New to me 2011 Yukon Denali

[Geotrash]

If you go with the project scope of replacing the radiator, I'd highly recommend replacing all rubber hot water hoses. I recently had a heater hose blow out on me, and was not a pretty sight. I ended up replacing all of them, and they were all labeled with the original year of manufacture for the truck.

Good advice. I just replaced all of the rubber hoses and coolant tees on my '07 (205K) before a 1,700 mile cross-country drive pulling a trailer. I'm glad I did. Cheap peace of mind.

-D

 

[avalonandl]

The water pumps can go on these rigs also...

 

[MLRTYME]

So, I purchased the Cold-Case Radiator and have looked at it in comparison to the stock radiator. The tanks do seem to be a bit wider than stock...and I can see where some trimming would be needed. I'm still 2 weeks out on the machine work for the engine, but I'll report back on the install process. I didn't have issues with cooling prior to this, but with 130k on the clock and needing to pull the radiator to get the engine out anyway...I figured putting a new one it during the re-install was just smart.

And yes to replacing all the hot water hoses. Just a smart investment! New OEM thermostat also doesn't hurt, if you're already that far in...

 

[KyleSM]

So I found that the Yukon had an aftermarket air filter installed, which lead me to wonder if the ECM had been tweaked. I took it to the GM dealer to look at the ECM. Turns out the ECM was still stock, but they did find a bunch of dirt and leaves stuck between the radiator and condenser. They cleaned it out for one hour of labor. Out the door at $150, which wasn't bad.

In other news, the Yukon was starting rough from cold. I pulled out the intake manifold and found it pretty grimy. I cleaned it up and it appears to run a lot better. I'll find out for sure in the morning. RPM would drop bellow 500 coming to a stop, now doesn't drop bellow 600.

I'll have to tow with it to make sure everything is really running properly. I've ordered a performance radiator just so I don't have to worry about it in the future. $250 is worth the piece of mind.

I'll try to keep this thread updated.

Thanks.