What did you do to your GMT today?

[xavierny25]

Got the last bit of the rear suspension put in.

Before.

After.

I have to get it on a real car lift to get the pic I want but this is exactly what I was looking for when I started this project.
I have to tackle all the surface rust on the frame hopefully sometime this spring.

 

[wstuckey1]

I changed my oil for the first time since my skid plates. I had forgotten how hard it is to install them by yourself.

 

[TollKeeper]

Part 2 of my long read... Good dead #2.

So after I get home, I am sitting on the forums, and the power goes out. Call the power company, and they tell me that its going to be the next day before they get it back on (came on about 4 hours ago now). So realizing its going to get cold in the house, and realizing that all my fireplace wood is outside, soaked from the rain 2 days ago, and now frozen from the blizzard..

I pull the emergency release for the garage door, and head out to my local Lowes. Its usually about a 5 minute drive, took 90 minutes. Road is completely blocked. Police have called in the local national guard to pull everyone out of there cars, and are just abandoning the vehicles where they sit. Problem is that the National guard cant get to them because a Semi-Bobtail is blocking the way to them. I again put my XUV into 4x4, grab my tow strap, hook it to the back of the semi, and start pulling. Definetly a bigger pull than the Dodge Journey earlier, but I have faith in my beast. 3 good yanks, and its moving, wheels were stuck in his own ruts. Trooper runs up to me to tell me where to drag him to for everyones safety, its about 150 feet UP the street. So I just keep pulling.

Trooper comes up to me and asks if I can pull a Honda Odyssey out. I look down to where the Mini-Van is, and flat out say NO. I would have to blow thru snow drifts that are as tall as my truck. I have faith in my beast, but I need to get some firewood, and head home to keep my Mini-Me warm.

Found an alternate route to the Lowes, picked up some firewood, and a light switch for my office, and headed over to a Chick-A-Filet, then on home. Snuggled up with my wife in front of the crackling fireplace, and had some chicken dinner.

My back is hurting today. Probably over did it a bit yesterday (have 5 partially blown discs). Work calls me and says the power is still out. Wish they would have called me before I got half way to work. The roads are still bad out there.

 

[BrianF]

Finished my block of shifts and drove the GMT400 home. No more code 43 and with the EGR hooked up, no code 32 but still a slight low rpm stumble. Tells me it is the valve.

On my 3500, I opened up the flaps on the winter front, first time in months.

Tomorrow I tackle the front end links on the TB.

 

[xavierny25]

Started messing with my fog light issue and dropped that till I get a replacement light control switch. While putting my tools away I came across the spark plugs I've been meaning to replace. So I went ahead and tackled that while I still had light out and it didn't start raining.
COIL 1 through 6 read left to right.

 

[BrianF]

Tb got the new links and bushings. Then I payed some attention to the GMT400. Chasing down the poor fuel economy so I decided to check those plugs. They were in great shape with a beautiful and even tan color. I checked gap, which was .045 all across the board. Emissions sticker and the interweb tell me .035, so that's what they all got. Now to put some miles on her to check.

 

[Reprise]

Took Sierra #1 to the emissions test station the other day. Got a nice surprise - the truck is actually exempt from testing, due to the GVWR of #8800. Which means the other Sierra is, too. Yay me. Although I'm wondering why I got a test notice for it -- prolly b/c this was the first time the truck had been titled in IL (it spent its whole life up until now in WI). FWIW, I get to repeat the trip for the Voy pretty soon.

Drove Sierra #2 around a bit with its fresh oil, and hooked it up to Torque, to see if I could get any info on the misfires. Not much on those - I set up R/T and historical counters for all 8 cylinders, and while I saw intermittent R/T misfires across many of the 8, none were 'stored' for more than a few seconds.

(by comparison, Sierra #1 is clean on all cylinders except for #5, and it has plenty of them stored for that one. But I'm not tracking that one down further, since it's for sale and no CEL.)

Anyway, on the new truck, I ran a diagnostic scan, and the only thing that came up was a 'pending' 'P0171 - Bank 1 too lean'. Which could (?) explain the rough idle. Put it back in the garage and made plans to get up close & personal with the MAF sensor. If I'm feeling frisky afterward, I'll pull the plugs & put the ones in I'd been saving from the other truck. Curious to see what the ones in this new (to me) truck look like. Cheap LS ignition wire recommendations, anyone?

Feeling more & more like the new truck has some sort of tune -- its throttle response feels at least as good as the old one, which has a Limequat-provided tune on it.

 

[wstuckey1]

Put in my new speakers. New JBL speakers in the front doors and the oem front door speakers got moved to the rear. They sound amazing!

 

[Matt]

Update, finally got the belt on the Rav and will be sending back the new tensioner...now she can get rid of the bloody thing.

 

[xavierny25]

Drove it to work this morning.q

 

[Reprise]

Sold one (well, I've got a committed buyer, at least...he left a deposit and is due to bring the balance on Wed.)

Funny thing...I had put the tan Sierra on my area CL twice, and had my share of 'CL morons', as @Mooseman so affectionately calls them. Took the truck to a nearby strip mall that gets a lot of traffic passing by, about noon yesterday.

9:30am this morning, I get the call from the guy who wants to see it, and winds up buying it. Not counting my chickens, but I don't think he'll back out of the deal.

Where I'm amazed, is that it only took me about 1-2 days to sell another vehicle a few years ago, putting it in that same strip mall.

If I ever have another vehicle I want to sell, I guess I know how I'm selling it!

And it looks like the proceeds may already be spent - the new axle on the QS truck is making noise, as well. The conditions under which it occurs make me think it's the posi unit - and if it is, Eaton makes a drop-in replacement. Not gonna put a third Trac-Lok (Dana LS) in.

 

[BrianF]

Went to inspect the front brakes on my C1500, which I have been incorrectly calling the K1500. My truck is indeed only 2wd but K code with the 350. My mistake. On that note... I pulled the slide pins out, which were bone dry. They got a wipe down and fresh silicone grease. The iron on iron caliper slide area was quite rusty so I knocked it all free and put in a small amount of silicone grease and worked it in. I will give GM one on the board for how easy it was to rip the pins out.

Issue 1: The bleed valves are rusted in. I hit them again with a wire brush and penetrant. Using a 10mm wrench I had no give on either direction. I will keep working on them... Not surprising since they had no rubber boot on them.

Issue 2: The driver side outer tie rod end had a decent amount of play in all directions. Just great. I filled it with grease again and dosed everything with penetrant. I ordered some cheapo ACDelco Advantage outers from RA, which should be here sometime this calendar year. They are greaseable, 16 bucks apiece all in and will monitor any wear. I put maybe 4,500km on this truck in 1.5 years so it is not a high miler. Those Moog were my top choice but I wanted to test out the cheapo line.

Oh well, they look original, making them 26 years old with 375,000km on them. For 32 bucks, no biggie. The wife wants me to source out a parts truck as well from Chickenman (aka Towman), who is our local tow truck/wrecking yard guy.

 

[gpking]

I fit the new $45 "junkyard brush guard" to devise a way to mount it that isn't stupid like the mounts they offer.


I discovered the tow hooks run all the way to the air slot for the power steering cooler. Ding ding ding!
Rather than going way outside and through the tow hook holes like Waag did, I am going to remove some material from the bumper cover in that slot and mount the guard using two L-shaped brackets which connect the brush guard to the tow hook mount points.

My design only uses a 12x12" sheet and 24" of 2" square tube steel.

Now to gather materials and mock it up!

 

[Sparky]

Drove it to work. Have noticed the last few times I've driven it the mysterious clunk has just as mysteriously disappeared

 

[Mounce]

New upper and lower ball joints for the trailblazer, went with mevotech ttx. All went pretty smooth besides press issues and surprise of the "factory" lowers being different sizes like one had been changed. Still need lower control arm bushings and end links all the way around.

 

[Blckshdw]

Yesterday on my way to work, I tried to close the cargo area windows. When I left work yesterday, I noticed the passenger side one was still open Hopped in the truck and tried to close it, since it was drizzling, but no dice. Same thing when I got home, but I had things to do, so couldn't troubleshoot.

This morning when leaving for work, tried the switch again, and the window closed normally. OK... Hit it again, and it opened as usual. But then it wouldn't close. Get home today, and start troubleshooting... First, the eyeball test... Umm, OK something is wrong here, the passenger side switch is visibly recessed.




At this point the switch wouldn't move very much at all, so time to pull the console down and see what's going on up there. Turns out, one of the plastic tabs on the switch housing has cracked, and isn't holding the clip securely. So pressing up on the switch, was causing the switch to separate, and push up into the overhead console.



Pressed the switch back together, it's sort of locked in. Not sure how I'm gonna deal with that. I may break out the hot air station, and try to melt the plastic so it welds itself back together. May try JB Weld, just have to find it, it's around here somewhere. Worst case, make a trip to the junk yard and hope to find an EXT to scavenge off of.

 

[gpking]

Project Junkyard Brush Guard continues... https://gmtnation.com/forums/threads/what-did-you-do-to-your-gmt-today.800/post-577349
I got some metal (probably went a bit overkill with 0.25" steel, but whatever) and mocked up some mount points for the brush guard.

Two pieces of tube 5" long (circled in red) are sandwiched/bolted between the bumper and the tow hooks, ensuring they are stout.
Some trimming of the bumper cover (circled in blue) is all that was needed to accommodate it. You can't even see it unless you get on the ground.


So then a piece of tube will be welded perpendicular, forming an L-shaped bracket.
The brush guard will either bolt right through the tube, or I will use some extra plate and weld to the sides to allow for vertical adjustment.


It's coming together!

 

[BrianF]

Nothing fancy but I drove my C1500 to work yesterday and noticed that I had fixed the braking issue. It would pull to the right under moderate to heavy braking. Obviously the maintenance I recently did resolved this issue. Im a superstar...

 

[xavierny25]

You know I just had to try out the new tire inflator that came in the mail. Worked like a charm had to adjust the preset tire pressure but shut off just like it had to. Set it and forget it! I'm liking this alot compared to my previous harbor freight.

 

[wstuckey1]

You know I just had to try out the new tire inflator that came in the mail. Worked like a charm had to adjust the preset tire pressure but shut off just like it had to. Set it and forget it! I'm liking this alot compared to my previous harbor freight.View attachment 87917

What compressor is that? I have a harbor freight compressor and I’m manually turning it on and off for the tank for my air horn.

 

[xavierny25]

What compressor is that? I have a harbor freight compressor and I’m manually turning it on and off for the tank for my air horn.

Amazon
NoOne Air Compressor Tire... https://www.amazon.com/dp/B06XC3BZPH/?tag=gmtnation-20

I didn't check but I'm not sure if it will cut in and out as the tank fills or looses pressure for your application.

EDIT:I got it for $32.00 on a daily deal with the additional 10% discount.

 

[xavierny25]

Changed out the motor oil.

 

[gmcman]

Replacing all the fuel injectors today, about at the halfway point.

 

[gmcman]

Quick update, new injectors on clean rail...they are stubborn to remove and reinstall to the rail, even with the seal oiled but not terrible.



Leak test passed, had to do this before reinstalling the intake...Murphys law. Pressure regulator has to come back off to get the intake on but I'll take that over the whole intake.




After a road test, I can say for certain it feels better. Not a huge difference, but overall driveability is better, quicker to level off at speed under part throttle, seems quieter also.

I'll give it a few days and let the fuel trims smooth out, among other sensors.

 

[gmcman]

Finally washed off the winter salt dust, grime from the engine bay. Have a bit of detailing to do but doesn't look abandoned anymore. l

 

[BrianF]

2 hours and I installed the new outer tie rod ends on the C1500. Used ACDelco Advantage line. They used the same rubber boots from what ever TRE's were on there. The new ones used a nylon lock washer and the old ones used a cotter pin.

Was easy enough to do with simple hand tools. Hardest part was unscrewing the TRE from the adjusting sleeve on the driver side. Needed to break it loose with a pipe wrench. Other than that, it was simpler than doing them on the Tb. Also greased up the ball joints and steering linkage.

In hindsight I should have also done the inners as they were loose but no play detected. Oh well, another project for another day.

 

[wstuckey1]

Rear brake calipers and pads.

 

[Mooseman]

Oil change. It was way overdue with the light on for about 2k km. Oil wasn't overly dark. Last oil was at the dealer. At least it was with Dexos oil and ACDelco filter. Now running Mobil1 and Fram Ultra Synth filter.

 

[BrianF]

Those Fram Ultra's are great filters. Great specs and built quite well. I have been running those on my Tb and previous 1500 for quite a few years.

I decided to adjust my e brake today. It has been less than useless since I did the rear brakes 2 years ago. I used Napa premium coated rotors and I think the drum diameter was off, causing next to no shoe engagement.

Took less than 2 hours from setup to cleanup and test drive. The hard part was done when the rear brakes were changed. The caliper bolts were welded in and the rotors had to be destroyed smashing them off with a sledge and air chisel. A little torque and they came right out and the rotors popped off easy.

I adjusted them on the conservative side as they were not quite dragging on the drum. They locked solid in reverse and slid free at 1400rpm in drive. I could also lock them up on the dirt road and skid nicely.

 

[Mooseman]

Excellent filters. I hoarded a bunch when Wally World was liquidating them when they briefly switched to Purolator. Got them for like $5 each.

Another thing I do is put magnets on the filter. I used to put old hard drive magnets but found these nice magnets on Amazon, which will probably work better.

BIGTEDDY - 12x Strong Rare Earth N42 NdFeB Neodymium Rectangular Block Thin Magnet Bars for DIY, Scientific, Home and Office - 60x10x4mm : Amazon.ca: Industrial & Scientific

BIGTEDDY - 12x Strong Rare Earth N42 NdFeB Neodymium Rectangular Block Thin Magnet Bars for DIY, Scientific, Home and Office - 60x10x4mm : Amazon.ca: Industrial & Scientific

www.amazon.ca

 

[BrianF]

Pics or it didn't happen. I also inspected the passenger side axle seal. When I did the brakes 2 years ago it looked like it was starting to leak. It did attract a bit of dust but I will leave it as is. Seems it is just weeping. Also the condition of the Napa Premium coated rotors. Rust is at decent levels but they are grooved up. The joys of dust and gravel road driving.

 

[gmcman]

Replaced rear brakes, minus the braided lines as I have recently discovered the TBSS rear lines dont work on the rear of the 02.



Will have to either use OE rubber hoses or try to source some braided lines.

 

[xavierny25]

Replaced rear brakes, minus the braided lines as I have recently discovered the TBSS rear lines dont work on the rear of the 02.

View attachment 87994

Will have to either use OE rubber hoses or try to source some braided lines.

View attachment 87995

I'll buy that rear set off you if your willing to ship them to me. I'll use them on my brother-in-law's TBSS.

 

[gmcman]

I'll buy that rear set off you if your willing to ship them to me. I'll use them on my brother-in-law's TBSS.

That shouldn't be a problem at all.

I'm going to show my buddy the lines and see if he can cut some threads and machine the junction block to accept the brake line. If not then I will surely sell them to you.

 

[smt 59]

Replaced the rear end links today, big difference in eliminating some of the noise, inspection did not dictate replacement but when we took them off they were done. Replaced with Moog. Springs next week.

 

[Mike534x]

Envoy - Nothing new. Did new hose clamps for the upper and lower radiator hoses. So far they seem to be holding, and not allowing coolant to leak through. Kept having the upper hose back off, but so far it seems to be staying in place.

Avalanche - Kept having a slight miss at idle, enough to feel the truck vibrate. I did the plugs on it about 4-5 years ago, but not the wires. Ordered a new set, and swapped them out which solved the miss I was feeling. I was also noticing the temp gauge's reading would be off a few degrees from what Torque was reading, so I swapped them out while I was in there changing out the wires. I changed out the rear sway bar bushings, after returning one set since I goofed up the measurements. Solved my loose rear end, just need to take care of the sway bar links next. Picked up 3 quarts of AutoTrak II fluid from the Dealer, I'm pretty sure it was never changed since the factory. It was pretty dark, but didn't smell burnt or have metal shavings so thats a plus. I'll let the new stuff work its way in and maybe change it one more time in the next couple hundred miles.

Next job this summer is tackling the water pump on the Avay for sure. Keep smelling coolant, but no signs of leaks or anything. My dads Yukon did the same until it eventually started bleeding out the gasket.

 

[Matt]

Filled it up since it was empty before we left for Florida. BTW, petrol in Florida is $2.79 a gallon and around here it's $2.39.

 

[Reprise]

I'd kill for $2.39 -- we're at the brink of $3.00; it's been climbing for the past several weeks (for several reasons -- summer blend, commodity pricing, etc.) Enjoy your trip!

As for me... putting the intake back on the Sierra (or, more specifically, the throttle body, first).
Spec is for 89 in/lbs (with new gasket, just for those wondering). And, yes, I validated that from TWO different sources.

I get out the 1/4" torque wrench, and I had first set it to 29 in/lb. But it felt too tight and wasn't clicking at where I thought '29' would be. Not wanting to break the stud, I back off, loosen the nut, and decide to get a replacement wrench (has a lifetime guarantee) vs. getting out the 3/8" and doing the conversion (7.42 ft/lb, again, for those wondering).

Get the new wrench home, prep it for use, and set IT to 29 in/lb, just for comparison. Same thing - feels tight. Figuring that "it's just me" at this point, I continue turning, and... SNAP! One broken stud. FMR.

Thankfully, b/c of the thickness of the TB, it doesn't take much effort / time to put the vise-grips on the remnant of the stud & turn it out (which is only spec'd to 53 in-lb, and thank g*d GM used a replaceable dual threaded stud instead of molding it into the intake). Now I'm looking for a new stud (and the one from my other intake doesn't fit.)

But at this point, I have to ask... WHAT is it about me, and excessive torque? I know what 'the click' sounds & feels like. Seriously considering using the 3/8" for the actual intake bolts -- the last thing I want is to break one of those off in the head, as I will NOT be a happy camper if that happens.

Yes, I took pics of my work, and an update to my 'O2 sensor' post is coming, when I finish the job. Patience, peeps

 

[Mooseman]

Put the battery charger on the Saab. It read 0v. That's what happens when you park it in the fall and don't disconnect the battery. Charger at first gave a "bad batt" message after a few hours. Reconnected it at 10A, seems to be taking a charge and is at 65% but I'm not holding too much hope for it.

 

[Reprise]

It's gone, Moose. Sorry, but it ain't coming back.

"No resurrections, this time." - Thanos
"He's gone, Jim" - 'Bones' McCoy

If it starts, it won't maintain SoC and it'll be dead again in a day or so.

"Damn it, Jim... I'm a doctor -- not a miracle worker!"