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3800 On today's episode of my horrible life choices, 00 park ave edition.

sktchy3.8

it'll work til it doesnt
TCG Blue
Jul 27, 2021
3,776
6,470
See? Still learning new stuff everyday here 😂

So since your more knowledgeable than I am on the subject what's the difference? Am I correct in thinking that pcm circuit will be dead or stagnant until it sees ac voltage from the bearing itself? And that if it logged a hard code it won't even look for signal?
 

Mr_Roboto

Doing the jobs nobody wants to
TCG Blue
Feb 4, 2012
22,745
24,303
Nashotah, Wisconsin (AKA not Illinois)
I honestly don't know if it's dead or not. The difference is that you'll end up with a 5V square pulse with a Hall Effect Sensor and a +/- AC voltage with a VR sensor.

There are disadvantages and advantages to both. Theoretically if done correctly a VR sensor can have excellent noise cancelling and is passive. The down side is that you have analog components to read them back at the ECU that may or may not be more sensitive. In general a 5V square wave from a Hall Effect Sensor is likely easier to deal with.
 
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sktchy3.8

it'll work til it doesnt
TCG Blue
Jul 27, 2021
3,776
6,470
Yeah I mean I was really hoping for a 5v reference and a ground but nope. So now I'm hoping I can just tell it to shut up and it listens or this might get fun on the lift.

Problem with this car is I like driving it and haven't driven the Yukon in probably a week. It's almost like it pisses people off. I got told I had to move it from where I parked at school pickup today and that definitely wouldn't have happened in the Yukon. It's just so eye catching with that pearl tricoat and the wheels that I think it just makes people angry they looked so hard :rofl:
 

sktchy3.8

it'll work til it doesnt
TCG Blue
Jul 27, 2021
3,776
6,470
Uggghhh, I knew I was gonna end up having to track down wires with this thing. Plugged the triton into it and reset everything and sure as hell it lit back up right away. Looked at data and it's just dead.

Also my wobbles still there if not worse. It's always right at 45 to 50 and when cruising steady at low load, or light braking. It's steering wheel shake like you'd get in a death wobble jeep. The rare case it does it under throttle is more violent of course but if you let off the gass, let it shift, or push the pedal down it'll come right out of it. I get some noise from that side when turning left slow but otherwise nothing super noticeable. I went ahead and fired an axle at it so we'll see if that takes care of that. Hard to think is suspension related when there doesn't seem to be any play in the ball joints or tie rod ends and the steering is tight and not knocking around.

It's either that or the wheel adapters playing games but it's hard to think that they're an issue where they're hub centric and center on the hub themselves. If they were lug centric and centered with studs I'd raise more of an eyebrow there.

Or I suppose there's a small chance that the alignment is off just enough to fight with itself, but after fixing the wheel bearings it has way less of a tendency to pull to the right as it did so I'm thinking I can mostly rule that out.

And idk why I'm messing with this thing as hard as I am. 2 perfectly good other vehicles to drive and I think I've gotta drive around in the hoodrat one that still has issues 🙄
 

sktchy3.8

it'll work til it doesnt
TCG Blue
Jul 27, 2021
3,776
6,470
It guaranteed needs aligned. Still pulls to the right a little and the camber in the rear kinda has some "stance" for lack of a better term (negative af fits). I've got a camber gauge some toe plates and a couple tape measures so I think what I'll do there is eye it in as best I can given what I have and then have it racked up and done right to see how far off I am.

But now I'm ocd about it because I've zeroed in on trying to figure it out and motor mounts don't seem out of line either. It does kinda bang into gear harder than I'd think it should but it also has commanded idle at 800 so idk. But now any instant it does somethin seemingly out of character I'm questioning it. Also seems like I do have kind of a rumble around 30 or 35 so maybe that floppy axle really is it.

Also the check engine lights staying out now with the stock intake box back on it. But it's still about 30% lean at idle between Lt and st for whatever reason. Any time you give it throttle even lightly it comes right back to where it should be and mv on post sensor are higher than pre by about 100 but it's inconsistent and jumps between that and similar numbers to the front one for no reason at all unless it's switching or running a test maybe. But I may do some playing with that at some point as well. I wanna get everything ironed out before I try to top swap it so I've got a solid base to start from and I'm not pouring gas on some of these fires when it goes a little faster.
 
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sktchy3.8

it'll work til it doesnt
TCG Blue
Jul 27, 2021
3,776
6,470
So I'm not saying I found the issue and should've gone with my gut since the bearings I replaced needed done anyway. But I think I found my shimmy. Inner shaft is tight when it's turned up against a stopping point either direction but back the tension off until its free and it's sloppy. Would explain why it was intermittent and generally at light load and consistent at cruising speeds.
 

sktchy3.8

it'll work til it doesnt
TCG Blue
Jul 27, 2021
3,776
6,470
Snapchat-2004366545.jpg

My god if I didn't fuck around with this way more than I should've until I decided to do it right and pull the strut bolts. I was trying to avoid disturbing my new sensor wiring but I guess that wasn't going to happen tonight.

Anyways this axle looks fine and fairly recent as far as I can tell. But it sure didn't seem happy in the car so I'm still hoping this will cure my issue. Probably gonna be one of those shoulda just listened to James things 😂
 

sktchy3.8

it'll work til it doesnt
TCG Blue
Jul 27, 2021
3,776
6,470
Made my usual 5 or 6 mile spin around on the back highway and so far it's considerably better. There's still somethin loose over there when you hit washboards in the gravel but I'm thinking it's a sway bar link. It also didn't bang into gear or catch turning around tight in the driveway.

I think I can attribute a lot of it to a thought that finally hit me putting the wheel back on. While the spacer adapters are hub centric on the inside, they're lug centric on the wheel side. So I've really gotta make sure to run the nuts up tight by hand before torquing them down to make sure the wheels centered or I'm gonna have problems just like what I indicated above and I think I need to go back and retorque the rest of the wheels as well.

I might be a dumbass.
 
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sktchy3.8

it'll work til it doesnt
TCG Blue
Jul 27, 2021
3,776
6,470
And back onto the abs situation. I started chasing some wiring and came across this behind and underneath the brake booster.
Snapchat-2073328988.jpg

The way the insulation on the firewall is frayed back I do believe there was a mouse around there and I'm trying to decide if I even wanna tear into that mess or find a better spot to splice into the wires I need and then run jumpers just run around to the module to make it work. But that light on the dash is loud and almost everything else is working on this thing so screw it might as well fix it.
 

sktchy3.8

it'll work til it doesnt
TCG Blue
Jul 27, 2021
3,776
6,470
So it made a 100 mile round trip out to the farm and back this morning. That damn wiggle is still in that right front corner. But only at that speed and when the steering wheels just a bit off center. Feels tie rod ish and at low speeds when turning it'll clunk a little bit like maybe a ball joint but having it jacked up and shaking things sure doesn't show me anything yet.

Otherwise the car ran great and hit my 40 mph goal and then some with the heavy tailwind today. Got 24 to 26 going the other direction so that averages out to about 30 overall and I really can't complain about that. Looking at it from the everyday driver "black tape or a picture over the warning light" perspective it's really a pretty decent car. It's just not up to my standards of not doing any dumb shit yet.
 

sktchy3.8

it'll work til it doesnt
TCG Blue
Jul 27, 2021
3,776
6,470
Welllp...got me another one of those asshole cars like my red one. Started getting a little miss this morning after I made the morning rounds and carried with it the rest of the day. I was thinking probably that lean code and it's just a vacuum leak no big deal. So I get home and I start actually looking at this thing. Mind you I've just fixed what I needed to and brushed over the rest so far and being a 250k it's got some stories to tell.

First off I notice a plug wire like torn. I'd think I got it when putting the AC lines in but it's been fine until this morning?
Snapchat-1762545384.jpg


Fortunately I have more laying around so I fired one at that hole. Still a miss on 5 so I fired one at it too. Mind you I still have super lean trims so now I'm thinking vacuum leak since the throttle body is on the other side here down by that hole. This leads me to the EVAP tee on the throttle body wrapped in black tape.
Snapchat-502081554.jpg

Cleaned that up all nice with a t and some silicon line and checked again. Miss is gone. Trims are still lean as hell so I get under the hood and listen for leaks with it idling. Surely that lean I can hear it right?

And that's when I looked down and saw the injector that I put a connector on spraying fuel...
Snapchat-1431935831.jpg


I was gonna fire a new maf I have at it but I think I'll address this situation first. Half a mind to try the gtp injectors and just filling it with e85 since the difference isn't that far off from the 36s to 42.5s but I probably better wait until I get everything else sorted out before I go doin dumb shit making it worse.

Think I'll just drive somethin else tomorrow.
 

sktchy3.8

it'll work til it doesnt
TCG Blue
Jul 27, 2021
3,776
6,470
So I got around to messing with this thing again, was kinda nice to drive around and listen to my 5.3 sing for a couple days but bouncing around on all terrains in town isn't near as nice as cruising this lazy boy on wheels around.

Here's what I should've done:

Put new o rings on all the injectors and swapped out the offender with one of the stocks I have and ruled out the problem.

Put my 60s in.

Put my 80s in.

...But I'm not smart so even after thinking about it I just grabbed a whole rail from one of my junkyard gems threw some dielectric grease on the lower o rings and slapped it back in. For all I know the fuel pressure regulators got a hole in the diaphragm and at least 3 injectors are full of shit from just sitting out in the open or it's gonna piss fuel because of the concrete 25 year old o rings I didn't bother to screw with.

Sure as hell they sealed right up and the little random miss at idle is non-existent, runs like a sewing machine except the ac compressor pulley squeaks a bit til it warms up. Did a burnout all through first gear on gravel and just slowly purred it's way up to speed. No check engine light in sight.

I'll have to check the fuel trims yet but I'm thinking I can probably go back to chasing that front end wobble.
 

SpeedSpeak2me

TCG Elite Member
Aug 27, 2018
18,908
30,734
I'll have to check the fuel trims yet but I'm thinking I can probably go back to chasing that front end wobble.
So, forgive me for any naivety, but for the wobble, control arm bushings maybe? I have no idea what is in the car, or how it is set up. I just say that because my GMT900 would do something very similar, but it was at 70-75mph, and only at those speeds. Below 70 or above 75ish, nothing. Would shake so bad that water bottles would dance in the cup holders. Turned out the lower control arm bushing on the driver's side was going bad.
 
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sktchy3.8

it'll work til it doesnt
TCG Blue
Jul 27, 2021
3,776
6,470
So, forgive me for any naivety, but for the wobble, control arm bushings maybe? I have no idea what is in the car, or how it is set up. I just say that because my GMT900 would do something very similar, but it was at 70-75mph, and only at those speeds. Below 70 or above 75ish, nothing. Would shake so bad that water bottles would dance in the cup holders. Turned out the lower control arm bushing on the driver's side was going bad.
I could definitely see it being in the control arm with the way it acts but the only thing I can feel or see that has play in it is the sway bar link on that side. I'm sure that's what my low speed clunk is but idk if I see it causing the wobble. I guess I haven't played with the other side or the back end alot since it seems isolated to that corner but I've seen weirder things happen
 

SpeedSpeak2me

TCG Elite Member
Aug 27, 2018
18,908
30,734
I could definitely see it being in the control arm with the way it acts but the only thing I can feel or see that has play in it is the sway bar link on that side. I'm sure that's what my low speed clunk is but idk if I see it causing the wobble. I guess I haven't played with the other side or the back end alot since it seems isolated to that corner but I've seen weirder things happen
When we had the truck in the air, you couldn't get any play moving the wheel/tire. Tech shoved a pry bar in by the bushing and we watched it move. It was an "a-ha!" moment that had eluded me for almost a year. Amazingly, it was the factory bushing from 2007, with almost 185k miles on it. BTW, the driver side upper and both passenger side bushings are still the factory ones, and are solid. Only front suspension pieces replaced have been the struts (wear), and both sway bar end links. For some reason both end links broke after 4-5 years. But the replacements (same part #) have lasted the last 10 years.
 
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sktchy3.8

it'll work til it doesnt
TCG Blue
Jul 27, 2021
3,776
6,470
That's a really good thought since I haven't had it up on the lift yet and have only had one wheel up at a time. This has the aluminum lower control arms and I should have a set that hopefully aren't bad. But I've also had some shit experiences with having to cut cam bolts out of control arms too so it might not be as easy as i want it to be 😂


Side note: I've had a thing for looking at Buicks in my daily adventures now and I think I'm pretty glad I landed this one. I don't really like any of the other years or body styles near as much as I do the lines and curves that this thing has. It's like the last of the big body hood ornament cars and the interior is put together with nice detail and materials and not plasticky flat panel rattling bullshit like in so many other cars. Even though it's damn near 25 years old it's still worlds quieter than way newer cars with the triple door seals and sound deadening in it.
 

sktchy3.8

it'll work til it doesnt
TCG Blue
Jul 27, 2021
3,776
6,470
So I had a friend call and tell me I had a tail light out on the deck lid this morning, so of course I had to pull it all apart. 6 interior clip things, the license plate screws and at least 9 10mm nuts to finally get this thing off of there. And why does this thing need 8 brake light bulbs ffs 😂
Snapchat-282506673.jpg


So i started digging through my LEDs and the only 30 or 3157s I have are blue. So I guess I have blue reverse lights now.

Then it became a mission to see what else I had sitting around. White low beams are a nice upgrade for sure. And then I thought I needed to try and fix the rest of the lights and have all working except for a rear side marker that has to be a bulb or socket issue.
Snapchat-1555824071.jpg


Then I jacked it up and stuck a bar in the control arm...

I'm not entirely convinced that's loose enough to cause this and when I looked at the k member I have those arms are floppin. Fortunately it doesn't look like they're very expensive so at least the one side, some sway bar links, and a 4 wheel alignment would probably do it wonders.
 

sktchy3.8

it'll work til it doesnt
TCG Blue
Jul 27, 2021
3,776
6,470
So I picked up some lower control arms and stabilizer links. Was kinda shocked when they actually had them all on hand.
Snapchat-920553869.jpg


But I've yet to do anything with them. I thought I was getting better fuel mileage but I think it's just more the top half of the tank is way bigger. The misfire is gone but I still have a p0440 and it still 30% lean between longs and shorts. Quick boost test points me in the area of the throttle body but I almost think it might be in the egr tube or where it goes into the intake. You can hear it when it's running as well. I'm sure it's down on power with that the abs and the knock sensor code but every once in a while it'll grab some extra timing and get goin.

Beings it's an old Buick I'm still driving it around with the dash lit up like a Christmas tree. It'd be a damn shame if I didn't for a little while but it's only gonna last until I decide I'm gonna pull it into the garage and ruin it putting a blower on it 😂
 
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