What did you do to your GMT today?

[Mike534x]

Yeah right! I have a scar on my left forearm from when I did mine last summer...a gentle reminder that I never want to do it again.



It would because it's just been done: https://gmtnation.com/forums/thread...-without-dropping-the-tank.20325/#post-588310

I prepared myself for any cuts! I bought one of those brown elastic wraps, and wrapped my right forearm with it to avoid cutting myself. It actually worked too! Ended up cutting the wrap but my arm mostly survived, aside from it aching from going through that tight crummy angle.

 

[littleblazer]

Towed stuff.

 

[Mounce]

DIY Trans Flush for the Silverado @ 136k miles. Metal tubing running to the radiator cooler is an intermediate line that I took off of the trailblazer back when I put the trans cooler on it. Worked like a charm, kept me from buying an adapter, and saved me some time! Woulda been better to cut it at the lower elbow now that I look at it but oh well, maybe next time.



Was a pita to get to the two T40 bolts on top of the shift cable bracket. As in after 20 minutes I gave up and tried to wiggle the pan out from under it, couldn't, and had to revisit it with more success.



Ended up using just shy of 16 quarts of fluid. Used Valvoline MaxLife and a Wix filter. So far so good.

 

[littleblazer]

The towing setup on the truck is pretty nice. Brought the skidsteer back home. Bout 40 miles or so, some highway, some heavy grades and some stop and go. Hardly could get the trans above 160 in roughly 85 degree weather. I like.

 

[Blckshdw]

I've noticed quite a bit of water in my driver's side tail light, and was finally annoyed enough to do something about it.





After dumping the water out, I blew compressed air to dry it out as much as possible. On closer inspection, I could see that water was getting in through the top bulb opening, and trickling down everywhere else. All the dirt was accumulating in the bottom reflector bowl.





Looked at the circuit board, figuring I just needed a new gasket, but strangely enough, the gasket looked perfectly fine, just like the other 2. Then I looked at the tail light housing and saw the problem. I have no idea when or how the hell this even happened.





Pulled out an old tube of RTV, and slathered a bunch in that top area, shaped it a bit, and set that aside to dry. In the meantime, got curious about my rear bumper cover. It has a sag on the passenger side under the tail light from getting hit (twice ) My guess was, some mount or support was bent, and if I bent it back, that would fix the gap and sag issue. After fighting with the lower push pins, finally got the cover off, and got a look. As I suspected, one of the mounts was bent down some.




Got a scrap block of wood, and my hammer. Couple of taps, and everything was high and tight. Put the bumper cover back on and... It didn't change a damn thing!! Same sag, same gap. So the problem is with the cover itself, guess that's one more reason to change to the LT version once I get some practice with the paint gun

 

[Mounce]

Removed the decrepit hood insulation, tired of it being the worst looking part of my truck lol. Also fixed my dual turns, have had issues with the Dorman sockets I used not getting along with the led bases so they'd come loose and go out occasionally, wrapped some tape around the engagement point and they're solid. Also taped the bottom pins of the headlights where they slide into the header panel due to loosey goosey flopping characteristics on bumps. Gotta love aftermarket parts.

Here's the eyesore

 

[BrianF]

I tried to change the O2 sensor on the 360. Thing was in there. Had run the engine almost to operating temp and it never budged. I have it soaking in penetrant, so I will try again in a few hours, if not another day.

Swapped out the KS in the C1500. The usual strong piss of coolant down my arm and fumbling like a teenager with his first girlfriend trying to get the new sensor in there. Just have to run it, burp the system and add new coolant. Hopefully the thing works.

 

[coolride]

Worked on the seized rear end fill plug. I've been taping (hammering,) and clearing out rust, and soaking with WD40. The other day I got serious and switched to PB Blaster, and this morning I put some heat to it. I'll take a short 3/8" extension along with me today and will stop at my father's to grind the end flat.

Also put some WD40 to the fan clutch. When spun by hand, It grabbed in spots and made a little noise. The WD40 seems to have solved the problem. I think a little rust was taking hold.

 

[BrianF]

I put some miles on the C1500. Seems to run stronger than before. No code 43 anymore. What I found was the truck woke up. It is snappier on the throttle and you hear a marked difference in the exhaust tone from each bank. As a recap, it has true duals and no cross over, so you could really differentiate how the banks are running. Right now she sounds very balanced and the tone has changed.

Hopefully mileage improves but overall it feels and sounds like the KS and TBI rebuild has helped.

 

[KylePlacke]

I found an active forum that I've seemingly overlooked multiple times in search of anyone thats used a CD slot Tablet mount. I'm buying the cheap walmart RCA windows 10 tablet to use for datalogging and tuning and I'm trying to avoid obnoxious passenger inconveniences.

Here's my truck!

 

[Blckshdw]

Last night, my buddy told me that only my 3rd brake light was working, and only the passenger side parking light was on. So this morning, had to do some troubleshooting Everything was fine during the week, as I can see the front wall of my garage light up when I come and go.

First thing, checked the fuse... Blown as expected




Unplugged the driver's side assembly, popped in a new fuse, and tested the circuit. Passenger side lights up, fuse stays intact. Pull the bulbs out, and check the problem child to find this Umm yeah, I think we found the problem... Or did we?






Turned my attention to the socket, and it was kinda nasty in there. Melted plastic from the bulb base, and half of one of the pins stuck in place. I'm assuming that the water that was coming in through the top of the bulb opening, was trickling into the socket, causing corrosion, which got things warm enough to melt the plastic, to the point one of the pins broke off and shorted the brake light circuit.

Used a pick tool to clean out as much melted plastic and crap as I could, plugged in the board with the socket empty and tested it. No blown fuse, so at least now there's no more short. Don't have any spare bulbs, so popped in the reverse light bulb for the time being. Will head out in a few for a fresh set. Probably order a new circuit board this afternoon just so I won't have to worry about it later.




You know, this is probably the truck's way of telling me I should get some LED bulbs back there.

 

[Mooseman]

Or get complete tail assemblies with built-in LEDs. Looks stock and come with load resistors. Totally plug and play.

I kept my set from the 02 and will be putting them in soon since one of my backup lights is burnt.

 

[Mounce]

You know, this is probably the truck's way of telling me I should get some LED bulbs back there.

Yeah, I was wondering to myself how our led guru could do without leds. See the halogen bulbs like you less than you like them.

I let mine rest, topped off oil yesterday with some stp oil treatment. Meant to put it in on last oil change but forgot.

 

[Blckshdw]

Or get complete tail assemblies with built-in LEDs. Looks stock and come with load resistors. Totally plug and play.

Yeah, I was wondering to myself how our led guru could do without leds. See the halogen bulbs like you less than you like them.

I still have plans (at some point) to build those custom LED tails. I have the aftermarket tails to modify, and now that I have a HVLP gun, I guess i could bake them open, strip the chrome and paint the interior satin black. Maybe actually starting on the project will get it rolling. I still have my LED flasher module in, for the LEDs up front.

Not actually seeing the filament bulbs does make it easier to have them. Those first couple of weeks after I put the stock tails back in, whew... That was traumatic!

 

[Martyelzz4]

Put on my Nokian Winter tires and wheels.

 

[Mooseman]

I see you're still rockin' those Saabrolet wheels

 

[HARDTRAILZ]

last fix failed so i slapped some JB Weld high heat putty on the exhaust to seal a little gap. Worked well so far.

 

[TollKeeper]

Not today, but last night. Did an oil change with a ACDelco oil filter, and 7 quarts of Amazon Dexos motor oil.

I thought the 5.3 motors were 6 quarts. This thing took 7, and it took it right to the full line. WTF?

 

[stcavanaugh]

Replaced all four rotors and pads. Rotors didn't look too bad, and the pads still had about a third of their life left, but I was getting some wobble in the brake peddle (for quite some time, just been too lazy and too cheap to do it). Managed to do all four in about three hours, not including coffee/food brakes.

Seems to have gotten rid of the wobble thankfully. I just used the AC Delco gear from amazon, not the professional, the cheaper ones. Only rounded out one bolt too, so I'd call it a complete success.

 

[BrianF]

Used the C1500 for some fencing. That 8' box is just the best. She is 2wd so its the perfect height to work off the tailgate. I loaded up some lumber, my saw and a drill and went to work. Love that old bitch.

 

[Sparky]

Was getting my son out of the back seat and put my foot a bit inward on the nerf bar step. Felt and heard a *crunch*. What? Oh...



I guess the rocker rust is a teensy bit worse than I thought...

 

[Mike534x]

Bought Fluid Film earlier in the week to protect the Avalanche's frame this winter......those plans were scrapped. Currently have it parked for now, until I decide what to do with the truck. I don't believe its going to last this winter so I'm thinking of cutting my losses now before it gets much worse.

@Sparky At least its the rocker panel, mine is the frame running under the driver seat.

 

[TollKeeper]

That's not looking good man... After seeing that, I guess I need to ask a premium when selling my 06 LTZ Avalanche

 

[Mounce]

Pulled it into the garage and threatened it with the shift kit. Decided to wait till my next off day and get an earlier start than I did today. Checked fluids and cleaned it out.

 

[Mike534x]

That's not looking good man... After seeing that, I guess I need to ask a premium when selling my 06 LTZ Avalanche

Yeah its time to let her go sadly, and the clear coat is getting foggy/cloudy so I imagine its going to start coming off within the next year or too. I have yet to see an Avalanche that did't have rusted out panels, or a frame that looked like it sat in a salty lake its entire life. I still love the truck, but I don't think I would get another one haha. If I had the mechanical know how, I'd rip the Engine/Tranny out and keep it for my Envoy. Every older GM truck is fetching a premium near me, mostly in the 7-9k range w/150k+ too. Once shes gone, I'm thinking of getting another Envoy or Trailblazer.


Aside from cleaning a few things from the Avalanche, I did an oil change on the Envoy. Still had about 50% remaining on the OLM, but wanted to get it done before Winter. I usually use Mobil 1 HM Full Synthetic 5w30, but wanted to try out Valvoline so I bought their HM FS stuff to try out. One thing I did notice is that the engine seems to sound quieter, like theres less noise (?) coming from the valvetrain. Also trying out a K&N HP-1007 filter, since its supposedly the exact same as the Mobil 1 filter, for half the cost.

 

[littleblazer]

Idk what I did to each one anymore... the Sierra got new motor mounts... they were literally ripped out and the fan wouldn't clear the lower shroud anymore. A hard brake actually would allow it to push the steering gear. Oops. The mechanic said he never saw them tear like that... I followed that with when the gas pedal is treated as an on off switch for 12 years I could see that happening...

Escalade got the windscreen for the sunroof looked at. I need to fix the riser on the track for it then it'll be good. Upper and lower control arms are in the garage waiting.

Tahoe got the windshield cleaned as did the colorado.

Trailblazer got gas and a scolding.

Colorado is going back to have its bedliner re done again in the near future.

The race truck remains parked because it developed a rich condition. It's got a severe gas smell at idle and drops several hundred rpms at part throttle driving. I'm thinking crank sensor or coil or maybe the stator thing in the distributor. After I grenaded the rear diff yoke a few weeks ago shes been salty...

I'm sure I've missed other crap too. Not to mention all the health stuff I'm dealing with but that's for another day.

 

[Beacon]

Did some undercoating rust proofing. Wire wheeled, hand brush, scotch brite, rusty metal primer, truck bed liner, and eastwood internal frame paint (green). i like the eastwood product, but i should have taken the hose out of the box and left it straighten out a couple weeks ago. I only had time to do one side, because the oil needed changed, so hopefully i can get the hose for the other cans to straighten out before i get to the passenger side.

 

[Reprise]

Made the test drive w/ the Sierra (p/s work) to the tire shop to schedule an alignment in a couple of days (tie rods / ball joints replaced).

As I pulled in the parking lot and looked for a space, I noticed I had next to no assist at low speed / idle. So I still have some bleeding to do. Fluid level when I got there was lower than optimal, but pump not dry & fluid not foamy.

Meanwhile, part of the reason I buttoned everything up on the Sierra was b/c I now have to put the Envoy back in the garage due to a collapsed brake line. Guessing it's on the corner where I R&R'd the driver's side hub a few weeks ago; fluid location on ground suggests same.

 

[TollKeeper]

Yeah its time to let her go sadly, and the clear coat is getting foggy/cloudy so I imagine its going to start coming off within the next year or too. I have yet to see an Avalanche that did't have rusted out panels, or a frame that looked like it sat in a salty lake its entire life. I still love the truck, but I don't think I would get another one haha. If I had the mechanical know how, I'd rip the Engine/Tranny out and keep it for my Envoy. Every older GM truck is fetching a premium near me, mostly in the 7-9k range w/150k+ too. Once shes gone, I'm thinking of getting another Envoy or Trailblazer.

Where do you live man? I have mine listed for 5000 here in Denver, and I cant even get a nibble. Mines completely rust free (Even on the frame), with a new tranny, and rear end. 190k miles on it. All the bells on whistles. Only problem it has in the GM typical paint peel syndrome on the hood.

 

[Mike534x]

Where do you live man? I have mine listed for 5000 here in Denver, and I cant even get a nibble. Mines completely rust free (Even on the frame), with a new tranny, and rear end. 190k miles on it. All the bells on whistles. Only problem it has in the GM typical paint peel syndrome on the hood.

I'm in Northwest Indiana, mine has all the options as well minus traction control for some reason. Theres 02 to 06 Avalanches (not even the fully loaded ones) going for low 5500's to 7. Theres an 05 that was just posted, that has a 3 inch lift (stock tires) with 65k on the odometer with paperwork to back it up being sold for 10k. Every Avalanche and Tahoe/Suburban I've looked at or seen being sold has rotted rocker panels, rusted bumpers/doors/fenders being sold for as low as 6k and have close to 200k. But most do sell, the ones I see on the way to work never stay more then a few weeks to a month on the car lots.

 

[Blckshdw]

Drove it in cruise control on a few of the long straights of my commute this morning, and evening.

Why is that worthy of a post you say? Well I recently swapped out the remaining filament bulbs in my tail lights, for LEDs, and have the LM487 turn signal module. It's been widely posted (by me ) that others have reported losing cruise control with this combination, without adding load resistors.

Welp, guess I'll have to stop saying that moving forward, at least until someone active on the site tries it and has a different experience.

 

[Mooseman]

Installed the LED tails that were previously on the old 02. Much better!

However, spotted some paint bubbling caused by rust underneath on the roof near the seam. Weird place for it. And I had already found some rust under a rear door and just starting under the rear hatch in the typical lip area. I'll have to bring it to a shop for proper remediation before winter.

 

[TollKeeper]

Started my rebuild on my XUV. That started by purchasing a temporary vehicle, bought a 07 Saturn Vue Hybrid for 700 bucks (runs and drives). Going to put a timing chain on it this weekend (hopefully, has a P0016 code). Going to flip it when all done, was cheap enough, I can put a decent amount in to it, and still come out ahead. Plan is to clear check engine light, full detail interior, replace a fender and windshield. Likely sell it for 2500 when done . 1000 bucks goes a long way for paying for parts later.

Then today put the mid gate window motor in.

Picking up a G86 rear diff from a TBSS this weekend. Starting the shopping spree tomorrow for all the other parts.

 

[Mounce]

Transgo correction/shift kit, pinless accumulators, and vette servo for the Silverado.

 

[Mike534x]

Sold the Avalanche. I debated about fixing the frame, shops near me wanted $1000 to weld in a new section, and the others suggested a new frame entirely. Labor alone was quoted at about $4000 to swap them. I ended up taking it to the dealer, and got around around half of its value if I sold it out right on Craigslist or Facebook. It sucks, but its better then worrying about being sued/held liable for selling the truck privately and dealing with any of that. I was going to use it as a trade-in for a nice 08 TB LT with 80K but they sold it before I could even see it in person. Talk about bad luck lol. So I'm just going to hold off on finding a replacement until Spring/Summer, save a bit and see what I come across.

 

[Reprise]

Took the Sierra for its alignment; had them diagnose my lack of p/s assist at idle. I thought it was residual air; they say new p/s pump needed.

For what I'll need to remove to replace that, I wonder if I should just do my cam / head swap, while I'm at it (I need to remove the intake anyway to replace the knock sensor harness that I broke earlier, so... ) But I want to get out of dodge before the snow hits (and I need to get the brake line(s) replaced on the Voy, as well). Decisions, decisions... lol.

 

[xavierny25]

The SS got a new air intake today and some other goodies.
I'm still cleaning up the wiring on the audio system. I think I'm going to need a dsp to get the best out of the equipment in it now. A new 4 channel amp may be in the works for it.


Had to cut up the storage area a bit to get the fuse block to fit and be accessible but its covered up by the panel so I'm not to concerned.

 

[Mooseman]

Rewired the cig lighter fuse to work with the key in ACC or RUN by using a fuse tap on the wiper fuse. Now my dash cam will turn off by itself.

Heard a new noise which I figure is the left front splash guard. Only does it when turning left. Doing the brakes in the next couple of weeks and will rip it off then.

 

[BrianF]

I had some time today so I greased the outer tie rod ends, sway bar end links and U joints on the Trailblazer. I tried again on that O2 sensor but still no dice. I soaked it again with penetrant.

 

[Mounce]

Reset the transmission adaptive pressure table on the Silverado at work with the scanner.