Back from the dead 2007 Tahoe 2wd LT

[Leevon]

This is a thread to track progress on the resurrection of this worn out old 'hoe. I bought it for the challenge and because I can't stand to see a good Tahoe go to the graveyard. As long as it doesn't blow up my son will be driving it in a couple of months when he turns 16. It's a 2007 2wd LT with 258,000 miles. It had one owner for the first 250,000 miles and I'm sure they took care of it for awhile but stopped giving a rip at some point. I paid $5,000 and felt like that was high by at least $1,000 but I wanted it because 1) 2wd and 2) Bermuda Blue. On the test drive it was missing at idle, the whole dash was lit up and I could feel a bad motor mount and the shocks and struts were obviously worn out. It looked like it had not been washed in a year so I really couldn't see the paint condition. On the plus side, it's not rusty, the interior is fairly clean considering (no smoke, rips or tears and smells like a real Christmas tree). The tires and brakes were passable and it randomly has a sunroof option lol. Plus it's a Tahoe so everything is fixable. I am going to start with some photos, then go on to mechanical issues then clean-up of the interior and exterior.

 

[Leevon]

More. Who am I kidding this thing is a massive turd lol.

photos:

 

[wjburken]

 

[Leevon]

Last of the "near death" pics.

 

[Sparksalot]

That is a cool color!

 

[Leevon]

Alright, so here's the mechanical list so far. After taking care of the big stuff it drove pretty nice. It doesn't hesitate or miss, transmission shifts nicely. Smooth at highway speeds up to 80mph, no vibrations or pulls. I have spent $636 in mechanical parts so far.

- Good news; Front end is tight and the ball joints have been replaced, tie rods are good and wheel bearings are tight and quiet (for now). The brakes are decent.

- Check engine light; P0300 random misfire, P0449 evap vent, P0522 engine oil pressure circuit, and a host of body control module codes. High mis-fire counts on cylinders #4 and #7 which are the primary DOD cylinders. We found the plugs and wires were ancient, new AC Delco sets took care of the misfire for now. Oily build-up on the plugs indicates she's an oil-burner we'll just have to watch and see how much she's consuming. Installed a new evap vent canister and conversion harness, someone had done this before and it was a hack job. Also replaced the gas cap which was came off in two pieces. I don't understand how someone would fail to address this, it's a $15 part and will keep the check engine light on for evap large leak. We found the oil pressure sending unit un-plugged, its bad but the engine has good oil pressure. So I'm going to drive it, make sure it's strong and then replace the sending unit then. Oil change was overdue. Engine air filter was filthy, replaced. Also did an air and fuel induction service which is like an injector and top end cleaning.

- Engine mount driver's side was bad, easy on a 2wd, done.

- SRS (airbag) light on, replaced left front impact sensor. Ouch that hurt $. OEM only here though!

-Transmission oil cooler lines were poorly repaired (spliced) and leaking so new AC Delco lines installed.

- Engine oil cooler block-off was leaking, replaced the gasket. Rear main seal and oil pan are likely leaking, but I will be monitoring them since the block-off gasket had everything wet. Valve cover gaskets have build-up but not dripping yet, may address soon.

- Fuel tank is seeping from the top. Hopefully it's the pump seal but it could be anything we'll have to drop the tank and see.

- Obviously we haven't gotten to do the preventative stuff yet like belts, hoses, fluids, etc. but I do plan on it. I want to make sure she'll live first. Baby steps.

 

[Leevon]

I am going to strip the interior this weekend down to the bare floor. Anything that is dirty will be cleaned, anything worn or broken will be replaced. The big items are the steering wheel (nasty), driver's seat bottom and console lid. New steering wheels are the #1 way to make a vehicle feel new from the driver's seat for me. I bought the durofoam seat bottom replacement, and the cloth cover itself is nice enough to re-use. A new console cover came with the truck, but the foam underlay is bad so I had to order another lid to work with. I also bought a trim stapler to do this job as well as re-attaching the seat back pocket.

 

[Leevon]

Here are some of the exterior parts I have ordered. The underbody shield is already on, the old one was shot. Short term; planning to remove the roof rack and door trim, replace headlights, door handles and front bowtie, plus a two-stage paint correction. The door handles are all peeling, but I found all four bermuda blue take-offs on Ebay. Oddly I also found a full set of bermuda blue door trim so I am considering replacing it maybe. Interestingly when I bought it I thought the wheels were roached. But when I got a closer look, they look like new painted silver reproduction 20's just with nasty old caps. So that's a bonus.

 

[Sparksalot]

Here are some of the exterior parts I have ordered. The underbody shield is already on, the old one was shot. Short term; planning to remove the roof rack and door trim, replace headlights, door handles and front bowtie, plus a two-stage paint correction. The door handles are all peeling, but I found all four bermuda blue take-offs on Ebay. Oddly I also found a full set of bermuda blue door trim so I am considering replacing it maybe. Interestingly when I bought it I thought the wheels were roached. But when I got a closer look, they look like new painted silver reproduction 20's just with nasty old caps. So that's a bonus.

View attachment 267597 View attachment 267598 View attachment 267599 View attachment 267600 View attachment 267601

Is that the aluminum skid plate?

 

[Leevon]

No, it's just thick plastic. It's not really a skid plate as much as a shield. I'm not sure about the z71 Tahoes but I think they're plastic too. They crack at the four bolts and mine was just barely hanging on.

 

[Leevon]

Drive through car wash makes it a sold 10-footer.

 

[Sparksalot]

No, it's just thick plastic. It's not really a skid plate as much as a shield. I'm not sure about the z71 Tahoes but I think they're plastic too. They crack at the four bolts and mine was just barely hanging on.

I was thinking I had an aluminum one bookmarked but nope. The PPV and SSV models have 2 separate aluminum skid plates. They work great for catching and trapping 10mm sockets it hard to reach places.

 

[Leevon]

I was thinking I had an aluminum one bookmarked but nope. The PPV and SSV models have 2 separate aluminum skid plates. They work great for catching and trapping 10mm sockets it hard to reach places.

Haha, if there is a place to drop something under a car and lose your mind for an hour looking for it, I will find it! I'll have to keep my eyes open for the aluminum plates.

 

[Tonyrodz]

Looks to be slowly coming along. Do you have a link to that stapler?

 

[89Suburban]

Here are some of the exterior parts I have ordered. The underbody shield is already on, the old one was shot. Short term; planning to remove the roof rack and door trim, replace headlights, door handles and front bowtie, plus a two-stage paint correction. The door handles are all peeling, but I found all four bermuda blue take-offs on Ebay. Oddly I also found a full set of bermuda blue door trim so I am considering replacing it maybe. Interestingly when I bought it I thought the wheels were roached. But when I got a closer look, they look like new painted silver reproduction 20's just with nasty old caps. So that's a bonus.

View attachment 267597 View attachment 267598 View attachment 267599 View attachment 267600 View attachment 267601

Great thread and resurrection!!! Love the work you are doing here saving the old girl.

Where did you get your steering wheel and Bowtie badge?

You can step up a heat range on the plugs to help keep them cleaner longer and add a catch can. Then updated valve cover if it doesn't have it. Also very possible the VLOM gaskets start to weep on these from loose bolts at that high mileage.

Also maybe invest in a Range AFM device? She really does look good for the mileage on here especially under the motor mine looks like it was pulled out of an oil well. :/

 

[Leevon]

Looks to be slowly coming along. Do you have a link to that stapler?

It found a cheap amazon pneumatic upholstery stapler. The hard part was finding 5/32 x 3/8 crown staples. Hopefully I don't have any problems. At this point I'm going to be stapling the console lid and both seat back pockets.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07KQ52FBB/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o06_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

[Leevon]

Great thread and resurrection!!! Love the work you are doing here saving the old girl.

Where did you get your steering wheel and Bowtie badge?

You can step up a heat range on the plugs to help keep them cleaner longer and add a catch can. Then updated valve cover if it doesn't have it. Also very possible the VLOM gaskets start to weep on these from loose bolts at that high mileage.

Also maybe invest in a Range AFM device? She really does look good for the mileage on here especially under the motor mine looks like it was pulled out of an oil well. :/

Thanks man! I have a dealer parts account and searched by VIN for the correct steering wheel, which is currently unavailable (black trim). But I know from experience that other years will work, so I found the part number for 2008 Z71 (silver trim) and ordered it. Around $175. The airbag emblem is from Ebay about $13.

I hadn't thought about a catch can or hotter plugs, normally not a catch can fan but that's a great point to avoid hassle of constantly changing plus. We have some customers who come in once every few months for one or two plugs and keep going forever lol. Next week I'm going to do the oil pressure sending unit and VC gaskets, probably the VLOM gaskets while I'm there. I considered doing DOD delete and cam but with the mileage on her and probable ring wear I think just keeping it going is the goal for now. If she's drinking oil bad might have to re-evaluate. Fortunately one of my techs is an experienced tuner but we haven't had anything to tune yet so this will be the test. I definitely will turn of AFM. Longer term once my son is done with the truck I'd like to do a cam, heads, long tube etc rebuild.

 

[Geoffsfas10]

the upholstery stapler will make that job worlds easier. i tried using just my regular air stapler to redo the console cover in my wifes car and it was so damn terrible haha.

 

[Tonyrodz]

the upholstery stapler will make that job worlds easier. i tried using just my regular air stapler to redo the console cover in my wifes car and it was so damn terrible haha.

I've used hot glue held with clips and regular staples. Pita but it works.

 

[Leevon]

Had a big day on the interior. I was able to remove the seats, console and carpet and deep clean. It was NASTY. The carpet cleaned up well after a water-only power wash. The headliner also cleaned up well, I used a microfiber lightly sprayed with all purpose cleaner. It had more spots than I'm used to but it cleaned up 99% also, very happy. I cleaned and dressed the door seals, dash and interior panels and started on the door panels. I also got the seat bottom done, but I have some work to do on the back. I'll update with seat repairs next and I have a stack or parts including the new steering wheel that delivered yesterday. I bought it last Saturday, so after five days I'd say the previous owner would be shocked lol.