I’m back with an Esky this time

[swathdiver]

I kept telling him he needs to shake it off and keep going. We rode the next day too but he lost a lot of his confidence in that creek which is a shame.

Good and proper advice! Gotta cowboy up and hop back in the saddle ASAP.

 

[Snowbound]

The one bolt that holds the headlight in has to be accessed thru the inner fender.


This bolt only has to be loosened, not removed. I still pulled it so I could add some anti-seize to it.


All back together and headlight is working again. I’m kicking myself because I had LED bulbs for the DRLs but I didn’t feel like pulling the passenger side so I didn’t put it in.

 

[Snowbound]

Last week she tells me she hears the front brakes grinding. I looked it up and it’s been 3 years since I did the front brakes. So I ordered them and when they came I threw them on. Took it for a ride to break in the pads and I hear a grinding noise. It’s the back brakes! Fronts weren’t bad but they were 3/4 of the way gone. The rears on the other hand, the passenger side was gone gone and the drivers side had maybe 1/8” of pad left.
Drivers side.






Passenger side

 

[Snowbound]

I finally swapped out the chrome lug nuts for the black ones I’ve had. I didn’t mind the contrast but Jess kept asking about the black lug nuts so I swapped them out.



Also, this is why you should never add brake fluid to the master unless you’ve replaced a part and lost fluid. Now that the front and rear brakes are new, the master is slammed full. Had I or someone added fluid when it was low, I would have had a mess on my hands. I always check master level before compressing a caliper, if you’ve ever had one spill over you would too. I share this because it’s always a good thing to check.

 

[Snowbound]

No surprises with your 'new' 2500?

Define “surprises”. It’s been running great. Jess even took it to the Dells last week with Julianna. I stayed home and worked and didn’t want her running the Esky, the diesel is better on fuel.

Now if you mean “surprises” as in what have I done to it that I can share, you know me too well. Lol. I have a few things up my sleeve. I messaged the fabricator that built the big air kit for my LLY and he’s been out of the custom engine parts game for more than a few years now. I told him what I wanted and if he wouldn’t make them for me I would have to do it because I don’t want the crap that others have. Surprisingly enough, he agreed to help me because I worked with him on the LLY kit to get it right and he sold a lot of them kits. So I have a new Y-bridge, intercooler piping, intake pipe and downpipe being made. I got some 2” stainless steel up pipes that go from manifold to turbo pedestal and don’t have the connection for the EGR because that’s gonna “fall off”.


I also picked up a new exhaust system to eliminate the DPF (diesel particulate filter) and muffler. It’s gonna be 5” straight piped.



Have the smog stuff already turned off in the tune and I have a lift pump that I need to install also. I did a PCV reroute that keeps the oil out of the intake and removed the resonator and installed a plug. I also had a buddy of mine that works at Weathertech pick me up some floor mats.
That’s about it. It’s been running great and I’m happy with it so far but I’m not in love with it like my old LLY. Maybe I’ll get there and maybe I’ll end up selling it.

 

[Snowbound]

I’ve been ignoring the “service suspension system” light on this thing long enough. I’ve already replaced the compressor and both rear shocks. The front struts I ordered are still on backorder and they can’t give me an estimated ship date so I went ahead and ordered some conversion struts with resistors just to get new struts on there and I’ll swap them out when the magneride struts become available.
The system does its self diagnosis on startup and you can hear the compressor run but I still didn’t think the air ride was working like it should. Which makes sense because if that light is on due to a code being set, it most likely disables the system.
Recently a service air bag message came up and that’s what prompted this fishing expedition. I read the code for air bag and it was seat position sensor. That was an easy fix, she must have shoved something under the seat and snagged the wiring and pulled the plug out of sensor. It broke the locking tab off but I just put a dab of super glue on it and it’s tight and light is off.
So while I’m scanning I decided to dig into the suspension system. All my level sensors are working properly, but I’m seeing the air pressure is reading 189PSI. That can’t be right. So I command the exhaust valve to open and pressure doesn’t change. I turn on compressor and pressure doesn’t change. Maybe it’s a bad pressure sensor?
I get under the truck and unplug the main connector to the compressor thinking, let’s start at the basics. KISS method. Connector looks good, terminals aren’t corroded or dirty. Unplug the pressure sensor and same thing, connector and terminals looks good. So I test continuity between main plug to sensor plug and all three wires passed. There’s a 5V reference wire that is gray on vehicle side of main connector and is red on compressor side to the sensor. I test for voltage and I’m seeing 4.86V. That’s good. Then there is a low reference wire that is brown on vehicle side connector, yellow on compressor side. And the sensor signal wire that is tan on vehicle side, green on compressor side.
To test the low reference side I pulled the ESC/ALC 30A fuse from underhood fuse box and then checked resistance with pressure sensor disconnected on that yellow wire going back to control module and ground. Spec is less than 2 ohms and I read 1.6ohms. So now I need to test my reference wire going back to control module. I just wanna make sure I don’t have a break in the wire.
In order to do this I need to drop the spare tire because the module is above the spare. That damn safety latch BS is fighting me again! I’m not having this thing do this to me if I ever need to change a tire on side of road. So I used a ratchet strap and secured tire up and lowered the cable. Got up there with a screw driver and release the safety latch. Dropped the spare tire and completely removed the tire cable assembly. That thing was a rust bomb so I threw it in the sandblast cabinet and knocked all the rust off it.


I noticed the spring on the end is broke in 2 spots. Ask me if I care! It’s getting spray bombed and soaked in oil and antisieze and going back on.

With that out of the way, I pulled the module down and disconnected the connector. Tested the wires going to compressor.
Compressor plug. Module connector
Pin H Gray wire-5V supply Pin6
Pin C White wire- air exh Pin8
Pin F Brown wire- low ref Pin12
Pin A Tan wire- sensor sig Pin34

I tested the air exhaust wire too just to make sure and it was good. All my power and grounds are good also. So there’s only one thing it can be, a bad automatic suspension control module.
Now I bought a used one a long while back thinking I could just program it for this vehicle and it’ll be good to go. Not the case. The number on module cross references ending in 07 model year. Completely different controller.


This is the one from mine.


So that sucks. I can get one that’s 6 weeks out at the low cost of $600. The part number supersedes to a 25971217 which I found for $438. I’ll still have to program it which will only cost me $40 licensing fee through GM’s website for the Tech2. So hopefully that solves my issue and this thing will ride like factory again. Once the magneride struts decide to show up. I don’t even think she appreciates the time, money and effort I put into this truck.

 

[Snowbound]

Earlier today I painted the spare tire carrier. I still have to lube the safety mechanism before I put it back up.


I also pulled the struts. New ones will be here 2mrw. Well, the conversions ones will be here. Don’t know when the magneride struts will show up.



Also I found out why the front left tire keeps losing air. This is how my luck works.


Rim has a small hair line crack.


Dropping that off in morning to get repaired and recoated. When it rains, it pours.

 

[Tonyrodz]

Earlier today I painted the spare tire carrier. I still have to lube the safety mechanism before I put it back up.
View attachment 367310

I also pulled the struts. New ones will be here 2mrw. Well, the conversions ones will be here. Don’t know when the magneride struts will show up.
View attachment 367311
View attachment 367312

Also I found out why the front left tire keeps losing air. This is how my luck works.
View attachment 367313

Rim has a small hair line crack.
View attachment 367314

Dropping that off in morning to get repaired and recoated. When it rains, it pours.

I bent the safety latch out of the way in my tire holder--I haven't used it since tho.
Mine was so bad I had to drop the entire assembly to get the tire off.

 

[Snowbound]

My suspension module should be here on the 11th, in the meantime I had to get this thing rolling again.
The new temporary struts showed up.


The resistors that came with them.



Straight forward install. Then just install the resistor in the wiring for the strut, polarity doesn’t matter.
I must not have gotten a picture of them installed. I’m losing it. But in my defense I’ve been up since 3pm yesterday.

I then turned my attention to the rear sway bar. One end link was trash, the ball fell out of its socket when I took it off. I replaced both bushings and both links. Then it was time to wash my stinky self and climb into bed. I honestly don’t know why I’m up right now!

 

[iamdub]

My suspension module should be here on the 11th, in the meantime I had to get this thing rolling again.
The new temporary struts showed up.
View attachment 367469

The resistors that came with them.
View attachment 367470
View attachment 367472

Straight forward install. Then just install the resistor in the wiring for the strut, polarity doesn’t matter.
I must not have gotten a picture of them installed. I’m losing it. But in my defense I’ve been up since 3pm yesterday.

I then turned my attention to the rear sway bar. One end link was trash, the ball fell out of its socket when I took it off. I replaced both bushings and both links. Then it was time to wash my stinky self and climb into bed. I honestly don’t know why I’m up right now!
View attachment 367473

If they ride good and if you'll be looking to offload them, @S1W99 might could use those struts when your Magneride ones go in.