Family Truckster Vol. 2
- Thread starter LBarr2002
- Start date
I hit Amazon pretty hard Saturday night and Sunday and things are starting to come in. I've replaced the rear window and hatch struts. I ordered the remainder of the set of Husky floor liners (it had front and third rows for some reason) coming in later this week.
I also ordered some Ram mount parts. In Burgundy's truck I have a Ram mount in the blank where the quadrasteer button is. Since it's occupied in this truck, I ordered a 1/4 20 threaded Ram ball. I first tried the lower left blank space but it wobbled too much. I ran over to the Denali and grabbed the blank out of it to replace the one I drilled. Then moved it to the surround below and it's solid.
There are two momentary toggle switches in the other panel that I didn't know what they went too. Nothing apparently.
Then a couple stickers.
Oh, and the DVD player even works. The kids were sitting in the back watching Thomas the train while I was working.
I also ordered some Ram mount parts. In Burgundy's truck I have a Ram mount in the blank where the quadrasteer button is. Since it's occupied in this truck, I ordered a 1/4 20 threaded Ram ball. I first tried the lower left blank space but it wobbled too much. I ran over to the Denali and grabbed the blank out of it to replace the one I drilled. Then moved it to the surround below and it's solid.
There are two momentary toggle switches in the other panel that I didn't know what they went too. Nothing apparently.
Then a couple stickers.
Oh, and the DVD player even works. The kids were sitting in the back watching Thomas the train while I was working.
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The back story on this thing is it was the lady's dad's truck and he passed recently. We exchanged a few messages over FB then she gave me her husband's contact info. We talked and were assured no check engine lights, everything works, clean vehicle, etc. We get down there to find out that neither of them had ever actually driven the truck. The wife drove it over from her mom's house and that was the first time she had been in it. Her husband had ridden in it a lot, but never driven.
I get in to test drive and CEL is on. Walk back over to tell them and she says there's an autozone around the corner, we can go check it. Husband apologized and said they told him no lights. I say no problem, I have my scanner. 2 codes for bank 1 upstream O2 sensor heater circuit. I clear, drive, and it comes right back.
After test drive Burgundy and I look it over close again, and go over to talk. He starts with that 02 sensor is at max a $268 dollar fix. Not sure where exactly that came from but he had been researching while we were test driving.
Between the CEL and not being as clean as I was led to believe (they had it professionally cleaned) we settled on $1k off asking and I was happy with that. After the deal was done and chatting more, her Dad passed 5 weeks ago, had 5 vehicles they're trying to sell, and her mom is just overwhelmed. Other vehicles include a Denali truck with QS and a 3500 dually that was his mobile work shop truck.
Yesterday I pulled an 02 sensor from the parts Denali and seems to be all good.
I get in to test drive and CEL is on. Walk back over to tell them and she says there's an autozone around the corner, we can go check it. Husband apologized and said they told him no lights. I say no problem, I have my scanner. 2 codes for bank 1 upstream O2 sensor heater circuit. I clear, drive, and it comes right back.
After test drive Burgundy and I look it over close again, and go over to talk. He starts with that 02 sensor is at max a $268 dollar fix. Not sure where exactly that came from but he had been researching while we were test driving.
Between the CEL and not being as clean as I was led to believe (they had it professionally cleaned) we settled on $1k off asking and I was happy with that. After the deal was done and chatting more, her Dad passed 5 weeks ago, had 5 vehicles they're trying to sell, and her mom is just overwhelmed. Other vehicles include a Denali truck with QS and a 3500 dually that was his mobile work shop truck.
Yesterday I pulled an 02 sensor from the parts Denali and seems to be all good.
I likely never would have exceeded the factory hitch ratings, but its all over the FB groups of these trucks bending the hitch or even frame towing heavy or in an accident. The Draw Tite 41930 is the consensus best replacement because it spreads the load much farther up the frame.
I ordered the replacement plug for the 2014-2019 GM trucks and cut the bumper to move the plug up and have 7 and 4 way in one. It's the same factory connector.
I also replaced the front bump stops. They were a little worse for wear.
I ordered the replacement plug for the 2014-2019 GM trucks and cut the bumper to move the plug up and have 7 and 4 way in one. It's the same factory connector.
I also replaced the front bump stops. They were a little worse for wear.
I changed the oil and checked the tcase fluid Sunday, but got side tracked with the hitch before getting back to the tcase.
If you're at all familiar with this generation GM trucks, you know about tcase pump rub. When I checked the fluid nothing came out the fill plug. The hole is too small to stick your pinky and bend down to check like you do an axle. I took a zip tie and ran it in and depending on where it went inside the case sometimes it came out wet, sometimes dry, but I could tell it wasn't the blue fluid that's supposed to be in these.
DJ had a couple quarts of smurf blood so he brought that over and that's when we got sidetracked on the hitch.
This evening I drained the fluid and refilled. It holds a little under 2 qts and only 1 qt came out. The outside of the case is completely dry and I don't see any external signs of a leak. So the question is did it leak down to the point that it doesn't leak anymore or was it just low? The case is super clean and the back cover has some marker writing on it. Is it possible somebody went through the trouble of a replacement case or case saver and just put a qt of the wrong fluid in it?
Probably not... I'll be keeping an eye on it.
If you're at all familiar with this generation GM trucks, you know about tcase pump rub. When I checked the fluid nothing came out the fill plug. The hole is too small to stick your pinky and bend down to check like you do an axle. I took a zip tie and ran it in and depending on where it went inside the case sometimes it came out wet, sometimes dry, but I could tell it wasn't the blue fluid that's supposed to be in these.
DJ had a couple quarts of smurf blood so he brought that over and that's when we got sidetracked on the hitch.
This evening I drained the fluid and refilled. It holds a little under 2 qts and only 1 qt came out. The outside of the case is completely dry and I don't see any external signs of a leak. So the question is did it leak down to the point that it doesn't leak anymore or was it just low? The case is super clean and the back cover has some marker writing on it. Is it possible somebody went through the trouble of a replacement case or case saver and just put a qt of the wrong fluid in it?
Probably not... I'll be keeping an eye on it.
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Then I pulled it out into the driveway to hose it off underneath, sitting idling and it died. It would fire, run a second or two, and shut off. Then didn't fire at all.
First thought was fuel pump, but I could hear it running. Second thought was PATS, but I had a regular old metal key cut last week and drove it with that so pretty sure it doesn't have PATS...
It's been slow to start since I got it and I've been questioning battery. I put a crappy jump pack on it and turned over much faster but still no start. After messing for a while I took the jump pack off and it started right up and ran fine... I didn't go for a test drive because I didn't want to get stranded at dusk.
I want to think its a bad cell in the battery, and I've had that do crazy things in Burgy's 1500... I have a smart charger on it now to see if it gives an error code.
First thought was fuel pump, but I could hear it running. Second thought was PATS, but I had a regular old metal key cut last week and drove it with that so pretty sure it doesn't have PATS...
It's been slow to start since I got it and I've been questioning battery. I put a crappy jump pack on it and turned over much faster but still no start. After messing for a while I took the jump pack off and it started right up and ran fine... I didn't go for a test drive because I didn't want to get stranded at dusk.
I want to think its a bad cell in the battery, and I've had that do crazy things in Burgy's 1500... I have a smart charger on it now to see if it gives an error code.
I've done a couple minor changes over this week. The Denali gave up a few cosmetic items. I wanted to switch to the whole Denali wheel but I don't have the brown air bag module.
Then it was on to function over form. I don't like the way giant tow mirrors look on these things, but they're needed to see around the camper. I put a set of Boost Auto power adjustable, heated, plug and play mirrors on it. They also have a built in back up light that should help a good bit.
This was with all lights off in the garage. I'll have to see how they do outside.
Then it was on to function over form. I don't like the way giant tow mirrors look on these things, but they're needed to see around the camper. I put a set of Boost Auto power adjustable, heated, plug and play mirrors on it. They also have a built in back up light that should help a good bit.
This was with all lights off in the garage. I'll have to see how they do outside.
Noticed a wet spot under the left front yesterday. I wasn't sure if it was coolant or windshield washer fluid but washed everything off and checked back later. Radiator...
I ordered the last AC Delco one in stock from Amazon but it won't be here until Wednesday. Going camping Thurs-Sun and Tues-Thurs so not going to have time to replace and check it out. I guess the Sierra isn't done with tow duties quite yet...
I ordered the last AC Delco one in stock from Amazon but it won't be here until Wednesday. Going camping Thurs-Sun and Tues-Thurs so not going to have time to replace and check it out. I guess the Sierra isn't done with tow duties quite yet...
Flushed the cooling system a few times with the old radiator, removed and replaced with new, new thermostat. Backed out and washed everything off and it died like it did a few weeks ago.
This section of harness was banjo tight and against a sharp edge of that bracket and had chafed a little. I pulled it aside and it started right up. I taped it and put new wire wrap on so hopefully that issue is resolved.
This section of harness was banjo tight and against a sharp edge of that bracket and had chafed a little. I pulled it aside and it started right up. I taped it and put new wire wrap on so hopefully that issue is resolved.