kyleag89

From the symptoms I described about the transmission does that sound like it could be electrical or mechanical issues? I don't know anything about these newer electronic controlled transmissions. I miss the days of the old 700r4 and AW-4 transmissions in my jeeps. I put a B&M shift kit in my 91 Camaro RS when I was 18 in a few hours. Swapped a SBC 350 into the same car when I was 17 and it was the first time I've ever done anything like that. Did it alone borrowing tools I didn't have from a neighbor.

Where are the frames known to crack on the NNBS trucks? Other than the wheel arches starting to rust the rest of the truck is rust free. The entire undercarriage was coated with a thick layer of some kind of greasy undercoating which protected it well. I don't know what it is and can only describe it as spray undercoating mixed with grease of some kind. Makes working underneath a very messy job.

Surprisingly the inner wheel well is unaffected so far(from the outside anyway) but I'm sure the inside is all rusted and it will start showing soon. If it wasn't for the oil leak and the transmission shifting weird I would fix it but I'm not too worried about that now. To fix it and not have to worry about it again in 1 or 2 yrs requires cutting the metal out and welding in new patch panels which isn't something I'm set up to do anymore.(Nor want to I hate body work!) The transmission is what concerns me and I don't know if it's ever been worked on or rebuilt before. Of I had to guess I'd say no and that it's 100% original. I've always had very slow shifts in this truck since I got it which may be normal for it unfortunately. I have never driven another vehicle with the 6L80 in it to compare. What I mean by slow shifts is that while accelerating at average speed sometimes it won't shift until I let off the gas or it does shift but very late and high in the RPMs. Also sometimes it will flair, I don't know how else to describe it other than a flair. It's almost like a slip but finally catches itself and continues driving. It also will downshift strange sometimes as well. I notice it mostly in traffic when just letting off the brake and coasting enough to hit 2nd gear then hitting the brake again. I'll get a clunky downshift. I've owned multiple GM vehicles and trucks but they all had either a 700r4 or 4l60 in them. None of them shifted as poorly as this 2011 does.

It looks like something that can be wiped or washed off when it first started but it cannot be.

I am always hesitant to change transmission fluid on a vehicle with this many miles. I've always heard that it's a bad idea due to clutch friction material being in the fluid and changing it can cause the trans to slip. I actually had an 89 firebird formula and after changing the fluid the transmission got worse. Coincidence? Maybe but Im not willing to take that risk. Besides the fluid in it now doesn't look or smell bad. It's not fresh pink but a clean red color and smells new. As for the rust I live on the PA/MD line and regularly drive in both states. The area of PA I drive in uses silt on the roads but MD uses salt and a liquid chemical they pre treat the roads with before a storm is coming. I think my rust issues are just a matter of luck because the manufacturer uses a spray in foam between the outter bed side and inner wheel arch for "panel sound deadening"! It's literally a big sponge that holds moisture and ticking time bomb for rust to begin. The rust I see is coming from the inside out and different from past vehicles rust on the same area. It starts as a bright orange color spot showing on the paint and turns into a bubble and pushes the paint off.

I have a 2011 Sierra with 210k miles on it now and is in excellent physical condition inside and out with the exception of rust just beginning to form above the rear passenger wheel well. Mechanically it's been better than most vehicles I've owned until recently the transmission started flaring shifts sometimes but not always and it seems to have lost power. At the same time this happened I noticed my oil pan started leaking around 3/4 of the perimeter! I just bought this truck a little over 2 years ago with 150k on it and spent $13,500 on it cash. I really can't afford to have the transmission rebuilt without going into personal reasons just know it's not an option in the time frame I need it done. I am a competent mechanic but have never torn a trans down only remove and replace. I'm looking for suggestions on what you guys would do in my situation? I'm seriously considering attempting the trans rebuild myself. I know the clutches will need replaced and seems to be the problem with it. Edit: Truck has the 5.3 and 6180 with towing package and heavy duty cooling

I have a 2011 sierra and it has developed the all too normal with this body style smell in the A/C system. I have searched and read many posts on this and have verified the drain is clear and I have also cleaned the evaporator coil with cleaning product. It started at the end of last summer and I cleaned the evaporator and started letting the blower fan run for 2 min before shutting the truck off. Well this summer is just starting and I already have the odor back! I have owned over 30 vehicles in my life already and never had this issue once. Does anyone know what the BAD design is on these trucks that cause this? It's extremely annoying to remember and have to run the blower fan Everytime before shutting the truck off!

Unless I'm doing something wrong if I line my front tires up with the rear it's quickly obvious that something isn't right and my truck starts driving hard right. I ended up using my seat belt to hold the steering wheel centered and then adjusted my tie rods to center on the threads on both sides then adjusted toe by just measuring the front and rear of the tires with 2 tape measures.

Hey guys I was trying to give my 2011 sierra 1500 an alignment in my garage and ran into an issue. I usually use string line and some jack stands to create a perfect rectangle box around the 4 wheels to measure from but it doesn't work for my truck! My rear axle is either crooked and/or off center enough that I can't get the front and rear tires to line up parallel with the string line. Has anyone ran into this before?

Thanks for the info, it's been awhile since I've been on the forums. I got the job done and 3/8" ID hose fit on both the oil cooler lines and the trans cooler lines. The trans lines were a bit smaller but it still worked. The 3/8" line was a perfect fit for the oil lines. I used pinch clamps like the type used for PEX tubing in plumbing so they pinched the hose perfectly. Been about 2 months now and no more leaks!

As the title says I have a 2011 sierra 1500 with the heavy duty cooling(K5L) package and the Z82 trailering package. From what I see online the K5L trucks have larger oil cooler lines than a standard truck. A couple guys that did write ups on repairing the lines had 3/8" the same as the trans cooler lines. The oil cooler lines on my truck are visibly larger in diameter than the trans cooler lines. I just repaired one of the trans lines today by cutting the factory crimp connectors off and replacing them rubber hose with new hose and pinch clamped it to the steel lines. The 3/8" I.D. hose was loose fitting on the factory barbed fittings so I'm hoping the 3/8 hose will fit but maybe a little snug on the oil cooler lines. It's most likely a long shot but figured I'd ask if anyone has done this before and knows if 3/8 line fits or I need to buy the next size up?

Mine was the rear shock bolts. I cranked them down with an impact and then finished them with a 24" long 1/2" breaker bar and they loosened themselves! It was just the lower bolts on both sides. I took them out cleaned the threads up and applied some blue loctite and cranked them back down. It's been good now for a couple months. About 6 months ago I had some noises from my leaves and I used an old wood chisel to seperate the ends and then put some new pads in there. I had a few extra laying around from an add a leaf kit I purchased awhile ago because it was on clearance for $35! Came with long leaves that fit under the main leaf, 4 leaf clips, 2 center pins, isolation pads, and 2 shims. Not bad for $35.

Solved this problem! It was the tiniest bit of corrosion on the fuse contacts that I couldn't see until I removed the fuse box. The contacts are literally like a 22awg metal wire and barely have any contact area at all so corrosion can break contact easily! I've been a GM guy my entire life but man the NBS trucks took a plummet in quality from the previous body style. Most of my loom has crumbled and broken away as well as the tape the factory put on. What tape hasn't already fallen off is hanging on by a thread. Almost everything plastic on this truck I touch breaks it's so brittle and this truck isn't my only one like this. I had a 2012 before this truck and it suffered all the same things as well as the dumb fuse box retainer arms being broken.

I didn't get to look at it today but I did some more research online and think that the wire is question comes from the fuse box. It then goes to the front passenger side turn signal/parking lamps and splits off there somewhere to go to the rear. I was hoping someone had this problem before and knew exactly where the wire runs. My loom is in bad shape the tape is crumbling and the loom itself is hard and sharp. My fingers are all cut up from messing with it 2 days ago! The clips that hold the fuse box down are all broken on my truck so I try to stay away from messing with that so I'll probably check everywhere else first only to discover it broken under there and create other problems in the process. That almost always how it goes for me. For now I spliced the wire onto the trailer plugs brown wire power feed. I could leave it like that but I'd like to put it back the way it is supposed to be in case I tow sometime and it may overload that circuit. Edit: looking over some more diagrams the brown wire comes from fuse #27 labeled RT Park and splits off under the fuse box(unfortunately). I'll update with what I find today.

To clarify I'm just wondering if there may be something else causing this wire to not have power? Right now my fuel pump control module is bad and I have it bypassed with a relay so I can drive my truck for the best week until the replacement arrives. I connected the high speed tan wires together so that the coms system is intact still then just used the red power wire to a relay to the pump. The dark green wire from the ECM triggers the relay.