Newbie

[Jimmyy]

Oh, lots of stories here with all kinds of backgrounds, including shop work and such. Some very smart people here for sure. I am up there in years and ran shops and worked in them for 35+ years and I got tired of paying the shop fees so I bought some more tools and lost some weight and started to do the things I like to do and have a shop owned by two guys that worked at one of my shops and they are both ASE Master Techs and let me supply parts for the jobs I don't want to do. Even with that experience and knowledge, I still see guys here that have more knowledge than me that never worked in shops. This is a great place to bounce info off of people at. Plus, there are plenty of us smart asses here too. Ahhhh, good times.

I worked at a Chevy dealer out of high school. Parking car for the mechanics then later working the lube rack. All the mechanics told not to get in the business. I did listen to them and found a different way to skin the cat.

 

[Jimmyy]

Looks good!!! Where did u buy the clear housing?

picked them up on eBay. They were $30 delivered. I’m guessing the headlights replaced earlier. The original ones were real cloudy. The kit to refinish them was $24 so kind of a no brainer.

 

[Jimmyy]

I bought an `06 Yukon Denali back in May. I was actually looking for an `04-`06 sierra or silverado. I had an `02 Sierra 4x4 before, then a minivan (ugh!) I saw this truck and couldn't pass it up. I love the luxury, and the AWD! I have the short one. Your's is super clean.

Thanks. I believe I’m the 3rd owner. I Had been looking for over a year and found this one by accident. This owner just wanted gone. High miles but clean. I can bolt parts on easier than fixing rust.

 

[adventurenali92]

Great looking truck and welcome from another 2006 Denali XL owner! I love the color on yours! That’s the color I had wanted. Also I have the same wheels as yours but in the darker non chrome finish! Good looking newer generation Denali wheel for our rigs! 253k is nothing on these things if they’re well maintained!

 

[OR VietVet]

I worked at a Chevy dealer out of high school. Parking car for the mechanics then later working the lube rack. All the mechanics told not to get in the business. I did listen to them and found a different way to skin the cat.

The thing about being a tech is that you can pick up and work anywhere you want to. If you want to move to a different state, no problem, there will be tech jobs. With your tool boxes on wheels, you are basically a contractor and can roll out as easy as you roll in. If you study and pay attention and get the certs, you can make great money in the right situation. It can be ******* the body but in the end, I feel I made a good choice for my previous career.

 

[Jimmyy]

Great looking truck and welcome from another 2006 Denali XL owner! I love the color on yours! That’s the color I had wanted. Also I have the same wheels as yours but in the darker non chrome finish! Good looking newer generation Denali wheel for our rigs! 253k is nothing on these things if they’re well maintained!

Thanks. I work with a girl that has 435K on her Hoe. Just 1 transmission rebuilt nothing major to the engine. The color is close to my favorite car 99 Regal GS. R.I.P old man rust got it.

 

[Jimmyy]

The thing about being a tech is that you can pick up and work anywhere you want to. If you want to move to a different state, no problem, there will be tech jobs. With your tool boxes on wheels, you are basically a contractor and can roll out as easy as you roll in. If you study and pay attention and get the certs, you can make great money in the right situation. It can be ******* the body but in the end, I feel I made a good choice for my previous career.

Definitely a solid career to have. Always plenty of work, even in the up and downs of the economy. Most of the techs I worked with were great guys. Willing to help and share knowledge with a high school punk. Except the the transmission guy, he was a little of his rocker. He chased the boss around with a ball peen hammer on what turned out to be his last day. I still stayed in the wrenching field. Office machine, ATM’s and Banking equipment. The only down side is if someone does a half ass job on your car, house Etc you can see it a mile away and know you could have done a better job.

 

[RobsFreeland]

First time here also. Hi Jimmy. Been reading and getting tips from you folks. Just put on level keys for 2004 Tahoe ls 4x4. Nice to raise the front end a little. Have over 200000 on this rig bought new. Just replaced tires and went with rims too. First time for me to customize my rig. Thinking about going through motor 5.3 vortec. Don’t know if I will rebuild or swap, ...

 

[OR VietVet]

Welcome to the forum from Oregon. There are lots of threads here about moding your rig.

 

[Jimmyy]

Looking sharp.

 

[ivin74]

Welcome to the cult!

Yeah, there really aren't any trolls. But, some members will troll when given the opportunity. It's all in good fun, so just roll with it cuz those same members will just as soon help you with the strangest of quirks.

Denali looks clean!

X2

@Jimmyy
Welcome to the forum

 

[RobsFreeland]

Just finished installing cold air intake. Generic variety nothing fancy. Now taking it all apart for cam, lifters,springs,guides,oil pump, probably timing chain, knock sensors. Going in deep, I’m in there might as well. One question is it hard or necessary to replace cam bearings with new cam? No problems now. I will probably mic it for out of round. One thing leads to another. My brother calls it the “ but first” syndrome. Wish me luck.

 

[Tonyrodz]

Just finished installing cold air intake. Generic variety nothing fancy. Now taking it all apart for cam, lifters,springs,guides,oil pump, probably timing chain, knock sensors. Going in deep, I’m in there might as well. One question is it hard or necessary to replace cam bearings with new cam? No problems now. I will probably mic it for out of round. One thing leads to another. My brother calls it the “ but first” syndrome. Wish me luck.

I don't think it's necessary, but if you can do it, I would. Wouldn't the block need to come out to do it right? My last motor's cam bearings went. I wound up replacing that motor.

 

[05Single]

Welcome
I’m not a troll but I look like one so there’s that.
Watch out for @adventurenali92 , meanest guy on the forum.

 

[adventurenali92]

Welcome
I’m not a troll but I look like one so there’s that.
Watch out for @adventurenali92 , meanest guy on the forum.

Oh yeah... real tough guy here....

 

[RobsFreeland]

Down boys,down. I would like to keep block in and just remove heads to upgrade. If I removed block, I would probably do the whole enchilada.( But first, syndrome ) Doing the injectors, fuel rails, coil packs today. Moving slow, first time, pics notes labeling etc. the wire harness looks like it’s a bear to move out of the way. Deal with that when I get to it. Lots of plastic parts that like to snap off. Geez. Here’s a pic. I should rename photos to eliminate the long text.

 

[iamdub]

Just finished installing cold air intake. Generic variety nothing fancy. Now taking it all apart for cam, lifters,springs,guides,oil pump, probably timing chain, knock sensors. Going in deep, I’m in there might as well. One question is it hard or necessary to replace cam bearings with new cam? No problems now. I will probably mic it for out of round. One thing leads to another. My brother calls it the “ but first” syndrome. Wish me luck.

Replacing the cam bearings would be dependent upon their condition once you have the old cam out and can inspect them. Chances are, if it's fine now, it'll be fine with just sliding in the new cam. Replacing the cam bearings requires removal of the block and rotating assembly. At that point, you may as well do a full-on rebuild with machine work, etc.

 

[iamdub]

Down boys,down. I would like to keep block in and just remove heads to upgrade. If I removed block, I would probably do the whole enchilada.( But first, syndrome ) Doing the injectors, fuel rails, coil packs today. Moving slow, first time, pics notes labeling etc. the wire harness looks like it’s a bear to move out of the way. Deal with that when I get to it. Lots of plastic parts that like to snap off. Geez. Here’s a pic. I should rename photos to eliminate the long text.

View attachment 264149

The wire harness is easy. Unplug all the injectors (these are actually the biggest PITA of this part due to the connector locks), all the sensors, etc. and flip the harness over to the driver side. There is a leg of the harness that goes around the back of the manifold to the passenger side. I just hold this up while I pull the manifold out. Once you finish with whatever you're doing, hold that harness up out of the way while you slip the manifold back in place then lay the harness back over the manifold and all the plugs will fall back near their respective connections.

 

[RobsFreeland]

Finished fuel rails, injectors and coil packs are off. Could have removed the intake but waiting till I get the nuts off the exhaust. Pb’ed ,let em soak. Tomorrow prob get back at it to remove exhaust, intake, timing cover, etc. The wire harness seems to go down the back of block. But I think I can get it out of the way. Then the heads come off. Thanks guys for info and tips. Appreciate it.