspection nitpicker. Around 90F today with lots of humidity. Far from my favorite conditions! I'm trying to replace the fluids lost with beer. Probably won't work. But at least I won't have to mess with the brakes for quite a while.

Next I have to check on the heater circuit for my upstream O2 which has started throwing a code... sometimes. Sometimes it's just sitting pending. Sometimes it's set. Sometimes it's just... gone. IDK. I'll just have to check it out. No big deal.

Having the same issue on my Pontiac Aztek. Have not been able to track it down. I am thinking maybe my Catalytic Converter is bad maybe.

 

[Mike534x]

Sprayed the front strut and yolk with PB Blaster, along with the bolt on the lower control arm to hopefully break it free. With how "cool" its supposed to be outside, figured I'd give it a go finally. Also hoping to get to dropping the tranny and do the accumulator + spring swap if it doesn't take me long.

After not wanting to risk dealing with those sketchy spring compressors that Advanced and everyone offers, I found this set on Amazon I'm looking to try out. Seems like it'd be pretty sturdy for getting the job done. I also somehow lost the center nut and washer that goes over the strut, so ran over to Menards and bought 2x M10 1.50's + washers. The nuts don't seem as tall as the Bilstein provided ones, so I think I'm fine if I double up the washer to compensate for the height. Fingers crossed the job is easier with all the hardware being new. I'm curious to see if there's a height change up front going from the Moog 81112 Springs to the 81110 ones. Also dropping her off to get the front end alignment checked, I'm not liking the slight cupping on the outer edges of the Toyo's. I'm pretty sure something is out of whack after doing the UCA/UBJ last summer. Its definitely wearing more from the outside in.

 

[Mike534x]

Just got back from Pick n Pull a bit ago. Snagged me some goodies! Got lucky and managed to grab an OEM thermal clutch from an 08 Trailblazer and a new fan blade. Clutch had a good firm spin while doing it by hand. Figured I snag 2 other EV clutches. Uncles went out today funny enough, so timing was fantastic. One is a BEHR unit from an 05, and the other is I believe a Hayden 3200 from an 04. The Hayden unit doesn't appear to be too old either, the truck itself was fairly clean with a recent valve cover job. So not bad, I may pass the Hayden off to him and keep the BEHR as a spare. Aside from that, I needed a new center console armrest so snagged one of those too. About $50 for everything.

 

[azswiss]

Added a quart of oil to my '03 Suburban. Continuing to see a stable burn rate of 1Qt per 1500 miles. OK by me! (Edit: 178K miles)

Waiting on new sway bar bushings & links; they should be here tomorrow.

 

[northcreek]

Added a quart of oil to my '03 Suburban. Continuing to see a stable burn rate of 1Qt per 1500 miles.

OMG!.. it's changing into a Diesel...

 

[azswiss]

OMG!.. it's changing into a Diesel...

Right? Check the gas & fill the oil . . . All kidding aside, was less than thrilled when I first saw this but subsequently found online that GM says 1Qt per 1200 miles is "normal". At this point I am watching for changes.

 

[azswiss]

Have a couple of small projects for the 'burb this week end so I thought I might follow up with a check on the PCV valve to see it it is working properly (@northcreek's Diesel observation got me wondering).

Question: Thoughts on catch cans?

 

[NJTB]

I don't use 4wd on my TB very often, so once in a while I'll go through AWD, 4wd, 4lo to make sure everything works. The other day I was doing it and no 4wd. AWD, no light on 4wd, 4lo worked. Damn.
Did some checks, pulled the 30A fuse (key on, engine off) and heard the disconnect motor, put the fuse back in and tried it again. Briefly stuck in 4lo. Now I'm thinking encoder motor.
Got out the Tech 2 to make sure the correct voltages were there (they were) but it wouldn't read the 4wd switch position.
Backing up a few years, I had a 'service 4wd ' light on the dash (speed sensor code), tore half the car apart tracing wires, etc. and couldn't fix it. Wound up taking it to the dealer, $300 later it was repaired.
So I decided, after staring at the Tech 2 for a while, it probably needs the 4wd switch. Ordered one up, installed it, lo and behold, the 4wd works.
Easiest fix ever.

 

[Mike534x]

Have a couple of small projects for the 'burb this week end so I thought I might follow up with a check on the PCV valve to see it it is working properly (@northcreek's Diesel observation got me wondering).

Question: Thoughts on catch cans?

Replaced the ambient air temp sensor, my auto climate controls kept reading it was 150*F outside. On the way to work this morning and the CEL came on, P0420. Waited until lunch, grabbed the small rubber mallet from my tool bag and gave the driver side cat a light tap or too. Yep....I hear something rattling around inside. I should've replaced the driver side cat when the passenger side one failed 15k ago.

You could check and see if your Suburban uses the updated driver side valve cover, they changed the PCV valve location/added a shield to deflect oil blowby. Did it to my Dad's Yukon, went from a QT every 1500 miles to half a QT every 2000 miles.

I've been debating about a catch can too, seems to help with keeping the valves and pistons from gumming up with more burned oil gunk. They don't seem too expensive either. Have you tried the Seafoam intake cleaner? It helped cut the usage down a bit on my Envoy. Definitely do an oil change afterwards because that oil came out pitch black.

 

[azswiss]

Thanks @Mike534x! Pulled the PCV valve earlier this morning and it did not look overly dirty; no wetness or buildup. Looking online it seems like the newer valve cover, including built in PCV valve, came out in '04. Also found a number of videos where they clean out the oil return seep hole at the end of the baffle and then drill additional holes to facilitate oil return. Looks like the next step will be to pull the cover, inspect and modify.

 

[azswiss]

The sway bar bushings and links came earlier than expected today and since it was relatively cool this morning I went ahead and installed them.

Here is a comparison of the old, worn bushings versus the new ones. Saw extensive wear on the bracket side of the bushings on both driver & passenger sides. One reason I chose these new bushings is that they come with grease fittings (and a 7 year/750K mile warranty). The old bushings (with only about 5K miles on them!!) were ACDelco Pro and the brackets were the originals.



Straightforward installation:

 

[Mike534x]

Wow! That bushing got torn up! You've got me wondering if I should check mine, I bought the AC Delco ones 3 years ago so that's insane they took that beating in such a short time span!


Finished the tranny drop and fill. Fluid was still red, albeit dark. Otherwise no chunks or anything, just fine amounts of material like you'd expect. Gave the pan a good cleaning, and dropped the accumulator housing. Looks like the tranny shop changed out my accumulator piston from the prior winter when the TCC valve failed. This one has three legs, rather then the flat one these came with.

Not really sure if they affects the shift firmness or not. But nonetheless, installed the slightly thicker OEM piston from Transgo and added the new AC Delco springs. First to second is back to being smooth! Its a huge noticeable improvement.

Waiting for the sun to go down a bit before tackling the thermal clutch install.

 

[TollKeeper]

Polished the 9-7x Headlights... yes.. These are the junkyard ones!

 

[Mike534x]

Those look great! What'd you use to bring them back to life?

 

[TollKeeper]

A kit that we use for all our commercial trucks. No idea who makes it, we have had it for 3 years.. Just grease covered tubs left.

 

[Joe_67]

A kit that we use for all our commercial trucks. No idea who makes it, we have had it for 3 years.. Just grease covered tubs left.

I've got an off-the-shelf 3M kit just from a big-box auto parts store. It's a velcro'd foam disk on a shaft meant for a drill. It comes with sandpaper disks that velcro on and a sponge pad and polishing compound. It starts, I think, at like 500 grit (for really nasty/oxidized ones, but steps down to 800 / 1500 / 3000, then onto the foam with the polishing compound. (From 800 down, it's a wet sand).

If they're really bad (and you have to start at 5-600) it takes forever - obviously just a time and patience thing - but the results are great.

And I bought the kit once and just replenish the sandpaper pads and polishing compound with normal, off-the-shelf stuff rather than buying a new kit.

Get a nasty set polished up and then just give them a quick once over at each oil change (or something like that), and it keeps them nice. At this point, I'm only back to sanding if I get a new vehicle with nasty lenses.

 

[Mike534x]

@Joe_67 So with the 3M kit you get about 6 months give or take? I had good luck with the blue boxed Meguiars headlight restoration kit. Its good for light oxidation, but anything heavy requires various sand/cutting discs. With that it would last about 8 months before the protective coating they give in a can starts to disappear.

Played around with the Spring Compressor kit I purchased a few posts up. Its FANTASTIC, no signs of bending or anything! I have to say, its very sturdy and well constructed. It may be due to the design of the clamps, but compressing the spring goes great but when you loosen it there isn't any wiggle room to get them free once the struts assembled. I tried about 3 different times before throwing in the towel. Going to come back to it tomorrow (after the frustration started kicking in), and give it another go.

I also didn't tighten the cap on the jugs used for the old tranny fluid. Went to grab something, knocked it over and fluid went everywhere.