What did you do to your GMT today?

[mason10198]

Just installed 2 new wide beam HID spotlights. Thank you Michael (thehungrigerman) for one of them. the second was purchased from Amazon. I drilled a hole through the OEM crossbar and bolted them there. they feel pretty sturdy, but we'll see!

~Sent from Tapatalk for Android~

[escapepilot]

Removed the factory 12V cigarette lighter yesterday and installed a dual USB charger outlet. Should have been a quick, easy change over, but not with my TB... After replacing the outlet and connecting it up, I discovered I didn't have power to it. The other two had power. Hmmm. Auxiliary power fuse was good. Decided to check the cigarette lighter fuse under the hood and yup, blown. One new fuse, and it's now good to go. Why on earth did GM put separate fuses with different names in two different fuse boxes!

[Trail X]

Put in some new LED headlights, tail/brake lights as well as frt side markers. Also some new aux reverse lights to replace my old worn out ones.

Did I read that correctly, LED headlights?! I guess I've fallen behind in my automotive technology. I knew they were doing this on new headlights made for LEDs, but I didn't know they had retrofit bulbs now. How's the beam and glare? I want to see before and after beam pictures if you can get them!

[Chango]

Put in some new LED headlights, tail/brake lights as well as frt side markers. Also some new aux reverse lights to replace my old worn out ones.

Did I read that correctly, LED headlights?! I guess I've fallen behind in my automotive technology. I knew they were doing this on new headlights made for LEDs, but I didn't know they had retrofit bulbs now. How's the beam and glare? I want to see before and after beam pictures if you can get them!

Guy over on GMT has been selling them for a while. People seem to like them. Names Kevin. Screen name is DFWWIZ I think.

[djthumper]

Put in some new LED headlights, tail/brake lights as well as frt side markers. Also some new aux reverse lights to replace my old worn out ones.

Did I read that correctly, LED headlights?! I guess I've fallen behind in my automotive technology. I knew they were doing this on new headlights made for LEDs, but I didn't know they had retrofit bulbs now. How's the beam and glare? I want to see before and after beam pictures if you can get them!

I have a set, they are pretty decent but they kind of glared all over the place. I even dipped my lights down some to correct it a little. I have probably had them for about 2 years. He has some better ones out now.

[maricard]

Thank for the advices. I think I'll have to do the job because those vibrations are really unpleasant and I tried a lot of things to fix it without any result.
It it a good idea to heat each bolt before started removing bolts?
Did you lub (WD40) it before to start the job?
How much time did you spend to finish the job?
I'm a bit nervous begin this job I use my truck for my daily drive and I want advice as much as possible.

I did not heat my bolts before swapping them, but I did use liquid wrench. I'm not sure how well it was able to get in there, but I did spray the ones I could see for a week or so to attempt to loosen them up. I forgot to mention before, I removed the manifold through the top of the engine bay. I don't think theres any easy way to do it through the bottom.

I recall that I started my project around 9am, and even with lunch, hardware store visit, and bolt extraction finished around 6 or 7. I tend to be a slow worker, stepping back too often to analyze and lament my current situation.

I bought everything I need to do the job : Dorman manifold http://www.cafr.ebay.ca/itm/27174312673 ... EBIDX%3AIT
GM manifold bolts (11x)
and I made my own WD40 (AFT + acetone) thank to Hardtrailz
Now I have to reserve a whole day to do the job. Not easy with my family's planing.
Thank for every advice and I'll post something about it after the job.

The gasket that comes with the manifold is garbage, its one of those paper ones. Get a metal replacement. Also, get a replacement lead donut seal for the connection to the rest of the exhaust. While you're in there, throw in a new O2 sensor... you'll have a hard time getting the old one off anyways. Good luck![/quote]

Like you wrote James, the manifold was a bitch to get out......

I had only one broken bolts before I started removing bolts and it was my fault (wrong socket size). The remaining bolts all came out without issue. But surprise!!!! it wasn't the origine manifold, two bolts were already broke. (I have my TB since 12 years so I think GM did the initial job but wasn't better than me with those broken bolts) I had to use my brain to get out those bolts.


The broken bolts were removed by welding a nut to the exposed stud.

The harder task was to remove the 3 bolts from the exhaust. Those were bitchier than those from manifold and one of those really suck.


I had two big cracks on the manifold.





I broke the o2 sensor and the oil dipstick tube was so rusty it broke too
Nevertheless I'm happy to remove everything with 8 hours, but I didn't reinstall it yet. I need more time, maybe this weekend. I hope the vibration will stop after all this work.

[Rickalicka18]

Put in some new LED headlights, tail/brake lights as well as frt side markers. Also some new aux reverse lights to replace my old worn out ones.

I have those same low beams haha... did you do the high beams also? I did and it feels like they're not as bright as the regular halogen bulbs i had before... I wonder if its just the angle i have them at... Idk just thought id ask. Might have the angle wrong... Haha but the lows are amazing and they don't really seems to bother people at night. Unless you're behind them and it's a car. I know they hate it because i can see their face it the mirror lol

[KingBird]

If anyone has been keeping up with my ongoing saga, I got to thinking, a few weeks back, we had to replace the fuel pump. Since I needed the truck that afternoon, I replaced it with a Precision pump from O'Reilly...

That was my first mistake.

Then I started troubleshooting a problem that, with a little thinking, would have been solved very quickly. As a refresher, my issue has been a slight stumble at light throttle that evolved into a low speed stall that only happened when the vehicle was warm.

Anyway, I replaced the Precision unit with an OEM Bosch (what came out of it). I took it out this evening, ran her up close to triple digits and got her good and warm. I still had the stumble at light throttle but no stalling.

But wait, there's more! I received a package from North Carolina today as well, so I replaced my ECM with their loaner which obviously has a bit of an update because now the stumble is gone too! I'm going to put all of this in a build thread, I just wanted to update.

[ErikSS]

I'm glad to hear your problem is resolved Brian! Do you think the programming would have fixed the problem or was it both the pump and program?

[KingBird]

I think the stalling was the crappy pump, the stumble was the ECM, it had that immediately after the engine swap.

[v7guy]

I've been down the bum replacement pump route before, not fun.

Marc, looks like you made it through the manifold swap relatively unscathed! Congrats!

[KingBird]

I should have known better.

[v7guy]

I should have known better.

I wish I'd had a dollar for every time I've said that LOL

[Trail X]

Keep an eye on it Brian. The ecms trim their variables over time, they tend to run very liberally at first and attempt to hone in on perfect combustion over time. Your new ecm has no history, so it's probably running rich. This is the same joke about the dealer ecm tune, where all they do is erase the ecm trim history and all the sudden your car starts running better. Not saying that this isn't fixed, just that I'm skeptical of magic ecm fixes.

[KingBird]

Will do, thanks for the heads up. I just drove it 300 miles to the mountains. What you're saying explains why it was getting such horrible gas mileage the last couple of days. Unplugged the stock ECM at 18-20 highway, and plugged in the loaner ECM to get 14-17 highway...

I was wondering what the deal was.

[TB2004EXT]

Just baught some rustoleum rust preventative to slow down the process until i can find a whole new door.

[moose1]

Got some maintenance items out of the way before winter and clear up the front vibe.

First i joined the disco rebuild club and you guys made it sound much more fun than it was.

replaced a leaking front diff seal.

replaced both cv axle,hubs and passenger side UBJ. changed front diff, engine, and tc fluids.


took me a couple days but well worth it.

[Trail X]

Looks like you had a lot of fun. Always makes you feel good when your truck is running smooth again. Congrats on doing all the work yourself.

[moose1]

Thanks, i always try to weigh the cost/time/tools aspect of repairs. i'm a hobby mechanic so some repairs i just don't have all the tools, had to borrow a BJ press. but it is ready for the snow. Bring it on!

[HARDTRAILZ]

I always borrow the parts store press but it is a nice feeling when it all comes together.