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So after months of the truck sitting at the shop torn apart waiting on the warranty company, the shop went ahead and started assembling the motor so I can get it back and worry about payment later while dealing with them. While doing so they found a crack in the block... They contacted the company and sent pics. What a shit show this has been. The WC should have sent a new motor from the beginning with this no fault warranty that came with the replacement motor. Hopefully by the end of the month I should be getting it back with yet another new motor in it.
Now do I put a new Oil pump & Water pump on before putting it back in and keep the truck, or still sell it once I get it back? I believe the warranty on the replacement doesn't get renewed for another 3 years, so technically I could put a BTR stage 2 cam in and not worry about voiding a warranty since that expires next month.
Honestly, back to where I was before this motor was replaced. Thinking I should be able to get 200k miles out of it being new again. I will have to talk with the wife and see where her mind is at with the truck. We really don't need it, with me picking up a trailer this year, but I like driving it and is nice to be able to toss anything in the back at any given time. Also, I owe nothing on it other than insurance for $360/year. Not really sure what I could get for it since I opted out of getting the hail dents repaired. The hood looks the worst but that would be an easy $500-$700 to replace.
If I had to make my mind up today. I would go new oil pump/water pump and any other gasket/o-ring that needs to be replaced and keep it. The only other thing to go wrong would be transmission. Since insurance took care of the truck note, I've been putting $500/month away for a new trans.
I put a new 6L80 in the Burban...hopefully it lasts the life of my ownership from here on out.
Do the preventive maintenance while it's out...whether you keep it or sell it you'll be able to pitch that as a positive either way.
Well I finally got the som' bitch back. New oil pump, water pump, thermostat, oil pressure sensor/filter, serp belt and a couple other odds and ends. Oil pressure doesn't go below 40psi at idle which I have never ever seen that good of pressure. Was always around 20 at idle. So far so good but I think I may just unload it so I don't have to deal with the stress of thinking something will go on it again. Ill just drive the civic for a bit and keep saving every month til I absolutely need something. Time to clean it up and make a local ad. If it sells, it sells. Ill drive it in the meantime.
This go around we put a new high flow oil pump, oil pressure sensor/filter and a few other misc parts. Gauge has read 40+ PSI ever since I got it back.
The motor is the 6.0L without DOD, V8 fulltime. Same as the first replacement. Computer was flashed to accept the new motor by the first shop that did the install (covid killed that shop and owner moved on to porting/polishing go fast parts). I know the owner of the first shop and don't question any of the work they did. I almost got 3 years out of the first motor. Pretty sure poor oil flow (old oil pump swapped over) was the reason to get it replaced again, hence putting in a new oil pump this time.
New shop says to clear code and drive it. If it comes back on, they said drop it off and they can go fishing for the culprit. Said it could be a bad plug from swapping them over from the previous motor (cracked ceramic). Would be nice if that is all it was.
Just have a short fuse with this truck. I will probably list it this week/weekend and start shopping for a man mini-van (Odyssey/Sienna). Was hoping we could wait a bit, but I don't want to lose out on top dollar for the truck at this time. Let it be someone else's problem.
Well it was built right for sure...
good luck on the sale and getting a Ody...
I actually got my lady a 2010 passat wagon to drive so I
could sell the Burban. Her kids are getting old enough where
they don't really ride with us anymore.
Well I am finally caught up on all my projects recently and last night I finished cutting the grass with 1.5 hrs of light to spare, so I said lets pull this bitch into the drive and pop the hood. Before the hood popped, a beer was shotguned and got to it. Pull the coil, wire plug to cylinder 8 (misfire cylinder) and BAM. Spark plug gap was wrong. Could barely get my gap tool between the ground and electrode <.020. Proper gap is somewhere between .040-.045. Opened her up and swapped all 3 components to cylinder 4 just to be sure everything works. Drove the truck to work today and so far so good. I will be happy once I get more miles in and the CEL stays off. Driving it again today makes me wanna keep it but I know I just have to kick it down the road. When I know it is good to go I will post it again on the local pages.
My dad is in similar with his Denali. Great truck, but it's going to need lifters soon.
He just bought a 2013 5MT Focus to DD & will pick up a Taco when the Suburban sells. 39mpg all highway in the Focus on 87, vs 16mpg on 89 in the 6.2
I turned off DOD last week...
yesterday on the highway I set cruise to 58 and saw 27mpg in the 2015. I was shocked. That's incredible.
I actually have a plan to sell it to a buddy of mine and get my 2004 Back. That's the one I really loved, honestly.
Yeah, my dad has had AFM disabled for a while, but the lifters are definitely getting weak/on their way out.
They also set the speed limiter to 200mph
116 was all she had, in Mexico .
I live a few minutes from US27...
It is Mexico.
I was gonna say, 200 is ambitious.
The corvette I've allegedly pushed to 180 and that felt pretty nuts.
It was just the max value allowed in the tuner software they used to disable AFM
Driveshaft would probably grenade well before getting even remotely close, and that's if the 6.2 could even push that brick fast enough to reach driveshaft failure speeds.
I live a few minutes from US27...
It is Mexico.
I was gonna say, 200 is ambitious.
The corvette I've allegedly pushed to 180 and that felt pretty nuts.
In the middle of nowhere I hit 168 in the M5. It was still very solid at that speed, but I ran out of courage.
I got 135 out of my grandmother's 2007 S550, and 127 our of my C300. Still had plenty of pull in the S, but ran out of viable road to push any harder.
I imagine her 2 later S550 with the TTV8 would've done even more, but I think all 3 were pegged at 155 from the factory, not sure what the C limiter was set to.
In the middle of nowhere I hit 168 in the M5. It was still very solid at that speed, but I ran out of courage.
I wanted to push 200 so badly...I thought I was at 190 because of how the speedo goes on the Z...when I slowed down I realized it was 180.
Part of that was also the wheel balance, it smoothed out but didn't feel total composed.
CTS-V was 157
S4 was 153 governed I think...RSX back in the day was 128...TL-S is way less.
I was passing someone in the Z06...top of 3rd is pushing 130...top of 4th is ridiculous...I looked down and I was pushing 150
and thought, what the hell. It is NUTS how fast it gets up to speed.
Made it thru the weekend with no hiccups yet. I think we figured it out. I feel better about letting it go and not having the CEL come on, on their way home.
We found an Odyssey Sport, just waiting on insurance quote and a call back from the salesman for the deposit. Van won't be here til 7/7-7/11, coming up from George-uhh.
Well that didn't take long... Truck has gone to a new owner and feels like a weight has lifted. Looked at it Sunday, drove it home Monday. Really wish it treats him better than it did me.
Still have some new parts to offload that never made it on the truck. Headlight housings, 2.5" level kit and a 20" LED light bar.
Now to find a Mini-van!
Will update this thread when something new shows up in the driveway...
2. Hitch - Honda doesn't pre-wire for hitch power so I will need to take it to the dealer for the wire install so it doesn't void any warranty. Hitch install they want $675 and full install wired up $1000. Honda hitch is about $300. Will see if they can just add the wires if I install the hitch myself. Do I add a trans cooler? Most we will pull with this is my trailer with an ATV or a pop-up camper.
Odyssey is the best! Granted the one I have is older than yours (2011). I got the tow package because at the time the high miler minivan folks said it helps the transmission when pushing this brick through the air even without load. Also, I knew eventually I would get a bike rack and on my generation the Honda one tucked in much better under the car. Anyways, my statement might be completely irrelevant the transmission in yours is totally different.
I would read up on the forums if you need a cooler or not...these trans don't like to be pushed as you know.
As far as hitch install...it's doable...and you can buy the harness they are going to use anyway.
You can install yourself, they can't void warranty for an accessory install.
Congrats! My lady actually wanted one of those after we sold the 2012 and her old Routan...
but alas she did the 'Burban until her kids started driving and now she's in a VW wagon.
Still haven't had the windows tinted on the Van, will make a date with the shop soon. She only has 4200 miles on her.
Up next for me will be a newer truck. Explorer will be traded and the Civic will be sold. I have been eyeing a 2021 or new F-150 XLT with the 2.7 or 3.5. For those who know anything about these, throw the good and bad at me. I definitely don't wanna make a $40k mistake...
I had the 2.7 in my 2016 XLT 2wd
No complaints over about 40k that I put on it in the time I had it.
Towed well & got decent mpg unloaded
If I did it again, I'd skip the pano roof, after 3 or 4 trips to the dealer they could not resolve the squeaks & rattles.
I think if were buying one today, I'd go for the 3.5. Deep well of torque by comparison. We have the 3.5 in our Expedition & it's nice getting up to speed by flexing your pinky toe
Long bed too, makes for a really long overall rig, but the full 6ft bed is nice.
Not super common on a newer F150 crew.
That was my thought. I would be willing to give up turning radius for the space. Also, the 3.5 Powerboost will be great if/when we plan to get into camping and need the hauling power, more so I won't have to upgrade trucks unless we get a 30ft + camper. But I don't see that happening.
Check the specs if you're going to be towing.
My 2.7 CCSB had the 3.31 e-locker rear end. Great for a daily, but pretty poor mileage towing.
I'd want the 3.55 or 3.73 if I were towing more frequently.
Well got final word that insurance has totaled out my Explorer due to yet another hail storm we had back in February. Pre-repair number was $9250 in damage. I plan to keep the it, collect the 9k payout and then sell privately. Doing that I should come out ahead of what they would have offered to take the vehicle, which was $12,800.
Went to move on the truck last night and the dealer sold it Wednesday... just my luck. The search goes on.
Well figured I would update this a little bit. Since selling the truck, I have been itching to get a new one. Haven't found anything worth biting the bullet on, so I continue to drive the Civic/Explorer. I had put new tires on the Civic end of 2024 and handled well thru winter and summer. Just recently put new tires on the Explorer and plan to drive that this winter as well as keep it for my tow rig to pull my ATV to and from hunting.
Been throwing the idea around of replacing the civic (cheaper option than a newer truck) with a newer commuter car since it has 155k on it and needs some cash thrown at it for repairs.
Things that need to be addressed:
1. Suspension all around (Clunk in the rear)
2. RSB End-Links (Purchased greasable MOOG links)
3. Rotors/Drums/Pads all around (Looking for recommendations for rotors)
4. Both CV axles (Looking for recommendations other than OEM, stupid expensive)
5. Water pump w/ tensioner and belt (Have my eyes set on ACDelco replacements)
6. Replace VVT Solenoid (Slight oil leak, could replace just the gasket but since it is off might as well toss a new one on there. You know damn well it will fail weeks after just a gasket repair)
7. Locate and repair Coolant leak when system is full (I think it is a clamp at the bottom of the radiator)
8. Shake in the front end above 75 mph
After some long conversations with the wife and co-workers, the better option was to put money into the civic and keep it while we pay off the van. I restructured our payments to pay it off at the end of 2027, knocking off about 1.5 years of interest. Hopefully I can hold out that long.
Fast forward to today, I stuck a pair of KYB Shocks in the back and that fixed the clunking I was getting over any uneven surface, crack or bump in the road. The lower bushing was completely shot. Here is what I pulled out of there. While in the area I went to replace the sway bar end links but the nuts were frozen/rusted and couldn't get them off. Will try heat next time when I can get around to it.
KYB Excel G replacements
Next up will be front rotors/drums/pads. When I purchased the car I put some Carquest premiums on it from Advance Auto and 2.5 years later they are warped again. Does anyone have any recommendations of what to get next? Centric, Power Stop, OEM, Advance Auto, NAPA, Autozone specials? I want something that will last longer than 2 years but also not break the bank. Trying to keep this as cheap as possible but still put something worthwhile on it.
Waiting for KYB Front Strut assy's to come in stock. Once they do I will grab a pair of those and then grab 2 new CV's and do it all at once. Then take it over to get an alignment. Hopefully that will handle the front end shake otherwise I will inspect/replace what is needed.
Waterpump/tensioner and Leak when full, will probably be last since nothing is leaking at the pump itself and I just get the tensioner bearing making noise with light throttle. The car doesn't overheat and has heat in the cold but it does go in and out while not driving. I want to say that is from the system not being full of fluid.
VVT Solenoid will be replaced when waterpump and tensioner go on. Would like to pop the hood once to get it all done.
The explorer I believe needs a rear wheel bearing. I thought it could have been the tires, since they were pretty worn and waited to get the new ones put on, but the sound is still there. I will do the wheel bearing once I get the civic squared away. It isn't that bad yet. The real problem with the explorer lately is the trailer lights don't illuminate until I hit the brake. I think I have a ground issue somewhere and need to diagnose that. Thing is, I am no electrical guru. I hate it!
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