Yukon stored for 10 years. How to bring back to life?

Disclaimer: Links on this page pointing to Amazon, eBay and other sites may include affiliate code. If you click them and make a purchase, we may earn a small commission.

tomloans

Full Access Member
Joined
May 29, 2015
Posts
291
Reaction score
273
It is all good. Lot's of feedback and many ways to live your life here! :)

Glean what will make you comfortable and it will all work out.
 

SnowDrifter

Full Access Member
Joined
Sep 5, 2016
Posts
2,441
Reaction score
2,681
Location
Washington. The desert side not the Starbucks side
I agree partially. Just dumping refrigerant in the system without even checking the pressure it is at will cause more problems. Thats why I said to charge it to 40PSI (which means run the ac at max to get an accurate reading for atleast 10mins.) You will not ever see 105 psi on a automotive ac system on the low side unless its grossly overcharged or there is a severe restriction. Normal operation would never yield 105psi on the low side, not even at 90deg ambient temp. "You" truly dont even need to hook up to the high side except to diagonose a problem. I almost never need to hook up to the high side while charging auto.....because ive done it so many times. The refrigerant pressure is indeed dependent strictly on temperature. As temps go up, the pressure goes up and vice versa. The 40PSI charge target I mentioned has been adjusted to current outside temps which will work for most areas right now unless you live in the tropics. ;)
Good point: Never buy refrigerant with stop leak in it. The white cans almost always never have stop leak in them. I charge from a cylinder because I buy my refrigerant in bulk.
I'd like to clarify

evac/recharge doesn't mean dump to atmosphere. There are machines that retrieve the refrigerant
 
OP
OP
Z

Zeus3k

TYF Newbie
Joined
May 5, 2022
Posts
10
Reaction score
10
Wow, thanks all for the great information. A lot of great ideas. As others indicated my first step is to get all the fluids changed. I tried siphoning the gas through the gas cap port with no luck. My next option was going under the vehicle and disconnecting the filler hose on the gas tank. I had a hard time removing it as there was not much room to get it off the tank port. I wound up removing the breather tube to the gas tank and the siphon hose went in with no problem. After removing 11.5 gallons of gas and moving the siphon tube around to different spots in the tank, no more is coming out. i am feeling confident I removed most of the gas. Gas looks really clean, but I guess that is because it is coming out of a plastic tank. The question I have now is what about the gas in the lines? Should I add some fresh gas in and then pump out for a short time with the fuel pump? Is there any place in the engine/carburetor gasoline is held I need to worry about?

When I rolled the car out the garage I noticed a large pink stain on the cement. The engine coolant container under the hood is completely empty. I am assuming there is a leak in the system somewhere for that.

Again, thanks for all the comments! I'll keep you all informed how this progresses.
 
Last edited:

MassHoe04

Full Access Member
Joined
Nov 4, 2021
Posts
1,587
Reaction score
2,820
Location
Western MA
GM coolant is more orange than pink.

Pink could be transmission fluid leaking through the transmission cooler.
Corrosion sometimes lets things loose.

Check the fluid on the transmission dipstick. It should be fairly red. If it looks milky pink, you may have found your lost coolant.

Fingers crossed the dipstick shows clear trans fluid.
 
OP
OP
Z

Zeus3k

TYF Newbie
Joined
May 5, 2022
Posts
10
Reaction score
10
GM coolant is more orange than pink.

Pink could be transmission fluid leaking through the transmission cooler.
Corrosion sometimes lets things loose.

Check the fluid on the transmission dipstick. It should be fairly red. If it looks milky pink, you may have found your lost coolant.

Fingers crossed the dipstick shows clear trans fluid.

I had to check after reading your response. Transmission fluid from dipstick is more of a dull pink versus the bright red/pink of the stain. See picture.

I then examined closer under the vehicle. Strange. There are still droplets orange in color, but when I wiped them they look bright pink/red. I'm surprised these were not dried up long ago. There are also visible pink/purple stains when I look beyond the skid pan. See pictures.

Coolant fluid box is empty, Transmission fluid level on dipstick is high.
 

Attachments

  • Leak on Left - Transmission stick fluid on right.jpg
    Leak on Left - Transmission stick fluid on right.jpg
    141.3 KB · Views: 5
  • Orange drops seen here.jpg
    Orange drops seen here.jpg
    222.3 KB · Views: 6
  • Looking directly from bottom front.jpg
    Looking directly from bottom front.jpg
    189.7 KB · Views: 5
  • Looking up above skid pan.jpg
    Looking up above skid pan.jpg
    180.5 KB · Views: 6
  • DIfferent angle.jpg
    DIfferent angle.jpg
    163.8 KB · Views: 5

Blackcar

Full Access Member
Joined
Mar 31, 2018
Posts
708
Reaction score
622
I had to check after reading your response. Transmission fluid from dipstick is more of a dull pink versus the bright red/pink of the stain. See picture.

I then examined closer under the vehicle. Strange. There are still droplets orange in color, but when I wiped them they look bright pink/red. I'm surprised these were not dried up long ago. There are also visible pink/purple stains when I look beyond the skid pan. See pictures.

Coolant fluid box is empty, Transmission fluid level on dipstick is high.
Where is the plastic armor wire coming from it looks wet and what ever liquid is on steering arm may be coming out of that plastic coated wire.
 

MassHoe04

Full Access Member
Joined
Nov 4, 2021
Posts
1,587
Reaction score
2,820
Location
Western MA
If not hoses leaking...

If I had to bet, I would think the water pump or thermostat might be suspect.

Both happen to be located above the drag link and wire loom that was showing traces of coolant on them. Reach under the water pump and look feel around the housing. See if it is wet anywhere around the housing or thermostat housing.

After sitting for so long, the shaft seal or thermostat gasket may have weeped some coolant out. Could have been fairly slow leak over the 10 years, but enough to drain down the reservoir.

If it turns out to be the case with water pump shaft seal, there is a chance the seal may work itself back into sealing on the shaft again once it gets some exercise.

If everything looks good and there are no other major signs of fluid where it shouldn't be (in the oil pan, transmission fluid) or pouring out the heads/engine block, Continue with all your fluid changes. Top to proper levels on the coolant and get it running.

If you run and the exhaust is not billowing white clouds, you're probably in good shape.

See if the leak up front stops. And it might. Or, It might not. You can easily change a water pump if it still shows signs of leaking.

You may want to just put thermostat and water pump replacement on the to-do list at some point anyway. If the shaft seal was leaking, probably don't want to chance it. For the cost and ease of doing it, I would top off the coolant, drive it and try to get to it at some point.

Do some more poking around the engine and see what you see. Photos, of whatever areas you investigate, will help us help you pinpoint your issue. More the better! Someone may spot something you missed.

Good luck!
 

Forum statistics

Threads
132,748
Posts
1,873,524
Members
97,575
Latest member
Goliath23
Top