General Maintenance day

[trouttrooper]

Ok, so I don't drive my pickup as much as most of you guys. Keep in mind I bought mine in March 2005.




Time to do some fluid replacement since I finally hit the 50k milestone. Big thanks to Wrecker :thumbsup:for setting me up with some Torque Drive ATF. Impossible to find anything within a reasonable distance or price for my Allison. BTW, forgot to include the 2 quarts for the transfer case in the pic.



Never have looked under a Dmax, but I sure want to drop kick whoever designed the oil filter location on the 496. As you can see it is well buried. You can not just reach up and take it off. Have to manipulate it over the top of the front driveshaft. Takes two of my long extensions with the plastic "socket" to unscrew it.




At any rate the tranny got a basic drain + new spin on filter, transfer case, both differentials, and engine drained and refilled. Have to say I love the notion of drain plugs on everything. Sure makes it nice. Oh and put my winter tires on too, Cooper STT's.

 

[Unit453]

Nice...

I've never driven an 8.1 but I would love to. You should get a tune for that thing and disable the torque management and really wake it up.

I had a used to drive a 3/4 ton burban about 10 years ago at work. It was a 96 I think and it was a 454. I had a 99 Tahoe at the time and that 454 would shag ass for sure. I couldnt believe how much ass that thing had in a truck that size and weight. Too bad it didnt stop as good as our Impalas at the time.

I like your grille bowtie by the way.

 

[RayMich]

The oil filter location on the Duramax isn't much better. You will get black engine oil on the front driveshaft and U-Joint unless you cover them up, and they will then sling that black oil on your garage floor and driveway when you drive away.

I take a piece of aluminum foil and cover the front U-Joint & driveshaft with it, making sort of a channel to divert the dripping oil into the drain pan. It's a lot harder to explain than to actually do it, but it works really well.

 

[trouttrooper]

I know exactly the kind of tune I want to do, and who do get it from. I'd love to wake it up and remove some torque mgmt. Problem is we hit another financial stumbling block when the company my wife worked for went out of business this summer. She's going back to school to be a registered nurse. June 2011 she will be done and most likely will be making more money than I'll ever dream of seeing. When that happens....oh baby, let the mods begin

Have to redo my bowtie. When I did the blue stripe it dripped/ran into the black and looks tacky when your up close.

Looks like the Dmax filter is oriented 90 degrees from the 496 filter, and sticks out further from the driveshaft. At least you can get your hand around it. Still kinda in a bad spot though. I always think of putting something over the ujoint after I see all the old oil pouring down over it. I guess I should drive it more so I have to change the oil more so I think of these things more often (only filled the gas tank once in October). Changing the oil twice a year I tend to forget the little tips and tricks.

I will say it is a heck of a lot cleaner underneath than my '91 Cherokee. I've got the rust prevention program going on under that rig. Nothing like having a layer of oil on everything for protection right? ):h:rolleyes5:

 

[BoostN]

Always good to do maintenance.

Does yours burn any oil?

My 01 did and my dad's 04 does also...

 

[GM Guy]

front driveshaft? Whats that?

 

[83GMCK2500]

She's going back to school to be a registered nurse. June 2011 she will be done and most likely will be making more money than I'll ever dream of seeing.

Having met the two of you, on the day that I did, I was wondering how things were working out. That is very good to hear.

I still think the worst oil filter to change is on a Vortec 350 in a 4x4 chassis. My dad had a 8100 powered truck for a bit that I serviced for him and having done the two, I would still pick the 8100 over the 350. Brandon & Nick should back me up on this, we all had Tahoes and those oil changes sucked.

 

[trouttrooper]

Always good to do maintenance.

Does yours burn any oil?

My 01 did and my dad's 04 does also...

it's usually about a quart low after 4,000 miles. Started doing that around 35,000 miles. While slightly annoyed I kinda expected it sooner or later.

Having met the two of you, on the day that I did, I was wondering how things were working out. That is very good to hear.

I still think the worst oil filter to change is on a Vortec 350 in a 4x4 chassis. My dad had a 8100 powered truck for a bit that I serviced for him and having done the two, I would still pick the 8100 over the 350. Brandon & Nick should back me up on this, we all had Tahoes and those oil changes sucked.

It's definitely been a little trying here lately, but what doesn't kill you only makes you stronger right?

I wish these darn "engineers" would put the common maintenance items in easy to reach locations. The PCV on my parents '91 Lumina SUCKED. Engine sits sideways and they buried it on the firewall side. Had to use roll the engine forward to wedge my arm back there. It was a job all done by feel. Now that I think about it, I never have changed the oil on a vortec 350. My '84 Chevy K20 was an absolute piece of cake to change. My '99 GMC 2500LD wasn't too bad either, although I did manage to dump the oil filter (full of old oil of course) on top of my head once.........that took about a whole friggen bottle of shampoo to get out.


Sounds like the traveling oil can left Washington? Too bad.

 

[Ed HD]

Ugh, thanks for reminding me of oil changes on my 98 Tahoe. Those sucked....

Which I why I only did two of them before I sold it, lol.