RadoRevival

I think I'm going to go ahead and do a full coolant system flush just to be safe.

Thanks.

4.3L Chevy belt tensioner is bouncing around. Is this a problem with the tensioner or are there bigger problems?

Oh how I wish i could figure how to use BBCode here. lol We have heat. Here is what I did. First take off whatever the thing that connects the air filter box to the intake to get it out of the way. The hoses that go to and from the heater core are right next to each other on the firewall on the passenger side. The one that come from the water pump is the return. The one that comes from the intake is the pressure side. I disconnected the hoses from the intake and the metal hose that goes to the water pump. First time using my Knipex pliers for actual hose clamps and they were worth every cent. You can see them in the next pic. I then poured in CLR until the body was empty. You can get it on amazon but at the orange big box store it was like $8. The fluid BARELY was going through the hose. Like a trickle. I let it sit in there for like an hour. Then I removed the metal hose that goes from the water pump to the hose going to firewall. I did this so I could connect a cut piece of water hose to flush the system. So I didn't get great pics of this part but, I took the metal pipe and connected it to the inlet hose of the heater core. I had an old hose and I cut the female end at about 2 feet then connected it to my garden hose. I put the other end on the metal pipe so it went, Garden hose, cut garden hose, metal pipe, hose that goes into the firewall. I had my son S L O W L Y turn on the water. I didn't want to blow anything out. And all kinds of nasty crud started flowing out the outlet hose. I know some people disconnect from the firewall but I didn't know if the hose was clogged. I wanted to eliminate all possibilities. Here is a pic of the hose, to the metal hose, to the hose to the heater core. And here is a pic of clean water flowing: I then blew out the line and foam was coming out at the end. So I flushed it with water, then blew out the liquid three more times till no foamy stuff came out. Then blew it out to get as much water out as possible. Topped off my antifreeze while the truck was running. It took a while for it to start working. don't know if it had some sort of air lock or what. I thought that there was some other freak thing wrong but after a while, it started blowing sweet hot air. Really need that here in south Florida. Temps are getting down into the 60s, Hope this helps someone.

Been a while since I updated this but I wasn't getting any heat. First I tried to replace the blend door actuator. is like $15. I am almost positive it wasn't working. For that you have to disconnect the batter, remove the upper glove box and the air bag. It is on the left almost behind the radio. This is on the model with no electronic climate control wish single zone. Also, notice how my dash is cracked. I hate that. That is the bled door actuator way over there on the left. Now it was definitely working but that didn't fix the problem. The air was not as cold but definitely not hot. I was researching replacing the heater core - not something I want to do - when I saw videos of flushing it. So I gave that a shot.

The thermostat and temp sending unit fixed the engine overhead issue. My trans temp just reads as dashes now which is fine. I go over how I fixed the temp issue here. https://youtu.be/1BgurxElTYM

Added drop shackles and removed the blocks, short of axle flip or notching the frame, what's the next step lower the rear and level the truck?

Including lunch and a trip to Harbor Freight, it took me 5 hours to do the first side. Took a little less than an hour to do the other. Lowered three inches. This is the lowering shackles I bought. Wish I saw they came with U bold spacers when I removed the block. Had to do it again on the first side. I bought an impact last week and I am so so glad I had it. That would have taken exponentially longer without. The biggest hassle was just figuring how to reach the bolts and get the axle in place. So the second side went easy peasy. Having the leaf springs lose from the axle was the key for the upper shackle bolt.

Thanks for the reply. I wound up not connecting the U bolts so I had lateral movement. It was a serious pain. I will post a video of it when I do one.

I am having the hardest time figuring how to get the top shackle bolt out to put in my lowering shackles. This is driving me crazy.

Well, got the U bolts off with no problem. But first time using this HF breaker bar to take off the wheels and it snapped. Off to get another.

I am going to remove the lift blocks and I have seen torque specs of 70, 75 and 80. Can anyone confirm what the real spec is? I will try to post pics from the project.

I have a code reader that clears them out. I think disconnecting the battery will do the same. My code reader was a super cheap one from Amazon. But I replaced the thermostat and the temperature sending unit. I don't know which one it was, but I figured for about 40 bucks for the two it was worth swapping them out. The only problem I had was the connector to the sending unit broken half when I disconnected it so I had to solder a new one of those in. Since then no problems.

Engine temp fine. On the 2013 the sensor isnt on the valve body. This has taken lots research. The debate has been valve body, selector, and harness. Pretty sure it's on the harness. GM 24298349

I guess that's possible but the parts of the wire I can see look fine.

Got the new sending unit connector soldered in. Still having the trans temp issue.

At this point I think I am just going to cut the yellow wire coming into the Transmission Control Unit and call it a day.

Well, I changed out the thermostat and the temp sending unit today. The retaining clip snapped on the sending unit connector so I get to order a new one and solder that in. What's weird is the OEM is 198° and I think the old one was 185°. So now the temp gauge is straight up and down where it used to be at about 11:00. But now, I discovered that when the electric fan kicks on the trans temp warning sounds, which is gonna be pretty freaking annoying as summer approaches south Florida.

Got my truck on the ramps. The plug is on the top side of the tranny. I dare not pull it out for fear of never getting it back in. I figured that it is the yellow & tan/black wires. I did find them on the transmission control module (pictured below). No idea what I would test or how but quick question, do these wires look like someone has been in here before? tan and black wires. Maybe this has been a problem? What do the tranny gurus think?

Yeah that's the only code, and I bought both the thermostat and the temperature sending unit. Wasn't sure if I needed one or the other and I figured I'd just change them both. Watching my trans temp on my ride home today, it was actually working. Then when I would hit the gas at times it would jump to 250 and instantly back down the normal temperature. I ordered a repair manual from eBay, not sure if the quality I will see when it gets emailed to me.

How should I diagnose the problem? Visually inspect the harness?

https://g.oempartsonline.com/oem-parts/gm-automatic-transmission-gear-position-sensor-19181161 That's where I shopped for the part and it told me it would not fit. Do you have any spot for a tutorial how to change the part out? Do i need to drop the valve body?

Half the parts houses I look up that part say its the right fit, the other half say it's not and I need Automatic Transmission Manual Shift Shaft Position Switch - GM (19181161). Seeing how one is $29 and the other is $168 I am hoping you are right. But nothing anywhere talk about transmission temp sending in any of these parts which is super frustrating.

That is super helpful. Thanks. I will inspect it. (top right rear, is that passenger side?) Can you confirm that the trans temp is in the wire harness in the tranny? And any idea how I can find the part number other than going to the dealer? I can't find it anywhere. Most the time I have no transmission temperature.

That is what worries me. You can chase those forever. Maybe I will crawl under the truck and look at the harness where it enters the firewall?