Introduction

[62barsoom]

Till I get a sub running the wife is not happy bouncing around in the truck. Have to do something.

 

[Firewood truck]

That sucks to hear about Monroe's quality or lack thereof. We sold that brand at our parts store and Dad used them on all our vehicles. Every pickup and Burb had Magnums on it, then Gas Magnums when they came out. Made a big difference in ride and handling, though the pickups were all long beds so better ride than a short bed to begin with. I've wanted to put Gas Magnums on the crew cab since the shocks may be the ones it left Flint, Michigan GM Truck and Bus Plant with in September '96.... The Burb did have its original shocks when they were replaced in May '21.
Just didn't have the $$$ for shipping through RA or getting them on commercial account discount at O'Reilly's.

I can't say if they are all like that, but there were a bunch of similar stories in the reviews at Amazon about the gas magnums. I would have been happy to try a replacement set, as I have a few friends with commercial 1 ton trucks and they run the shocks w/o any issues. The Monroe C/S rep told me that "maybe there was another bad batch...", that didn't sit too well with me. On all of the Toyota trucks/4runners and land cruisers that I've owned, I always went with Bilstein 4600's. I wasn't spending that kind of money on this truck. I got the KYB's on sale and vatozone gave me the Veteran discount on top of it, so they came out around $60/each. Not the cheapest option but I felt like it was money sent well.

I was under the hood trying to 100% verify that the rear of the intake was leaking before tearing it apart again. I found a small leak right where it curves around the brass pipe for the oil pressure switch for the fuel pump relay. It's seeping, not spraying, so I might just let it be for now and wait until the weather gets cooler. I also found a big drip at the oil pan drain plug, looks like I should have replaced the gasket when I changed the oil. I will get a new gasket and try removing the plug, pushing my finger over the hole and somehow fenagle a new gasket onto the bolt then get it back together w/o spilling out all of the new oil.

 

[HotWheelsBurban]

I can't say if they are all like that, but there were a bunch of similar stories in the reviews at Amazon about the gas magnums. I would have been happy to try a replacement set, as I have a few friends with commercial 1 ton trucks and they run the shocks w/o any issues. The Monroe C/S rep told me that "maybe there was another bad batch...", that didn't sit too well with me. On all of the Toyota trucks/4runners and land cruisers that I've owned, I always went with Bilstein 4600's. I wasn't spending that kind of money on this truck. I got the KYB's on sale and vatozone gave me the Veteran discount on top of it, so they came out around $60/each. Not the cheapest option but I felt like it was money sent well.

I was under the hood trying to 100% verify that the rear of the intake was leaking before tearing it apart again. I found a small leak right where it curves around the brass pipe for the oil pressure switch for the fuel pump relay. It's seeping, not spraying, so I might just let it be for now and wait until the weather gets cooler. I also found a big drip at the oil pan drain plug, looks like I should have replaced the gasket when I changed the oil. I will get a new gasket and try removing the plug, pushing my finger over the hole and somehow fenagle a new gasket onto the bolt then get it back together w/o spilling out all of the new oil.

Apparently those fittings are bad about that. Sometimes it's because they crack. I've been told they often break when replacing the sending unit. So I farmed that job out, then they had to do it again because the first sending unit was defective.

 

[Firewood truck]

Are there any on-line sources for wiring diagrams? I'm trying to track down why the interior lights/map lights don't work. There is juice on both sides of the fuse, past that I have no idea where anything goes. I imagine that when the dimmer switch goes past the "click" detent, the interior light should come on?

 

[HotWheelsBurban]

Are there any on-line sources for wiring diagrams? I'm trying to track down why the interior lights/map lights don't work. There is juice on both sides of the fuse, past that I have no idea where anything goes. I imagine that when the dimmer switch goes past the "click" detent, the interior light should come on?

Yes that's what the detent is for, so you don't accidentally do that.
The factory manuals are available for research on here; I think the thread title is something like "88-98 service manuals".

 

[Erik the Awful]

88-98 Service Manuals

Over the years I have collected a bunch of GM service literature. Links to PDF Scans of service and STG manuals and a links to the Parts manuals. You'll need the FREE Adobe Acrobat reader to open these files. Get it directly from Adobe here {http://get.adobe.com/reader/} If you're not...

www.gmt400.com

 

[62barsoom]

I can't say if they are all like that, but there were a bunch of similar stories in the reviews at Amazon about the gas magnums. I would have been happy to try a replacement set, as I have a few friends with commercial 1 ton trucks and they run the shocks w/o any issues. The Monroe C/S rep told me that "maybe there was another bad batch...", that didn't sit too well with me. On all of the Toyota trucks/4runners and land cruisers that I've owned, I always went with Bilstein 4600's. I wasn't spending that kind of money on this truck. I got the KYB's on sale and vatozone gave me the Veteran discount on top of it, so they came out around $60/each. Not the cheapest option but I felt like it was money sent well.

I was under the hood trying to 100% verify that the rear of the intake was leaking before tearing it apart again. I found a small leak right where it curves around the brass pipe for the oil pressure switch for the fuel pump relay. It's seeping, not spraying, so I might just let it be for now and wait until the weather gets cooler. I also found a big drip at the oil pan drain plug, looks like I should have replaced the gasket when I changed the oil. I will get a new gasket and try removing the plug, pushing my finger over the hole and somehow fenagle a new gasket onto the bolt then get it back together w/o spilling out all of the new oil.

The oil gasket sounds like something I'd try. In that case good luck.

 

[Firewood truck]

Hello everyone, just a small update. I've been driving the truck a bit, mainly for lumber runs and a dump run. Besides a small oil leak burning on the exhaust, the main issue has been the hydro clutch is already starting to fail. I had it in gear w/ the clutch pressed in and very quickly I noticed that the truck was trying to creep forward. I couldn't pull the shifter out of gear until the engine stalled. It took a few pumps of the pedal to get enough clutch release to be able to finish the lumber run. I checked when I got back home, the fluid is black. I replaced the master, slave and hydro line just a few months ago. Everything bled down ok and it was working really good until last Saturday. I need to look into the problem, as I need this truck running to get some more firewood.