Hatzies 2005 2500HD

[hatzie]

I discovered the source of the driver door manual lock issue when I had the door cards off.

The relay rod was not clipped into the plastic guides... it was running under them and binding up. I don't see how this rod could slip out of the guides without taking the door card off so apparently someone didn't re-install things properly.

[Palf70Step]

Always nice to find little fixes like that.

[hatzie]

Originally Posted by Palf70Step

Always nice to find little fixes like that.

Lots cheaper than a door latch module and a lot easier. Both are good things.

I am missing the trim cap for the torx screw on the RH door. GM # 15205963 is the cap in 69I dark pewter.
GM wants $10 for that tiny piece of dark pewter plastic so I think I can live without it til I see one in a U-pullit.

***EDIT*** Found two of those caps in the dirt next to a yard truck. Paid two bits for em. He was surprised I even mentioned finding them in the dirt next to the truck. They're not mine til I asked how much he wanted... even if he didn't want a cent.

[hatzie]

I modified the 4L80E transmission shift settings this morning.
The driving manners seem to be improved.
Specifically it's not sliding and slipping into 3rd and 4th gear when I'm below 1/2 throttle. Not banging into gear at partial and full throttle either.
The transmission temperature isn't climbing at all now over a driving distance that normally would see the gauge at the first large division and the instant fuel mileage on the dash now shows about a 2-3 mpg improvement... usually I see 12-13mpg and I was looking at 15-16mpg on this trip. I'll post later if it's really that much of an improvement or just the way I drove over to Warren this morning.

Again... I view changes like this with a healthy dose of skepticism. We'll see, when I re-fuel it, what it really did to the fuel mileage. On the surface it appears that I'm not turning as much horsepower into heat in the transmission but the numbers will speak for themselves.

Fairly sedate and conservative changes. Nothing super drastic.

1. Modified the force motor table in a fairly conservative manner.
2. Copied the Performance (Towing) Upshift pressure tables to the Normal tables.
3. Copied the Performance (Towing) Shift Time tables to the Normal tables.

If you're interested in what I did download HP Tuners VCM suite then load and compare these setups.

DJH_2005_Silverado_2500HD_6.0_Stock_265-70R17_Tires_Only.hpt

DJH_2005_Silverado_2500HD_6.0_Copy_Line%20Pres_and_Shift_Time_Performance_to_Normal_and_10Percent Force Table.hpt

[hatzie]

Hood latch suddenly started not releasing the cable to the rest position and not latching closed. Not sure what the issue with the old latch is. All the springs are still in place and, other than rust, they look the same as the new GM unit.

GM 15240710 from Amazon.

This is how to remove the grille. I am a bit more conservative than this guy. I take the entire top plastic beauty panel off so I can look down and see the four plastic towers slotting into the rectangular holes in the rad support.
I reach down and push out right at the towers. It makes it easier to slot them back in when you can see the towers.

I also carefully release the trim clips between the headlamps before I pull the four that latch the centre portion of the grille.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jKlGB-zi3w0

I bought a hood release cable but the Parking Brake pedal has to come off the kick panel to access the hood release cable. Winding up and locking the auto adjuster on the Parking Brake pedal is a two man job and the hood release cable hasn't failed so I can wait a couple weeks til the 8" of ice on the driveway melts off.

According to the service manual there's supposed to be a plastic routing clip for the cable that holds the cable in a position to keep water from running down into the release cable.
The rectangular hole with rounded ends to the right of the latch bolts in this picture is where the routing clip would be if it was present. I ran a wire tie through the rectangular hole with rounded ends and cinched the release cable against the rad support so it loops UP from the latch rather then drooping down to fill with water and freeze.

[hatzie]

First 400 mile highway trip after the transmission changes in the PCM.
Seriously better behaved. No sliding up and down between 3 & 4 but no hard jolts either.
Temp gauge runs at the first mark above the bottom. Outdoor temp was 50°F
Fuel mileage was 14.6mpg on E0 91 octane fuel and 14.0 on E10 89 octane. I ran her between 70 & 80mph.

[hatzie]

The ignition switch seems to be less than happy with me in the crank position so I replaced it before it stranded me.

This is the promised second half of the lock cylinder howto post.

The ignition lock cylinder has to be removed to replace the ignition switch so it was as good a time as any to do the rest.

I had the time to change all three lock cylinders out to the new keyed locks that I made up in late November early December 2018.

These are the old ones that I removed. These are not keyed the same as my new locks. I'll be selling these to someone that needs em.


Spare Tire Lift Lock:
The spare lock is just a plug in the spare tire lift tube. You remove the old one and insert the new one. Quick and easy.

Ignition:
You have to turn the ignition cylinder to the CRANK position to access the lock cylinder release plunger. You don't want to have the engine cranking while you're fiddling with the switch and cylinder so unhook the battery ground and set the parking brake.
You can see the spring loaded release plunger on the left hand top of the ignition cylinder (center lock cylinder) in the above picture.

The column shroud has to come off. It's easier to get it off and back on with the instrument panel bezel removed. The column shroud is hinged at the back end toward the dash so you have to carefully separate the shroud in the front. If you try to separate the shroud at the rear you'll break the hinge pins that hold the rear of the covers together.
Tilt the wheel down and tilt the top half of the shroud up toward the instrument panel so you can slide the top cover toward you while teasing the plastic hinge pins out of the hooks on the bottom half. The rubber dust seal around the shifter is slotted onto both halves of the cover and it got in the way so I pushed it inside the cover.
The shroud tucks slightly under the base of the steering wheel but it can be teased out without removing the steering wheel.

Something that was left out of the instructions from Standard Ignition...
The security and key-inserted switch wiring will get in the way of removing the ignition switch. The wiring is tucked under a hook on the bottom of the ignition switch toward the dash (see top left in the next picture). Unplug the connectors from the top and dash side on the outside of the lock cylinder and carefully slide the wires out from behind the hook on the ignition switch before you release and pull the switch out of it's cavity in the ignition lock housing. Be very careful of these fragile connectors as they will cause no end of trouble if you break them.


Follow the instructions that come with the switch. When you get to the point where you're supposed to put the lock cylinder back in install the new lock instead. My 2005 doesn't have chipped keys so I didn't have to mate the new key to the onboard security. I am unsure if this applies to all the T800 trucks or not.

This is the instruction sheet that came with my Standard Ignition switch...


Door Lock Cylinder:
The door was mildly entertaining. You have to remove the door card from the inside. Instructions are a few posts back in the post about speakers.
You'll need to carefully peel the plastic vapor liner off the inner door skin all the way to the bottom and forward to the inner door handle.
Remove the outside door handle.
You'll find three 10mm hex nuts on captive metric machine screws.

1. The rearward nut is accessed with a short extension by removing the plug on the jamb area of the inner door skin.
2. The centre bottom nut is accessible with an extension through a small hole in the door skin behind the door card.
3. The third nut is only accessible by feel reaching up through the skin from the big opening at the bottom with a box-end wrench. In the below picture this is on the lower left... The door handle is upside down in the following picture. This nut is on top of the door handle assembly toward the hinges and toward the top of the door. If you have gear-wrenches I recommend using them on this nut.

The driver door lock cylinder is in the upper right corner of the above picture.
You remove the lock by first removing the pawl retainer. Note the small tang in the middle of the Right hand side of the gold lock pawl retainer. It's bent slightly down toward the pawl and fits into a hole in the pawl to keep the retainer from sliding off. It gets lifted up while sliding the retainer to the right til the odd shaped hole lines up with the back of the lock cylinder and both the retainer and pawl can slide off.
The lock itself is held in the door handle with a wire spring clip. You can see one of the upturned ends of the spring clip that fits in a groove in the plastic door handle. Once the spring clip is removed you can push the lock through and out from the outside surface of the handle. It's a snug fit but I didn't have to beat on it. I pushed firmly with a wood dowel and it slid right through.
Installation is the reverse.
I sprayed the plastic vapor shield with adhesive spray and stuck it back in place.
I lubed all the locks with spray Lithium grease and a straw and they all seem to work as well as the old ones.

[hatzie]

I finally got tired of the cracked push rivets in the radiator support to grille trim cover.
The salvage trucks are pretty well picked for these kind of parts and the ones that are there are broken.
For those of you that don't want to pay $1.38 each for (GM 21030249) 8mm push rivets that hold various covers in place...
A bag of 100 costs $6.70 on Amazon with Prime shipping. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0040CYWX0

[hatzie]

Replaced the speakers in the rear suicide doors Yesterday. The originals were only making an occasional light squeak even with the fader set all the way to R so I was worried I had a mouse chew somewhere in the wiring.
The electrical connectors for the UQ3 & UQ7 speakers were the same so they plugged right in.
The replacements worked as soon as I plugged them in so the old 15 year old speakers were just plain dead.
The dead speaker part number GM 15071125 seems to coincide properly with the UQ3 "enhanced speakers" my truck left the factory with... unlike the front door speakers.

The GM 15288247 Bose replacements seem to fill in the middle audio spectrum. Essentially I have Woofers and Tweeters in the front doors and Mid speakers in the rear doors and it actually sounds pretty good.

To get to the speakers you have to pull off the inner door panel.

This is an Extra-cab with narrow suicide doors. The only thing I could find about removal of the inner panels on these doors was this video.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=58R8ARNRTCw

The panels come off fairly easily if you're careful.

1. Remove two 7mm hex screws in the centre bottom of the cup holder and mid-point in the bottom of the door pull pocket. They're hard to miss. 00:05 -00:09 in the above video.
2. Pull straight out on the door latch handle surround at the top to clear the metal trim clips from the rectangular holes. You must remove from the top. There are plastic hooks at the bottom that will break if you pry on it from the bottom. Once it's free of the door panel pull the door latch handle in while rotating and lifting the surround up and off.
3. Pull straight out on the plastic inner door beauty panel to release all the metal trim clips from the rectangular holes in the metal inner door skin. I started at the top next to the door catch and pulled the panel away all around the window then down the sides while keeping it reasonably parallel to the door itself. GM door panel clip towers are very easy to break off. DO NOT ROTATE or TILT THE PANEL WHILE ANY CLIPS ARE STILL LATCHED.

Step #2 picture shows the back of the door handle trim cover with the metal clips and plastic hooks.

Step #3 picture shows the positions of the trim clips and the slots for the handle surround clips.
Both of my rear door panels were missing the metal clips from the tower just below the door handle trim hole.



Once the panel is off inspect the plastic vapor barrier sheets. All four of the rectangular and the bottom and top 6" of the long forward sheet were loose. You can re-glue lifted or loose sheets. I use Sta-Put spray contact adhesive. It's essentially spray-on contact glue. You spray it on both surfaces and wait til it's tacky then stick them together. I masked the area of the inner door panel not covered by the plastic beauty panel with painters tape and newspaper.
You can see the loose and mis-aligned plastic vapor barriers I had to glue back in place on this door along with the new freshly installed speaker.


These are the actual speakers.
GM 15288247 UQ7 (BOSE) on the LEFT and GM 15071125 UQ3 speaker on the RIGHT.
Just like the front door speakers. The UQ7 speaker has a noticeably larger magnet.
The steel spring clip on the UQ7 speakers is fairly stiff steel but it was crunched down somewhat from shipping. I spread them open, with quite a bit of effort, so they wouldn't rattle in the doors.

[hatzie]

After with the speakers I had another little chore.

The 7 year old battery (the sticker says 07/12) in this truck is suddenly a little weak, she needed some help this AM from a boost pak. The batteries in my 2000 GMC were installed in 2010 and they wouldn't crank her over anymore this AM either... even tho they spent the winter with a Ctek 3300 maintainer on them. 7 years isn't bad and 9 years is awesome.

The 2000 Diesel had AutoZone Duralast Gold batteries. The 2005 had a Wal-Mart EverStart. Based on experience both seem to last OK. I looked into Interstate made by Exide and the O'Riley house brand made by Deka. Interstate has a pretty good warranty but a real small dealer network.
The AutoZone battery warranty is better than all but Interstate in my area. AutoZone Duralast Gold (Johnson Controls) is 5 years... 3 Free and 2 more pro-rated. Interstate (Exide) is 6 years... 3 years free and 3 more pro-rated. O'Riley is 3 years period. Even tho the warranty is the same as the Duralast Gold all four of My nearby WalMart stores don't stock the EverStart MAXX Group 78 800CCA battery.

I have several weak batteries in the corner for cores so I grabbed the worst of those and the two dead soldiers from the GMC, drove to Laconia, and picked up three Duralast Gold Group 78 800CCA batteries.

My 2000 has the original battery insulator blankets and aftermarket Acid Neutralizing Mats under each battery to keep the engine bay heat out of the battery and keep the tray from rotting out from the top.

On my 2005 Silverado someone beat heck out of the triangular rubber hold-down wedge and crossthreaded the bolt that holds the battery to the tray so the battery could move around a little bit more than I like but it looked like it was properly bolted down.

1. The GM part number for the battery insulator is 10246636. The point of having them is to keep the temps in the battery from ramping up and down as quickly as the engine compartment. The batteries in the 2000 GMC seem to last a long time with them in place so I keep using them and I bought one for the new battery in this truck.
   Battery Insulator
   
2. The damaged rubber battery hold-down wedge is Dorman HELP 00587.
   
3. I found a used hold-down bolt with straight threads and a decent used battery tray with a good nutsert that still had all the paint on it. Before I made my happy discovery I looked up the part numbers. The $25 GMT800 LH Battery tray is GM 15891945. The $6 GM battery hold-down bolt is 11509853.
   
4. 12" x 8" Battery Acid Neutralizing Mats are usually around $5 US. Cut em to fit with scissors. I replace them along with the batteries on my equipment with Lead Acid batteries. My battery trays seem to stay in one piece.
   Battery Acid Neutralizing Mat
   

[Palf70Step]

Thanks for the info.

[hatzie]

Originally Posted by LC-4540

That's a great looking truck.

Finding info on the 99-06 trucks can be quite challenging.

Thanks for the little details on your build, really helps down here in Australia.

Cheers Mark

Originally Posted by Palf70Step

Thanks for the info.

Thanks. Glad to know it's useful.

[hatzie]

I had the sandblasted windshield replaced a few days ago. It was pitted enough that it almost looked like glitter in the right sunlight and nighttime driving conditions. There were several rock strikes, somewhere north of seven, as well.
The windshield was $235 installed. I notice some distortion near the RH edge when I'm standing on the ground outside the driver door but it doesn't show up when I'm in the driver seat so I'll live with it. It's stunningly clear.

The RH mirror was original before I dropped off the truck and had fresh mirror glass that was missing the spots for the turnsignal when I picked it up. The installer claims the condition of that mirror was the same as when I dropped it off. I'm not going to argue further about it with them but they are on my bad actors list now.

I didn't want to deal with the thin fun-house mirror glass with no turnsignal Chevrons and, as I discovered when I pulled it off, no heater grid.

GM part numbers for the 03-07 heated mirrors with the turnsignal Chevron behind the glass are LH #88944391 RH #88944392.

The real GM (Muth) heated/turnsignal mirror glass is somewhere around $300 on Amazon. I have well north of 8,000,000 Hilton points so I used a few of them to purchase this mirror on Amazon. I would've just tried one of the slightly better aftermarket mirrors if I didn't have that many hotel points.

Cover the glass with duct tape to catch the glass if it breaks more to keep pieces from falling off. Tape keeps the pieces from slicing up your hands as well.

GM used electrical connectors that are open to the weather. I sprayed inside the electrical connectors on the mirror and vehicle side with White Lithium to limit further corrosion.

Pay attention to the construction of the aftermarket mirror glass cartridges. The glass in all of the aftermarket mirrors is thin but some are a little better than others.
The poorly built mirror glass cartridges don't have as many clasps in the retaining circle as the GM parts.
Most of the aftermarket mirror glass cartridges don't have clips to keep the turnsignal wiring from flopping around but some of the better ones do. You want to find the ones that have clasps because the loose wire can flop around inside the mirror housing and get damaged over time or possibly get pinched when you install the glass on the 4-way mount... Or at least glue the wire in place on the backer with epoxy or hotmelt.

Note the cheaper mount and no wiring clips. These are almost guaranteed to be funhouse glass.


This one is closer to the OEM part. See how the wire and connector are retained and the additional clips in the locking ring to retain the backer on the 4-way motorized tilt ring. I can't speak to how decent the glass is. They went to the trouble of replicating the GM mirror back so the glass may be OK or it may still be pretty distorted.


Heated/turn mirrors have a two position connector for the turnsignals and two 1/8" spades for the heater grid.
Heated/turn/dimming mirrors have a four position connector and two 1/8" spades for the heater grid. I haven't found any aftermarket glass cartridges for these. Thankfully I don't have this setup. Many aftermarket mirrors have an adapter pigtail to mate the dimming harness to the non dimming mirrors. You can see the additional pigtail in the video.

This is a video on how to remove the glass. The detail he didn't give is to use a long wide blade screwdriver. Slip it between the clasp towers and gently turn til you hear the clasp(s) release and move over to the next one .

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fzOM9kmZTYM

[Keith Seymore]

Originally Posted by hatzie

Thanks. Glad to know it's useful.

Yep - I’m following along too; its just that I’ve been able to manage everything so far on my truck so no need to comment.

K

[hatzie]

I dyed a lighter color trim cap I found for the rear edge of the RH door.

SEM 15303 Graphite seems to match the 69I Dark Pewter interior color in my 2nd design T800 fairly well. The lighter color underneath seems to make the topcoat lighter. I don't think I'd dye a whole panel with it without "priming" with black first.

I washed with a dab of SEM soap and wiped it down with Isopropyl alcohol before and after the SEM soap. The bond seems to be good.

This is the factory part on the LH door.


This is the dyed cap installed on the RH door. Pretty close but the 15303 Graphite seems to have more blue than the original panels. I want to clean up the scratched dash top panel so I'm going to try the SEM 17223 Very Dark Pewter on this button to see if I can get a better match without getting some blended by an automotive paint store.

[hatzie]

I looked at several aftermarket under seat storage options for the narrow extra cab rear seat on the 1st and 2nd design GMT800 chassis Silverado/Sierra light trucks. They didn't work for me.

GM made two and since it's been more than a decade since the last GMT800 rolled off the line they are both discontinued;

• DISCONTINUED 12498846 - GM Under Rear Seat Storage Bin- 1999-2007 Chevy Silverado/ Gmc Sierra - Extended Cab Only. These were over $300 when they were available. The lid latch locks with keys.
  I include this GM stock picture just in case someone sees this in a U-pullit.
  
  More pictures of the BIN storage here. https://www.dieselplace.com/forum/76...html#post78827
  .
  ** The above is for information only. I did not find the above BIN**
  .
  What I did find is this...
• DISCONTINUED 12498114 - GM Under Rear Seat Storage Divider- 1999-2007 Chevy Silverado/ Gmc Sierra - Extended Cab Only. This includes a lower seat cushion locking bar with keys.
  .
  My installed divider... It's nice to have carpet on the bottom to keep the gear rattles to a minimum and the emergency tire Jack access is not an issue with the divider. Both are in the plus category... The Bin likely would cause issues with the jack and the hard plastic bottom would be noisy. Not to mention the loss of about 1-2" of depth.
  

I was thinking about building a plywood and speaker carpeted under seat bin til I found one of the discontinued GM 12498114 Under Seat Storage Divider kits still in the bag for $65.

Here's a PDF of the tri-lingual Instructions that come with the kit. English, Français, & Español.129984 Installation Instructions PDF
IMPORTANT NOTE: The instructions contain a fairly obnoxious error in Operation #3 in all three languages. I highlighted the offending word.
The retaining bracket in Figure 4 is NOT on the Passenger side. It is on the driver side.

Attachment plate Driver side. This also where the inside bracket is installed despite what the instruction sheets state in step 3.


Passenger side attachment plate and lock.


If you are liberating one of these from a wreck be sure to get the locking bar from the seat support.

[hatzie]

Edited post 1 to include how to Email GM for a build sheet.

[hatzie]

I flushed the brakes for the 6th time on my Impala and the first time on my 2005 Silverado this weekend. I've tried to stay on a schedule of every 24 months or so since she was built on August 1st 2008 with the Impala. The first change was the swap over ATE SL.6 DOT4 in December of 2009.
My guess is the Pickup has the same Brake fluid the GM line workers installed in September of 2004. I didn't take a picture of the black Iron crud that settled on the bottom of the catch bottles nor did I take pictures of the operation. Sorry.

Why flush the brake fluid through? Two reasons and either one is a good reason to change the stuff on a regular basis. Both together is double that.

1. Brake fluid attracts moisture from the air... 3% H20 will reduce the boiling point of your brake fluid by 100°F.
2. Brake fluid has an anti-corrosion add pack as well that gets depleted over time. Brake lines over the last two decades were Ni-Copp or copper brazed steel tube. When the corrosion inhibitors break down the oxidized copper from the corroding brake lines can screw up the ABS motors.

The black crud granules in the bottom of the catch bottles I used to catch the flushed fluid on my recently acquired 2005 Silverado and the lack of the same from my 2009 Impala tells me I must be doing something right.


I NEVER bleed by pushing the pedal on a used master cylinder. The cup seals can get damaged by moving past a ridge in the bore into an area not traveled in normal operation. Not always but why tempt fate.

I bleed with a pressure pot. This is Eric O in Central New York State using a Brannick... Real nice simple easy to use tool but there's no way I'm spending $350 on one of those for my occasional use.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Te0ppd96xQE

I built a weed sprayer pressure pot for under $20 when the parts were cheaper and the Motive pot was priced over $75;
You can find build instructions if you google it.

• 2 gallon weed sprayer.
• 0-30PSI 1/4"NPT pressure gauge.
• 1/4" NPT Male-Female 1/4turn pressure relief valve.
• Four large drinking straws.
• Small plastic bag that reaches more than 3/4 of the way up the sprayer pump.
• Rubber band.
• Isopropyl Alcohol for cleanup.

I just drilled through the plastic near the top of the sprayer with a 3/8" bit where I wanted the gauge and the valve. NPT threads are quite sharp. I pushed down and turned to thread the relief valve and gauge right into the plastic without a tap.

To avoid aerating the brake fluid I put a plastic bag over the end of the pump and slip the straws between the pump and the bag in several places with a rubber band to hold em in place. I throw out the plastic bag, straws and rubber band after one use.
I'm not the only one that decided to use a plastic bag and straws to avoid aeration and I don't feel like taking my cleaned up old sprayer back out of it's garbage bag home for pictures. Here's a post with pics of the other guys...https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...post1578587678

I prefer hoses and catch bottles but his method works.

I wouldn't build your own now with the Motive base priced as cheap as they are. You can get the Motive pressure pot from Summit now for about the same price as the parts to build a sprayer base now. It has a gauge, pressure relief valve, and non-aerating pump for $35.
https://www.summitracing.com/parts/m...8aAtWXEALw_wcB

Caps:

The Motive 1108 Nylon & 1118 Metal pressure caps seal to the top of the Master Cylinder neck. I have the 1118 cap and it leaks. I don't see how the 1108 wouldn't.

I have an SPX J-35589 that has an o-ring seal inside the filler neck. The J tool is metal but an injection molded reinforced nylon cap would likely work quite well as long as it had the provision for the O-ring seal slug inside the MC neck.
Stock SPX photo of bottom. You can see the O-ring seal slug that makes this cap much better.

My own well loved 35589 cap.

You can find em on Evilbay for around $30-$40. Be mindful of the Shysters that are selling the elbow.
https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_fro...35589&_sacat=0

If you have a small lathe you could probably machine a slug to fit the MC neck with an o-ring groove to seal it. Drill and thread the centre 1/4NPT and keep it from blowing out by drilling a hole in a sacrificial GM Master Cylinder cap for the hose barb to poke through. Not as neat as the GM tool but pretty close and I bet it wouldn't leak.

The Brannick plug cap in Erics' video is a neat idea as well but I don't have one of those and I bet they ain't cheap.

With that in mind here is the rest of the list.

• SPX Kent Moore J-35589 master cylinder cap
• 1/4" NPT hose barb for the SPX cap
• 1/4" Clear fish tank hose for the master cylinder cap
• Clear fish tank hose to fit the bleeders
• four catch bottles. (1L or 2L soda bottles with two holes in the caps will work... one hole for the bleeder hose and one to vent)

Flush the old stuff out with the new stuff.
I usually suck out the Master with a turkey baster or big fluid swap syringe. Make sure the fluid suckers have been cleaned with Isopropyl alcohol and they're completely dry before you stick em in the Master Cylinder.
Then I re-fill the master with fresh fluid and hook up the pressure pot.
The GM service manual says 25PSI but I usually only run 20PSI.
Use a SIX POINT socket or box wrench on the bleeders.
I start opening the bleeders at the end of the longest run at the LR corner then the RR then the RF then the shortest line at the LF corner. You can go the other direction from short to long as well. Your choice. I like long to short. Just have a plan and stick to it. If your fluid is as dark as most folks you won't have any difficulty seeing the change from crap to fresh fluid.


The pedal feel and height is not good if you don't exercise the ABS motors. You have to run an ABS "Bleed" with a diagnostic tool after each bleed cycle to get your pedal feel and height back.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XsaJ6lkWu7c

If the old fluid is exceptionally nasty, like mine was, I'd flush it a second time after exercising the ABS motors. You should exercise the ABS motors after each bleed cycle to re-set the pedal height and feel.

I changed my fluid to DOT4. Cue the guys telling me the world will now end...

With the possibility of towing I like to keep the boiling point of the brake fluid as high as possible.
I chose the DOT4 fluids that I use for that reason. Yes some DOT3 fluids have higher than minimum spec. They are not what I choose to use.

Minimum specs on Glycol based DOT brake fluids.

• DOT3 dry boiling point is 401°F. Wet is 284°F.
• DOT4 dry boiling point is 446°F. Wet is 311°F.

DOT4 is downward compatible with DOT3 systems but it's inadvisable to use DOT3 in DOT4 systems.
DO NOT USE DOT5 or DOT5.1 in DOT3 or DOT4 braking systems. DOT5.1 is glycol based but supposedly it's not backward compatible. Not easy to find either.


ATE and Pentosin brake fluid comes in metal cans. It may not be a big deal but the brake fluid in metal cans always tests to 0% H20 contamination and that gives me warm fuzzies.

I run Pentosin LV DOT4 or ATE SL.6 DOT4 in my vehicles. It has boiling points much higher than the bare minimums. Closer to DOT5.1 specs without being difficult to purchase while remaining compatible with the bits in my system that were designed for DOT3.
The SL.6 & LV variants have a lower viscosity index for the frozen North country too.

• Pentosin LV DOT4 specs: 501°F dry and 338°F wet http://www.pentosin.net/f_brakefluid.asp
• ATE SL.6 DOT4 specs: 501°F dry and 329°F wet http://www.ate-brakes.com/media/3334...02_dot4-sl.pdf

You can get a GM cap that correctly reflects the system contents.
April 16, 2019 GM price on the 92457850 DOT4 cap was $4.98 at my local Chevy dealer.
Old cap on the Left New on the Right with GM # for new.


Installed on my Master Cylinder.


Last and not least. Bleeders... Two things that will save a lot of grief the next time you have to service these.

1. Remove the bleed screws completely and coat the threads with NeverSieze.
2. Install or re-install the rubber bleeder caps or condoms or whatever you would like to call em. Keeping the water, salt, and general road crud out of the core will keep them from seizing. They're worth the $2-$3 it costs to buy four.

The difference #2 makes.

With a cap... Notice the corrosion free tip and the fact that there's no corrosion inside the bleeder.


Without a cap. Dumb blind luck if this one threads out.


In the 80's when I was young and poor I'd grab bleeder caps off the German cars in the salvage yards for my American Iron. I never saw them on US made rigs at the time. I'm not sure if they were used.

[hatzie]

Got rid of some annoying rattles.

The wheel chocks, jack handles, and lug wrench were rattling around under the back seat because I didn't have the pieces to put them away properly.
This diagram shows the jack and associated parts that are close to what I have in my T800. The extended cabs don't have the plastic cover. I assume this is because the seat hides them fairly well.

The chocks are bolted to the jack with #13 a J shaped bolt that hooks around the jack. This part was missing from my truck and GM discontinued it. However. 15783357 is the threaded J-hook that does the same job on the GMT900 trucks and as it happens it is plenty good enough for this job even tho GM claims it doesn't fit.
The plastic wingnut, #12, to hold the J shaped bolt over the jack was screwed down over one of the jack bracket studs.
I liberated the J shaped bolt from a 2012 wreck for $2, clamped the chocks over the jack, hooked the holes in the base of the jack over the hooks in the floor bracket, and extended the ram to lock it all in place.


The vinyl bag for the jack rods and lug wrench was among the missing as well but all three rods (#7 & #8) and the lug wrench #5 were present and accounted for... rolling around under the back seat against the wheel chocks. The T800 doesn't have #6.

The sheet metal retainer with the captive plastic wingnut for the tool bag, #3, was hooked over one of the plastic seatbelt guards that you can see in the below picture
The rods move around without the bag even when you bolt em down with the retainer.
The bag is discontinued but I found a brand new GM bag for $18. GM 15270258 for 2nd design extended cab GMT800. I was thinking about just sewing up a bag out of denim pantlegs and calling it good but the real thing looks better and it takes less time than sewing four tubes for the jack rods and the lug wrench.


These parts are likely to stay there after I swap the carpet this summer til after I get rid of the truck and never move again. The OEM jack and tools are flimsy enough that I figure they're for emergency use only.
I'm not real keen on the spare tire arrangement. It's under there and the cable is greased. Hopefully it moves if I need it.

The Jumper cables, mini floor jack, breaker bar with 6pt 19mm socket, snatch straps, swivel rings, and tire chains are already in their own separate waxed canvas bags so... no more rattles.

[Gregski]

Originally Posted by hatzie

Before I changed anything in my PCM I captured a "right now" PCM image using the HP Tuners VCM Editor.

I then programmed it to purely stock GM settings using my Tech 2, and a single VIN AC-Delco TDS Service Programming subscription.
The HP Tuners compare function of the "Right Now" and the after TDS programmed images shows it was bone stock but it is 15 years old and I couldn't know for sure.
Account setup is free but you have to pay for Service Programming access... as of this writing Feb 2, 2019 the cost is $40 for 24 months single VIN Service Programming.
https://www.acdelcotds.com/acdelco/action/home

The Tech 2 requires a good quality RS232 serial connection. No device drivers needed in Windows 7. BTW DO NOT USE a USB to Serial adapter for service programming... the USB to RS232 device drivers cause signal latency issues so you could easily brick the PCM. I used a Quatech Expresscard-34 EXP34-SSPXP-100 (PCI-e) RS232 adapter in my old HP8560W Mobile Workstation.

This is the procedure for calibration updates with a Tech 2 in J2534 passthrough mode.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=53fho7l7yxI&t=657s

The same with an MDI.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sUMJFwMuAkE&t=141s

This is a YouTube video of the procedure using a VXDiag Chinese J2534 passthrough tool. I'm leery of anything from China that requires me to install Chinese device drivers. A tool like this is no exception. IMHO A Tech2 or MDI is a safer choice.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w1Cc-Nj6vkI

I should've put this further back in the thread but I didn't have a good howto til I found this video group from Dr Shock.

If you don't have a laptop with a good Serial port... The WiFi MDI clones are pretty decent quality now. Get the high quality unit with the SQU WiFi card and load it using the MDI manager from Bosch... not the one that comes from China on CD. MDI manager straight from Bosch has un-molested drivers.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pZfXuuzORZo

You can use the hacked version of Tech2Win that ships with the clone MDI but the Tech 2 is lighter than a laptop and runs from the vehicle battery. The Tech2 will also talk to 1992-1994 ALDL and 1995 OBD1 vehicles. The downside is the Tech 2 costs more than the MDI and only supports vehicles up to around 2009 or 2010 with limited support for 2011-13.
The Linear flash card image BIN files that the SAAB guys put up on the Tech2WiKi will work with the MDI and Tech2Win on 1996 and newer vehicles.
I have both a Clone WiFi MDI and a Tech 2. I just bought the MDI. I've had the Tech2 for several years.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8d-z3EhL8Q0

Found it, and wow so glad to see someone take such good kier of their truck!

[hatzie]

Well the tail lights from 廣東路; 广东路 that came with my truck started filling with water.

No great shock. I could see condensation along the sides where the glue was letting go when I bought it.
I bought a set of clean GMC tails off a 2001 Sierra in a local salvage yard along with the lamp pigtails that run down to the junction block near the LH frame rail. Four plugs... 2 Tails, 1 Trailer, and 1 Vehicle Harness. Much easier than the T400 and earlier trucks.
Do them one at a time. It looks like you can plug the LH tails into the RH J-block socket. It would be annoying to have the RH turns activate with the LH selected.

You can polish lightly oxidized plastic lamps with rubbing compound on a foam Roloc pad mounted on an air die grinder.
I installed Clear Lamin-x to protect them from further UV damage. You can't see it til you get up close.



The Amber turn tails used on the 99-02 Silverado & 99-07 Sierra don't have the peanut bulbs at the bottom that the 03-07 Silverado has.
If you buy new tail lamps you can get them with the lamp pigtails included. This is a pair of 03-07 Silverado lamps with pigtails. The Sierra lamps are available the same way.

Not sure how long the lamps made in 廣東路; 广东路 will last. Some work well and last and some don't.
Mine are used so of unknown pedigree. They have TYC-5186 & TYC-5185 molded into the back plastic and DOT compliance mark on the visible surface. They don't have a GM part number on them. They don't leak and they are old enough that they were oxidized somewhat.

[Palf70Step]

I always preferred the 3 color tail light lense. You did very nice job cleaning up those lenses. Truck looks good.

[hatzie]

Originally Posted by Palf70Step

I always preferred the 3 color tail light lense. You did very nice job cleaning up those lenses. Truck looks good.

Much easier to do it with the lamps not mounted to the truck.
Prolly could do it with the original GM headlamps and turn/DRL lamps that I replaced. I may give it a whirl and sell em if they turn out OK.

[OldCreek]

I'm enjoying this thread. Thanks for posting.

I just bought an '03 2500HD 8.1L/Allison 1000 in July with 185k miles. I'm going through it, much like you. I got rid of the aftermarket wheel/tires that rubbed. Got rid of the smoked taillights. Put in a double din modern stereo to replace some aftermarket pos the p.o. put in. I replaced the carpets... the old was disgusting. Cleaned the leather and washed all the seatbelts...need to do it again. Got rid of the k&n cold air intake. Fixed a broken a/c actuator motor and added a cabin air filter. etc, etc, etc

i.e. lots of little things that weren't kept up with.... and still lots of little things to do.

Fortunately, no major issues. I plan on doing some of the major maintenance recommendations in the near future as time allows. I replaced the leaking oil cooler lines and that was a pain...but couldn't have the driveway all soiled up! Just replaced the alternator and belts... And plugs/wires.

Keep posting! I'm enjoying watching. I've just no time to post it all up myself!

Wil

[hatzie]

Not much to post lately.