What did you do to your GMT today?

[aaserv]

Had a few adventures last week. I ordered a 12" electric fan for the Envoy. somehow got it wedged in behind the grille and wired up to the old alarm switch in the dash below the radio. Now I can just hit the switch when I leave it idling and the extra air flow keeps the temp down. Ofcourse its in the 60's here now so have no idea if it will work when its 90+ degs next year.
Had the grille off and being lazy didnt bother to put it back on. Drove the Envoy all last weekend, the 1st extended driving in a long time. Probably put 75+ miles on it. Then watching the news last Sunday night and there was an Envoy IDENTICAL to mine except for the V-8 emblems that was involved in a hit and run about 4 miles from my house and the cops are on the lookout for it.....Here I am driving all over town with no front grille!!! I must have some kinda luck not to be in the slammer with a sprained neck and taser marks all over me!!
So I wake up Saturday determined to finally get that #8 spark plug changed. But 1st my work truck has had a CEL coming on and off since i went thru a concrete cloud when they were repaving a street a couple weeks ago. Throttle postion sensor so i figure it needs cleaning. Boy did it....I cleaned on that bad boy for a solid hour. Got it looking good and back together, fired it up and.....3000RPM idle!!!! Thought it would throw a rod.... Tried the cutting ignition on and off, etc but no help at all. Now Im in a panic as this is my daily driver for work. Drive it around a bit and no better, its stuck WFO....Its running down the road at 2200RPM without even touching the pedal. I should have done some more research but its close to noon now and Im desperate so I ck the local auto parts and the Irish have a re-man TB pretty cheap so I order it and its supposed to be in the store for pick up at 1pm.....2pm rolls around and havent heard a word, finally around 3 it gets there.
I pick it up and the change goes really easy.........UNTIL I remember watching a few videos where they recommend putting lock tite on the crews in the blade.... I better do that since its a re-man and probably doesnt have any. Find the perfect bit and somehow grab my drill to pop them out with. Put on the lock tite and not even thinking I put 1 on the drill and zip it back in......CRACK!!! Broke the screw off .........What a F'N idiot!!! Spent the next hour drilling the little screw out, somehow got a small square bit drove into the hole and was able to unscrew it through the back of the blade. Used a screw from the original throttle body and got it all back together finally... Fire it up and you guessed it.....3000RPM!!!!!!! Its damn near dark now so I come inside and do some research and ofcourse instantly Im reminded of the relearn it has to go through. Ive spent half a day changing a TB I didnt need to change....
Blew an entire Saturday for what should have been 2 hours work and o by the way..........Ol #8 is STILL in there!!

 

[TollKeeper]

@aaserv Pull the battery cable off, let it sit for about 30 mins, and plug the cable back in. Then turn on the key for like 30 seconds, and then start it.

Saturday me and my wife celebrated 15 years married, 21 years together. We were supposed to go out and get pics, but the weather didnt want to cooperate (65-90 mph winds, for an outdoor photoshoot, no thanks!).

So we went out for a drive, and I came up with the bright idea of visiting the place we used to frequent while on vacation in Colorado when we were living in Missouri, Winter Park, CO. That was a bit of a mistake... Got to Empire, CO, and we hit 50 MPH winds, with snow. Following a Semi truck up the hill, who is maybe 20 feet in front of me, as we were onlyk going about 10mph, and watching a Semi completely disappear from the blowing snow! Time to turn around, and head back home. I had plenty of faith in the truck, just not in everyone else around me.

It still amazes me how much weather can change in 5-10 miles. One side of Empire CO was clean and dry, just windy, 7 miles later, couldnt see shit!

 

[Blckshdw]

I ordered a 12" electric fan for the Envoy. somehow got it wedged in behind the grille and wired up to the old alarm switch in the dash below the radio. Now I can just hit the switch when I leave it idling and the extra air flow keeps the temp down. Ofcourse its in the 60's here now so have no idea if it will work when its 90+ degs next year.

So you've got it setup as a push fan, in addition to the stock fan/clutch?

 

[aaserv]

So you've got it setup as a push fan, in addition to the stock fan/clutch?

Yes, I don't think it would help much when moving as the pull from the fan clutch has it turning almost full speed when moving but while sitting at idle it definitely helps. Its probably not a cure but for $18 and 30 mins to install its worth a try.....until the 1st time i forget to turn it off and come out to a dead battery....lol

 

[BrianF]

I greased up the u joints, outer tie rod ends and end links on the Trailblazer. Was hell. Everything was cold and the grease gun was miserable, even after several hours to warm up. Just got so busy this fall when I should have done it.

I then made some wires with connectors to connect the grounds on the driver side of the frame with an underhood ground by the battery. This was in efforts to find the issue causing my brake and abs lights to be on. No change. I will bring it to a local independent shop for a scan of the chassis codes. Need to focus my efforts.

 

[Sparky]

Put that fan switch on an ignition switched circuit so you can't kill your battery.

I've just been driving mine. It needs an oil change. No time to do anything. Work has been ridiculous lately with late hours and such nonsense.

 

[northcreek]

Removed the gauge panel from my plow truck since this vehicle is not registered for the road so speedo and NG fuel gauge not needed plus the panel has some value on Ebay.
My FiTech readout has all the info I need plus a new Fuel gauge and sender were installed.
This is a shortened 77 Blazer with a Samurai body.

 

[BrianF]

Need full pics of this plow wagon. Otherwise I won't believe you.

 

[northcreek]

 

[aaserv]

Got #8 changed today. I swear I tried to change the thing when I had the strut off of it and couldnt even come close to it. Took the wheel off today went thru the fender flap and although I did it by feel as you still cant see it I took it right out. Im not sure these plugs were not original. Delco's with the same number I used to replace them and virtually no tip left on it. I wouldnt be shocked if these plugs had 203K on them. Runs much better of course but still sluggish below 60mph. Nail it at about 60 though and it will snap your head back. I still believe the camshaft is wore out.
I dont even remember how long its been since I got it back together and fired it up, months I know but less than 600 miles for sure. Oil still looks brand new, clean as the day I put it in. Next up is replacing the cam, valve springs and seals and those damn elcheapo rear shocks. Took the ones off my parts car but they feel worn out. Ill wait till I can get some new Bilsteins I guess unless I find some decent looking ones at U-PULL. I dont know when Ill get the cam done, not sure Im up to tearing it all down again by myself. Should have shimmed the new oil pump when I had it down so theres another reason to go back into it. Got a 4 bolt throttle body and intake but would need new rails, injectors, etc not to mention the now $250 x-link. Im always tight for cash during the winter so just take it as it comes I guess.
I do feel comfortable driving it now without fear of over heating or not starting. Its not 100 degs anymore either so that makes it a lot easier on the old gal.
I took the original grille and red GMC plate off the parts car and put it on it . Looks a lot better plus it came off the Envoy my Mother bought brand new in 2003 so its got some sentimental value to it also.. Took it out and washed it and made a few pics. Looking at the pics it does look a lil strange with out the rack on top.. Maybe could use a lil lift in the rear ???

 

[Mooseman]

Took the Av to the tire shop as it was losing about 5psi per day. Wound up being a damaged valve stem. Who knows if it was my novice attempt at installing tires the week before. Took the poor guy a while as he was having issues getting it on there for some reason. He made several attempts and had to replace the stem a couple of times, which are the type for TPMS. That's why I prefer the hard stems rather than the rubber ones.

 

[aaserv]

Found Bilsteins on a Black Friday sale and have 2 on the way (I hope). Put a link in the discount and Deals forum.
Hoping to get to U-Pull tomorrow. The rear view mirror on the Envoy drives me nuts and always has even since i used to drive my mothers way back when. I know its my height and seat position, etc but it completely blocks my view to the right at certain points where i really need it.
If anybody knows of any problems Im going to run into when I disconnect this 1 please let me know. Im not concerned with losing On Star but seems like I remember reading that it has some other functions as well...

 

[Sparky]

Changed the oil. Was at 6% on the OLM, and the "low oil" warning came up on the DIC. Oops. Realized I had only added maybe 1/2 qt in the middle of this oil change so that makes sense. I usually add 1 qt about halfway through but didn't and just plumb forgot about it since with COVID I haven't been driving near much this year. I'm sure it burns some oil but it also has about a half dozen little leaks also (but rarely leaves a drip anywhere, must leak while under pressure). Not unexpected at 226k.

Low tire PSI on the rear right - that's the one with the bad TPMS sensor (of course) and the one that I patched after a screw. I'll have to keep an eye on it.

 

[djthumper]

Changed the CPAS on the TB. Trying to get it ready for smog and the normal stuff didn't clear the P0014 and P0017 codes. I started to get P0300 so it was time to check and replace the CPAS.

 

[Reprise]

If anybody knows of any problems Im going to run into when I disconnect this 1 please let me know. Im not concerned with losing On Star but seems like I remember reading that it has some other functions as well...

If you have the compass and / or the electrochromic (auto night dimming) options, you'll lose those, although I'd think you'd probably have mentioned them, if you did. I'd miss mine, TBH.

If you have the RainSense wipers, I think the sensor is in that general area, too (so just a caution, if you plan on 'enthusiastically' removing the mirror... lol)

 

[TollKeeper]

You could always just turn the mirror upside down. It would look odd, but would move that bump on the mirror to the top. There should be enough length in the wires to allow for that.

 

[aaserv]

I never noticed, probably because Ive rarely driven it at night the auto dimming feature. I actually noticed it this past weekend and was thinking how cool it was. So if eliminating the mirror kills that then Ill have to go to plan B.. Ive driven a van all my life so i really dont even use a rear view mirror much. I think Im going to try moving it like an inch to the right and maybe a lil higher also. It really does bother me having a blind spot right there. I have to try something.
Drove it Sunday night and the power steering starting whining really loud. So I have a leak to fix somewhere. Havent had time to look at yet but cant drive it like it is.

Almost forgot.....when backing up at night the reverse lights, though they look pretty bright give me no vision in the rear at all. I cant see the edge of driveways, etc without rolling the window down and looking out. Its never been hit in the rear or anything but its not giving me enough light ........any ideas on brightening things up? I looked in the Haynes manual and I dont see any angle adjustment on the back up lights.

 

[Mounce]

reverse lights, though they look pretty bright give me no vision

Put you a set of these in there

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01EC27V1W/?tag=gmtnation-20

Took the Silverado to safelite and had a new windshield put in, got a rock chip that spread into a nice big U shaped crack in the middle of the windshield. Amazing how clear the glass is compared to the old 17 year old sand pitted glass. Only took them 30 minutes to put it in and was (in my opinion) outrageously cheap after a $40 off ad I found. $152 out the door.

 

[Matt]

Got the 4WD system reset. I'm not touching it now.

 

[northcreek]

I I cant see the edge of driveways, etc without rolling the window down and looking out. Its never been hit in the rear or anything but its not giving me enough light ........any ideas on brightening things up? I looked in the Haynes manual and I dont see any angle adjustment on the back up lights.

When I had my Envoy I removed the BU lights and installed a set of front driving lights in their place, end of problem. You will have to splice in the proper connector but they fit the hole perfectly.

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[Reprise]

Took the Silverado to safelite and had a new windshield put in <snippage> $152 out the door.

If I ever need a windshield replacement, I'm driving to Alabama. That is *cheap*. Well done!


As for me... finished my F/R u-joints on the Sierra, while I'm (still) waiting for my fuel pump exchange.
Making some notes for reference; I'll put them in a separate how-to thread, to keep this posting short.

The front yoke (4-way) practically fell in, compared to the rear joint, which definitely needed some 'finessing'. But they're done, to my satisfaction. Was kinda 'fun'. (no, seriously). Used a ball joint press to R&R them.

 

[Matt]

I was bored "working from home" yesterday, so I got the light bar out of the garage attic and did stuff.

 

[Mooseman]

Installed a pair of winter wipers and filled the Av with gas. Then drove it to pick up 3 Montana's Firecracker Chipotle Burgers for dinner. Oh, and our son who borrowed the TB for the week while he was here on a job, brought it back and let me know that a wheel hub is getting really bad. I knew it was starting to get noisy but will have to try and fix it this weekend because I'm supposed to bring the Av to the bodyshop on Monday. At least I already have spares.

 

[aaserv]

Got my rear Bilsteins in last week but havent put them on yet. Cant drive it until i fix the power steering leak and the weather has been to bad to do either. May warm up enough to fool with it tomorrow. Id be embarrassed to no end to tell you guys what warming up means here....I see ya'll working on yours in the snow and sub freezing temps.....LoL It snows 1/4" here they close the roads and and the schools!!
1 thing about these shocks.....every shock Ive ever seen new was held tight by a plastic zip tie of sorts.....Not the Bilsteins.....They come fully extended in about a 42" long box...just never seen that before.
Wasnt really in a big hurry to do the work but backing out the driveway tonight my lights hit the rear of the Envoy and I could see those $35 detroit axle/chinese junk shocks on it. The Bilsteins will look so much better. Bet their going to give a lil lift to the rear also.
Took the advice offered above and was going to pull the front lights off the parts car and use them to replace the back up lamps. But a bright shiny clear pair were only $18 on ebay so I got those instead and ill just use the wire connectors off the parts car. They should look much better also...

 

[Mooseman]

Just came back from DIY garage with the TB. Replaced the LF hub without any fuss. Took apart the RR brakes because of the squealing. It was the shims rubbing on the edge of the rotor. Cleaned off the crusty rust from the edge of the rotor and cleaned and rebent the shims. On the hoist and spun the wheel, quiet as can be. Back out of the garage, it was back . F*ck it! It will need new brakes in the rear and also planning on swapping the diffs to the Saab's 3.73 next year so. And speaking of which, it was low on diff lube, took about a 1L. Weird since it's not leaking anywhere or I smoked a batch of bad crack when I filled it last . Checked the other fluids and they were fine.

 

[Reprise]

Id be embarrassed to no end to tell you guys what warming up means here....I see ya'll working on yours in the snow and sub freezing temps.....LoL It snows 1/4" here they close the roads and and the schools!!

Yeah, but we don't have to contend with gators and big-ass snakes, up north.

 

[cornchip]

Went to my local GM dealer to get a new thermostat for my 4200. Installed it today with no issues. Good to have some decent heat again.

 

[TollKeeper]

Well I got some front end wheel bearings on Thursday, meant to install them some time over the weekend, but my back was having none of that.. Hopefully next weekend.

 

[Mooseman]

Dropped off the Av at the body shop. Should be done by Friday. He was reluctant to take the roof rack off as he said it would need welding (?). I doubt he did that on the old EXT. Maybe I'll just take it off myself and use some set screws to plug the holes. It's high enough that we shouldn't even notice. I just want it off.

 

[2001ZR2]

Been a while but today I changed out the Air Springs on the Wife's Envoy Denali. They weren't leaking yet but had the top layer of rubber de laminating and weather cracking.

Rather do today when it's 60 instead of when it's 0 F and I have no choice

 

[HARDTRAILZ]

After 6 or 7 years the Duracell AGM basically gave it up and quit starting reliably with the cold. Tossed in a $50 Rural King battery with a 60 month warranty. They are made by Exide which works for me. I figure at this price I can toss one in every two years for same cost. Hopefully won't need to, but just could not justify cost and time to go find another AGM when I need the truck for hunting.

 

[Mooseman]

Just picked up the Av from the body shop. Did a nice job and even fixed the broken door handle on the right rear. Saves me from replacing it with the one I got from the yard. tried to get it oil sprayed and the shop I usually go to is already closed for the year . Booked with another one for both trucks next week. They're a little more expensive but they do rinse off snow and salt if needed and a reputable chain (Krown).

Today, replacing the cracked dash panel and removing the roof rack.

 

[Mooseman]

Did a nice job

I take it back. After washing it and giving it a good once over, I found a few issues. The front top of the hood has a hard paint line, he missed a few rust spots above the windshield, there was a bunch of under paint rust on a rear fender that wasn't fixed and there's a screw and washer just behind the mud guard but it's not for the mud guard. Went to see him about the paint line and he got a bit flustered saying that he was working within the budget (we hadn't set a hard number) and that repainting the whole hood would have cost another $200. He dismissed the rust spots as surface only and to get them done in the spring. I hadn't seen the screw yet so I have no idea what that's about.

Yeah, I'll get the spots fixed, not there though. Too bad because now he's not getting the work on the TB.

Too bad I can't attach pics of his shoddy work right now.

 

[aaserv]

Worked on the power steering leak, replaced the o-ring seals at the rack... O they give you 4 of them in a pack so they were ONLY $11 a piece instead of $22...lol Never bought an 11 dollar o-ring in my life...have now. Anyway while i had it off i couldnt resist putting a light coat of blue epoxy around the outside edge of the plate that bolts to the rack. Probably unnecessary but seemed like a good idea at the time. Seems to be holding fluid...
Got the Bilsteins on the rear and as the kids say....OMG!! Guys Im driving a frickin limousine. Seriously this thing drives like any brand new car straight off the lot....runs like crap but drives beautifully. I know every bump around here, how to hit them at the right angle for the least jarring effect, etc. I forgot all about them in this. I never felt a thing. Im telling you right now if the Detroit axle shocks were free (and they damn near were) and the Bilsteins were $1000 for all 4 ( actual price was around $460 total) they would STILL be worth every penny...
Driving down a curvy country road it just glides through the turns. If I could fully trust the guy who did all the front end work (ME) Id have no problems at all. Its probably been around 5 years since I last drove the SWB 6 cyl Envoy but the way I remember it the LWB V-8 is a big improvement on the open road. As disappointed as I am at the progress Ive made on the motor I couldnt be more pleased with how the underbody has come out. Still some minor details to work out on the body and lighting but Im 90% of where I want it to be. Still looking for better door panels for the front doors.....
OOOOOO almost forgot, I finally got a radio antenna and now I have more than 1 station!! No more John Tesh and the love songs of the whenever that trash was made....lol

I made some pics of the rear with the new shocks but I got to thinking....If I post pics of a 2003 with 207,000 miles and not 1 speck of rust anywhere to be seen......well it would ruin you guys Christmas! So Ill wait till next week........

 

[TollKeeper]

Wouldnt ruin my X-Mas. My 200k Envoy that I just rebuild the front end on was rust spot free!

 

[aaserv]

You rebuilt the front end yourself? Just wondering if when your going into a curve doing about 35mph faster than you should be does the question "Did I tighten down those tie rod end nuts to spec?" ever cross your mind..........asking for a friend......lol

 

[Mike534x]

Spent the last week searching down the phantom "squeak" I would get while reversing. Thought maybe it was the rear heatshield, so I grinded that off. While it was rusty/falling apart it didn't fix the noise. Drove it around the alley a few times, and noticed it only did it while driving 5-10 mph. Alright, might be time for new u-joints in the rear. Anyway, topped off the oil.....again and setoff on a mini-road trip to get my stranded friends back home from Chicago to Michiana. Heat wasn't blowing too hot on 90, it was about 15* F out so figured maybe I was imaging the temp gauge sitting at 160-170 during the entire trip. Loaded up torque and noticed it was reading 159-163* F while driving, and would come to a full warm up once stopped. The craptastic Motorad thermostat I installed back in January of this year must be stuck open, I would have put an AC Delco in but Amazon sent 3 bum replacements and that was the only thing available locally. What a pain, ordered another Delco one (fingers crossed it works) and this time a kit to vacuum fill the coolant to avoid the hassle of bleeding the thing. Oh....and the noise I heard? Yeah, the u-joints are going. Got off the highway near the house after hearing this clinky sound underneath. Now the truck sounds like a bicycle with trading cards shoved in the spokes.

 

[Beacon]

Did I tighten down those tie rod end nuts to spec?" ever cross your mind...

I tend to double check a lot of things before the jack comes down, after that it's hammer down.

 

[gpking]

Today I hopped in my 5.3 and took the trek every Duramax fan dreams of, but most never get the chance to make.
I traveled across 2 state lines to pay my LBZ tax - my absolute favorite GM truck ever.

No, I didn't trade my 5.3 in. I need 2 red GMT800s obviously.
Go ahead and roast me for paying $24k for a 14 year old truck. But where else are you going to find a single-owner, bone-stock, body rust-free LBZ this clean with 102k miles (164k km), 1 hour north of the Mason-Dixon line to boot (SALT SALT SALT).

For those curious about missing pieces a diesel should have for being (I believe) only available in LTII at the bare minimum - this truck was ordered a-la-carte by the previous owner. It's a WT base; that means manual T-case, non-tow mirrors w/o defrost or signal, rubber floor, no cab lights, no front window tint, manual rearview mirror, no overhead console, no cruise control, etc.
Less $h!* to go wrong (plus lights and mirrors are easy to add as you can see from my 5.3 lol).
I'm still giddy from the 80-mile drive home! I love this truck!

 

[TollKeeper]

I woulda bought it!