Brought a new (to me) Burb home

[Loki223]

Well i think i'm going to sell my 05 denali i've had the last couple of years. I've always been a sucker for creature comforts, and even though these are our spare vehicles, i like creature comforts. So when a good deal came up for a 2015 Suburban LTZ that seems to be fully loaded how could i say no? Would be nice is the house was already rebuilt so i would have a garage to go over this thing in more detail, but i know i'll be borrowing my buddy's shop for the handful of things i need to do to her.

Known issues, front shocks, magnetic ride. Those need to be replaced, front driver's side is in need of a new one. Driver's side power running board won't deploy, low priority but i'll diagnose it. Expecting it to be the motor. Front windshield is cracked, no big deal there. And the rims need refinished, will likely try and upgrade the rims and get some new rubber on those. Other then that, she ran great, and the carfax showed extensive dealer and private mechanic servicing, so with 160k miles on it, doesn't look like any of the previous owners were like me and do everything themself. Very regular services it's entire life, which i still go back and forth if thats a selling point since i'm not one to trust dealers. But hey, not everyone can wrench. Was originally bought in Montana and then moved to western Washington at some point, got traded in at dave smith and they sent it to auction for me to pick up from a local lot. But first things first, time to look into the magnetic ride struts.

 

[Loki223]

Oh and i want to look into adding android auto to her. Looks like there is a module that can be added. I'll also be doing the escalade style rear tails, and once i get some night driving i might be upgading the headlights as well depending on how well they perform. I'm spoiled in my truck with my Morimotos, but geez is it hard to justify Morimoto headlights on a spare rig / weekend driver.....although i think the wife is going to transform it into her DD until she has to fuel it up a couple of times....lol The burb won't get the 32 mpg her subaru gets

 

[Joseph Garcia]

Looks great!

 

[Loki223]

Yeah, we started looking and settled on a 2010+ But then the more i looked at it, the more i wanted a 2015+. I think these are some of the best styled GM rigs in a long time. Already have various things ordered for her. Might even get a chance to look at the driver's side step this weekend, we will see

 

[swathdiver]

...although i think the wife is going to transform it into her DD until she has to fuel it up a couple of times....lol The burb won't get the 32 mpg her subaru gets

These are much safer rigs, they have great visibility sitting up so high to see problems way ahead and not plow into them blindly like the little zoomies do all the time. Safety has a price and it's in lower fuel economy.

Last time I checked over at the IIHS, there have been ZERO fatalities since 2015 in the 4x4 GMC Yukon XL version of that truck. They are that safe.

 

[Pilot]

Love it! FWIW I got bought a 2015 Tahoe a couple of weeks ago and installed Morimoto headlights last weekend. Couldn’t be happier. Took about two weeks to talk myself into it due to the price, but really happy that I did.

 

[Loki223]

Love it! FWIW I got bought a 2015 Tahoe a couple of weeks ago and installed Morimoto headlights last weekend. Couldn’t be happier. Took about two weeks to talk myself into it due to the price, but really happy that I did.

Yeah, i've got Morimoto's on my Ram tow pig which is my DD. Absolutely love them. Probably going to sit on them for a couple of months and recoup after dropping the cash to buy the rig. Lighting will be worked on after i get it back into perfect shape, down side to buying cheap is that there are always things that need repaired. I'd rather buy cheap and spend some money in fixing it and come out ahead. After fixing everything that needs fixed i'll still be into it several thousand cheaper then similar mileage mint condition ones.

These are much safer rigs, they have great visibility sitting up so high to see problems way ahead and not plow into them blindly like the little zoomies do all the time. Safety has a price and it's in lower fuel economy.

Last time I checked over at the IIHS, there have been ZERO fatalities since 2015 in the 4x4 GMC Yukon XL version of that truck. They are that safe.

Yeah, i'm not new to Burbs and Yukons, although this might be the newest one i've had, it is 4th i've had, and if you count K5s then it might be the 10th or 12th if i'm being honest. Ive always enjoyed 'em and i think this generation is among the best looking interior and exterior wise

 

[Loki223]

This is partially to remind myself to look into this in the morning. But figured id share. Looks like the dealer cleared the codes before purchase (raise you hand if your surprised) but knowing these 5.3s and how good she runs. I'm thinking sensors are the issue. Potentially from the dealer deep clean (pressure wash and oil everything to Make it shiny)

Did a quick data cache since i had the mylink plugged in.

 

[Loki223]

 

[Loki223]

Well that's a fun way to spend $800. Just ordered new liftgate supports for the rear, stock ones are failings. Inspected the driver's side running board, wiring was worn which was to be expected, but the motor is beyond locked up, so that'll be a fun project getting it out, but new motor ordered. And new high pressure fuel pump. Arnott magnetic struts installed this past weekend on the front, and believe it or not, when you replace worn out blown struts with new ones, the ride is drastically improved. New parts likely won't show up for a week or so, so this weeked i'll take the boat out, so that next weekend i can work on the burb

 

[Loki223]

Burb got new weathertech floor mats last night, and i programmed 2 new keys. The video i watched claimed you could program multiple keys in one process, i had to do the entire process twice to program the keys, not that it was hard to do. The real question is if the local hardware store will cut the blanks for me or not. I'll be swinging by them later today to find out

 

[Loki223]

Mostly talking to myself i guess but hey, who doesn't enjoy a good conversation with themselves.

Hopefully by Saturday the list of repairs will be done. Throughly enjoying the burb, but fuel pump issue fixed. New liftgate struts going on, new driver's side running board motor replaced, and a new windshield. All with minimal effort on my end since i don't have a place to work on it, but my buddy does and he like extra spending money so he can get his boat back up and going. The windhsield is the only thing thats not 100% currently, friend of a friend should be in the area on Friday to replace it for cheap as a side gig

 

[Bigkevschopshop]

Nice burb and glad your getting it dialed in.

 

[Loki223]

So question for people here, not sure if i should just make a new thread but i'll post it here. While we were into the engine to replace the oil pump solenoid since that was stuck on high pressure only due to being broken by way of being snapped somehow. But we noticed a few things that make me wonder if someone else has been in the engine before.

First sign, upper oil pan did not have a gasket, it was sealed with RTV, is that factory? we used new gaskets all the way around when putting the bottom end back together
Second sign, 4 of the main cap bolts were broken or damaged. All the bearings appeared fine, but we bought new bolts and rolled new bearings in. 1 of the bolts was completely snapped in the middle of the threads, and the other 3 were about to. Was there a potential flaw from the factory, or was someone in there for something? and just wth were they doing?

The carfax showed even oil changes were done at the dealer throughout the rig's life. So i didn't expect to find any oddities under the hood. Was expecting and unmolested unit that just had some hiccups with 160k miles on the clock, which was to be expected. But that surprised me. our guess was the bolts might have been impacted on or over torqued or something, was just very surprised to find that. Crank looked good and cylinder walls are in great shape. Engine got fully flushed prior to being torn down with a nice deep clean and drain during the repairs. She's back together and running great again. She also got new iridium laser plugs and new wires since they were no longer in good shape from a decade of use and 160k miles. Only thing left is to ID the AC issue, she had great AC when we bought her, but didn't have any a month or two later, which lends to a small leak somewhere. Just gotta find it and fix it.

I knew going in at the price i bought the rig at that i'd be doing repairs, just wasn't expecting snapped main cap bolts to be on that list...delayed getting her back together for a week waiting on new bolts since GM decided to use a M10x2 thread on them so there is no chance of finding off the shelf replacements...but such is life. Glad to be onto the final (known) problem

 

[Loki223]

Pictures of the broken main cap bolts

 

[Loki223]

Nobody else seen this? just me? or just re-affirming someone else been in there without being qualified to go that deep

 

[89Suburban]

WOW

 

[Geotrash]

Nobody else seen this? just me? or just re-affirming someone else been in there without being qualified to go that deep

I’ve never even heard of anything like that and I spend a fair amount of time on LS engine related forums as well.

 

[Loki223]

I’ve never even heard of anything like that and I spend a fair amount of time on LS engine related forums as well.

Yeah, i've spent some time around engines a fair bit myself of all types, the only thing i can think is someone else was in there doing something they weren't qualified for. We inspected everything while we were in there and replaced all the bearings, but there was a part of me hoping this was a rare thing that happens from the factory so i don't have to kinda wonder just wtf someone was doing in the bottom of the motor who shouldn't have been there. I suppose i can take comfort in knowing the engine purred like a kitten even with it's issues with no signs of issue, and at least we found the problems before they came major. Still just something that makes you wonder.

Burb is getting a new windshield on Friday, and a replacement driver side motor from Rock auto, first one failed pretty quickly, so that Rock auto is swapping that out for me and should be able to get that on this weekend. So the burb should be back in full use again with zero (known) issues

 

[Geotrash]

Yeah, i've spent some time around engines a fair bit myself of all types, the only thing i can think is someone else was in there doing something they weren't qualified for. We inspected everything while we were in there and replaced all the bearings, but there was a part of me hoping this was a rare thing that happens from the factory so i don't have to kinda wonder just wtf someone was doing in the bottom of the motor who shouldn't have been there. I suppose i can take comfort in knowing the engine purred like a kitten even with it's issues with no signs of issue, and at least we found the problems before they came major. Still just something that makes you wonder.

Burb is getting a new windshield on Friday, and a replacement driver side motor from Rock auto, first one failed pretty quickly, so that Rock auto is swapping that out for me and should be able to get that on this weekend. So the burb should be back in full use again with zero (known) issues

Nice! I’m glad you’re getting it all back together. And I think your hypothesis hold water.