Want to take my 2010 Yukon XL Denali with 180,000 miles for a family trip from Michigan To Florida - Can you help me make this a success!

[mountie]

That's just it! The truck has literally had no issues until I ran into the phantom electrical stuff that I believe I've now fixed. Other than very basic routine maintenance (think oil changes, brakes, belt, and one 100K service at the dealer (fluids, plugs, wires), everything else is original believe it or not. As I've been learning more and more, I should have been doing more preventative maintenance until waiting for something to break. That's why I was asking about other parts while I've got some room to work with everything out of it.

My '05 Yukon is very reliable.... Last year, getting regular service ( belts and oil change, etc), I went ahead and replaced the belt tensioner at the A/C compressor, ..not that it was bad, but .. since it is so low to the ground, I figured it takes a beating, and replacing it was a 'maintenance' replacement.

 

[donjetman]

I'm a DIYer. Preventative mx = reliability. As your finding out, the list is long.

Bought our road hard a hung-up wet (but rust free) 130k mile 2007 Yukon Denali 5 yrs ago to go back and fourth between or 2 homes 1000 miles apart. We've done this round-trip about 25 times now. 100% reliable. It has 191k miles now.

The only tools we carry are a light wt aluminum floor jack, lugnut socket, and breaker bar (I don't like the GM tire stuff.)

No electrical issues so far

 

[iamdub]

Thanks for taking the time once again to clarify everything.

#1 - good, thank you.
#2 - I'm struggling a little bit on where the attachment point of this cable is. Do I run it all the way to where the original very thin ground wire goes - which is to the passenger side mount right behind the bumper?
#3 - I need to spend a few minutes finding this location.
#4 - good, thank you.

#2 - Battery to frame is what I did. I put it under one of the three strut nuts. Removed the nut, wire brushed the metal clean, put the lug over the stud, reinstalled the nut with an extra ugga-dugga. That small ground that I think you're referring to is for the core support electrics, like the cooling fans. The factory battery ground is the 4 gauge that runs from the negative post on the battery to the stud on the front of the passenger side cylinder head. The ignition coil pack and core support grounds also terminate here.

#3 - It was another frame ground using the strut stud. The nearest bolt going into the engine block was that one behind the power steering pump that secures the bracket to the engine block.

So, I have the entire heating/cooling system apart as we've been discussing and have a lot of easy access around. Are there any other parts that I should be proactively replacing? For example, should I replace or upgrade the alternator or any other parts?

Thanks again!

Are you doing all this wiring upgrade stuff as part of your pre-trip maintenance? If your time is limited, I wouldn't worry about it until afterward when things calm down. There are much more pressing to-dos than the Big 3/Big 4. If the alternator isn't giving you any issues, leave it. If it does so happen to fail on the trip, it's super easy to replace in a parking lot. I think it's one of those items in the "may as well just replace the engine, trans, A/C evaporator, heater core, vehicle wiring harness, all switches and electronics just to be sure..." territory. Also, new does not mean fail-proof. Your alternator is working fine- it's tried and true, the devil you know. A new one could have a defect that is sure to show only during a road trip.

It seems you have a full plate with the cooling system refresh and normal pre-trip inspections and maintenance. Save the electrical upgrades for later tinkering.

 

[bobby2175]

Should I be ok with this radiator - picked this up at the dealer.

 

[iamdub]

Should I be ok with this radiator - picked this up at the dealer.

That's nothing. You can drop it in as-is. They usually look much worse than that when shipped from online dealers. If it bothers you, use a small screwdriver or, if you wanna be fancy, a radiator comb to straighten them. It'll have more reduced air flow than that after about 10-20K miles when the bugs pack the fins. Hell, you'll probably bend more than that when installing it.

 

[bobby2175]

That's nothing. You can drop it in as-is. They usually look much worse than that when shipped from online dealers. If it bothers you, use a small screwdriver or, if you wanna be fancy, a radiator comb to straighten them. It'll have more reduced air flow than that after about 10-20K miles when the bugs pack the fins.

Thanks so much! Back to work!

Should I also replace these hoses? Small hose from engine to radiator and radiator to coolant reservoir overflow? Those were the only two that I neglected to purchase.

 

[iamdub]

Thanks so much! Back to work!

Should I also replace these hoses? Small hose from engine to radiator and radiator to coolant reservoir overflow? Those were the only two that I neglected to purchase.

May as well. They're the same age and material as the other hoses that are subjected to the same chemicals and temperature swings. You have the system opened up now- why stop at 98% when replacing those hoses later (regardless if at your leisure or an emergency repair) would require opening up the system again and spilling more coolant?

 

[Doubeleive]

Thanks so much! Back to work!

Should I also replace these hoses? Small hose from engine to radiator and radiator to coolant reservoir overflow? Those were the only two that I neglected to purchase.

i will be the naysayer on those small lines IF they are not readily available at the parts counter, they are lower pressure lines compared to the other bigger hoses they should be fine

 

[bobby2175]

So, when I took the fan connectors off, this is what I ended up with. What's the right way to reassemble these...on the one, the parts literally fell out when I pulled the connector.

 

[iamdub]

So, when I took the fan connectors off, this is what I ended up with. What's the right way to reassemble these...on the one, the parts literally fell out when I pulled the connector.

Those belong on the end of the plug on the harness. Just snap the purple piece back on and slip the blue seal on it.