Recent content by Brian K

I do a drain and fill with a new Wix filter (58847) every 30K miles. Years ago I added a tranny drain (Dorman 65241 on Amazon - once you drill the hole, you have it made lol) to my pan and that makes a fluid change MUCH easier. The first time is a PITA because fluid dumps all over so carefully...

I have a 2009 SLT Envoy. A few years ago I heard a knock from the rear. The rear link were loose and I tried to tighten them with no luck so I cut them off and replaced them. Well the buggers loose again on the body side of the link - the stabilizer bar side seem tight. I tried to tighten them...

Today a light on the dash which can be described as a "Look at the Gauges" alert came on and I saw that my temperature gauge was down at the lowest position. I have a ODBII port connected Scangauge which reads the engine coolant temperature and on an hour long drive it showed a very steady...

I had the lower control arms rest on the jack stands so the suspension was loaded and not hanging free however your comment would explain why I had to adjust so many times to get it to track straight with no pulling. Agreed - the adjustments required are small.

I took my 09 to a local shop for an alignment because of some cupping on my tires and it came out feeling worse than when I took it in. I read that 'most' shops only do toe adjustments anyway so thought I'd at least measure my toe in and see what what up. Apparently toe in is between 0 & 0.2...

Watch some Youtube videos on how to do it. As Mooseman says, it is pretty easy. After disconnecting the front U-joint bearing cap straps, it should lift up and toward the battery and slide forward enough to allow the rear splined connections at the transfer case to move forward. You might need...

Have you checked your U-Joints? Mine went bad almost overnight. The Envoy felt really weird when driving it. I took it to a shop because I couldn't figure out what was wrong. Pricey though but now i have U-joints that I can lube. I changed the front drive shaft U-joint my self since it turns too.

While you're at it - change the U-joint on it. I changed mine a few months ago. I installed one with a grease zerk in it but because the joint is smallish, once installed, I can't access it with my grease gun even with a needle. Oh well - fairly easy to remove and grease. I tried buying a whole...

Shouldn't you just drive in 3 rather than D when pulling a heavy trailer - say over 3500 lbs? I think that disables the modulating of the torque converter and helps lower temperature while decreasing mileage - but a good sacrifice to save the tranny from overheating. And running an aux cooler...

If one is squealing - it is worn out and probably best to replace both the tensioner and pulley since they both have the same mileage on them (probably). I changed the bearings only too. As mentioned, it is pretty easy to do and much cheaper. Take them off and get the bearing number - something...

I find when the transmission engages at a higher RPM, it is because it is low on oil or perhaps due for a change. I change my tranny oil and filter every 50k Kms (30K miles) and don't have a problem at 280K kms (170K miles). Good luck with the oil change - hopefully that is all it is. I also...

I got the DS sensor out finally. I had to use heat twice and used a pipewrench. I was ready to give up, then it just twisted out easily. A big surprise that it came out so I suspect the 2hd heat soak was the answer. Also a problem with the 'crowfoot' O2 removal socket and box end wrenches was...

Both sensors are working but I am getting a P0138 error every few weeks so figure it was time to replace as I have 175K on it so the sensors are probably getting lazy. I order 2 Denso sensors from RA. I tried doing O2 yesterday. Got the upstream one out and replaced with the deep socket slot...

At 170K miles, I just changed both CV axles because PS outboard rubber boot cracked and grease was being sprayed out on the suspension so it was time. I watched the A1Auto video on YT and a few others. I did what they showed and knocked it out with a crowbar and a hammer. Got the crowbar...

Oil filter changes are PITA with this platform. I wish the designers had to actually work on what they come up with. I generally find I need to install and extra elbow on my arm and that works much better better LOL. I've often used the plastic bag as mentioned above. Helps but oil still gets...