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jwscab wrote:yeah, once you understand the fact that these 'engineers' design the cars to be assembled, and not disassembled, it helps alleviate some of the cursing.

No man, no it doesn't! LOL

now that i put about 2k more miles on the car by driving out to the nats and back its obvious my power steering now needs some attention.

freaking fluid is boiling when i have to sit in traffic.... i'm very doubtfull its happening just because i bypassed the cooler, and more that i got antifreeze in the system and it severely lowered the boiling point of the fluid. if i open the cap after it gets hot it gets unpressurized and starts puking out a pink antifreezish smelling foam... just like the oldschool volcanos we used to make in school. i'm sure my $350 alternator underneath appreciates it...

the pump i could care less about replacing, it wouldnt hurt to replace it with an aftermarket turn one pump anyway since i read the gm unit spins way too fast and basically burns itself up in severe duty situations. i just hope i didnt bork the rack...

gonna go get about a gallon of atf and flush it today.

yay gm.

sooooo... earlier today i started sucking out the bad power steering fluid with a little handheld siphon pump i use to pump 90wt into my zuks diffs and tranny. (cheap kind you get at pepboys)

no problem when the system is cold, i sucked out what i could, refilled, started the car and slowly cycled the steering many times, repeated that for 2 quarts.

then i decide to take it out and see how it does, and its not near as bad as before, but still acting up. i go back home and start to suck the fluid out again...

i figured getting the hot and well mixed/circulated fluid out was a good idea. wow talk about some hot stuff... i pumped it all out and when i took the siphon out i saw the melted the end of the siphon hose, there was about a half inch section missing, melted off and somewhere in the pump...

yay me.

tried to see if i could get it out, but there aint no chance in heck. its in there somewhere, waiting to be released to cause havok.

no way am i going to risk that little bit of plastic getting down into my steering rack.

so i ordered a turnone ls1 pump and pulley. the car sits and will not be started at all until i get that badboy on there.

i keep telling myself it probably needed a new pump anyway...

badhoopty wrote:yay me.


i keep telling myself it probably needed a new pump anyway...

crap happens ....
and from what I'm reading you aren't gonna be worse off for replacing that pump so its kinda a draw/win situation. Good luck with it.
Todd

Whatever happened to the rigs you could beat into submission, turn the key and do it again and again without failures? I remember the vehicles we had while I was growing up going well into the 100K's without major failures or problems (mixed make/models). Now, we're lucky to get 50K without some serious issues. I just lost the tranny on my 02 GMC Sierra at 73K. The engine was replaced at 15K because GM decided to engineer their 350s to knock. My 95 Sierra dumped the tranny at 95K, though that one I could understand because it was a work truck that earned its keep. This 02 is just a daily driver that rarely has any demands put to it.

My '02 chevy trailblazer has 120k on it and I have trouble free service til recently. My check engine light came on and now I have to replace the o2 sensors. I also have to replace the brakes for the second time. I drive the crap out of it so I'd say it's been a pretty good rig. Oh and the factory stereo is starting to go out.

Halgar wrote:The engine was replaced at 15K because GM decided to engineer their 350s to knock.

piston slap?

with piston slap, from what i read it wasnt the engineering, it was the acceptable range of tolerances when matching pistons to cylinders that GM changed to save a buck.

badhoopty wrote:piston slap?

with piston slap, from what i read it wasnt the engineering, it was the acceptable range of tolerances when matching pistons to cylinders that GM changed to save a buck.

The shop said that it was piston slap. The funny thing is that the service manager didn't want to give me the time of day about it, so he put one of the techs in the truck with me for the test drive. We got to chatting about it and the tech agreed with me, that they'd been building knock free engines for 75 years, and you don't pay the kind of money they're asking for these rigs only to have piston slap and a reduced lifespan because of it. The replacement started to clatter a bit too, but this time it only does it periodically and for a short period of time. The original always knocked whether it was cold or hot.

The best part was that they gave us a rental for the two weeks it was in the shop. Once at the rental agency, there was another guy that wanted the cheapest car, of which the company only had one and he was there first, making the biggest stink, so he got the cheapazz car. We got upgraded to a 4x Dakota at no extra charge! Of course, we had to take it wheeling a few times while we had it.

Halgar wrote: Of course, we had to take it wheeling a few times while we had it.

Isn't that one of those unwritten rules
Todd

badhoopty wrote:

Halgar wrote:The engine was replaced at 15K because GM decided to engineer their 350s to knock.

piston slap?

with piston slap, from what i read it wasnt the engineering, it was the acceptable range of tolerances when matching pistons to cylinders that GM changed to save a buck.

I always thought 'piston slap' was when you got tanked and tried to crack on to your girlfriend's/wife's sister/best friend......


Alex

I love GM, I was raised by them. (Dad, worked for them 35 years) But I have to say it was not GM, but the unions (UAW) that killed the company. I am not worried though, Obama is going to make it all right! I'm just upset that I am paying for people to drive new GM cars (bail-out) and I am stuck with my 95 z-28. The piston slap comes from using aluminum parts inside a cast iron block. It is going to happen no matter what they do. Aluminum has to expand with heat, so they have to leave space for it. They just try to cover up the noise with insulation. That is why the corvettes were not as bad as the camaros, although they used the same engines. The corvettes had a bunch of plastic covering the engine and hiding the sound. In the end it will go down in history as a great company destroyed by a greedy union.

badhoopty wrote:
yay me.

Everyone of us has had a moment like this...probably several. LOL!

xanadu wrote: In the end it will go down in history as a great company destroyed by a greedy union.

I understand the need and premise of a union, however they've gone from trying to protect workers to raping business and government, in turn screwing the majority so that their minority are well cared for. I personally think that ALL unions should be abolished and instead mandate and enforce lawful treatment of employees.

Sorry, Hoopty for high jacking your thread .but one can only get kicked so many times before you have to take a stand. So here gos.

Another Union Hater with no clue, you say (a great company destroyed by a greedy union) Tell me how is it that the Union destroyed the big three? The last I know the CEOs ran the company! You know the same ones that make ten times the amount of the U.S. president only to run a company into the ground and wake away with a bonus and leave thousands of workers with out jobs!!

(Bail out) Yep two of the three barrowed government money to say alive do to the sudden down turn in the economy and poor management, but let’s not forget the money barrowed will be paid back and with interest. Are you going to complain when the money is paid back and Government makes a profit? What about AGI They got a bail out did any of there employees take a pay cut or lose there jobs or do they have the government involved in there operations? I believe they received a whole lot more money then the auto company’s.

You say Greedy? Here in Michigan the big three are the biggest contributors to the United Way, These are the same people that have given thousands of hours in man power year after year to help paint houses or turn a dumping field into play ground, you know the same ones that have collected coats and put on food drives to help the needy or the ones that sent need supplies to our troops or the ones that went to New York the day after 911 to help or to help dig out after Hurricane Katrina or, or ,or ect.

What organization do you belong to that can match this? I am a UAW member and proud to say it.

Ron

Yeah, the whole detroit 3 thing is a bad scene.

pretty much, everyone is to blame that is involved. it goes far deeper than just 'these guys get paid too much' and 'these guys don't know how to run a business'.

the unions do a good job assembling vehicles, though in the initial start of this crap, were on the high side of the pay scale. contracts were in play to help alleviate the imbalance before our brilliant banking industry's ponzi scheme came to light. Unfortunately this needed to happen years prior.

There were certain things agreed on in the past that simply cannot continue without gov. support. This is the 'job banks' and health and legacy care. Too many promises were made that could not realistically be kept. You can't keep supplying support with money you don't have. With the union's not backing down, there simply is no money left when your saleable goods drops by more than 50%. very simple ecomonics that for whatever reason, could not be conveyed appropriately.

in my opinion, executive pay is out of control in this country, no need to say anything else there. It needs to be fixed. One guy at the top is not worth the pay of more than 100 'regular' employees.

the corporate mentality of the 50 and 60's needed to evolve and didn't, so arrogance ruled and drove customer base away due to sub-par products.

too many products were engineered by accounting, due to the above problems, leading to crappy products, poor support, and frustrated customers.

the goverment, both federal and local worsen the situation by allowing foriegn competitors price breaks through taxes. Federally mandated fuel consumption, and safety are opposing elements, and poorly dictated (CAFE)

finally, dealer and customer service is always an issue, and while there are some good ones, there are also some very bad ones, so any issues with a new vehicle that become a nightmare for a customer, puts a bad taste in the mouth of the customer, with potentially them never returning to an american car company. very much the issue today with the perceived 'quality' that american vehicles have.

add this all up and you have a perfect storm, spun up by the fact that the banking industry bubble burst.

now, as far as your engine is concerned Halgar, is/was it truly piston slap, or was it rod knock that caused replacement? The piston slap issue is more audible than anything. The hypereutectic pistons used needed less piston to bore clearance than was initially designed, but other than a nuisance noise on cold start-up, never really caused engine damage in the typical lifespan of these motors.