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swathdiver · Mar 7, 2026

This afternoon my son-in-law came over and installed the new dipstick tube and grommet. He pulled the driveshaft and dropped the crossmember and it was easy peasy. Glad that problem is out of the way, been going on since I bought it.

Another problem nearly as old was the swaybar bolt in the frame thing. About eight years ago I snapped a rusted head off one of the 10mm bolts for the swaybar bracket and did a couple of bush fixes because I no longer had the strength to do the work myself. Well, Frank, my son-in-law, put in a heli-coil for the stripped threads and put in the last GM OE M10 x 1.5 x 60 on Ebay bolt.

I also fixed the cigar lighter adapter on the GM portable air compressor, the original adapter got crushed somehow and a few years ago I bought some new ones but couldn't get to it until today. I plugged it in and nothing, the rear outlet wasn't working. Must be a blown fuse somewhere. Will have to look at that later as my wife needed the truck for errands.

That's it for now on this one. Well, I did buy a new transmission cooler to replace my original. The flow still looks god but something in the back of my mind said to get a new one. I'll need their help to pull the bumper cover and swap them out, shouldn't take more than about an hour start to finish.

The red pickup is overdue for some much needed maintenance and we can get to that in the coming weeks too.

Oh, you know how we've been replacing our mirror motors and gears with Gruven parts to keep them opening and closing after the plastic gears break? Well, even some of the those Gruven ones were starting to give up the ghost. I think someone on here turned me on to the motor assemblies on Amazon and the two we've done so far have worked great and no more loud mirrors when you open and close them.

I bought six more to replace in the other trucks, they're about $36 each. Sure beats the old way of fixing them!

Truck has been running great, last week we ran it a few miles in 4HI on dirt and sandy roads and as always she does it effortlessly.

Still haven't been able to get up to the drag strip for some racing. Still trying though!

swathdiver · Apr 18, 2026

For years I've been saving parts for these GMT900s in the event that we needed them. LCAs, CV Axles, Differentials, Mounts, Springs, Rear Control Arms, etc. Today, we chucked it all and then some. We discovered a rat infestation and water damage from a leaky water heater several years ago and the washing machine last month. Boy, did we lose a lot of wood, a dining room table and the baby changing dresser that all the kids used when they were little. What a mess. Luckily, the work benches and shelves that I made all have replaceable feet and they all made it as far as I can tell.

Over the past few months we've killed about a dozen rats and kept them in the woods behind the house in the backyard. They eat the peanuts and seed in the bird feeders but the traps and dogs have been thinning them out. Rosie, one of our dogs, caught and ate one the other night. She was so proud of herself! These darn things chewed through my 6-gallon bag of Dexron VI and multiple gallons of oil. I reckon those were made with that corn plastic?

Tomorrow we'll load up the pickup and take her over to the scrap man on Monday and trade the metals for cash. The 8.6" axle is going too, can't even give it away around here.

Yukon is running great and it seems the oil pressure has come up a little more at idle since we replaced the o-ring, I reckon the seal swelled up some. One wheel has been leaking air for nine years now and this set of tires is getting pretty dry rotted at 4-1/2 years old under the Florida sun. I've been eyeballing a set of reconditioned wheels on Ebay for a few years, about $800 now thanks to inflation. The hood and roof and tailgate have taken a beating from the sun as well. It's time for paint.

swathdiver · May 12, 2026

Finally cracked a Benjamin filling up the truck with E85! $3.799 for 30.801 gallons. That's a record too! Fuel light came on last night but the passengers weren't feeling well so we headed straight home. Had nine percent or so fuel remaining. Doctor's office was closer than gas station, so headed there first this morning and then on to the filling station. 0.00 flashing most of the time on the Torque Pro App. On the way over the engine showed no signs of fuel starvation and the fuel pressure never dropped. The tank might have been near empty but the bucket stayed full.

My daughters regularly refuel their 26 gallon tanks in their Sierra pickups with 25 and 26 gallons, I've only gotten to 29 like twice before in 9 years! It's usually between 26-27 gallons.

The truck has been running great.

Scrappycrow · May 12, 2026

swathdiver said:
0.00 flashing most of the time on the Torque Pro App.

Did you have to calibrate that? I've seen varying discussions about whether that's necessary for it to be accurate, so I haven't added that to my Torque display.

swathdiver · May 16, 2026

Scrappycrow said:
Did you have to calibrate that? I've seen varying discussions about whether that's necessary for it to be accurate, so I haven't added that to my Torque display.

No. Do you mean for Torque Pro or for the truck via a Tech-2?

Scrappycrow · May 16, 2026

swathdiver said:
No. Do you mean for Torque Pro or for the truck via a Tech-2?

In Torque Pro. To be clear, I did not think there was any relevance for the Tech-2 in the interface between the dongle and the app.

Fless · May 16, 2026

swathdiver said:
Finally cracked a Benjamin filling up the truck with E85! $3.799 for 30.801 gallons. That's a record too! Fuel light came on last night but the passengers weren't feeling well so we headed straight home. Had nine percent or so fuel remaining. Doctor's office was closer than gas station, so headed there first this morning and then on to the filling station. 0.00 flashing most of the time on the Torque Pro App. On the way over the engine showed no signs of fuel starvation and the fuel pressure never dropped. The tank might have been near empty but the bucket stayed full.

My daughters regularly refuel their 26 gallon tanks in their Sierra pickups with 25 and 26 gallons, I've only gotten to 29 like twice before in 9 years! It's usually between 26-27 gallons.

The truck has been running great.

Is that a "low fuel" PID that you're watching on Torque Pro? Or?

swathdiver · May 17, 2026

Scrappycrow said:
In Torque Pro. To be clear, I did not think there was any relevance for the Tech-2 in the interface between the dongle and the app.

Got it. No, didn't have to do anything.

I would like to have shaft rpms and current gear working again. Haven't been able to get it to work with my new phone.

swathdiver · May 17, 2026

Fless said:
Is that a "low fuel" PID that you're watching on Torque Pro? Or?

No, it's just the fuel tank percentage on Torque Pro.

swathdiver · Jun 4, 2026

Yesterday my daughter calls and say the Yukon won't start. She heard the starter lug and then it stopped. Lights were on the dash and radio was working. I told her to shut off the radio, AC and headlamps and try again. She did with no change, still dead.

She took my mother-in-law an hour away to a doctor's appointment. I sent an Uber over to take them to lunch and get her out of the heat while i decided on how to proceed.

My other daughter volunteered to go down and rescue them and stopped by the house and picked up the Tech-2. She gets there and hooks up jumper cables and could not get the truck started. Now they have to go to the bathroom, so they hop in the Duramax and drive to a gas station to use the bathroom. The Duramax dies. The tow truck is on the way for the Yukon and of course someone has to be there as the girls still have the keys. I send another Uber to pick them up and take them back to the truck.

Meanwhile, we check and clear codes and discover the Duramax is very low on oil. Wawa only has 10W30 so they buy 2 quarts and pour it in and she's running again. They drive back to where the Yukon is. The tow truck shows up, loads the Yukon onto the flat bed and heads north. They get settled into the Duramax to follow and the engine shuts off again. Now she's throwing all kinds of codes and goes into limp mode. We make a deal with the tow company to get the Dirtymax towed back to the house. While waiting, we send for a third Uber to get my elderly mother-in-law home.

The Yukon shows up on the flatbed and is unloaded without incident. I still need to look underneath and make sure those big hooks didn't tear anything up. I put the battery tender on it and closed the hood for the night.

Then we head over to where the Duramax was being dropped off in my 6.2 Sierra to pick up my youngest daughter and the Tech-2. It's late, we're all tired and I start to drive off with the parking brake still on! Only went about 60 feet but it barely engaged when I got home. Now that has to be added to the list of things to look at! Duramax drives off the flatbed and into the driveway and it's still in limp mode with all kinds of codes active and history. This is my son-in-laws truck and I hope the girls didn't fry something (BCM) trying to jump the Yukon. We opened the manual and discussed how to attach and remove the cables, even took a picture of the page with their phone.

This morning I hooked the Tech-2 up to the Yukon expecting to see a dead alternator. Nope, all is well, she fired right up. All the codes are historical. The battery's state of charge was 70% and the alternator output was fine, no codes or lights on the dash. My daughter did see a charging system message on the DIC the day before. So after checking around with the Tech-2 I shut her down and put the battery tender back on. Will check it again and go for a drive this evening. The battery is approaching 2 years old, all cables were tight but will be checked again tonight.

So far, that's cost us just over a thousand bucks! Then I met with the concrete company to replace the patio slab that her dogs dug under and broke. That estimate is for $2,002.00. Then my buddy called from out of town and wants to us to join them over in Fort Myers this weekend! Ka-Ching Ka-Ching Ka-Ching...

What have you fellas been up to?

mountie · Jun 4, 2026

swathdiver said:
Yesterday my daughter calls and say the Yukon won't start. She heard the starter lug and then it stopped. Lights were on the dash and radio was working. I told her to shut off the radio, AC and headlamps and try again. She did with no change, still dead.

She took my mother-in-law an hour away to a doctor's appointment. I sent an Uber over to take them to lunch and get her out of the heat while i decided on how to proceed.

My other daughter volunteered to go down and rescue them and stopped by the house and picked up the Tech-2. She gets there and hooks up jumper cables and could not get the truck started. Now they have to go to the bathroom, so they hop in the Duramax and drive to a gas station to use the bathroom. The Duramax dies. The tow truck is on the way for the Yukon and of course someone has to be there as the girls still have the keys. I send another Uber to pick them up and take them back to the truck.

Meanwhile, we check and clear codes and discover the Duramax is very low on oil. Wawa only has 10W30 so they buy 2 quarts and pour it in and she's running again. They drive back to where the Yukon is. The tow truck shows up, loads the Yukon onto the flat bed and heads north. They get settled into the Duramax to follow and the engine shuts off again. Now she's throwing all kinds of codes and goes into limp mode. We make a deal with the tow company to get the Dirtymax towed back to the house. While waiting, we send for a third Uber to get my elderly mother-in-law home.

The Yukon shows up on the flatbed and is unloaded without incident. I still need to look underneath and make sure those big hooks didn't tear anything up. I put the battery tender on it and closed the hood for the night.

Then we head over to where the Duramax was being dropped off in my 6.2 Sierra to pick up my youngest daughter and the Tech-2. It's late, we're all tired and I start to drive off with the parking brake still on! Only went about 60 feet but it barely engaged when I got home. Now that has to be added to the list of things to look at! Duramax drives off the flatbed and into the driveway and it's still in limp mode with all kinds of codes active and history. This is my son-in-laws truck and I hope the girls didn't fry something (BCM) trying to jump the Yukon. We opened the manual and discussed how to attach and remove the cables, even took a picture of the page with their phone.

This morning I hooked the Tech-2 up to the Yukon expecting to see a dead alternator. Nope, all is well, she fired right up. All the codes are historical. The battery's state of charge was 70% and the alternator output was fine, no codes or lights on the dash. My daughter did see a charging system message on the DIC the day before. So after checking around with the Tech-2 I shut her down and put the battery tender back on. Will check it again and go for a drive this evening. The battery is approaching 2 years old, all cables were tight but will be checked again tonight.

So far, that's cost us just over a thousand bucks! Then I met with the concrete company to replace the patio slab that her dogs dug under and broke. That estimate is for $2,002.00. Then my buddy called from out of town and wants to us to join them over in Fort Myers this weekend! Ka-Ching Ka-Ching Ka-Ching...

What have you fellas been up to?

Gosh…… Lordy me……. Well, it all happened all at once……. Ya can fix it all… once…… ?

My ’05 shows lots of codes when the battery is very low….. ( maybe ? )

mikez71 · Jun 4, 2026

At least the concrete will be 'like a rock'...

swathdiver · Jun 5, 2026

Took her out onto the highway for about 30 miles last night. The start up state of charge was 69% and stayed that way through the drive and did not change. As I was about to leave there was a door ajar message in the DIC. Checked all the doors and they were closed. Checked them with the Tech-2 and the front passenger door was closed but ajar in the computer. The latch is not acting the same compared with the driver's side so I guess it's time for a new latch assembly. Put the truck back on the tender and called it a night.

Went out a little bit ago and the state of charge was now 100%. Fired up the engine and the alternator output dropped into the 40% range after a few minutes. All that seems normal to me. Took the Tech-2 inside and put the tender back on to continue desulfating the battery.

Have a 4 hour run tomorrow to meet my buddies for dinner. Do I take the Yukon and check on the charging system or take the 6.2 Sierra? The 6.2 has been spending considerable time off-road and is a mess.

Mike, the concrete is fine until the doggies dig underneath it removing all support which then causes it to break into pieces. After the patio is replaced, I'll be planting a hedge all around it on the perimeter to keep the dogs from digging and keep sand off the patio which finds its way into the sliding door tracks to ruin the wheels and then into the house!

Fless · Jun 5, 2026

swathdiver said:
Took her out onto the highway for about 30 miles last night. The start up state of charge was 69% and stayed that way through the drive and did not change. As I was about to leave there was a door ajar message in the DIC. Checked all the doors and they were closed. Checked them with the Tech-2 and the front passenger door was closed but ajar in the computer. The latch is not acting the same compared with the driver's side so I guess it's time for a new latch assembly. Put the truck back on the tender and called it a night.

Went out a little bit ago and the state of charge was now 100%. Fired up the engine and the alternator output dropped into the 40% range after a few minutes. All that seems normal to me. Took the Tech-2 inside and put the tender back on to continue desulfating the battery.

Have a 4 hour run tomorrow to meet my buddies for dinner. Do I take the Yukon and check on the charging system or take the 6.2 Sierra? The 6.2 has been spending considerable time off-road and is a mess.

Mike, the concrete is fine until the doggies dig underneath it removing all support which then causes it to break into pieces. After the patio is replaced, I'll be planting a hedge all around it on the perimeter to keep the dogs from digging and keep sand off the patio which finds its way into the sliding door tracks to ruin the wheels and then into the house!

I say take the Yukon, with a jump pack.

For the patio have your concrete guy pour a few piers deep enough to support the patio, and use some rebar in the patio pour.

mountie · Jun 5, 2026

swathdiver said:
Took her out onto the highway for about 30 miles last night. The start up state of charge was 69% and stayed that way through the drive and did not change. As I was about to leave there was a door ajar message in the DIC. Checked all the doors and they were closed. Checked them with the Tech-2 and the front passenger door was closed but ajar in the computer. The latch is not acting the same compared with the driver's side so I guess it's time for a new latch assembly. Put the truck back on the tender and called it a night.

Went out a little bit ago and the state of charge was now 100%. Fired up the engine and the alternator output dropped into the 40% range after a few minutes. All that seems normal to me. Took the Tech-2 inside and put the tender back on to continue desulfating the battery.

Have a 4 hour run tomorrow to meet my buddies for dinner. Do I take the Yukon and check on the charging system or take the 6.2 Sierra? The 6.2 has been spending considerable time off-road and is a mess.

Mike, the concrete is fine until the doggies dig underneath it removing all support which then causes it to break into pieces. After the patio is replaced, I'll be planting a hedge all around it on the perimeter to keep the dogs from digging and keep sand off the patio which finds its way into the sliding door tracks to ruin the wheels and then into the house!

Get 6 “ metal landscaping flowerbed edging around the patio, & hammer it down, beside the edge, even to the concrete hight ?

swathdiver · Monday at 1:31 AM

On Saturday morning my wife went to start the Yukon and it would not crank over. I had taken the tender off overnight to get a state of charge reading in the morning. Instead, I put the tender back on and got the 6.2 Sierra ready for the reunion.

The Sierra's battery is now 3 1/2 years old and its state of charge this morning was 89%. She took us to Arcadia and back without a hiccup, love that 6.2! She averaged 15.5 mpg with an average speed on those roads between 55-60 for most of the way. That's on E85, not gasoline.

On Sunday afternoon I took off the tender and put a voltmeter across the terminals and got 12.66 volts which is about 100% state of charge. She barely cranked over.

I went to order new OE cables and could not get the ground cable with the current sensor new. They are out of production right now. So I bought the positive cable to the starter and we'll start with that one, pun intended. Tomorrow I will check the grounds from the negative cable and the condition of the connectors and the ground strap and see if she needs those next.

Also ordered the passenger front door latch assembly. That ought to stop the battery drain and door ajar message which keeps the alarm from setting and the interior lights from turning off if the switch is set to on.

Those parts ought to be here by the end of the week.

swathdiver · 2026-06-12T07:08:34-0400

My children replaced the passenger door lock actuator and the door ajar message went away. The right side mirror motor assembly was also replaced and the Gruven gears retired. Quiet once again!

Then they replaced the battery starter cable. There was virtually no corrosion on the original cable. The truck still struggled to crank over; sometimes. Sometimes she would start with no issues, sometimes it would barely crank over and then throw a bunch of codes.

On one of those starts I got a C0561 71 code and the whole braking system was disabled. This code says that something the ABS needs is not working somewhere else and to go check. Well, on that restart there was no other codes so I started poking around the ECM with the Tech-2 and saw that the rpms were reading zero while the truck was idling. I moved the Tech-2 over and the tachometer was zero. Swept the gauges and verified that they were working and went inside.

While I was looking through the shop manual and struggling with my memory loss, my daughters kept at it and the truck threw a P0336 code for the crank sensor. Sometimes it was there, sometimes not on restarts.

If the truck started without the tach, she idled kinda rough, like a misfire was happening. If she started with the tach, the motor ran smooth and they even drove it around the neighborhood without issue.

They checked the connections for the crank sensor since they were working near it when they changed the cable. I think it's just a coincidence. None of the auto parts stores has a factory crank sensor in stock and even Amazon is week out. I'm going to call the local dealers when they open and pick one up today, hopefully.

Any suggestions?

The P0336 is a signal performance code. My first thought was that maybe the reluctor wheel is loose or has broken teeth but we had the oil pan off several months ago and it looked fine. Then I thought also about the harmonic balancer, that rubber gasket getting rotted and allowing the balance and timing to move and maybe it's out of spec? I did want to replace it with new while they still make them as after all the truck is 17 years old now.

Fless · 2026-06-12T10:10:45-0400

Be sure to perform the crank position relearn after you change the crank sensor.

Useless Information

swathdiver

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swathdiver

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swathdiver

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Scrappycrow

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swathdiver

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Scrappycrow

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Fless

swathdiver

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swathdiver

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swathdiver

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mountie

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mikez71

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swathdiver

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Fless

mountie

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swathdiver

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swathdiver

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Fless

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