OK, Bought a 07 with a couple problems today.

[Geotrash]

So once apart, I'm starting to think maybe his story was not entirely BS but no way to know for sure.
The cam sensor looked newish, The VVT Magnet is the new style and it also had a new VVT solenoid but why not change the oil pump and o ring. Seems like a no brainer to me.
After installing a new milling 365HV pump and swapping it to the green relief spring.
Im happy to say i have 60PSI cold oil pressure. Hot oil pressure seems to be 35ish PSI.View attachment 442205View attachment 442206

I'm running the same oil pump in my 2012 XL Denali and I see the same oil pressures. Good!

On the motor mount, you're going to want some kind of heat shield in there or that rubber fluid balloon in the new mount will dry out and crack faster. I was able to get a new one in with the heat shields when doing it from the side through the wheel well. Too late now I suppose, but rigging up some sheet metal in there would seem a wise investment of time.]

On the diff mounts, they can be replaced with the diff still in place. Takes a little finagling but I was able to do it on my '07. If you decide to pull it out, it might be worth just resealing yours. It's not a terrible job on the bench.

 

[SpareParts]

Time will tell if putting a new pump in cured it or just prolonged the engine swap.

I figured i would need to change the mount again when i fix the broken exhaust manifold bolts if i don't get to it soonish.

Yeah, New mounts are the way to go for sure. I wanna drop the diff at the same time and change the oil pan gasket.

 

[petethepug]

GM spent millions to figure out a way to make replacing the heat shield impossible during a motor mount swap. It ensures they sell more motor mounts.

 

[SpareParts]

Today i changed the Transmission filter and fluid.
Dropping the pan was not too bad. Had to pry the Y pipe down a little so i could wiggle the pan out.
I did the trans oil change by unhooking the top cooler line at the radiator. After about 14 quarts of fluid it was running nice and new looking red.
Last thing im going to get to before it snows i think is, Changing the DR side axle and wheel bearing.

Motor mount would be easy to change without the exhaust manifold in place. I am just afraid to take the manifold off for fear of more broken bolts, 2 are already broke and the rest are rusty crusty. I don't feel like spending the weekend out in the driveway trying to remove broken exhaust manifold bolts right now.

 

[petethepug]

Your hunch on the exh man bolts is correct. On our 08 YXL Denali had 2 break off deep on the block. My Indi tech buddy spent almost 5 hours extracting them.

We joked they must have been locktite’d but pretty sure GM had a bad batch of studs on the early motors.

It’s definitely worth adding the ARP studs to these aluminum blocks.

 

[Geotrash]

Today i changed the Transmission filter and fluid.
Dropping the pan was not too bad. Had to pry the Y pipe down a little so i could wiggle the pan out.
I did the trans oil change by unhooking the top cooler line at the radiator. After about 14 quarts of fluid it was running nice and new looking red.
Last thing im going to get to before it snows i think is, Changing the DR side axle and wheel bearing.

Motor mount would be easy to change without the exhaust manifold in place. I am just afraid to take the manifold off for fear of more broken bolts, 2 are already broke and the rest are rusty crusty. I don't feel like spending the weekend out in the driveway trying to remove broken exhaust manifold bolts right now.

When the time comes to do those exhaust manifold bolts, this tool will save you a heap of trouble: https://a.co/d/5v9DEUG

 

[j91z28d1]

good to see the price of those going down.

 

[SpareParts]

Changed this out today. Really not to bad a job
I did not think the wheel bearing was bad but wanted to change it out as an, As long as I'm in there might as well change that also.
The old wheel hub does not really feel bad but man driving it now is definitely quieter and of course no crunching noise turning now.
I used Detroit Axle parts. Used em before without a problem and I don't expect I will this time. Electrical stuff is always OEM if I can get it.
Another successful repair!

 

[SpareParts]

Forgot about this pic. Took it sitting in the parking lot at work because of the mileage.
This was before I changed the oil pump. Also shows fuel empty when full and turns the check engine on. After about 20 miles the gauge starts working again.

 

[donjetman]

Changed this out today. Really not to bad a job
I did not think the wheel bearing was bad but wanted to change it out as an, As long as I'm in there might as well change that also.
The old wheel hub does not really feel bad but man driving it now is definitely quieter and of course no crunching noise turning now.
I used Detroit Axle parts. Used em before without a problem and I don't expect I will this time. Electrical stuff is always OEM if I can get it.
Another successful repair!

Dec 2023 I used Detroit Axle etc to rebuild the front end of our Denali: https://www.tahoeyukonforum.com/threads/front-end-refresh.145676/
no regrets so far