What did you do to your GMT today?

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Tightened down my driver side UCA rear bolt that the alignment shop left a bit loose which I'm pretty sure was causing a clunking I was hearing. Thanks guys, thanks, that's just a little unsettling. I'll call them tomorrow about it and take it in to have the alignment checked again.
 
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120,000 mile DIY Trans flush, filter change, and pan replacement to the Dorman pan with drain plug.

Laid down a bunch of cardboard and box paper to lay on, made working outside in the dirt easy and care free.

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Using an old paint tray as a small, easy to move drip pan. Got the container from work.

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The innards.

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Final amount of nasty fluid pumped out. Don't know the volume of the container so no way of estimating how much is in there. It's at least a 5gal container though. Took 14 quarts to pump it all out and top her off though.

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Overall it wasn't too bad and only had one real catch. One pan bolt smeared the threads on the way out. Made it go back in though, it won't be coming out again anyways since I (hopefully) will never be back in there again since the pan has a drain plug now.

All I've got left is cooler instalation which I'll take care of tomorrow. Was running out of daylight today.
 
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Helped my son install 3 ball joints, idler and Pitman arms on his new to him '03 Sierra so he can pass safety. He also welded a new floor, rockers and rear cab corners. This thing was a basket case but is basically mechanically sound. I had also found a tailgate at a pick-a-part. Not perfect but good enough.
 
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Trans cooler install. Pita. I'm cut up and scraped to hell. Had to trim a good bit on the header panel to be able to squeeze it in being 11x11" (Hayden 679). No real easy places to route the hoses. Ended up mounting it with the hose connections behind the center bar, ran the lower hose around the driver side and tied into the adapter fitting coming out of the stock cooler and ran the upper hose around the passenger side and connected it to the return at the junction next to the power steering pump.

First initial drive showed temps around 30 degrees cooler than the same drive yesterday but it's much hotter out today.

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Screenshot of temps from yesterday evening after it had cooled off outside

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And from today with the cooler. Same drive, hotter ambient temp.

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Extreme Corolla LED projector headlight mod! :biggrin: I did such a great job, not only does the EXT LOOK like a Corolla, it also fits in my garage like one. Was really weird to roll in there, not be centered by a long shot, but STILL able to walk all the way around the thing when the garage door was shut.

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For real though, dropped the EXT off at the shop, not gonna fool around with the AC stuff anymore. Safer bet to let someone handle it where there's a warranty, just to save myself the headache.

I want a garage big enough to fit the EXT this comfortably, then I'd be a truly happy camper.
 
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Floored it.... then filled her with super because I felt bad... in all seriousness the fan was partially locked up all day... 95 degrees outside, 35 degrees out of the vents and the hottest the Trans got was 180. I'm okay with the thermal clutch I think. Today was a good test tomorrow the same but with... humidity!
 
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New wheels/tires installed! No pics because I just finished with the whole mounting, TPMS learning, initial trimming (rubbing on the mud flaps, we'll see if the flaps end up staying or not), and headlight aiming. Pics tomorrow at the earliest as dark pics don't really show a whole lot.
 
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I've been in the shop the last two days working on replacing the trans cooler lines. I got the old busted lines out on Monday (I had to cut the lines under the hood, the "quick connects" were so corroded).

Today I got to installing the new lines. This job is not for the faint of heart, or the big of hands.
I thank my lucky stars I have a friend who has let me borrow a bay in his shop for a full week.
The new lines went in with no major trouble, but I can't get the "quick connect" on the feed line under the hood to insert all the way.
I had a 4' pry bar prying the line into the coupling and could not get it to snap in.
All I managed to do was mangle the forward line a bit.
Any ideas on how to get it to seat? The lines are brand new, OE spec, unopened before today, and undamaged.
I have applied generous amounts of lubricant and tried everything from prybars to mallets and it won't snap in so the clip can seat.
I'm about at my wits end with this. If I can't get it tomorrow I'll do something stupid like try to weld the lines together or something.
I don't know. Whoever designed these "quick connects" deserves to die in the most inhumane way possible.
 
I had to fiddle with mine a bit then they just popped together...
 
Honestly sounds like bad parts. The fittings aren't that hard to work with (or I didn't have any issues at least, means they're easy, right?) so that's almost the only explanation.

Did you replace the whole thing or just one section? If the whole thing, bad part. Probably the forward piece that the clip goes into if I had to guess.

If just one half, then sounds like the other half is bad.

Not sure though, I'm not totally familiar with them. Have just dealt with them twice, Sunday and yesterday.
 
Two things come to mind. Check inside the female end for an extra seal. Try pushing it in without the clip and then install the clip if it goes in. It could be hanging on the clip. If it still doesn't go in without the clip, then I would suspect either part to be bad. Check that the male end is round and undamaged.
 
After a long day at the office, inhaling lukewarm leftovers, then rushing to the shop to screw with your TrailBlazer for a few hours, it’s amazing how you lose all ability to think logically.

Now that I have a fresh mind, I’m thinking tonight I’ll pop the line out (it’s inserted, just not far enough for the clip to fully seat) and sand down the flare a bit. It has to just be an issue with the tolerances of the flare and connector.

I replaced all four lines with the Dorman lines and had no trouble with the other 5 “quick” connects. They took a lot of force to pop in using your hands or a small prybar, but they weren’t this ridiculously impossible.
 
Brought it home where it belongs. Didn't have the AC repaired after all. They confirmed my suspicion of the accumulator being bad, as well as tested the compressor and more importantly the evaporator core, and confirmed those are both fine. They wanted to charge me just under $500 to replace the accumulator... :crackup: :dielaugh:

I ordered an AC Delco accumulator, 3 cans of refrigerant and some PAG 150 oil all for $80 off Amazon.

Bye bye Corolla LED projector headlight mod, that didn't take me 1+ year to complete :raspberry:
 
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That was it- I sanded the male end of the line and applied some lubricant and they went together just like snapping a femur.
Then I realized I forgot to put the black plastic retainer on the line, so I put a slit in one, popped it on the line, and zip-tied it down.
I am sure glad to be done that job. But $70 and a few weeknights sure beats whatever a professional would have charged.

In anticipation for my Transgo kit arriving tomorrow, I dropped the valve body and installed Sonnax pinless accumulator pistons. Not a bad job. I was more nervous than anything. Tomorrow I replace the valve which was causing TCC flutter and button everything back up, cross my fingers, and hope I'm driving back home in my TrailBlazer.
 
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Using a fully automatic air-soft gun i protected it from the male humming birds. Would i be out of line to ask the neighbor to relocate their feeder from the front to back yard?
 
Fooled with Trans lines again. Got under it after work to check everything and had a bit of fluid under the front end. Seems that the discharge side of the stock cooler was leaking where I put the adapter in to run a hose to the new cooler.

Couldn't tell for sure if it was the fitting or the hose leaking so I just pulled everything apart, checked everything out, and put it back together. Sprayed it off real well and drove it a little and I don't see a leak anymore. Hopefully that's it and I won't have to mess with it again. To hell with those clips though.
 
Put my repaired LED tail lights back on the truck. Hopefully they'll hold up.
 
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dna59 said:
Got a ported enclosure built for the JL sub and sounds much better. Now I have to relocate the amp and add some tweeters to the vacant dash openings.
Click to expand...
Where's the amp gonna go?
 
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Stryker11 said:
Where's the amp gonna go?
Click to expand...

I'm putting the amp in the storage compartment in the floor. Unsure if I will have it hidden or build a panel like I've done before like seen below. My initial thought is to ground it using one of the cargo anchor hooks, currently is grounded to the one of the rear seat bolts.

 
Filled the gas tank up, 17.2 gal, was surprised that my mileage was up more than I'm used to seeing .

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That was about 75% hwy/ 25% city, AC on, I did make a commitment that I would try to take it easy on this tank...well, I did for the most part minus a couple hard starts but nothing serious.

I want to see how these new Michelin Defender LTX's do so after about 5K miles they should be well beyond being settled in. I'll try to take it easy this tank as well.
 
She's alive! Man, I missed my ride so much.

In summary, this week I installed new Dorman trans cooler lines, Sonnax pinless accumulator pistons, a new "Iso-Conv" valve, a new VB separator plate, and (over)filled it with Dexron VI.
I did not replace the accumulator springs, I did not drill the VB spacer plate, and I had to drain some fluid because I added too much. Whoops.

This thing shifts like a dream. With 130% shift firmness and no PWM, it feels as close as you can imagine to a 5-speed Allison. Short, firm, but not choppy shifts.
Definitely a messy and frustrating job, but it's very satisfying in the end. I am so excited to drive to work tomorrow morning.
 
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Got it installed today. Paid too much for parts I didn't need. I got the shift knob, shift assembly and center console top. Surely feels better than the other one. Next up is buying a HP Tuner system and get things tuned up remotely with Supermod from over at 355nation.

 
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$ Khalid ! 9130 said:
Well I finally got around to air only blowing from the defrost and leg areas only. It was a bad recalibration. Or seems like so. Anyho I had both actuator's out and disconnected. Then I played with the stick controlling the actuator and got the air to blow from the front vents manually. Then disconnected the battery. Reattached the two actuators. Replaced the battery. And voila air still blows from the front vents. Haven't tried to change the position but I dare not! I am just happy my car is back on the road with no lights in the dashboard either :2thumbsup:
Click to expand...
 
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Friday drove it to Elkhart, today drove it back. Got 16.5 mpg which is only 0.5 mpg less than I was getting before I fixed some stuff and only 1.5 mpg from rated. Given this is after raising the front up 2" and putting much heavier 33" load range E tires on it vs the stock 32" (well 31.5") P rated tires I can't really complain at all.

Drove it through some ridiculously heavy rain on my way home and not even a hint of hydroplaning, definitely better than the old tires for sure.
 
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Started installing some tweeters I had laying around. With the new sub enclosure I really need more highs to get the sound I want. I'm trying to avoid running a 4 channel amp and components so hopes this is good enough for me. If not I have those laying around too.

 
dna59 said:
Started installing some tweeters I had laying around. With the new sub enclosure I really need more highs to get the sound I want. I'm trying to avoid running a 4 channel amp and components so hopes this is good enough for me. If not I have those laying around too.

Click to expand...
Wouldn't you need a 5 channel amp? 1 chanel for each speaker and the 1 chanel for the sub?
 
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