Frosty

I just spent part of Saturday, Sunday, and last night giving the Envoy a tune-up. It consisted "simply" of a new air cleaner, spark plugs, and plug wires. The truck has 99,200 miles on it, so its due for all of the 100k maintenance. I purchased a new K&N reusable air cleaner, 8 new AC Rapidfire 6 platinum spark plugs and a set of Bosch plug wires. The kid actually wanted to help me work on the car, so I let him. The air cleaner was the easiest thing to do. We were both stunned at the old air filter. I honestly question when it was last replaced. It felt like it was 2 pounds heavier with the amount of dirt literally packed into it. The thing that most amazed me was the dirt ladden moth clinging to the outside of the damn thing. It would not fall off! We had to wipe a whole bunch of dirt off the bottom of the air cleaner housing too before we set the new filter in. The throttle body was pretty carboned up too. I removed the throttle body and cleaned it thoroughly with throttle body/carb cleaner on both sides of the butterfly blade. It throw some error voltage too high/too low codes when I first restarted the truck. I cleared them and that was the end of that. The worst part was changing the plugs and plug wires. The passenger side of a 2008 Envoy Denali with a 5.3L V8 requires you to jack up the passenger side of the vehicle, put it on jack stands and remove the front tire. This gains you access to the #4, 6, and 8 cylinder spark plugs. Spark plug #2 is conveniently buried behind the shock mount tower with barely any room for 2 fingers, let alone a wrench or pair of pliers to get the boot or plug off. It took over 2 hours of the kid and I trying to pry the boot off from the bottom and the top before we had any success. We destroyed the old plug wire in the process. With the use of a universal joint and several long extensions I was able to get the plug out and the new one in. Getting the new plug boot on was almost as challenging as getting the old one off since you had to make sure it was secure and tight fitting. We were eventually successful!! However, it was getting late on Saturday night so we quit there. Sunday afternoon we resumed our work and did the driver's side. Its much easier to get to all of the plugs but its still not as easy as you'd like it to be. The #1 cylinder was the most difficult to change because there is a engine temp sensor mounted just above the exhaust manifold there as well as a bracket that is bolted to the alternator bracket that holds several thick electrical bundles going to the engine bay fuse panel. Remove the bolt holding the bracket and remove the electrical connection to the sensor and now you have a shot at getting to the plug. Changing this side took less than half the time we spent on the passenger side. We took the truck for a quick test drive and I plugged in my ACTRON OBDII diagnostic reader into the OBDII port. The engine didn't feel quite right. Under hard accelerator, I threw a P0302 code. Cylinder #2 misfire. Dang it !!!!! I did some research on internet on what could cause a P0302, bad spark plug, bad wire, bad coil, bad fuel injector, or even clogged fuel filter. Since none of this existed until I "tuned" up the truck, I figured it was something I did - plug or plug wire. If that was not the culprit, then I would look to move coils and injectors around and see if anything changes. I didn't want to rush out to buy a $100 coil or injector just to find out that I didn't need to spend the money. The internet also showed me how to access the #2 plug from the top. Remove the entire air cleaner assembly and mass airflow sensor, unbolt the windshield washer reservoir (which is the bottom of the air cleaner pan too). Unbolt the retaining strap next to coil#2 on the engine. Now you can get your hand on the plug boot and spark plug from above without removing the front tire. Even with this information in hand, it is still a very tight squeeze for your hand between the engine and the shock tower. It still took a long time to get a spark plug socket and wrench on the plug and get it out. I inspected the new plug. I thought I might have damaged it installing it. It looked fine. I checked the gap. Holy Mackerel!!! Was it way out of spec !!!!! The gap is suppose to .040. When I put my gap gauge on it, there had to be at least another .015-.020 gap beyond that. It was huge!!! So needless to say, I corrected the gap. I re-installed the spark plug (again not a quick or easy thing to do) and the plug wire, then buttoned up the rest of the truck. I did a quick test drive last night near the house. No codes under hard acceleration. Engine also seems to run smoother too. I went to the gym this morning on the expressway, did the hard acceleration thing again, still no error codes. I'm hoping I might be beyond this. I will keep the OBDII reader plugged in for another day or two to be sure though.

I am no tractor expert, but I did find this interesting forums advise that I think you might find useful. http://www.farmallcub.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=52728 http://forums.yesterdaystractors.com/viewtopic.php?t=441465&highlight= As I have suspected, bearings or bushings. I suspect bearings since it takes a lot for a bushing to fail. One of the forums mentions needle bearings on a drive shaft between the tranny and diff in one of the models of their tractors (not certain this really applies to you or not). However, I can see original needle bearings failing at this age. I still think bearings are the issue. However, gear/shifter/shim alignment seems to be pretty important too. Proper lube and level sounds important too. Those are my thoughts anyway.

I was told it was and that the missus daily driver was responsible for the first stain on the brand new concrete.

So when do we get to see the inaugural grease stain on the new driveway?

Havoc's remembering how much fun he had with his glovebox lock. Must be something about locks on dashboards that drives him more insane. Of course, back in the day, a sawsall was how a lot of guys installed custom car radios too.

I had the wonderful opportunity to replace the power window regulator in the Envoy today. The window rolled most of the way down and would not come back up or go all the way down. I took the door apart rather quickly and found the the wire cable on the regulator had started to shred and jammed itself in two places. I will post pictures of it in the morning - I've too damn beat tonight to even bother. I was lucky to find an Advanced Auto that (A) was open on the 4th of July at all, ( still open when I called them at 4:00 pm on the 4th of July, and © had the replacement regulator I needed in stock. $130 later I have a working window again! Voila!

I hope like Hell you brought enough candy this year to the parade. I got to watch the kid run his first ever 10k race in the morning, watch the family power shop at the outlet mall in the early afternoon, tear the driver's side door apart and replace the power window regulator in the Envoy in the late afternoon, and spend dinner with the in-laws yet again for dinner while the wife plays with the nephew until well past his and my bedtime. Then I get to come home and take the trash out. Happy 239th Birthday America !!! Happy 147 Birthday Canada!!!

Ditto for the tranny. Obviously we are looking for debris in the oil. Which ever one has debris is clearly bad. No debris in either of them, then I might be tempted to look at the diff first. Only because I know it has several bearings that can fail - with the pinion bearing being my primary suspect. Have you inspected or changed the gear oil in the diff lately?

This is why I carry a spare key or two - in my wallet. Expensive life lesson.

There is more than that. The cars on either side of the red Phoenix are Phoenixs. Also, third row from the back, the last two from the bottom - next to the two Sunbirds - then 3 more Phoenixs.

Smile and salute Stratman.....smile and salute!

Frosty Charleston WV - State Capitol - Status of Abraham Lincoln on the left Charleston WV - Haddad Park - Kanwatha Blvd and Kanwatha River

That is clearly part of the overall publishing trend in this country - going digital and away from traditional publishing. Me - i still prefer a real newspaper or magazine in my hand. Some of the problem maybe that these magazines are too much of a niche to sustain, there is too much overlap with other titles, or they are not attracting enough advertisers or youth oriented readers. Hard to tell from the articles I've read online. It is still a dark day for Pontiac performance enthusiasts.

In case you missed the announcement at the end of May, like I did, Source Interlink Media, the publisher of nearly 70 magazines has filed for bankruptcy. To that end, they have decided to terminate 12 automotive magazines. They are: High Performance Pontiac Popular Hot Rodding Rod & Custom Custom Classic Trucks 4 Wheel Drive & SUV Mud Life 5.0 Mustang Modified Mustangs & Fords Camaro Performers GM Hi-Tech Import Tuner Honda Tuning Jalopnik is reporting how the company thinks they will direct readers to other titles. http://jalopnik.com/heres-how-former-source-interlink-mags-are-reorganizing-1583470716 For us, the loss of both Pontiac Enthusiast and High Performance Pontiac magazines, means a loss of dedicated Pontiac related material. We will be encouraged to subscribe to other magazines that don't appeal to our brand niche anymore. In order to get our Pontiac "niche" fix, we will have to rely on POCI "Smoke Signals" or the GTOAA's "The Legend" publications, as well as various forums across the Internet. As a long time subscriber to Popular Hot Rodding (it is only slightly younger than Hot Rod) and High Performance Pontiac, and a past subscriber to GM Hi-Tech, this is a bad news for me.

Thanks for clearing that up. That explains this sign then....clearly it is in Canuckistan. I take it you and the missus thought the stump water was a little heavy on the sour mash?

So you are saying that you went off / shot off with the guns then?

OK, I re-read your question and perhaps I misunderstood the parts you asking about: The heater "core" looks like a very small version of a radiator that is mounted up against the firewall instead the cabin. It draws hot water from the cooling system and pulls it into the passenger compartment where an air-to-heat exchanger pulls the warm air into the cabin. The inlet and return lines are connected to the engine. These can be tested and repaired by a competent radiator shop. Replacements units run $50-$80 plus shipping and handling from many of the OER catalogs. There is no coil that heats the water. Similar, there is no "coil" in the AC system. The air conditioning evaporator core also looks much like a small radiator. It is typical mounted inside the large A/C housing on the firewall in the engine compartment. Unlike the heater core, this circulates freon refrigerate gas. So taking this to a competent AC repair shop would be my advice to have it tested. These cores are indeed expensive to replace at around $300 or more. I have always been told to replace the dryer once the system has evacuated and opened up to normal atmosphere. I would also have the AC compressor inspected and serviced at this time too. Now would be a good time to investigate and consider switching the AC system from R-12 (freon) to R-134a since find R-12 is harder these days to find and expensive to purchase. It is my understanding that R-134a uses about 1/3 less refrigerant that R-12 too. Talk to an AC shop on the particulars about converting - what you should do or not do since I have yet to overhaul my AC system (its on the list).

Havoc - what bearings or bushings are used in your tranny? I agree with you that this does not sounds like something normal. I don't think you have a gear issue, I am worried that you might have some sort of bearing or bushing failure. Also, have you considered the possibility that the noise might be coming from the differential - possibly the pinion bearing? What type of tranny oil and gear lube is recommended for your tranny and rear end? Has that been inspected or replaced since you've owned it? Are they at proper levels?

You've been lurking? Say it ain't so Joe ! (I've been waiting to use that line for awhile now!)

I'm old enough to remember it being called Dominion Day when I was growing up!!! Happy Canada Day to my friendly Canuckistanians to the east and south. So do you have any stump water left or did you use it to clean the guns?

Now we gotta' get that thing on the road again son !!!! Congrats on the win buddy!!!!

notallthere has an excellent point. Question, have you replaced the original evaporator and heater coil with new parts or are these the original parts that came with the car? If they are original, I would replace them with new parts and not risk putting a questionable part back into the system.

I've been meaning to do this for awhile now but the boy's baseball schedule has kept me busy. Here are pictures of Indymanjoe's ride. a '72 Luxury Lemans, as it appeared at the Widetracker's 26th Annual Spring Dustoff 2 weeks ago. it was truly a pleasure to see it there, running, doing a danger drive and all. Clearly the mechanical systems are done, the body cosmetics will be worked on next according to Joe. Danger Drive - noun - slang - test driving a new or rebuilt automobile for the first time, listen for noises, and testing all vehicles systems to insure they work properly or identify ones that aren't. Note the Hurst His/Hers Dual gate shifter in the console. Need to fill that missing hole in the Formula steering wheel Joe!

Agreed. A friend of mine has purchased a set of ultra rate Ram Air V heads. He is in the process of building a correct Ram Air V motor for his '69 Judge or '69 Trans Am. I know what he paid for the set of heads, it well exceeds the cost of my entire engine rebuild. I hate to think what the entire motor will eventually cost him to get the correct intake, block, etc. Oh I forgot to mention - be sure to go with the new Viton rear main seals from B-O-P Engineering and don't go with the stock rope seal rear main. Rope seals are what the factory used and over time they begin to leak. The new BOP rear main seal is a lot more expensive but well worth it.