2000 Chevy Silverado Drama

Justwondering

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Its 10:12 pm and I'm 129 miles from home in a dark parking lot trying to get the door open to the Chevy Silverado.
Its been a long day.
I go out to the truck after the meeting ending and hit the key fob.
Click -- cab light goes on and lock is closed.
Click click - won't open.
Click it locked... open ... locked.
Tried using the key. Won't open it.
Well crap.
I had to walk around to the passenger side and unlock the door with the key fob -- right, can't use the key cause someone tried to jimmy the lock and the lock is buggered up and pushed into the door. But the key fob works on the passenger side.

So today... I need to pull the door panel and figure out why the driver side doesn't work and start looking for a replacement key lock for the passenger side.
Sigh.

Other than that it was a wonderful day. Sunshine and goodness.
 

Justwondering

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And then there is the steady drip from the gear box (according to the mechanic that checks my work).
Gear box. That sounds important.
I'll have to research to see if this is something I can replace in the driveway when the sun is shining.

I have it on good authority I'm getting two (2) - not 1 but TWO new pieces of cardboard for spring car work!!!!
 

Justwondering

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I had two hours to figure out the door lock problem before it started getting dark and colder.
Was about 60 today going to be 37 for a high on Sunday ... blah.

Afger I got the door panel off I used dry lubricant to spray everything.
Voila' ... everything is fine.
I cleaned dirt out of every crevice and dumped the dirt out of the door pocket.
The tweeter for the sound system in the door had a broken post on each end. So now I know why it rattled some on that side.

Its sitting in the downstairs near the heater, out of the drafts, with a nice coat of jbweld.
I'll try putting it back in next week after I get my chores done.

Now for an evening of gearbox research.
 

Aspen500

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Gearbox? I assume that's the steering gearbox and not the British name for the transmission. If you have to change it, it's not THAT hard of a job in the grand scheme of things. Usually the worst part is getting the pitman arm off the old box. In the past, I've had to just tighten the pitman arm puller to the point of breakage and heat it with a torch before it'll pop. Of course, that's in Wisconsin, "America's Rustland" where even getting the lines unhooked means replacing them because the tubing nut and tube have become as one. In Texas, might not be a problem.:)
 

Justwondering

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I believe you are correct.
The mechanic said to just replace it, but from what I've read online its usually the input seal gone bad rather than the gears going bad.

Either way, I woke up to a 55 degree day that within an hour has dropped to 37 and should bottom out around 19 with ice and rain for the next 18 hours.

Nothing gonna happen anytime soon other than I'll keep checking the power steering fluid to make sure its getting topped off faster than its leaking out.
Or maybe I'll just keep sitting on the couch with my feet near the furnace and putz around on the computer. lol
 

Aspen500

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In most cases when the input shaft seal leaks, there's also internal seals leaking which cause the shaft seal to leak. The internal seals leak fluid under pressure to the area the shaft seal is, well,,,,,,,,,sealing. What I mean is, replacing the input seal only, probably won't cure the leak. Sorry...........

I woke up to -12 and in the past hour it was all the way up to a balmy +6 but at least the sun is shining and there's no wind. Been sitting at the 'puter doing everyone's favorite past time,,,,,,,,,,taxes. Yippee, yahoo. It's SO much fun.:confused:
 

BudW

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The steering gear is not a difficult job Per Se – but it is heavy.
I changed the steering gear on my Dodge ¾ ton diesel pickup a few years back. I removed the Pittman arm after gear was off – so I could have more of a handle (so to speak).
The only hard part was (again) – it is heavy and not easy to do when lying on your back, without help. It takes two hands (or three hands) to heft it into location and another hand to (quickly, because you are straining at this point) get the first bolt in. Once first bolt is in – its all downhill from there.
It took me longer to get that first bolt in, than the rest of job combined, took.

Important note: be sure trucks steering is in full straight ahead position (and steering wheel is centered) before gear removal. Also make sure new gear is centered – which may require some twisting of the input shaft to do so, before connecting gear to steering shaft.
BudW
 

Aspen500

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They do tend to be like lifting a lead bar, aren't they?
A handy tip when disconnecting the steering shaft on any air bag equipped vehicle, be sure to lock the steering wheel so it can't accidentally turn. Get the clock spring a turn off center on reassembly, make a tight turn and,,,,,,,,,,snap. Instant air bag light and inoperative steering wheel buttons (if any).
 

Justwondering

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Today was the first sunny day in 'freaking 4ever' and I was determined to fix the fan issues in the Silverado.

I got the entire plastic housing off the dash, the bezel around the cluster, the kick plate, the housing that covers the blower motor resister and the blower motor.

I replaced the accuator on the passenger side, under the dash.
I removed the blower motor and OMG. It was full, completely full of pack rat nest and acorns. I emptied that out and then reached in to pull the leaves and clutter out of there. Gross.

I also removed and replaced the cabin filters -- the old ones were full of leaves and dirt.

Removed about 10 dirt dobber nests and I can see a few more acorns in there but I can't get to them.

Went outside to the cowl and tried cleaning it out... but I could only get 1 wiper arm off. I'm PB blasting the nut on the other one.

ANYWAY -- I digress.

I go over to the driver side to replace the mode door accuator. Only 3 hours later and I was successful. It is days like this that I wish I had never broken my left arm.
When it healed, it healed shorter (1 1/2 inches) than before I broke it. The normal unnatural position you have to be in on the front floor board is even more uncomfortable working with one arm shorter than the other.

I could not get the cam and the accuator properly aligned for the longest time.. but I succeeded.

Only now, the blower motor runs but not on high (0, 1, 2, 3, 4 are fine but no 5).
And I could manually move the blend door prior to putting the new accuator in, but now it doesn't do anything.

Both the old accuator and the new accuator seemed to be working prior to my 'fix'. The old accuator was really, really slow and seemed to stop and start every once in a while.
I made sure to use dry lubricant on the cam and cleaned everything well.

So I'm thinking:
1. Did I hose up the new accuator?
2. Did my reset of the new accuator not work (pull the HVAC 10A fuse and wait 1 minute)
3. Is the door itself busted.
4. Is the switch busted.
5. Is it possible I've met my match and can't accomplish this task?

I didn't even try to get to the accuator that sits up behind the glove box. I was too disgusted by how long this took and had to put everything back together cause I have to be in Dallas tomorrow.

Good thing its going to be dry and warm enough that I can just use the seat warmer to keep me warm enough.
 

Aspen500

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What is a dirt dobber?
I believe it's a type of wasp that build a mud hive(?) Don't have them up here in "the great white north".

Those HVAC actuators are a b*tch in most cases. Double check the connector is fully seated on the actuator. They usually self calibrate or you go from one stop to the other on the control knob (some vehicles require a scanner for calibration but, not yours). If you used an aftermarket actuator, especially a Dorman brand one, it could be bad right out of the box or fail right off the bat. We stopped wasting our time getting them at work and wait the extra day to get a genuine one from our OEM parts suppliers. The actuators I "love" are the ones on top of the HVAC plenum where you have to remove the instrument panel to replace them. Fun for all ages, lol.

Not sure why you blower doesn't work on high now. The high position bypasses the resistor (or blower speed controller) but the power comes through the resistor assy in the bottom of the HVAC plenum. They are known to go bad and a lot of times the wiring melts at the resistor from high resistance in the connection (which makes heat). If needed, the wiring pigtail/connector assy can be had from any auto parts store. I don't have access to electrical schematics at home so going by memory. I'll look it up tomorrow at work in case you haven't found the probelm yet.
 

BudW

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A Dirt Dobber / Mud Dauber are in the wasp family.

They make nests out of mud that look like open ended tubes. Some cases with multiple tubes that look like big mud brick. You can grab ahold of the tubes and many cases remove the entire thing intact. If not, it crumbles and you have a “dirty” mess.

I don’t recall hearing of dirt dobbers stinging anyone – but the nests are a pain and an eyesore.
BudW
 

Justwondering

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I wound up with no seat warmer on the driver side this morning ... but its working on the passenger side.
I did remove the door panel to put in the tweeter that I fixed so I probably hosed up a connector.

Vents don't switch, air movement stays same speed although the blower motor is running higher, and I had no heat.

I'm thinking this was basically a swing and a miss (except for the cabin filters and blower motor getting cleaned out).

Rain for the next 2 days and then I have 2 days of campaigning to do in the city so I won't get back to this until the weekend.
 

Justwondering

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Fixed the seat warmer.
The power lock started dragging again and refusing to open so I took the panel off (again).

Applied white lithium grease this time. Helped the lock really well.

But apparently when I put it back together last time I didn't properly and with great firmness and intention, push the plug ends back together properly for the seat warmer.

So while I didn't have a heated cabin, I did have a warm back and seat for my 114 mile trip over to help my brother campaign.
 

BudW

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FYI, seat heater grids appear to have a limited lifespan.

The people who use them every day (or simply just leave them on) the heater elements seam to burn out a lot faster than those who use the seat heaters intermittently (or long enough to get over the chills).

Seat heater elements are not easy to change (remove seat, remove seat cover(s), play with hog rings/hog ring pliers, etc.). Heater elements run about $100 (US) each, on average, from dealership - but can be obtained for less elsewhere. A person can easily spend most of a day replacing both heater grids in one seat (back and bottom).

I tell my wife it is OK to use the seat heaters, but please turn them off before butts on fire, and only when needed. So far - very little problems experienced on my personal vehicles, with them.
BudW
 

Justwondering

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Bud-
I must admit my back feels better on a long drive if I can periodically turn that heat on.
So far everything is working well.
However, the seat covers and cushions need to be replaced so I'll get to see the 'guts' of the situation soon.

JW
 
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