New to me 2011 Yukon XL Denali

[jdwood1111]

Background:
Hi everyone. My name is Jordan and have been a honda and acura guy most of my life but I recently purchased really clean 2011 silver Yukon XL Denali with 92k miles on it. One scratch on the rear passenger bumper and not another single scratch or dent anywhere! Everything on the interior works perfectly without issues and drives great! I bought it from a dealer who provided a 60day 2k mile warranty and after I identifying a trans cooler line leak and my mechanic finding a oil cooler line leak, they actually took the truck back and had both fixed no questions asked! This impressed me since it was not a extremely large dealer. This is a second vehicle for my family of 6 (4 little ones all 7 and under and no twins). My wife drives a 2011 odyssey and I have a work car.

Truck History:
The carfax shows only one large service record showing front ball joints were replaced, plugs and wires, brake fluid exchange, new tires balanced and alignment. I have identified the rear rotors appear to be new and everything else seems to be in line. So far I have installed Range AFM device per info on this forum, an Airaid intake tube, AEM dry filter and cleaned the throttle body during that installation. I also just flushed the power steering fluid via the dry turning of the wheel method with a hose which went well. I currently have 2qts of Dexron 6 ATF for the transfer case and 5qts of AC Delco Syn 75w90 handy for the front and rear diff to do as soon as I get a free day. So my only questions and concerns are now the following:

-Any other maintenance items I should take a look at? I did see the front brake pads will need replacement soon and the lower shock bushings are quite warn but the truck rides fine for now. I will most likely replaced the brakes with centric as that has been my go to for a while now.
-Transmission was shifting hard from 2 down to 1 but is a little smoother with the Range device which i attribute to the 4cyc to 8cyc timing. However, just yesterday it slipped slightly when trying to accelerate from i think 3 to 2, may have been 1 to 2. It was quite hot and the AC was on as well. I was planning on doing the trans service and filter myself as i am pretty handy but this may be a little more then i want to do in my driveway and got a quote for $285 from a reputable AAMCO place to drop the pan and do the fluid and filter. Trans temp always are quite low from what I have looked at.
-Unfortunately, it seems the oil cooler lines did not completely stop a leak as I still have a small amount of oil accumulating at the known rear engine and transmission. I looked inside the bell housing cover and it appeared to be mostly dry so hopefully not the rear main seal. I cannot see if its the intake cover or the oil pressure unit but was thinking of trying to replace the sensor JIC. My pressure is mostly above 40 when starting and driving around except at hot idle, it drops to around 28-30 or so which I believe is normal? I did try to tighten a couple of the oil pan gasket bolts and the bell housing bolts but have not checked it again since. It has not left anything on the ground at all only a little wet here and there.

Otherwise, I hope this truck last me quite awhile as I really enjoy the 6.2L motor and AWD!

Thank you,

Jordan

 

[doc5339]

Congratulations on the Denali and welcome to the forum!

 

[mrpeterclark]

Nice!

 

[Doubeleive]

heater hose's & T's at the firewall, radiator.
primarily due to age, the hose's and/or the T"s are prone to breaking after years of getting hot/cold the plastic gets brittle.
plastic sides of the radiator will crack
again these are things that just happen due to age and it's just a preventative maintenance thing not a emergency
inspect the air ride system and operation, these shocks typically wear out starting around 85k for this generation
check all over the engine (visually inspect and feel) for any wire harness that may be sagging or rubbing and re-secure them or adjust as needed, over time they can rub on other parts and chafe or rub thru damaging the wires.
that's about it, other things can sometimes need attention are hvac actuators, seat heaters.
a techII clone can come in handy down the road for troubleshooting any thing else that may crop up
the 6l80e's have a weak torque converter and may eventually need to be addressed this issue seems to rear it's head around 120k-165k, they can of course last longer it just depends, but when it goes it takes the pump with it. just something to be aware of if it ever starts shifting weird.

 

[swathdiver]

Welcome Jordan. Run the maintenance schedule under Severe Service to keep the fluids clean. Get a Tech-2 so you can properly work on this. Unless the parts are not available anymore, use GM OE or ACDelco Professional/Gold parts whenever possible, same for the brakes.

 

[jdwood1111]

Thanks for the responses all! I appreciate the feedback. I will look into the radiator and hoses, etc.! The AMMCO guy I called today said the exact same thing as Wes indicated about the torque converter going and taking the pump with it. He stated he would test drive the truck and see what he thinks and it would be about $325 for fluid, pan, filter and swapping out the transfercase fluid I give him (same as ATF but I already bought it). Hoping it doesn't need anything else. Trying to scheduling something for next week. Should I remove the Range device prior to taking it just from a drivability standpoint? It shouldn't matter but figured just in case maybe.

 

[Doubeleive]

Thanks for the responses all! I appreciate the feedback. I will look into the radiator and hoses, etc.! The AMMCO guy I called today said the exact same thing as Wes indicated about the torque converter going and taking the pump with it. He stated he would test drive the truck and see what he thinks and it would be about $325 for fluid, pan, filter and swapping out the transfercase fluid I give him (same as ATF but I already bought it). Hoping it doesn't need anything else. Trying to scheduling something for next week. Should I remove the Range device prior to taking it just from a drivability standpoint? It shouldn't matter but figured just in case maybe.

range device is fine, you might like a canned tune or a blackbear tune much better though. if the trans is shifting fine I wouldn't fret about it and just enjoy driving it, that's just a heads up if it act's up down the road.

 

[Geotrash]

Thanks for the responses all! I appreciate the feedback. I will look into the radiator and hoses, etc.! The AMMCO guy I called today said the exact same thing as Wes indicated about the torque converter going and taking the pump with it. He stated he would test drive the truck and see what he thinks and it would be about $325 for fluid, pan, filter and swapping out the transfercase fluid I give him (same as ATF but I already bought it). Hoping it doesn't need anything else. Trying to scheduling something for next week. Should I remove the Range device prior to taking it just from a drivability standpoint? It shouldn't matter but figured just in case maybe.

I replaced the torque converter (TC) in my 2012 proactively to prevent this problem from happening. I worked with a well-reviewed local transmission shop to source a TC from one of their trusted suppliers that has a billet housing and a stronger lockup clutch, but still has the factory stall speed. Out the door with a new rear main seal and new fluid/filter I think it was $1300. Fair deal.

 

[jdwood1111]

I read up on blackbear and would definitely like to pursue that but the $100 for the range device off Facebook market place to curb things was worth it!

Dave, I like the proactive approach on doing the TC along with the rear main seal at the same time since that may be my issue. I still think its worth doing the fluid and filter for now since its $325 and may resolve the issue and buy me some time. That does seem like a fair deal!

 

[jdwood1111]

I replaced the torque converter (TC) in my 2012 proactively to prevent this problem from happening. I worked with a well-reviewed local transmission shop to source a TC from one of their trusted suppliers that has a billet housing and a stronger lockup clutch, but still has the factory stall speed. Out the door with a new rear main seal and new fluid/filter I think it was $1300. Fair deal.

How many miles did your truck have on it when you replaced the TC?