I got here as fast as I could - '04 Suburban Z71
- Thread starter tbisaacs
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tbisaacs
Adventurer
Nice pics Tb!:Wow1: Washington is such a beautiful state. Thanks for posting up. Cheers, chilli..
Thank you
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tbisaacs
Adventurer
Pulled my skid plate this weekend to get a better look at my oil leak.
Spoiler alert. It's gross under there.
Good news is that I'm fairly certain that it's oil pan gasket leak and not rear main.
I'm fairly certain I'm going to have a shop do the work. In the mean time I degreased my skid plate and put back together. I also took the opportunity to grease my steering rack, tie rods and control arms while I was in there.
After that, the kids and I packed up and wandered around McClellen Butte just off of I-90.
Here is what I'm cooking up next:
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Spoiler alert. It's gross under there.
Good news is that I'm fairly certain that it's oil pan gasket leak and not rear main.
I'm fairly certain I'm going to have a shop do the work. In the mean time I degreased my skid plate and put back together. I also took the opportunity to grease my steering rack, tie rods and control arms while I was in there.
After that, the kids and I packed up and wandered around McClellen Butte just off of I-90.
Here is what I'm cooking up next:
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rayra
Expedition Leader
Try and get a good look up the back edge of the motor inboard of that exhaust collector / connector. Your oil might be streaming down from the valve cover gasket, the EGR grommet back behind cyl #7 or the oil pressure sensor on the top left corner behind the intake manifold. All three will flow down generally the same area and produce the same sort of buildup in your picture. Before you put it in the shop for $500+ worth of labor for the pan gasket and find out that's not it.
I detailed the pan gasket change in my 'Hey Vortec Guys' topic, it's easy but a little bit tedious. Have to lower the front differential to drop the pan. IIRC 18mm, 4 bolts for the crossmember, and 22mm for the differential bolts and an impact gun or appropriate breaker bars. Then a bunch of 10/12mm for the pan and attached bracketry. I only went an hour or two over book time, doing our Tahoe in our driveway. Then did the Sub a few weeks later and somehow was slower on that, for no particular reason.
I detailed the pan gasket change in my 'Hey Vortec Guys' topic, it's easy but a little bit tedious. Have to lower the front differential to drop the pan. IIRC 18mm, 4 bolts for the crossmember, and 22mm for the differential bolts and an impact gun or appropriate breaker bars. Then a bunch of 10/12mm for the pan and attached bracketry. I only went an hour or two over book time, doing our Tahoe in our driveway. Then did the Sub a few weeks later and somehow was slower on that, for no particular reason.
tbisaacs
Adventurer
Thanks for the tip. I'll see if I can get a better look upstream of the oil pan!
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rayra
Expedition Leader
you're welcome. And make sure they change the specialty o-ring on the oil pump / pickup tube connection while they have the pan off. That o-ring can get old / shrink / crack and result in lower / no oil pressure. But it generally takes a lot of wear and tear or abuse to get that way. The pickup is attached via a couple of the nuts that hold the oil splash shield, pulling the pan is the proper way to access the tube and its o-ring. It's an $8 o-ring.
tbisaacs
Adventurer
Rattle-can painted my wheels this weekend. The clear coat was gone on the front wheels and were starting to corrode.
I cleaned thoroughly and then sanded the corrosion with 320-400-800-1000 grit wet sanding paper. Masked the tires and covered the brakes with trash bags.
After that I wiped everything down with alcohol and then hit with 3 coats of VHT satin black wheel paint and 2 coats of clear.
Overall I'm pretty happy with the results. I made a few rookie mistakes, including not making sure that all the water had dripped out of the lugs and center caps. Lessons learned for next time that I have to touch them up. And it's certainly good enough for a trail rig
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tbisaacs
Adventurer
tbisaacs
Adventurer
I was staring at the mounting hardware for my old roof basket and realized that my Renogy mounting hardware would fit perfectly!
Best part is I didn't have to put any holes in my rack, and it's removable when I'm not using (or need to hunt for better light).
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Best part is I didn't have to put any holes in my rack, and it's removable when I'm not using (or need to hunt for better light).
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tbisaacs
Adventurer
Finally got a full size spare on with matching 33" Cooper AT3.
My buddy got new wheels for his is GX470 and donated one of the old ones to me. Same size and bolt pattern (although bigger bore).
I sanded it down and painted it to clean up the corrosion:
And then, viola!
It's juuuuuuust fits. An inch or so to spare behind the rear sway bar:
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My buddy got new wheels for his is GX470 and donated one of the old ones to me. Same size and bolt pattern (although bigger bore).
I sanded it down and painted it to clean up the corrosion:
And then, viola!
It's juuuuuuust fits. An inch or so to spare behind the rear sway bar:
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rayra
Expedition Leader
well balls. I didn't realize our nerf-steps were cut like that. That's a lot of strength lost. I'd thought it was a solid / formed pipe with a plastic cap. better check too that the paint didn't make them more slippery than they already are. I've been trying to figure how to put some grip tape on mine / those plastic steps.
Nice paint work, though.
I've got another set of those hooks, sans bolts, if anyone is looking for a pair. The missus bent hers down a while back and I harvested a pair from a salvage yard. But I found she'd mangled the frame ends too and lost enthusiasm for the project.
Nice paint work, though.
I've got another set of those hooks, sans bolts, if anyone is looking for a pair. The missus bent hers down a while back and I harvested a pair from a salvage yard. But I found she'd mangled the frame ends too and lost enthusiasm for the project.
