97 K1500 Z71 - Project truck/learning to DIY

[Prussian]

Short intro:
New member from Northern Ohio. I purchased a 1997 Chevy K1500 Z71 that needs just a little TLC. Was drawn by the lack of rust which in Ohio is rare. I have never worked on my own vehicles and mostly stay away from anything mechanical. I want to finally change that and learn the basics of DIY auto repair for myself and so I bought what can be considered a project truck. After a short bit of research I decided to go for a 1990s Chevy based off the well liked design and the fact it is a popular truck to DIY most things. My previous truck was a 2019 Colorado that spent half its life at the dealer for warranty issues which really killed the enjoyment of owning it, considering how much I spent on it and the issues that followed.

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[Prussian]

The truck didn't cost very much but the guy admitted it needed a lot of things here and there. It runs well and no hard shifting. 4x4 worked with no issues. The truck is cranked up and has always had large tires which I'm sure wore out a lot of the components below. Fair warning I'm a complete novice so a lot of things Im learning what they are called and do or where they are.

Some of the things I noted early on:

- Brakes squealed loudly and the pedal was very spongey feeling
- ABS light on
- AC not currently working
- Check Engine code P1870 (intermittent)
- Both doors are difficult to open/close and lock/unlock
- Both sides CV is torn and leaking grease. Driver side the worst, like a grease explosion
- Steering floats around and doesn't respond well
- Slight drip from oil pan
- Several hoses/lines wet or dripping
- Tie rods oozing grease
- Hazard lights act strange when pressing brake pedal
- Dome light won't come on with open door only switch
- Occasional grinding noise when turning right only
- Only major rust along the bottom seam of the back window

Brakes
The day after getting it home I purchased brake pads and rotors and replaced them. This is when I inspected and noted most of the list above. The brakes no longer squealed but need to address the spongey pedal issue. I followed YouTube videos and only had issues with the bolts being difficult to get off, and the sleeves on the bolts not sliding easily. I cleaned and polished the best I could and reinstalled everything. Applied Sil-Glyd on certain areas to hopefully help.

AC
I worked on the AC next because I'm a northerner who can't stand the heat. I'll take a frosty November day deer hunting over a day at the beach always.

Turning the AC on blows warm air. The compressor does not engage at all. First I bought a gauge and canister and charged it. The initial reading was 0 and I charged it to the instructed levels but the compressor still didn't move. I purchased a new relay for the fuse box with no luck. Then I read on the forum about jumping the 87 and 30 with a wire and the compressor clicked and moved. The next morning after more reading I bought a new switch for the accumulator at the firewall. No issue with unthreading old and installing new. Upon rechecking the gauge it was 0 again. I filled a little and listened and could hear a faint hissing from the accumulator valve I just installed the new switch on. To be sure I removed and reinstalled again carefully but the hissing was still present. I'm assuming the whole accumulator needs replaced so that will be on the menu for today.

Steering/Suspension/Drivetrain
Alot going on here so I'm sure it will be slow going with a lot of replacing and troubleshooting. So far I feel that the driver side tie rod has some play in it. When I climbed under and someone moved the wheel I can see the Pitman arm has some twisting movement. I was able to notice the driver side CV had some clicking and binding when I was in there doing the brakes and rotors. I have yet to take a closer look at the steering shaft or steering box or other components. I will need to read up more to understand this area better. I figured I can start with the CV as they are obviously in bad shape. The grinding when turning only was noticed tonight so I haven't looked into that much.

That is it for the last 2 days. I plan on tackling one thing at a time and hopefully it will be a great learning process. Tomorrow I will take more photos showing the condition of a lot of this stuff.

I'm sure a lot of what I've done or guessed isn't correct or the best way of troubleshooting. Any corrections or criticisms are greatly appreciated!

 

[kennythewelder]

You doors dragging, is a sign that the henge pins, and bushings need to be replaced. Your brakes being spongy most likely is a sign of air in the system. You need to bleed the whole system including the Kelsi Hayes unit. There is a bleeder on it that needs to be done too. A pressure bleed is really the way to go, but it can be done the old fashion way. When checking the front end parts, also check the rag joint. As old as these trucks are, if it hasn't been changed, it needs to be changed. The hazard lights will quit flashing when pressing the brakes. And the dome light works or is switched off and on, by the ground side of the circuit not the positive side.

 

[Prussian]

You doors dragging, is a sign that the henge pins, and bushings need to be replaced. Your brakes being spongy most likely is a sign of air in the system. You need to bleed the whole system including the Kelsi Hayes unit. There is a bleeder on it that needs to be done too. A pressure bleed is really the way to go, but it can be done the old fashion way. When checking the front end parts, also check the rag joint. As old as these trucks are, if it hasn't been changed, it needs to be changed. The hazard lights will quit flashing when pressing the brakes. And the dome light works or is switched off and on, by the ground side of the circuit not the positive side.

I could tell from the start the doors were sagging and real rough to open and close. I plan on doing the brake bleed once I have a buddy over who can press the brakes while I do the rest. A coworker has the ABS related scantool he will bring to work one of these days also. I have some various stuff on order from 1aauto.com so I'll be diving into the steering hopefully next week or so.

With the AC I got a little further I guess. I replaced the accumulator and no more hissing and it holds the number on the gauge.

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The compressor still didn't move unless I stuck a wire in there. But then I had a interesting development. I looked in the fuse box and saw the Blower fuse. I hadn't touched this before because the vents in the cab moved air well enough. But just to look I pulled the blower fuse and suddenly the compressor kicked on. Reinstalling the blower fuse the compressor remained on. Strange but after replacing the blower fuse and the compressor still on I tested the AC controls and the compressor would turn on or shut off with the buttons. The compressor would kick on and off every little bit.

BUT there is still no cold air coming from the vents. The AC charge gauge still shows good. The compressor now comes on and off with cabin controls. The AC charge is staying in the green. But no cold air will come from the vents.

More checking after work

 

[kennythewelder]

I could tell from the start the doors were sagging and real rough to open and close. I plan on doing the brake bleed once I have a buddy over who can press the brakes while I do the rest. A coworker has the ABS related scantool he will bring to work one of these days also. I have some various stuff on order from 1aauto.com so I'll be diving into the steering hopefully next week or so.

With the AC I got a little further I guess. I replaced the accumulator and no more hissing and it holds the number on the gauge.

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The compressor still didn't move unless I stuck a wire in there. But then I had a interesting development. I looked in the fuse box and saw the Blower fuse. I hadn't touched this before because the vents in the cab moved air well enough. But just to look I pulled the blower fuse and suddenly the compressor kicked on. Reinstalling the blower fuse the compressor remained on. Strange but after replacing the blower fuse and the compressor still on I tested the AC controls and the compressor would turn on or shut off with the buttons. The compressor would kick on and off every little bit.

BUT there is still no cold air coming from the vents. The AC charge gauge still shows good. The compressor now comes on and off with cabin controls. The AC charge is staying in the green. But no cold air will come from the vents.

More checking after work

The AC compressor will cycle even though the AC control switch is off or on. To do a decent freon charge, you need to be able to read the high pressure side as well as the low pressure side, and to get the pressures even close, you have to use an ambient temp chart. This will factor in the out side air temp, and will effect the AC system freon pressures. As for the door hinges, I have had bad luck with the Dorman brand. I had to replace them after less than 6 months, with a set I found on e-bay. Also there are a ton of videos where people use a jack and get a friend to Ballance the door as they replace the hinge pins and bushings. Do NOT do that. These doors are about 80 LBS. I used an overhead crane at work when I did mine, an engine lift will also work, but if you don't have any of that, a big tree wit a come-a-long will work, and use a strap, or rope, or hell even a ratchet strap will work. Point is the door need to be supported from above. The balance point is at the top corner next to the windshield. After lowering the window, I tied a strap to that top corner, with the door open, and lifted just enough to take up the weight of the door. Also there is no need to pull any wiring. You can just pull the rubber wiring boot off of the cad side. There is a lot of slack in the wires in the cab side. The YouTube videos are helpful on how to replace the pins and bushings.

 

[skylark]

Agreed, Dorman bushings are junk. I use Cunningham Machine bushings. Definitely bleed the brakes. Get a large pair of channel locks and squeeze each steering joint, if it squeezes at all, replace it. Jack the front end off of the ground enough to get a long bar or 4x4 under the front tire and use it as a lever to lift up the tire/wheel while someone watches the upper and lower ball joints. I'll bet that you need every joint in the front end... Also you want to grab the wheel at the top and bottom and see if you can rock the tire. If you can then you need wheel bearings.

 

[Supercharged111]

Everything you mentioned is pretty typical, there's just a lot of it. Here's how I leak check AC now, no need to waste freon. 50psi from the compressor and some Windex will get it done.

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[Eveready]

Welcome to the forum. I think you will notice that for the most part when you fix something on one of these trucks it tends to stay fixed. The exception being the AC on MY truck which I am convinced is inhabited by the demon Murphy. Assuming no frame rust which is unusual for your location, it looks like you are just attending to maintenance issues that the PO should have done. When you finish you will have a lot more truck than the Colorado and it is likely to last as long as you want it to.

I would have the AC fixed, which is what I ended up doing after accumulating a pretty good set of AC tools. I think you are well on your way to a great truck.

 

[Wiscoburban]

Very clean truck nice find in the Midwest for sure!