Hey Vortec Guys! / Sierra pickup / Suburban / Yukon etc - Finally has Index!

[rayra]

Already covered those and that experience in the start of this very topic. They are quite the plague and I recommend everyone change them any time opportunity presents itself and MAKE the opportunity at a time of your own choosing, if you are over 100k mi. Change them before they fail on you.


I did not flush. I drained the radiator, opened the system, captured about 2gal of fluid in the process with a little spillage. Closed it up and put 2 gallons of Prestone orange / dexcool - coolant, not pre-mixed. Started with the same coolant that was in the vehicle when I bought it, almost exactly 3yrs ago. Never flushed or changed it, had been meaning to do a cooling system refresh / baselining, all along, didn't get around to it before the radiator cracked.
So ~2gal of mixed cooling fluid out, 2gals of pure coolant in. And pure coolant into the expansion, to level. Been a long time since I had a Chemistry class and calculated partial solutions, but the system capacity for these vehicles is 16.7qts. So my mix is now something akin to 75% coolant/ 25% water, rather than 50/50. So I need to rectify that. Doesn't matter much now, will probably matter in peak summer. If I breach the system for a thermostat change again, I'll re-balance the mix.

 

[rayra]

Just a note, for those with a 2007 Active Fuel Management engine and their greater proclivity for stuck lifters. And if your problem is bad enough to need this, you might have cylinder bore trouble too.

Complete lifter replacement kit, gaskets, bolts, everything you need take the heads off and re-assemble, $400
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00LXBLTSW?tag=viglink1659178-ar15-20

 

[Hillbilly Heaven]

Surprised I am not seeing the valve manifold assembly and the metal alignment frame that holds the switchable lifters. I was involved in the manufacture of these lifters and the valve manifold assemblies. Last I heard is the original contract either had expired or the product moved to another plant. In my opinion the lifters are very over complicated compared to a standard hydraulic roller lifter. I am not surprised people are having trouble with them especially if they do not follow the proper oil change intervals. No I am not blaming the owners but the principal used.

 

[rayra]

And here's the $25 fix for the transfer case housing wear-through issue

https://www.amazon.com/Process-Tran.../B00BYF8KO8/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_bdcrb_top?ie=UTF8

 

[Buddha.]

Sorry meant to say decreased fuel mileage because the ECU adjust fuel mixture by engine temp and it was calibrated with engine operating temp of 190 therefore it thinks the engine is not up to temp and uses a richer mixture.

As to the increased cylinder wear well calling it cylinder wear is not completely accurate. OEMs have spec'd bore finish, piston shape, and ring design based on the baseline operating temp. Baseline being 190 degrees. Engine temps do affect piston rings sealing ability. Also in raising the operating temp level they found the rings were sealing better and bore wear was decreased. The cooling systems of today's design are more efficient than designs 30 years ago. Now instead of recovery tanks we have expansion tanks. Granted some folks still think they are recovery tanks but they are wrong. Think of wear your actual radiator cap is. It is now on the expansion tanks. This is why it is stamp with big bold letters not to open hot. The use of a closed loop cooling system allows them to eliminate air pockets and possible steam forming. With 190-192 degree thermostat and a good expansion tank cap engine temps can safely go 215-220 although it is not recommended for the long term. Make that engine stay in the 190-195 and it will live a long happy life.

Like you I had to replace a radiator due to a tank crack and at same time I did a water pump change because after a long drive I could smell coolant. I had a weeping pump just an occasional drip. Before the radiator and water pump change my engine temps always ran 190 no matter the weather. Even on cool days it would hit 190 and stay there. After the change I had to beg the engine to reach 180. It was scarey to see the engine run so cold. Radiator was identical to the one I took off no upgrade. The water pump was identical. For some strange reason it just ran colder in cold weather. Now I did flush the system before tearing it apart and used premixed coolant. I do not remember which brand again nothing special just whatever the local parts store carried. I pulled a rabbit out of the hat and used an old diesel truck trick and used a piece of cardboard to cover a portion of the radiator. Remember it is a cross flow radiator so I cut a piece the width of the radiator. I experimented with different heights and ended up covering the bottom 3 inches. Brought my engine temps back inline to where they should be. My only thought is it had to be the coolant I used as it had the factory coolant in it. Now I do remove the cover when the temps hits the 70s.

Oh while you are doing the cooling system do not forget those heater hose connections on the firewall. They will ruin your day without any prior notice. It does take a special tool similar to the tools used to remove fuel lines. Luckily when mine let go it was very close to the house. No part store in town had the tool to remove them but they had the part. So I carefully used a dremel tool with a cutoff wheel to remove them. I now keep a heater hose fitting tool in every vehicle.

I had a plastic tank on my 4cyl s10s's radiator fail. After replacing it that truck would never come up to proper temp in winter. I replaced the thermostat twice, no effect. I took off the mechanical fan and replaced it with an electric unit Off of a cavalier, no effect. That engine ran so cool the fan would only turn on above 80f while sitting in traffic. Cardboard was the solution.
Anyway...

I have an exhaust leak on my drivers side by the engine. Thoughts?

 

[02TahoeMD]

I have an exhaust leak on my drivers side by the engine. Thoughts?

Broken exhaust manifold bolt head. The LS engines are notorious for it. I had the one on the driver's side against the firewall break first, replaced the entire set with ARP stainless. Took 2 days of work to get it all done, the worst of it was getting the one with the broken head out, very time consuming to work since there is only about 3 inches of space to work in. If only the fine GM engineers had made the firewall stamping with a bit more space against the engine.

 

[Lykos]

I'm about to stick a rag in the fuel filler and light this thing on fire. Please help me before I go to jail for arson.

2003 5.3 flex fuel suburban. 201,000 miles.

Bought this a couple months ago and love the rig. It had been neglected maintenance wise and needed a good tune up, a MAF sensor, and a couple 02 sensors.
When the ambient temp is below 40 I keep getting simultaneous p171 and p174 codes. The plugs I took out were quite from running lean. Occasionally I'll get a misfire code.

I've sprayed brake cleaner all over this engine without any change in idle speed. I don't want to arbitrarily pull the intake to replace the gaskets just because they typically fail. It seems to me if it was an intake gasket that I would get a code for that side of the engine. Am I wrong about that?

Someone smarter than me please talk me through the diagnostic process for these codes. Before someone has to call the fire department!

 

[Hillbilly Heaven]

Dirty or partially clogged injectors. The ECU is calling for a much richer fuel mixture at the below 40 ambient and dirty or clogged injectors would not be able to supply the requested fuel amount.

 

[cheepsk8]

This isn't really a vortec question but, I just replaced my drivers seat switch. The seat bottom functions are all backwards! I never got to use the old one as it was already broke. The new switch has the same part number and the plug can only go one way. Has anyone else had this problem?

 

[JSwanson]

I have an exhaust leak on my drivers side by the engine. Thoughts?[/QUOTE]

Dorman makes clamps that work great if its 1 of the corner manifold bolts
https://www.dormanproducts.com/p-66009-917-107.aspx
If you have to get your vehicle inspected im not sure it would pass but it fixed leaks on one i had and took less than an hour to do both heads front and back clamps. There are 2 different clamps linked above is one of the two

 

[JSwanson]

I'm about to stick a rag in the fuel filler and light this thing on fire. Please help me before I go to jail for arson.

2003 5.3 flex fuel suburban. 201,000 miles.

Bought this a couple months ago and love the rig. It had been neglected maintenance wise and needed a good tune up, a MAF sensor, and a couple 02 sensors.
When the ambient temp is below 40 I keep getting simultaneous p171 and p174 codes. The plugs I took out were quite from running lean. Occasionally I'll get a misfire code.

I've sprayed brake cleaner all over this engine without any change in idle speed. I don't want to arbitrarily pull the intake to replace the gaskets just because they typically fail. It seems to me if it was an intake gasket that I would get a code for that side of the engine. Am I wrong about that?

Someone smarter than me please talk me through the diagnostic process for these codes. Before someone has to call the fire department!

I would bet its the intake gaskets. The plastic with slightly contract when it is cold which is why it only happens then. Ive had a lot of vacuum leaks that i couldnt find with carb/brake clean so i wouldn't necessarily rely on that. If you do the gaskets you should probably also do the knock sensors and harness at the same time as they are also a common failure point. Good luck and dont light it on fire

 

[leviathan907]

Check Amazon for the same Delco pump. I found it cheaper from them. Fulfilled by Amazon not another seller.

Just an FYI fulfilled by amazon means that amazon takes care of all the shipping and returns for the seller and stores the product in their fulfillment centers. It is still a third party seller that is selling the product. FBA is a hands off way of selling goods for the third party seller. No need for warehouses or dealing with shipping products everyday Amazon takes care of it.

Sorry i know this is an old post but i was just cruising through this thread and noticed it. I have been selling on Amazon for a few months now so I'm starting to learn all their quirks and qualities. I personally use FBA. Pay amazon their fee get buy box eligibility, and all damaged in transit, not delivered (usually a scam) amazon has to pay for.

 

[shifty98]

Hey all, I figure I would introduce myself on here before I ask a question. I am a proud owner of an 04 Burb 4x4 approaching 300k miles. Mods are pretty minimal but include Bilstein 5100s all around, grill guard with lights, and a sleeping platform. More to come down the road though.
Here is the question:
I recently discovered some "hiding spots" in my Burb. They are really more just clever storage spaces. I am looking for more creative places hidden in the body to store stuff so I can keep the bed mostly empty except the sleeping platform. I recently discovered this video () and I know there's more out there so I would love to hear some stuff from you guys!

 

[rayra]

well there's a lot of dead space in the driver side cargo area sidewall. The subwoofer takes a good bit at the left rearmost area, under that built-in breadbox above. The factory jack is in the left side under the tray above the wheel well. I shortened my subwoof and came up thru the floor with heavy electrical cabling from my under-hood Aux battery, adn have an Anderson / forklift-type power connector to jack in a multi-flavor power module. I can plug in / power just about anything.
The factory center console wastes a lot of space. The built in bucket isn't much bigger in area than the top hatch. You could double the storage volume by creating a new tub that better fills the interior of the console. Or deleting the entire factory console and make a new one.
And yeah the cupholder pops up and out. A ltitle judicious filing / sanding makes it come out a little easier. Lot of room under there but no ventilation.
When I built me drawers / sleepign platform I put a breadbox stye storage compartment in the front ends of the drawer units, right behind the 2nr row seats and flush with the front edge of the cargo deck. Only look at 4-5" from the overall drawer length but IIRC there's 56-58" of length to work with behind the 2nd row. I can still fit my .30-06 rifles in the resulting drawers, length-wise. The front breadboxes have paper towels, kleenex, handwipes, other bulky snivel gear in them, closer to hand than having to open the rear hatch and drawers.

 

[rayra]

I'm about to stick a rag in the fuel filler and light this thing on fire. Please help me before I go to jail for arson.

2003 5.3 flex fuel suburban. 201,000 miles.

Bought this a couple months ago and love the rig. It had been neglected maintenance wise and needed a good tune up, a MAF sensor, and a couple 02 sensors.
When the ambient temp is below 40 I keep getting simultaneous p171 and p174 codes. The plugs I took out were quite from running lean. Occasionally I'll get a misfire code.

I've sprayed brake cleaner all over this engine without any change in idle speed. I don't want to arbitrarily pull the intake to replace the gaskets just because they typically fail. It seems to me if it was an intake gasket that I would get a code for that side of the engine. Am I wrong about that?

Someone smarter than me please talk me through the diagnostic process for these codes. Before someone has to call the fire department!

MAF gets an airflow reading, engine comp reads that and throttle position and sets the fuel injector flow to match. O2 reads the burn and says 'lean'. So either some 'extra' air is creeping into the formula, or not enough gas is moving. Look for intake manifold leaks. The work of changing the gasket isn't much, i've detailed it in this topic more than once. The other place is somewhere between the MAF and the throttle body. Look for cracks in the duct work. And that duct molding has to be clamped properly at both ends. You can't leave it loose and have it work right.
Take your O2 sensors out and give them a good cleaning with the proper solvents.
And seconding the possibility of dirty / clogged injectors. Commands might be proper, but you aren't moving enough fuel thru them. Clean them all well while you have the intake dismounted. Go heavy on some injector cleaner fuel additive for a couple tanks of gas.
Change the fuel filter (under the driver seat, inside the frame rail.
Borrow the tool to test your fuel pressure. At 300k mi I'd be concerned about the fuel pump not making enough pressure at the fuel rail. DON'T look at that fuel pump funny or it might fail. Say nice things, tell it its hair looks nice.