96 GMC K2500 Suburban Restoration (with a couple of mods)

[South VA]

Here’s an action shot of the Subdivision, on its way to the transmission shop, about 60 miles north of the farm. I decided to have it towed rather than further risking the transmission by driving it there.

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This makes its third time it’s been on the back of a tow truck since purchasing it last November; I am so ready for this to be the last time!

 

[South VA]

Now it’s down to waiting for the transmission shop to do their thing. Apparently parts have been ordered, but I don’t know if they’ve started disassembly. I expect they’ll call me if they have questions, or when it’s finished. No matter; it’s out of my hands at this point.

Once camping season is over, sometime in November, I’ll winterize the camper, and try to finish up some of the tasks on the Subdivision that I’ve put on hold: installing the new sound system and backup camera, replacing the door hinge pins and bushings, replacing the fan clutch, replacing the driver’s door weatherstrip, getting the rear wheel well moldings adjusted to fit better, and getting the rear door emblems reinstalled.

I think that’s everything.

The body shop will do the moldings and emblems; the rest will be my responsibility. The latter, however, will be made oh so much easier by having a new garage to do it in, sometime in the late fall.

In case you missed it, here’s the link:

Decided to build a garage. Now the fun begins.

Since I moved to the farm ~10 years ago, I've wanted a garage. When I lived in Colorado, I had a two car garage; the only garage I've ever owned. It was awesome, albeit a bit tight for working on a car, especially when another was parked in there. But at 7400' elevation in the Central Rockies, a...

www.gmt400.com

Planning for and starting the garage, of course, has consumed most of my attention since Labor Day. It’s funny how this project - restoring the Subdivision - ultimately led to that project - a garage.

Seems like a natural progression.

 

[South VA]

Well, it’s about a week past the time I understood the Sub would be ready, and … crickets. Of course I’m imagining all sorts of scenarios as to why it’s taking so long. But I’ll not bug them about it. For now, at least.

If I don’t hear from them by Friday, I’ll call.

But our camping trip is scheduled for this coming Monday, and I still have to put 350 - 500 miles on the Subdivision before towing the camper with it.

And, as I said earlier, this trip may have to be rescheduled until next year, if we run out of time.

We have another trip scheduled for October 9; it’s hard to imagine not being able to make that one too.

It’s out of my hands, so no sense being stressed about it.

Ok, maybe a skosh.

 

[South VA]

The shop called yesterday morning and said the Sub is ready. It took exactly a week longer than expected, due in part to the torque converter being delayed in shipping, and partly due to the transmission needing further attention.

The shop owner drove it around for a couple of days, and wasn’t quite happy with it. He dropped the pan and changed some springs (not sure which ones) to correct some sort of pressure issue. That apparently fixed it. It drives fine now.

The 350 - 500 miles that I’m supposed to put on it are “city miles,” stop and go, to the extent possible. He gave me the technical explanation, and I sort of followed what he was saying, but the bottom line is that straight highway miles won’t do the job; the transmission has to shift a lot during this time to “learn.”

Since I live in the sticks, where the nearest traffic light is probably 30 miles away, I have my work cut out for me. I’ll probably drive up to Petersburg and Colonial Heights, where they have a bit of traffic and a lot of stop signs and traffic lights. Not my favorite places to be, but so it goes; it has to be done.

After that I’ll take it back to the shop next Thursday so he can test drive it again and put it up on the rack to check for leaks. He seems quite conscientious about the whole thing; I’m glad I took it to him.

A somewhat pleasant surprise was when the bill came. Originally he said it would be around as $3900 for the job. Then we added a $5-600 rebuilt billet face torque converter, at his recommendation, for enhanced towing capacity. So I was expecting somewhere around $4500. The final bill was just under $3900. Still expensive, but less so than expected.

We talked about towing, and I asked him how to make this transmission last. He said that towing a 5500 - 6000 lb trailer should really be done in third gear, not OD, even though the owner’s manual says it’s ok to tow in OD. He said that’s what he would do if it were his. So that’s what I’m going to do.

Looking back, I had assumed when I bought the Subdivision last November that I’d be towing in third gear anyway, so we’re basically back to that. Not a huge deal.

Lastly, on my way home yesterday I noticed the ABS dash light is on. The brakes seem to work fine, though. I’ll put the scanner on it today. Hopefully the problem isn’t too expensive or difficult to fix, whatever it turns out to be.

I also plan to install the new IACV today, if it doesn’t start raining soon.

Finally, as a result of all this, we’re having to reschedule next week’s camping trip. Which is fine, I suppose, as there are some things that really have to be done around the farm in preparation for goat breeding season. We’d hoped to have them done by now, but weather intervened. Such is farm life.

There’s still the next trip on October 9, to Stone Mountain State Park in North Carolina. It’s looking like we’ll actually make that one.

Of course, time will tell.

 

[GrimsterGMC]

That's great news, it's not often a job comes in under budget, and even rarer that the guy was honest enough to not charge you full price anyway. Whenever I am driving in OD and find the TCC keeps locking/unlocking I pull it back to drive just for safe keeping, you will notice the trans temps climb quite quickly once the TCC unlocks with a load on.

 

[South VA]

It’s been raining since yesterday, so no IACV replacement, or figuring out what the intermittent ABS light is all about, until it’s dry again. I am so looking forward to having a garage!

I’ll probably put some miles on the Sub today, going into town where there’re traffic lights and stop signs, for that stop and go driving that the transmission guy encouraged.

So far the transmission feels fine. At first I felt hesitant to drive it, as I don’t yet trust it, but after a hundred or so miles, I’m getting more comfortable.

Yesterday morning I had some consternation, though, as it shifted hard when I started out, reminding of the harsh shifting it had had previously. This time it was more firm than harsh, but it concerned me enough to call the transmission guy to ask what was going on. He said that he set the pressures a bit higher because this is primarily a tow rig. It was a bit cooler yesterday morning than it had been, and he said that firm shifting when it’s cold is not unusual, and that it should go away as the transmission warms up. And that’s what it did. So I’m not going to worry about it.

Otherwise it has been performing well, and the shifts are smooth. Onward.

 

[South VA]

Well, another (hopefully minor) bump in the road. The Subdivision was parked in the yard, on the grass. It rained here a bunch yesterday and a few days ago, so the ground is saturated. I pushed the 4HI button, so that I’d be less likely to spin the tires and tear up the lawn.

The indicator light just blinked, and continued blinking. I tried pushing the 2HI button, but it didn’t change anything. So I shut it off, then started it back up. The indicator light on the switch was now off.

I pulled the 20A Transfer Case fuse in the side of the dash, and it was blown. So I put a spare in there, and when I turned the Sub back on, the 4HI indicator light was on. Then I pushed the 2HI switch, heard a click in the fuse panel, and the indicator light went out.

So it’s stuck in 4HI, and can’t do much about it today as it’s raining. I’ll look through the service manual and see if I can figure it out.

This, of course, puts a crimp in my plans to drive it a few hundred miles in the next several days, so that the transmission can relearn. Ah well.

Depending on what I find in the service manual - or if someone here can suggest a fix - I may be able to take care of it tomorrow when it’s no longer raining. Or, failing that, drive it as far as the shop in town.

However, t could have been much worse. If I had for some reason tried to put it in 4WD when we were camping, we’d potentially be screwed, because towing in 4WD is a no-no, as is driving it in 4WD on dry roads.

Sigh…

 

[South VA]

Hooked up the scan tool, and no DTCs showed up. I’d have thought the ABS light was an indication of some sort of fault, but nothing there.

As for the transfer case, I’m wondering if there’s a way to manually put it in 2WD.

 

[South VA]

Double post!

 

[South VA]

Drove it to the shop first thing Monday morning, as I really don’t have the time this week to mess with it myself. I thought about having it towed, but after reading the owner’s manual, decided to go for it. Hopefully, 15 miles on dry pavement didn’t cause too much trauma to the tires and drivetrain.

To their credit, they put it in the bay immediately, which is highly unusual on a Monday. I love these guys! So I left it with them and got on with the other stuff I had to do.

They are going to replace the actuator in the T Case, which they believe is the issue. Fortunately, there is one available, so it will probably go in today (Tuesday). Hope that fixes it.