First Chevy truck

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_rgk

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Hey guys, just snagged a 98 K1500 with a knock. PO had the oil cooler hose burst.

I'll be rebuilding and maybe performing some mild upgrades. It has the 4L60E auto trans, electric shift 4wd, and 3.73 rear end. Suggestions are welcome.

The truck also has a number of small things wrong with it that I'd like to address, so any advice regarding the following is also welcome:

Wipers won't turn off, have to remove fuse
Hood release handle is broken and missing
Driver's seat folds, but does not slide forward when rear seat access lever is pulled.
Driver's door seems to sag a bit, sometimes doesn't latch and shut all the way.
RPO codes state it has a keyless entry, but a fob didn't come with the truck.

Thanks, looking forward to having fun with this thing.
 

97C1500TJ

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Doors do tend to sag. Replace them with new hinge pin bushings. I grease my hinges to make the bushings last. I still have my originals at 225K no issues

Hood release handles are cheap and pretty straightforward. Plenty of good videos online.

As far as the wipers go, I would start with the wiper relay board under the hood against the firewall. That can make your wipers run erratic. The following link is for a Tahoe but is still a GMT-400. Good luck and let’s see your truck!

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HotWheelsBurban

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Hey guys, just snagged a 98 K1500 with a knock. PO had the oil cooler hose burst.

I'll be rebuilding and maybe performing some mild upgrades. It has the 4L60E auto trans, electric shift 4wd, and 3.73 rear end. Suggestions are welcome.

The truck also has a number of small things wrong with it that I'd like to address, so any advice regarding the following is also welcome:

Wipers won't turn off, have to remove fuse
Hood release handle is broken and missing
Driver's seat folds, but does not slide forward when rear seat access lever is pulled.
Driver's door seems to sag a bit, sometimes doesn't latch and shut all the way.
RPO codes state it has a keyless entry, but a fob didn't come with the truck.

Thanks, looking forward to having fun with this thing.
I agree on lubrication for the door and hood hinges. If parts bind up because they're dry, that usually isn't going to end well.... I use spray white lithium grease on the door hinges and latches, and on the hood hinges and latch. Shake up the can a little bit like the instructions call for, and it should work well. If the hood latch and cable get in a bind, it puts more stress on the inside latch( which is a bad design to begin with).
The inside hood release assembly is fairly cheap on Rock Auto, I got one from them recently, think it was under $10 before shipping.
What I learned to do on these ( with my other 99 Burb)( it was broken when we got the truck as probably most are after 15+ years) was to drill a hole and put a sheet metal screw in, to help hold the release assembly housing in place. From the factory it has 1 screw and a plastic tab to hold it in place. With the tension of the cable that's not enough, and the housing wants to pivot on the screw. Eventually this will break the plastic around the screw and the housing wobbles. Then the front ear of it that the cable grommet snaps in, breaks and then your handle is floppy, because there's no tension on the cable.
So besides drilling the extra hole, I use flat washers on both screws, and also you need to be sure the kick panel is properly seated against the body. It has bracing inside and a tab that fits into a slot, these help hold the release assembly in place.
I had pictures of how I did all this....on my old tablet before it crashed last year and I lost all my pictures .
I know I had a post on the "what did you do to your 400 today?" thread, but it's been a good while ago. I need to pull the kick panel off again and take some more pics ( maybe next week?).
 

_rgk

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Thanks for all the good advice, glad to hear all of this can be taken care of easily.

Is there a subforum here that I can look at that might help me find a mild performance cam?

I'll post some photos soon.
 

JS45

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Replacement key fob is being discussed right now in this thread:

 

GoToGuy

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Do you have extend cab? Electric seats? Have you decoded your RPO option codes on glove box lid? 60 / 40 front bench or buckets?
 
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