97 K1500 project

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Airmanwoody

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Good afternoon!

Well, this is one of two projects trucks I am working on. I haven't brought the other one home yet, so I will wait to create that one after I get it moved from IL to MN.

This one is a well loved Rustbelt 1997 K1500 Silverado. I love stick shift vehicles, and since it's near impossible to find one anymore (I have converted 3 vehicles to stick shift over the years) I picked this one up shortly after it was posted on marketplace. I honestly don't mind the 4.3L V6. It does the job of moving from Point A to point B just fine and considering I still have teens in the house, they are less likely to get unnecessary acceleration tickets with it.

This one has a long list of things needing addressed, but after 245K miles, it's time to give her some love. I will say, the interior is surprisingly clean for it's age. It managed driving 180 miles home from where we bought it despite some 02 sensor issues that caused it to run rough when I wasn't accelerating or coasting. Still managed 19mpg hand calculated as the gas gauge doesn't work so I took no chances and topped off a few times in that ride. I am going to replace the tailgate, the hinges rusted clean off. Hoping I can replace the bed side hinges and install a good junkyard gate and doors I found nearby soon. Tempted to try to find a clean body to swap, but the daughter said she'd love to just get the parts and learn how to do body repair together. I've been an aircraft mechanic for most of my life and we're not scared of it not being the prettiest GMT400 as long as it's functional and safe.

Loving all the information here and look forward to chatting with you!
 

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Airmanwoody

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Oh the fun has started.

Replaced the thermostat as that's just something I typically do when I guy a used vehicle if the temperature doesn't got to at least 180 on the way home. Put a 195 in it as it gets cold here and I'll take all the heat I can get. Noticed the temps still showed 150 on my scanner (and cluster) so I swapped the sensor as well. Now it reads right.

Replaced Bank 1 Sensor 2 after an extra trip to the parts store as I got the wrong sensor on the first try. Figured since it was before the CAT it was an upstream sensor, apparently it was a downstream. The old one looked like it had been hit by something at some point. Now the scanner has a great graph of variable voltage like it should and the truck runs significantly better.

One of the bolts at the exhaust flange aft of the CAT is busted and even my air hammer could budge it the other day. So, I will have to look and see if I can drill the darn thing out. I need it to be a bit quieter or I will not be happy. Trying to avoid taking it to a shop for this simple task. Don't have a torch or room for one right now, otherwise I'm sure I could get it out.

Have new exterior door handles to install (old ones are cracked), new shocks, new front wheel bearings, a set of fender flares to keep it from looking so rusty, and a new radio because the old one is pretty dead and the speakers are shot.

Going to take the rotors and have them turned when I do the bearings and shocks and evaluate the rest of the brake system. The brakes seem okay, but are noisy. I verified there is life left in the pads, so at least it's not destroying the rotors or calipers to drive it right now.

Going to have to replace the AC condenser, this one has a hole in it. Literally and it's not small.

In talking it over with the 17 year old, we're planning on throwing some better tires on it (current ones are pretty weatherchecked) and I am planning on replacing pretty much all of the steering components and control arms and have it aligned before we throw the new tires on it. It drives perfectly straight down the road and I can take my hand off the wheel longer than my Avalon, but it does have play and I'm not sure it's at the steering box, so more inspections to come. I love that you can rebuild the front of these trucks for a reasonable costs. Even cheaper than I remember when doing some of the others in my signature block.

I think we're going to hold off on any body repairs (aside from the tailgate if we can get the bed hinges off) until next summer so we can evaluate the truck through the winter and see if it's worth fixing up or just utilizing before moving onward. Probably depends on how much she ends up enjoying the 5-speed.

I'm enjoying reading the forum for ideas and repair techniques. Thanks for sharing over the years!
 

Airmanwoody

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It's not a bad truck. Previous owner lied a bit, the nearly new brakes had no pads left and both rotors could not be turned.

Changed the cap and rotor and it ran great for a few weeks, despite still not having the exhaust flange repaired. Daughter cleaned the interior to a point even I was impressed. We changed the driver's side door handle, but the lock won't stay in place now. Got new locks, just haven't pulled the door apart again to replace them and keyed them to the new ignition that I picked up and will get done hopefully soon. We did get a Bluetooth capable radio in that works pretty well and replaced the driver's door speaker when we did the door handle, the rest need to get changed soon as well.

Holding off on the front bearings, and shocks as I noticed when doing the brakes both axles seals have a pretty decent leak and the CV boots have cracks, so I will get parts coming to tear into all that. The steering box is fine, but the idler arm, pitman arm, and tie rods need replacement. The sway bar looked okay until the tires came off, then it was obvious that both sides were broken at the links. The ball joints were nice and tight and took grease, so at least there's one job it doesn't need.

Yesterday, went to replace the upper radiator hose as it had a pinhole leak and the radiator cap that didn't hold any pressure, went to move it and ran like poo.

Getting a code for Bank 1 sensor 3 now. The voltage graph is a straight line and fuel is all screwy because of it. Guess that's a confirmed kill. Darn thing worked fine a few weeks ago when I monitored them.

Still have a lot to do, but it's getting better. We just use it to run around locally for the most part. Although I would like it to tow two snowmobiles about 140 miles here in the next few weeks. We'll see if it's up to that task or not.

I may have to just take it and have the exhaust fixed. I don't have the time or place to work on things like I used to.

Debating if it's worth trying to do body work on the cab, replace the doors, fenders, and bed if we keep it. The frame is solid with just the typical surface rust. Might be worth putting rust converter on the frame when we start fixing it up next summer. For now, it's a good junk hauler and spare in case we need it.

Doesn't really replace the 3500 Mega Cab Cummins I sold this summer, but it's doing what we need.

My 17 year old daughter has decided to call it Darth Vader.
 

Airmanwoody

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Any admins know how I can change the topic of this post to include Darth Vader in the title?

I absolutely detest that it costs $65 for one 02 sensor in town, meanwhile I ordered a full set of them for $60 from amazon. Guess we'll see if it runs any better on Saturday afternoon.
 

stutaeng

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Bank 1 Sensor 2?

Rock Auto has the best prices. And there's a 5% coupon code somewhere they post on the forum.

I bought 4 O2 sensors for my K3500 a few years ago for around $150 or so. Turned out I had a bad injector and that what causing the lean code. A the time I didn't know better. Oh well.

I also recommend that Lisle removal tool. I used a breaker bar under the truck. And that Lisle thread chaser...
 

Airmanwoody

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I replaced Bank 1 sensor 2 already and it seems to be working fine. Bank 1 sensor 3 is what appears to have failed per the graph on my scan tool. Flat lines of voltage are bad if I recall correctly.

The shipping prices and times from Rockauto lately have had me looking elsewhere. $40 to ship 2 sensors from one location and still having to wait at least a week was frustrating.

I typically match up the part numbers from RA with Amazon and get free shipping. Sometimes the part is $2 more, but I also typically have it in 2 days.
 

stutaeng

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I didn't know there's a bank 1 sensor 3?

There's just one upstream and one downstream sensor per bank...or so I thought. At least that's what my trucks have.

Usually shown on scan tools as B1S1, B1S2, B2S1 and B2S2
 

Airmanwoody

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Per the scan tool and the manuals I can find for the 4.3L V6, I have B1S1, B1S2, B1S3, B2S1. I thought there were two a side until I started doing some digging when I thought the scan tool was fibbing.
 

Supercharged111

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I didn't know there's a bank 1 sensor 3?

There's just one upstream and one downstream sensor per bank...or so I thought. At least that's what my trucks have.

Usually shown on scan tools as B1S1, B1S2, B2S1 and B2S2

4.3 and 5.0 with a single cat have a sensor 1 for each bank, then a single pre and post cat sensor which are likely assigned as bank 1.
 
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