2005 GMC Sierra 2500HD - Turd Polishing

In reply to Norma66-Brent :

I'm hoping 5+ years. I'm at 5 years since I did my K1500, although I sanded off the rattle can paint and redid it with bedliner at the 2 year mark. The bedliner is now peeling off the rockers on that truck, but there aren't any holes. I didn't spray the insides of the panels on that truck, plus the bedliner was thicker and didn't wrap around the edges like I did with this one. So maybe longer.

Went to use my mom's sewing machine but while trying to set it up it was jamming up and getting tight. I didn't want to break anything since it wasn't mine, so I only had a quick look inside, but nothing obvious. Considering buying my own machine used, or just paying an upholstery shop to do it. I don't really have the room for a sewing machine. I'd do it by hand but I don't think I could make very straight stiches.

Went to fix this today. Leaking fluid between the tcase and trans. It also does this thing where it takes a multiple tries to change into 4WD. Always does it, and when it goes it goes quickly. But takes a few attempts. The previous owner said the tcase was "done last year" but I didn't really get any more info.

Leak:

Shifting issue

I did some testing at the switch, that seems okay.

Removed, tcase, washed.

Fluid was a little dark

Messed up output seal on the transmission side. Around the 2 o'clock mark.

Inside the tcase. Magnet didn't have any chunks on it.

Had this little plate thing. Fix for the pump rub issue. I think this tcase is a reman....the actuator has a warranty sticker, the whole thing has a cheap silver paint job, the case didn't have any of the brackets it's supposed to have for wiring and vent hoses, it's got that budget pump rub kit inside.

This was probably the worst wear on the case. Still had the magnesium back half.  Got to decide if I want to just replace the leaky seals and throw it back together or get a nice pump rub kit. Not sure the effectiveness of the plate thing, it's better than factory but clearly still causes some wear.

What do you guys think?

Opted to slap it all back together.

Got the new output seal in.

Sealed up the case halves and put it all back, loud ticking noise when driving in any direction, in 2wd and 4wd. Pulled it out again, couldn't find anything wrong. I had basically only opened up the case, took a look, washed and cleaned, then put back together. So I went digging. Deep inside the planetary I found this

Which are the remains of the rear thrust washer in the planetary assembly. Basically holds the sun gear centered inside the carrier. It sits at the bottom of this basket here, the front thrust washer is on the opposite side. It's the one with yellow on it.

Tested this time using some duct tape and an axle nut socket

Oh and with the actuator off, found this tag. So confirmed as a reman.

Next I did the rear brake line. Old one out. Opted to DIY the line with NiCopp.

This stuff is a total dream to work with, bends by hand, both flares looked perfect and seem to be leak free on the first try.

Old brake line after trying to bend the worst spot.

Getting real close, just interior stuff left basically.

Quick update/recap. Truck is "done" for now, it's registered/driving and my current daily driver. Got it on the road just before it's 1 yr anniversary under my ownership.....

Where I left off....

Flares got stuck back on, the double sided tape I used wasn't the best and there were some gaps between the flares and the body. I didn't want them filling up with dirt, so I threw on some silicone from the Home Depot Racing Store.

Spent a long time pressure washing the underside until it was spotless. Applied rust converter/sealant to all the areas with surface rust under the cab (mainly all the little spot welds). Then put several layers of undercoating on the areas outside of the frame rails. The brown stuff at the bottom edge of the rockers is that cavity wax I applied.

Fixed all the burnt out bulbs in the climate control by soldering in some LEDs from eBay

Did the same with the cluster, which I found had already been rebuilt once. Had a remanufactured tag and warranty void tape all over. Probably why all the stepper motors are nice and functional....

End result is okay, but there must be a blue tint to the cluster overlay because the climate controls are white and the cluster is this cool blue while the both have the same LEDs

Gave it an alignment

Put LEDs in the DRL spots. I bought both white and amber off AliExpress, ended up going with the amber. What do you think?

I feel the amber matches the "beat up old honest farm truck" vibe better.

Put in heated seats, both sides.

Paid a local upholstery shop $120 to sew a new panel on the lower seat cover. Sewed up the split seam on the upper half myself. With the new foam bottom cushion, it feels like new and looks pretty good. Also put a new stopper button on the seatbelt because the buckle would fall all the way down each time and that got annoying.

Kinda screwed up here mounting the backup cam upside down at first, but it's working now. Not the best camera or angle, but it's well protected.

I missed out on a really clean rear bumper at the junkyard which was unfortunate but I did snag this steering wheel from a Saab 9-7X.

Some donkey had pried out the Saab emblem on the airbag so I didn't get that. Would have been worth buying that $50 airbag for the lulz of having a Saab Sierra.

The plan is to swap that wheel on, I grabbed the spiral cable too but the HD trucks have single inflators vs the dual inflators on the Trailblazer and 1500 trucks, so I have to either get really lucky finding an optioned up HD truck in the junkyard or lengthen some SRS wires.....I'll give that one time. Then I'll have steering wheel control of the radio.

Officially plated and driving. Did another oil change because the oil was so diluted with fuel from cold starts driving the truck in, then out of the shop for a year.  Fuel trims were -13% at idle...

Took a gable on an $8 Rock Auto door handle as the pivot was rusty and wouldn't return all the time. I swapped over the original retaining clips that are apparently the weak spot on the cheap handles. So far we've had a bunch of -30 days and it hasn't shattered yet *knock on wood*.

The hood deflector had some broken tabs and was flapping in the wind. Zipties ftw

New Bilsteins for the front to match the rear. Still have a light noise, from the LF I think. Possibly wheel bearing or maybe just the tire being a little cupped. Pretty minor but these are the things you start to notice once you actually start driving it daily.

Got a pending P0300 a few times, and one evening I had a plug wire visibly arcing on the manifold heat shield.  So new plugs and wires.

Old plugs were standard coppers (except cyl #4...) and looked fairly recent.

Also did a compression test while the plugs were out, highest was #7

and lowest was #8

Also gave it the full snake oil treatment with some 3M fuel injector cleaner (disconnect the oem fuel line and run it off that little can for however long it lasts), some Lucas ATF conditioner in the trans, and Nissan branded fuel system cleaner in the tank.

No more P0300, but I think there's still room for improvement. I'm eyeing up some AC Delco injectors on closeout from Rock Auto for around the same price as getting mine properly cleaned, but they're 50lb/hr which means a tune ....I need a tune anyways to enable the E-fan conversion.....but that's a slippery slope....

Depending on my tax return the next item on my Want (not Need) list is some Denali headlights with better projectors retrofitted.