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

[flyboy2610]

Got of work yesterday at 3:30, did a couple of errands, then came home and changed into my car repair clothes (yes, I have certain clothes I wear just for car repairs. Saves my good clothes that way). Got outside around 5:00, and the sun was already disappearing behind the houses to the west of us.
Put Snowball up on a jackstand and began the teardown process. At 6:30 this is where the job was:


This is as far as I really expected to get last evening. When I got the upper ball joint loose from the upper control arm I noticed that the back side of the boot was split. I got all cleaned up and took my wife's TB to AutoZone for a new ball joint.
This morning I installed the new ball joint into the steering knuckle. Pulled the CV axle and took a picture. If you look at the 2:00 position I think you'll see the problem:

Once I got the old seal out it was getting a bit crumbly. The bearing looked to be in pretty decent shape, but I changed it out anyway. They are known to fail, and since I'm elbow deep into this thing anyway I may as well do it.
Getting the old bearing out of the retainer just took a few whacks with the bearing/seal installer tool. I cleaned up the retainer and baked it in a 300 degree oven for an hour while I had lunch. The bearing went into the freezer. When lunch was over, a few more whacks with the installer and the new bearing was seated.
I went out and put it all back together. That was pretty uneventful. I could not get the new seal to sit flush with the face of the diff, though. It's proud by maybe 1/16 of an inch. The problem was that I just couldn't get a straight
shot at it. I had to use a piece of hexagonal brass as a punch and tap around the edges until it had started in far enough to wear it wouldn't twist. Then I could use the largest seal installer in the set, turned around backwards so the smooth flat surface was against the seal, and get it most of the way in.
I think If I had to do this job again I would remove the nut from the bottom of the strut yoke and pull the yoke off the lower control arm. Then spin the yoke around so it's on the right side of the CV axle, then tie it out of the way off to the side. That would help get a better angle to install the seal, as well as pull the CV axle.
I topped off the gear oil. I didn't change it because I have a new drain plug coming, it's supposed to be here Saturday. I bought some Dorman oil drain plug seals, 097-116CD. When I changed the diff fluid last, the plug did not have a gasket on it. I tightened it to factory specs, but it still leaked. I finally got it to quit leaking, but it's a whole bunch tighter than what it should oughta be! Knowuimean, Vern?
The plug is an M10, and the gaskets say M12, but they have 6 little plastic semi-circles in the middle of them, so I think they'll work. It's supposed to be nice again this weekend, so It'll be a decent day to change out the old fluid.

 

[TollKeeper]

Dont mess with the yoke on the bottom of the strut. 2 bolts at the top, take the hole strut out. Believe me, its MUCH easier!

 

[Mooseman]

Got to my work garage to do some work on the TB. Started with the rear wiper motor and arm replacement to give a chance to the engine to cool first. Went relatively well. New motor worked fine and the new arm was just like the original except the washer hose was a bit on the short side. However, later when I wanted to use it when it was snowing outside, it wouldn't work. I hope it's just a connection issue and not what some in the reviews said was a quick failure. I'll look into that again later.



Well, I also come here to receive as many jibes as you guys can muster. I replaced my plugs and coils, and while I was there, cleaned out the throttle body. It was dirty but not horrible. However, I got a surprise when I pulled the plugs:



They were worn down to just nubs on the center electrodes. Installed less that 100k km ago. Surprised it ran at all. The ones I previously installed were the infamous fakes with the "Assembleda" on them. I can't believe I fell for these . I still installed the new coils because I had them. Runs a whole lot smoother and no shakes.

I then put a tube of the Shudder Fixx in the tranny. So far, the 1-2 shift seems a bit less harsh however I haven't been able to test the TC shudder because it was snowing and trying to get it to 80 km/h, where it would exhibit it, was near impossible. I might go back tomorrow for the rear wiper thing and test it then.

I was also supposed to install a remote starter but the one I had was too complicated as it also had an alarm with it and didn't need that. I'll find another one that's simpler. And I also wanted to go to my son's to finish the renos in the bathroom.

 

[Mooseman]

Figured out the rear wiper. It was the glass latch switch that had come off, probably when I put the panel back on. It thought the back glass was open so the wiper wouldn't activate, which is normal.

 

[Mike534x]

Dorman T-Stat is working good so far, still getting 210 on the dash (190 to 199 on scanner). Noticed twice over the last few days that when it gets to 210, the needle jumps 1 to 2 ticks to the left (shows 188) for about a second or too and goes back to dead center. I'm thinking maybe there's still a small air pocket somewhere that hasn't worked it way out yet?

Otherwise, did an oil change and changed out the gas fouled plugs. Put 3 of the 6 new coil packs in (still waiting on the other 3 to show up), and dumped 2 cans of Berryman Fuel Injector cleaner (overkill I know), to get what I can of the carbon cleaned up on the valves. Did have a P0328 pop up a few days prior, cleared the code and it went away. I'm guessing some coolant worked it's way down into the connector and set off a false knock sensor code.

 

[Mooseman]

And my saga with the rear wiper continues. So it's not the glass latch switch. It stopped working again. So it will work when initially plugged in and that drive but after an ignition off, it won't work again until I unplug and replug it. So in other words, it needs to be completely reset before each drive.

So that Amazon motor is junk and will be returning it. I took the old motor apart, had to hammer the shaft out it was so seized in there. Cleaned it up, regreased it, put it back together, plugged it in and it works fine. I'll replace it at work again tomorrow.

 

[mrrsm]

You've probably already thrashed this issue out...But jik---:



Also... Since you do have your own "GYMKO" Tech 2... It won't hurt to try and re-program your Lift Gate Module ...again... jik...

 

[Mooseman]

I've ruled all of that out just by having the glass open, locking the latch, having the rear wiper on and ignition on and unplugged and re-plugged the motor and it would immediately start to work. Shut off the wiper and ignition, it would park itself. Turn ignition back on and the wiper, nothing. Unplug and replug, it would work again. it's a glitch in the new motor's control board. Others in reviews said something similar that after working the first time, it stopped afterwards. I could theoretically swap the control board from the old motor to the new one to fix this but I fixed the old motor and can get my money back.

 

[TollKeeper]

Started it... Been over a month since I started it last. She was a little slow to crank, but started with no issues.

 

[BrianF]

I've been running my old girl just about every day now. The new tires have been performing great. Smooth, quiet and excellent traction in the rain, snow, ice and whatever garbage we have got this winter.

I was gone at work for 5 days so the Trailblazer was parked and had a decent coating of freezing rain. Last night I thawed it out in the shop, used some silicone grease on all the weather seals and then some sort of blue foaming chain lube on the door hinges.

 

[Mooseman]

Swapped the rear wiper motor and all is good. The faulty new one is heading back to Amazon. I read a review from over 3 years ago that someone else had the exact same problem. you think that would have fixed it by now!

 

[Sneakycyber]

Changed my oil last weekend. I still technically had 3,000 miles left but it's been 6 months. Rebuilt transmission looks nice and clean. My rear passenger frame rail appears to have some new "speed holes". I need to find someone local to spray fluid film. I would love for this to last another 5 or so years.

 

[Blckshdw]

It's that time of year to take advantage of the cooler weather and get my maintenance done. Oil change, tire rotation, and check my grease joints was on tap. Naturally, nothing goes completely smoothly...

Oil change was mostly uneventful, but my 2 piece screw together funnel, broke at the threads on the larger piece, while putting the used oil back into the empty bottles, so that went in the trash. My drain pan, which has a screw top lid, and screw cap pour spot was also having issues. The pour cap had started leaking last year due to the cap starting to separate between the cap head and the threads. Tried to fill that with epoxy, but it still leaked. Luckily I always put a tarp down, so it caught the drips. That also went in the trash (after getting cleaned out, of course)

Tire rotation is as boring as can be, which is fine. Did notice that both of the bump stops in the rear are completely gone, no idea how long they've been like that Had purchased a grease joint rejuvenator after none of my zerks would accept any grease last year... Well, it didn't help very much. Neither of the UBJs took any oil, it just kept leaking out where it attached to the fitting. End links were just as stubborn, I thought they were taking oil after a few whacks of the hammer, and saw the opposite side of the links getting wet around the rubber, but when I hit them with the grease gun, it still came out before the fitting.

Nothing is noisy at the moment, no play either, and the only one with a degraded boot is the driver's side UBJ that's got some cracking. Sprayed some silicone lube inside the boot and will leave it until next year. If/when I do start getting some problems, I'll just replace them all, and grease them up before installation, for peace of mind.

Staged pics, for evidence

Edit: Oh yeah, and my air jack, which has served me beautifully for a number of years, finally developed a leak at the bottom of the bag. Have to research if that can be repaired, swap the bag out, or if I have to buy a whole new one. But with our heat and humidity most of the year, it was well worth the investment

 

[BrianF]

Love those staged pics!!

 

[Mike534x]

Replaced the Upstream O2 sensor after getting another CEL. Still keeping an eye on coolant temps, with it being 15 to 25* F the last few days I'm seeing coolant temps drop to 183* with the heat on medium. Torque is reporting a max temp of 195* at idle, and while driving it still drops to 183-185* again.

If I recall I believe it should be a lot higher, but the fluctuations I'm seeing are close to what I was seeing with the year old ACD thermostat. Unless the new ACD Coolant Temp sensor is faulty.

 

[Mooseman]

Just for reference, once it's fully warmed up, mine is 90% of the time at 188f, then sometimes 190-192f, even with the heater on in these low temps. It never drops below 188f. Replaced my tstat in 2018 with a Mahle, which looked like the original ACDelco at the time. It's rated at 190f. On RA, aftermarket ones seem to vary between 187 and 192f, excluding the low temp 160f variants. I'd say yours is running a little low. It might just be starting to fail or slightly stuck open.

Looking at what's available on RA, I noticed that all of them, except the original GM and Dorman, have deleted the air bleeder hole and valve. Maybe something to consider if looking at a replacement.

 

[Mike534x]

Just for reference, once it's fully warmed up, mine is 90% of the time at 188f, then sometimes 190-192f, even with the heater on in these low temps. It never drops below 188f. Replaced my tstat in 2018 with a Mahle, which looked like the original ACDelco at the time. It's rated at 190f. On RA, aftermarket ones seem to vary between 187 and 192f, excluding the low temp 160f variants. I'd say yours is running a little low. It might just be starting to fail or slightly stuck open.

Looking at what's available on RA, I noticed that all of them, except the original GM and Dorman, have deleted the air bleeder hole and valve. Maybe something to consider if looking at a replacement.

I'm really hoping its not the thermostat again. Put the 190f Dorman in on 12/4, with the new coolant sensor. The graph from then until a few days ago shows it getting as low as 192*, recently even if its warmed up and sitting at idle the gauge will drop a full tick to the left (torque shows it going to 183-186), then it'll climb back up once I'm either moving or lowering the heat. Otherwise driving around town it stays steady at 195*.

I'll be taking her on the highway after work with the heat full blast, if I see temps drop to 180* or under then I know the *new* thermostat must be sticking open partially.

 

[BrianF]

Finally put a new wiper blade on the rear glass.... the old one kind of worked but was a couple years past due. Then replaced one of the license plate lights that was out. Finally used a short, lit, multi end block heater cord to tie in the block heater and battery tender.

 

[flyboy2610]

It's supposed to hit 50(F) this afternoon, and about the same tomorrow, so I plan to replace the left outer tie rod end and the left lower ball joint. I did the upper when I replaced the outer differential seal and bearing a couple of weeks ago. I also plan to replace the diff drain plug with an NOS one which will have a gasket. Shouldn't take too long.

 

[Mooseman]

The day didn't start so great. When my wife started the Sierra remotely, I could hear it whining while it was running. Sounded like the fuel pump. Wife took the TB to do her errands and I looked at the Sierra. The money light was also on. Scan revealed a P018B (Fuel pressure sensor performance). Found a TSB about this and it's the fuel that's gelled. It was -20c this morning. But stations here switched to winter diesel months ago but I remembered that I filled it up last weekend in Ogdensburg NY when I went down to pick up a package and did a little shopping (and I do stress "a little" since our dollar is about on par with the peso). So seems that NY hasn't switched. I ordered some Hot Shots Secret anti gel and it should be here tomorrow. It ranked the best in Project Farm's testing. However, I'll have to drive wifey to work tomorrow morning with the TB.

 

[Mooseman]

Tried starting the Sierra yesterday and it still whined. Put some more of the Hot Shots and let it sit again overnight. It was a little less cold this morning (-8c). It started, let out a little whine and it then quieted down. The dash complained that it needs to drive to clean the DPF. It was at 127%. Drove it to work and the regen did its thing. Parked it inside at work so it can completely thaw out and cleared the codes. Drive home was normal. Crisis averted. Now I have to burn through this summer crap before refilling.

So you northern NY guys, you need to switch to winter diesel! The summer stuff can gel and clog at -4c.

 

[flyboy2610]

So you northern NY guys, you need to switch to winter diesel! The summer stuff can gel and clog at -4c.

Watching the weather reports I predict they'll find that out real soon!
Wasn't able to get the tie rod end and ball joint done Sunday, life erupted. (Hate when it does that! )
Wanted to do it yesterday, found out the kids plans changed so they were coming over today instead of next Sunday. Had to get ready for today, so no go on the repairs yesterday, either.
The weekend is supposed to be in the mid 50's(F) both Saturday and Sunday, so it will definitely get done then!

 

[BrianF]

Moose, it's funny (not funny) but reading on all these vehicle forums and hearing about all the anti gel additives used in the US. I had no context as our fuel blenders start winter fuel in the fall, no questions asked. Never had any issues ever with fuel gelling.

The only time I had questioned it was back in 2019 when my 3500 had some injector issues and my first check was fuel quality. It was fine. At -30C the diesel came out perfectly fluid and no cloud.

Other than that time, I used the antigel in the old Versatile tractor as it sat most of the year and likely had summer fuel in during winter.