Sharpz

a few things you can do. clean your throttle body, and also clean your maf sensor. Before doing so remove the positive terminal on your battery. Make sure that terminal is disconnected till after the work is done. Sometimes just disconnecting the terminal for 15 minutes will resolve this cold start issue.

You are probably due for upper and lower ball joints. As for the ride, that could very well be just a tire choice issue. P rated tires tend to ride much nicer then say a stiffer LT tire. There are many grease fittings for your front end that may solve some of that creaking noise. Some you cant get to very easy, but doable.

probably the actuator for the 4x4. I am not sure if you tested these things after you tried plowing or before. Also did you try 4 low?

all of what you mention is extremely mild issues. I too have a 2004 with the 5.3. It has over 325k on the engine, tranny, and differentials. I use this truck daily and put about 300 miles a day on, and to be honest I would not hesitate to take it anywhere. Since Ive owned this truck used mobile 5 w 30 full synthetic. I know some have issues with it, but I have had zero. At the 3k, mark or there abouts I will get a check oil message, and I will find it is down about 3/4 of a qt, which is fine with me. Before replacing the actuator or motor try cleaning the connections up a bit. Sometimes just unplugging them and plugging them back in will eliminate any symptoms or a weak or slow motor. Spray all of your locks with PB or WD, as well as their connections. Try programing your FOB using the suggested method for your year truck. You wont need to get a dealer or locksmith to do that. Keep in mind there are items that are going to go relatively soon, if they havent already. The HVAC lines tend to become brittle and can start leaking coolant. Water pump I think I had to replace at 220k and the oil pressure sensor.

These types of forums are designed to help other users with similar issues as other GM owners. If you ask multiple questions on a thread that says nothing more then the year of your truck it doesnt help any of them, unless they search just the year of the truck. You would be helping the community by asking specific questions such as "Brake light wire diagram 2001 chevy 1500" , "how to test a ground wire" etc. What you have to determine is how far are you willing to work backwards. You think you pulled a wire when you lifted your box, but dont know which wire it was. The logical thing would be to pull your box again and try to trace that wire down, but obviously not the easiest route. So you are left with removing protective coatings, or harnesses cover to "probe" wires. To test a wire for positive simply put a board or something on the brake to keep it on or have someone hold the brake for you, while you probe wires. You would only need a simple dc wire probe. You can get one for around 5 dollars. place the clip on a good ground spot such as the frame, if the area you inspect after taking the harness coating off has no positive wires when the brake is applied, you will know the wire issue is cab side and will need to find a spot closer to the fuse box. If you find positive wires, you will need to remove whatever you have holding the brake if they still light positive they are not related to the brake. If they go out you will know they are, and can move closer to the brake fixtures. This is what tracking down a broken or loose wire entails. Before you do the above steps, test your ground wires at the fixtures. You can do this by running a jumper wire from a known power source such as your positive on your battery. Place the probe tester clamp on the now charged wire, and poke one of the wires to the brake fixture, if it lights up, then that is your ground wire, and you wont need to try to find a ground problem, as you eliminated that as a possibility. If you want you can test the positive there doing the reverse. Find a known ground, such as the frame and probe the wires at the brake fixture while having the brake pressed. If you have power, and the bulb is good, the issue is grounding. This is pretty basic, and hard to explain how easy it is to test wires, but the hard part is the application to do so, you will need to be in places that are hard to access and you absolutely need to make sure that your test is good. I am giving you what is required to test wires. Obviously you should back check the grounds you mentioned removing from the fire wall, as well as the junctions in the back.

yes. Check your fuses 1st, make sure you didnt pop one. If those check out, determine if its a ground problem or a power problem and go from there. Since its all of your break lights you can forgo checking the bulbs as step two. If you have a power problem then you need to trace down those wires, you can get a diagram of what wires do what, and what color they are.

This very issue was posted by another new member to the site about a week ago. He claimed missing bolts in the front suspension. I guess follow his lead since it seems both of you experience it with random bumps, and "Burnouts"

I know money is sometimes an issue, but when ever you do wheel bearings, or cv axles its always a good idea to do both sides at once. A lot of people think they hear a noise coming from the front left, when its actually the front right, and vice versa. Here are some culprits to check. Both wheel bearings. Jack the truck up in the front, so both front are off the ground. With your hands at the 12 and 6 positions on the tire, try pulling with one hand and pushing at the same time as the other creating a rocking motion. If you notice play or movement, then likely this is your cause both CV axles. with the truck still lifted try rotating the tire both front and back in quick jerky movements if you have a bad axle you may hear a click as you transition from moving the wheel forward to reverse. Also turn the steering wheel from mostly all left, while performing the test, and also mostly all right. Since you have already inspected your front drive shaft, I assume you inspected your rear drive shaft. If not, with the truck lowered back to the ground, and wheels blocked properly place the truck in neutral, try turning the rear shaft in both directions, if bad you will notice play and should change the Ujoints.

If you paid for them to do the work, why on earth would you be worried to take it back to have them fix it? If you went in for a knee replacement and you couldnt bend your knee after, wouldnt you be back there to get it fixed? They charged you and/or your insurance money to fix an issue, and created an issue more then likely with the wires for the rearview mirror, and they should fix it. It might be simple and the installer might know exactly what he forgot, but bottom line they should fix it not you.

inspect the HVAC hoses coming in and out of your firewall in the engine compartment (after truck is up to temp) if both hoses are hot then the problem is as the previous posters have said. If one hose is hot, the other is luke warm then the problem is a plugged core. If both are hot, then most likely it will be as Cam said, although I havent heard of this happening on the heat side, only the AC side. You can move your climate control down 1/4 the way and see if that gets you heat. This method works for the dual climate control on AC setting, so might work for the heat setting too.

sometimes the center bolt will break and you wont see it. Make sure you inspect that area really well. As cam said this is more then likely your problem area.

I would take it to another inspector. Sounds like that dude just didnt want to give his inspection sticker to you.

yeah there is a chance that nothing is wrong with the head gasket. You can try shutting the truck off before it gets up to temp. Do this after a decent cool down period. Are you observing bubbles in the overflow tank? If you want to see if the head gasket is leaking gases into your coolant just inspect your plugs, if coolant is getting into the cylinder the plug will look super clean, almost bleached free of oil.

Your girlfriend might actually be right. When exaust gases bypass the head gasket they super heat the fluid as I am sure you know. You dont want to rev the engine to bleed the system. Things I have found that help remove air is to have the truck on a bit of an uphill angle either by jacking or ramp, with the front being higher. I have also found that squeezing the top hose pushing coolant toward the pump also aides. Also make sure your radiator is clean, and that your fan clutch is working. Steps for removing air pockets. 1) inspect all hoses making sure they are good condition. 2) if empty system or mostly empty system due to water pump replacement, fill the overflow about 1/3 higher then recommended fill cold line. Dont worry this will still not be enough. 3) with the overflow top off, start your truck and let the truck idle until it gets up to temperature. If the coolant starts coming out the reservoir top, turn the truck off, wait for a few minutes and try the procedure again. 4) continuing monitoring the temperature gauge and the coolant level making sure it never goes empty. Try to keep it at the fill line. Do not be afraid to stop and start this procedure. If after the truck gets up to normal temperature and you dont see any more bubbles, you can put the reservoir top back on. You should be good to go from here, if your truck doesnt climb in temp, take it for a short test drive, if your temperature climbs again, you may try the procedure again, if that doesnt work you will want to get that head gasket looked at.

On my 99 silverado extended cab, 2 wd, with the 5.3 I have pushed it to 30 miles before once the light came on. Some of that was highway miles, no hills, and only 1 or 2 stop lights. All of that matters.

5k for a rusted out truck is way too much in my opinion. I might pay that for a single cab truck with high miles and some dings, but zero rust. You should browse Oklahoma car sales, you can find complete single cabs in good shape from anywhere between 5 and 7.

yeah the chances of you finding someone who is just selling a frame is slim to none. You will want to just purchase a parts truck or beat up truck from someone, which isnt a big deal, but probably more then you want to pay. Its not like purchasing a door or a bed. Here in my state, these single cabs are for sale as trucks but rarely parted out.

Obviously its your truck, and your choice. I think the general consensus amongst early AFM trucks is to disable it, I think mainly to prevent the lifter tick issue. I honestly dont know why anyone would want this feature in a full size truck anyway.

you may want to check your shift linkage/cable and be sure its still hooked.

doubtful it has anything to do with your tranny. More likely its your transfer case, or bad Ujoints.

Just my thoughts here, but if you have the means, maybe look for a low miles used engine. A lot of the times you can get these at least here with 100k or less miles, and they will sell you the complete engine. Doing the seals, gaskets, plugs, etc is super easy once the engine is out, and would be like a new engine.

take it back to your parts store. Explain the problem. Depending on what type of starter you ended up purchasing can be the problem, in their tolerances of machinery. Try giving them your vin, or do a search before you go and see exactly what your type is. There are a few members here that rock the 4.3 and they might be able to offer some advice as well.

glad to see you are using a video to guide you through this process. I was going to suggest it since there are about 10,000 of them made for these vehicles. A good practice in the tear down portion when you do it in multiple days/breaks is to spray the bolts for your next step, and all those you can find after with PB blaster, some multiple times such as the exhaust manifold bolts.

Big ticket items to me are motor, trans, differential front/rear, and transfer case. Everything else are normal wear items. If those 4 things check out, and your body of the truck is in decent shape, then you in my opinion are in a good spot to start spending. Just a side note, you might want to look into the disabling AFM if not already done since you dont have the tick yet, but that is pretty common for your truck. Things you should consider doing first, not in any order: *Tranny fluid exchange full swap (not flush) w/ filter *Shocks, front and rear Id recommend Bilstein 5100s *Drive shaft u-joint replacements at least the rear. *oil Pressure sensor w/ filter (located under sensor) *differential fluid replacement Without needing to list these items, such as brakes, rotors, brake lines, those types of items should be inspected as you are doing the work listed above. If need replaced or they are beyond their half life, change them out. Good luck with your truck, look forward to reading your progress.

are you throwing any codes? Have you drove it at all? A few suggestions is check your plugs for fouling. Doing the front easy to get to ones will be good enough to check. Also make sure all of your injectors are seated straight and plugged in.