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

[Blckshdw]

Following the resolution of my front HVAC issues, the rear system decided to act up. I routinely use the rear system, with the 2nd row ceiling vents turned forward to provide quicker heat relief with less air noise so I can enjoy my music.

Was leaving the office one evening, and noticed the air blowing on my neck from the 2nd row vent was warm, and the rear system is never used for heating, so the temperature actuator must have failed. This morning, pulled the panel to get back there, and tried to remove it, but it wouldn't budge. After some pulling and prying, it eventually came loose, but snapped off part of the stud for the temperature door with it!



Replacement actuators seem cheap enough, but can't seem to find the door anywhere. Haven't been to any of the u-pull-it yards in quite a while, and this is NOT the time of year that I'd want to be rummaging for parts out in the open weather.

I may try to repair it with some JB weld or something, but I'm also debating just leaving it as is, since I was able to manually turn it to the cooling side, and that's all I ever use it for. Decisions, decisions...

 

[dhanger]

Hard to tell but looks to me like there's still enough of the stud left on the door shaft to still work fine with a new actuator. As long as the door moves freely and was not the cause for the shutdown then there shouldn't be enough force required to move the door to matter to the actuator.

 

[dhanger]

On looking closer I could be wrong, depends on the perspective of the photos.

 

[Blckshdw]

Yeah there's a little bit of meat left on the stud, and I did initially consider that option until I saw how the hole in the actuator was keyed. The weight of the door makes it fall when disconnected, and the shaft has a flathead groove in it, I assume to align the door with the actuator's position when installing, since you cant move the actuator position itself. (normally)

I cracked open the old one, and if I dislodge the motor so the gear comes out of place, I'm able to spin the remaining gears enough to get the port oriented correctly, so this will work after all. I was able to move the door this way, and letting go, the door would fall and move the actuator's position with it.

 

[dhanger]

How not to install an oil filter.

Recently acquired a 2008 TB LS and doing routine maintenance, not knowing any recent history. I've done a bazillion oil changes and never ran into this tight of an oil filter. After trying several techniques I solved it using an air hammer with a punch attachment. Drove the punch through the filter and then used a cheater bar to turn it. Had to do this 4 times (couldn't turn more than about 30 degrees due to space constraints) before it was loose enough to use an oil filter wrench to finally remove it, even then it still took a bit of muscle. Wow.

 

[Mooseman]

That's what happens when quick-lube places hire The Hulk, which is why I never go there.

 

[sashainwy]

suspension and brakes at all 4 corners finally completed, new pirelli's mounted

 

[azswiss]

Put new tires on the truck. Got 60K out of the old Michelin LTX AT2's and they still had 5/32 all around but it was time. I wanted to replace with the same but Michelin no longer offers that model in 265/75/R16 so I went with the BFGoodrich Trail-Terrain TA+.

 

[azswiss]

Re-calibrated the PCM for the new tires using a Hypertech Max Energy programmer. Set up Torque Pro to display GPS Speed and vehicle speed then compared the two against the speedometer. Perfect correlation between GPS and vehicle speed at 20/30/50mph while the speedo reads 1 mph high. Works for me!

 

[BrianF]

Nothing much for the 2006 TB. I checked the oil level and ac drain one day, looks good. I had vapor out of the vents this summer. I had topped up the refrigerant and it blows icy cold. This summer we have piles of rain and lots of humidity.

Its running good and my daughter uses it all the time now.

 

[Blckshdw]

Back in September when I got my tires replaced, the tech told me some of my bushings were bad, and was allowing movement, so my new tires would get worn out. When I asked him which bushings, he wouldn't/couldn't say, so I thanked him and went on about my business.

Paid attention to the treads for uneven wear, and didn't notice any issues, until a trip in April were I drove the truck along some dirt trails. The uneven ground produced a lot of rattling in the front suspension. After that, I'd hear a clunk at certain times, that took me until now to figure out the trigger. This morning, finally got the wheel off to locate the culprit...

 

[AeroBlazer]

Literally just got the car back on Thursday and now its back in the shop because road workers gave last second warnings to get over a lane and making it impossible to avoid debris in the road leading to a bad tie rod boot not sure if hitting that debris was the final straw or if it was just a one hit that did it.
Kinda weird to me that it was the left side thats bad and not the right since i hit it with the right tires

 

[movietvet]

The amount of grease at the end of boot shows it is not a fresh tear. Plus, that whole side is wet. You have other leaks, IMO.

Got vehicle back from where? You would think a shop would have pointed that out. What work was being done at the shop?

 

[AeroBlazer]

The amount of grease at the end of boot shows it is not a fresh tear. Plus, that whole side is wet. You have other leaks, IMO.

Got vehicle back from where? You would think a shop would have pointed that out. What work was being done at the shop?

Shop was looking at and was replacing AC Bearing
it wasn't till after I hit the object I started having a noticeable change in brake timing, steering wheel vibrating, etc

 

[BrianF]

My daughter said the headlights went out on the 2006 TB, only the lows as both highs work fine.

Wife figures maybe the switch or fuses, as what are the chances both went out at the same time.

Both fuses were good on a quick check, ok, had to rip to town right away so no time for further testing. Grabbed some fresh bulbs just in case.

Upon return, no power at fuses, relay must work as it powers the wipers just fine. Both bulbs pulled and good. Test bulb wont fire either. OK, alright, let's dig deeper. HDM, relay 46 comes up right away on a search.

Well, that's the issue. Swapped with 45 and we have light. Read some old posts on here and the old site, 2006+ has some issues but after 21 years, it's allowed to have issues. New GM part at the dealer is 280+ tax! Not going to happen as I can mail order from the US for way less. I picked up the Napa version, which worked off the bat. Someone on this site did not have luck with it though. I'll manually put the lights on next time I'm driving and see how it works.