Well my wallet is $235 lighter, but the truck tracks fairly straight and the brakes mostly work - they're soft & have zero feel, but they slow the truck well enough. The ABS & Brake light are still on for some unknown reason, though to be fair I didn't ask the shop to check it. I think next time I tear into the brakes for whatever reason I'll re-plumb the brakes and bypass the ABS completely.
I did some cleaning on the truck after I got it home. The right rear side window had been busted at some point & there were still glass shards all over, so I vacuumed them up. This thing is dangling next to the window & appears to go somewhere under the dash. Think it's an am/fm or cell antenna?
I also tore into the broken dash...or more apparently tore it a part. Some of these pieces just disintegrated when I picked them up.
The good news is I might have a way to secure the gauge cluster. There's a screw into the dash sheetmetal that holds up the defrost duct, and is now exposed. If I remove the gauge cluster hood & find a safe place to screw into either it or the structure underneath, I should be able to run a strap up to the screw by the defrost & hopefully that will hold everything more securely.
I have to make a trip to IL this week, so there won't be any updates. I'd thought about & hoped to take the Suburban, but there's just too many reasons not to:
1.) The headlights suck & it needs new housings because the lenses are yellowed inside and out.
2.) I have no spare tire.
3.) The 22's are worn on the inner edges from the excessive toe-in, plus they wouldn't be any good in ice or snow - although the it's forecast to be dry all week, it could change.
4.) The lack of any license plate, despite being legal in MS, coupled with the 22's would probably draw unwanted attention.
5.) Although my 5x8 trailer is probably only 350-400lbs empty, I don't yet have either an external trans cooler nor trans temp gauge.
One thing I forgot to mention earlier - the guy at Firestone gave me a contact at a junkyard north of town & said they'd likely swap my 22's for a set of stock wheels & tires. I'll need to contact them next week when I get back.
That antenna thing is interesting, was it mounted through the glass?
If you bypass the ABS, you might have to plumb in a proportioning valve of sorts, I think GM just let the ABS sort that out in even of lockup.
I'm 90% sure that's an old cellphone antenna . I remember having one of those for the in-car kit for my old Taurus.
In reply to Run_Away & RoadWarrior:
Thanks! Yes, the antenna was through the glass & still has shards on it. The FM reception seems ok, so it most likely is cellular. I'll clip it off & see what happens.
Good point on the proportioning valve too.
Back in town and back to work. First order of business was tackling the semi-functional driver's window.
Here's a pic for anyone else going through this - the power lock switch requires the pins to be removed from the connector(it comes apart easily) in order to remove the inner door panel, shown above. There's not anything to help identify the correct pinout for these, so I snapped this pic. Yes, there are only 3 of the 5 spots used.
The motor & regulator assembly are riveted to the inner door panel. The rivets are a different than what I've seen before. Rather than just crushing, they splay apart on the back side like this.
I didn't have any rivets this large(1/4"), but I'd read about some regulator assemblies coming with nuts & bolts instead, so I improvised with what I had around.
Of course when I was taking out the trash afterward and found a pack of rivets in the bottom of the packaging...
Reassembly wasn't bad, though I had to repair a few broken bits of the door panel, arm rest, and switch panel. The window works smoothly now though, and goes up/down fully.
Next I did some investigation into my inop temp gauge. Troubleshooting consists of grounding the lead from the sensor - if it pegs the gauge, which mine did, the gauge & wiring are good. So I got a new one while I was out and swapped it out...even managed to do it quickly enough to not lose more than a couple ounces of coolant. A test drive verified the gauge now works.
On the agenda for tomorrow: attempt to secure the dash/gauge cluster & surround so they don't bounce around like they're about to snap off. Then I want to flush the power steering pump once more - it's working much better, but occasions loses power at low RPM and tight steering angles.
Well I ran to McDonald's this morning, and the temp gauge seems to function intermittently. I'm not too surprised, as the connector didn't seem to snap into place. I'll see if I can find a way to zip-tie or otherwise redneck a more secure connection.
Well the temp sender plug was fully seated, so it looks like there's an intermittent issue somewhere else. At least it works semi-frequently, so hopefully I'll know if the temp is climbing too high...
I did get the dash supported. Still need to take it for a drive & see how it does, but it's definitely much more sturdy.
I love that Mississippi is bringing the inner redneck out of you.
In reply to Stampie :
Rural IL had pretty much already achieved that...
So, it actually worked out very well. No more squeaks or rattles from the dash at all! We took about a 25-mile drive for lunch & to check out Aeromoto's new shop(which is sweet btw) & it held up fine so far.
The truck ran & drove fine the whole way, though the temp gauge never climbed above 105*. The seller said he'd replaced the thermostat, but I'm wondering if he just removed it. I'll need to check that.
However the CEL did come on during the drive there. It didn't run any worse, and it cleared when I shut off & later restarted the truck. It came back on during the return trip though.
While I was at Aeromoto's he let me dig through his pile & grab a couple random oil coolers.
Unfortunately the center support is right against the front of the radiator, so the longer cooler won't fit. Would it be ok to mount the smaller cooler offset to the passenger's side in front of the radiator? Are there any other locations I could possibly mount it?
In reply to Pete Gossett :
Steampunk is derigeur...outside of bodywork in open air flow is happening!
Pass side pffset is where gm put them.
I’d put even money on the code being a bad egr. Every single tbi gm I’ve had would do that.
Look up aldl paperclip.
Obd1 gm self lears with key cycle.
In reply to Ovid_and_Flem :
Maybe I could get a scoop from a wrx and mount it above the engine like an intercooler? Nah, I think I'll follow Dusterbd13's lead and mount it passenger's side of the radiator - but do I put it in series with the stock cooler or bypass it entirely?
in reply to Bobcougarzillameister:
That's probably quite likely given the mileage. I'd forgot about the paperclip trick, but I may actually have a code reader for it.
I have a line on a set of stock allow wheels. There's a guy by Mobile parting out a C1500 pickup on FB. He said make an offer, so I said $100, as I'd seen a couple other sets(albeit further away) for that price, but that I couldn't get them until next weekend. He replies that for $100 he'll deliver them. He was initially going to bring them tonight, but said he wanted to clean them first, so he's bringing them tomorrow afternoon. Hopefully that works out & I can get some tires ordered!
I would definitely put the cooler in series with the stock one, and put it before the stock one. That way the cooler inside the rad can still do it's job of warming the fluid up quicker when it's cold out (note: I don't know where you live, this might not be a concern..)
Good deal on the wheels. Whats the plan with the dash, are you leaving it like that, swapping it, or going to cover it up with a pad again?
In reply to Run_Away :
I'm down on the coast, but I'll definitely be making one trip up to IL this winter to get the rest of our stuff & haul it back down. Does trans fluid flow through the radiator like coolant - top port = inlet, bottom port = outlet?
For the dash I just set the cover back in place, though I'm considering velcroing it down. I do need to repair the area above the glove box where it latches too. It's broken & takes 2 hands to get it to latch. Not sure I'd ever go through the trouble to install another dash, though if I find a nice blue one somewhere that's cheap I may get it just in case.
The seller dropped off the wheels this evening, and I got a hood from him too - it's even blue, although in the dark I'm not sure if it's the same shade or the slightly darker blue. I'm not too picky regardless.
I grabbed a pic of the hood & one of the wheels. A couple have some corrosion like this, but honestly for my needs I don't think I'll bother with cleaning them. Besides, I already ordered a set of Kumhos for them...no, not autocross tires.
The hood is definitely a slightly darker shade of blue, but other than a couple small dimples on the top-center near the leading edge it's in good condition.
I went to Autozone after work to pick up a mount kit for the trans cooler - sadly Advance doesn't stock them - but ended up buying a whole cooler w/mounting hardware. It was only $50, and I don't have to mess with straightening fins or worry about what crud may be inside.
Im hoping to have time this weekend to at least get it mounted to the radiator while I have the grill off for headlight replacement, though I'm not sure I'll have time to get it plumbed.
Mmm...meaty.
I'm dropping them off in the morning for mounting.
I had a productive morning on the Suburban. I pulled the grill & installed the new headlights. I really should have taken side-by-side pics to show how nasty the old ones were.
I also installed the trans cooler, though I still need to hook up the lines. When I loosened the return like from the radiator, the flare fitting was seized to the line. I didn't want to mess with cutting/flaring it today, so I'll hopefully have time tomorrow.
Next were the wheels. I'm losing just a bit of diameter.
I bought all new lug nuts since I had no idea if the ones on it were the correct kind, plus one was a different size, and I discovered one wheel only had 4 nuts.
I also discovered the tires were 2-different sizes: 305/40-22 and 305/45-22...and they were installed diagonally from each other.
The truck has gone from baller ride to old man cruiser.
Bonus - on the test drive I discovered the PS pump seems to work fine! Apparently those wheels/tires were just too much for the stock pump.
Next question: I need to do something about the roof. I'm thinking a pint of Rustoleum white, some masking tape for the Rack, and a paintbrush. Should I hit the rusty spots with Rustoleum rusty metal primer first? I'm mostly concerned with preventing rust-through, and I figure white will keep the interior slightly cooler.
Wheels and tires look great! Does it ride much better? Does it feel any peppier with the smaller tires?
I'd do the primer on the roof first. Are you doing a certain type of rustoleum? I've heard really good things about their marine topside epoxy and have a can of it here at home I want to try but haven't got around to yet.
Also, any idea on dimensions of that cooler? Looks like one of the nicer bar and plate style, not the cheaper zig zag piping with fins.
In reply to Run_Away :
Thanks!
It rides way nicer and of course doesn't tramline at all like it did previously. It'll need shocks at some point though - these may be original, and the high-speed damping is pretty weak.
I've not actually got on it very hard yet, but with a weight reduction of probably 20-25lbs per corner plus the smaller diameter I'm sure it's likely quicker.
I'd have to check the box, but the cooler was about 10"x8" and was about $50.
Needs a 3/4 drop.
Hit it with the lowering stick!!!!
