What would yall recommend?

Keith1138

Keith1138

Well-Known Member
Joined
Nov 18, 2015
Location
Harrisburg NC
My dads 2004 chevy Silverado with the v6 2wd hasn't seen any real maintenance since he bought it 4 years ago its about to hit 150,000 miles. What would yall recommend doing?

He was driving back and forth to richmond va from concord nc every other weekend. And now his commute is about a hour.

I'm thinking spark plugs and new struts/shocks in the front end. Just for basics.

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Trans fluid and diff fluid, if you don't know when that was done last. I don't know what the coolant change interval is either, but that's worth looking into. All of those things are cheap and worthwhile if you don't know the maint history at all.

Also, belts.
 
Check ball joints and tie rods for play.
 
tune up, AC DELCO ignition parts only, while under the cap, pull and twist dizzy shaft up, then push pull forward and back, any noticeable play, replace the dizzy assembly with an aluminum body.

Existing one is plastic and wears from the side load of cam gear pushing up and back on the dizzy shaft.
 
I'd make a big order from Rock Auto.
Everything for the ignition, plugs wires and so on. Belts, hoses,
Flush the cooling system, thermostat, and if it has a radiator cap, change that too.
All fluids. Oil trans(if auto, and never been touched, I'd have it flushed(have to take to someone who has the machine, that will get all the old out of the torque converter too)
If manual, drain and refill. Drain the PS fluid and refill it too. Change out the air filter, and cabin filter too. Change out the fuel filter(s).
Check battery cables, for any oxidation, clean, coat with some no-ox, clean battery terminals too. If the Battery is older that 3 years, probably about time to replace it too.
Drain the diff, reseal, and fill it up to level. Check the u-joints, if feel good, grease(if they are greaseable). Any slop, change them out.
New wiper blades probably wouldn't hurt.
 
If it has plastic connectors for the heater core at the firewall, don't overlook them. I've replaced them on 3 or 4 trucks on the side of the road at around that mileage.
XJsavage said:
Not a damn thing. If it works now, its good for another 100k. The alternator is going to go out at 175k. Just be ready.
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I'm with @XJsavage, these trucks get crazy mileage without detailed maintenance for sure. You will have to expect the rare breakdown. Depending on the necessity of reliability, do all things mentioned or just the known weak links, but at least the known weak links.
 
So, if you didn't get the right advice on the trans, you should.....

Leave it alone if it's never been serviced, change fluid and filter but not flush it, or change fluid and filter and flush it. In no particular order, lol.

Transmission maintenance from folks is like predicting the weather.

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My stance is. If trans never was serviced, don't mess with it, don't even change fluid. Filter is pretty much more a pickup screen than filter.. if it's clogged, it's already too late. Now, if it's been serviced, go ahead and change the fluid. Flush... Err, if you want to rebuild it, flush it. (The wear, tiny clutch particles that go through filter screen, decrease lubricity & aid in keeping worn clutches working longer.. especially never change the fluid if it's slipping. If it's not slipping, you'll most likely be ok changing fluid & filter.)

Me personally, i would check and repair as necessary heater core fittings (pull, push and gently try to bend.. Likely snap in your hand. So do it cold), cooling system, steering linkage/suspension, tires, brakes, gear oil, tc fluid, oil change and tires and run the wheels off it.
 
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I rememberd about this but couldnt remember specifics so I had to look it up. This is coming from the mouth of a VERY respected transmission man....(@transman731)

ok, here we go, i will start by saying that if you go to 100 transmission shops, 50% will agree with me.
atf is basically hydraulic fluid with detergents and dye.
any particulate matter in the fluid (from wear), sticks to the inside of the drums centrifugally.
when you service the trans (drop pan, drain and fill ect.) you remove a portion of the fluid. when you add new fluid back to it, you are diluting the new fluid with the fluid that remained in the trans and converter. an example, on a honda, dry, it holds between 8-10 qts, a drain and fill with have you add 3-4qts back to the trans to get it full again.(approx. 1/3 of total)
when you do a flush, you are removing all of the fluid, and replacing it with all new fluid. all of the new fluid contains a large amount of detergent,which was fine when the trans was new. since the trans has wear, all the particulate matter that has been spun to the inside of the parts is now getting washed away and "fluid bound", so it's now getting circulated back through your trans. this doesn't happen on a roadtest, it happens over time, so the customer drives away feeling confident he has done the right thing. 2 months later he shows up at my shop with a transmission problem. all the crap has been collected in the filter and sucked the filter shut and starved the trans of fluid, not to mention run through all of your bearings and bushings, and don't forget playing hell on the valve body.
in the case of a honda, the filter is internal (sump) , the valve body has 2 dime sized filters, and there are 12 tubes(smaller diameter than a pencil) that contain filters in the end of them. honda uses clutches that are "fuzzy" when they start to breakdown, they can clog the filters under normal conditions, flushing them really screws them up.
 
NCJeeplover said:
I rememberd about this but couldnt remember specifics so I had to look it up. This is coming from the mouth of a VERY respected transmission man....(@transman731)

ok, here we go, i will start by saying that if you go to 100 transmission shops, 50% will agree with me.
atf is basically hydraulic fluid with detergents and dye.
any particulate matter in the fluid (from wear), sticks to the inside of the drums centrifugally.
when you service the trans (drop pan, drain and fill ect.) you remove a portion of the fluid. when you add new fluid back to it, you are diluting the new fluid with the fluid that remained in the trans and converter. an example, on a honda, dry, it holds between 8-10 qts, a drain and fill with have you add 3-4qts back to the trans to get it full again.(approx. 1/3 of total)
when you do a flush, you are removing all of the fluid, and replacing it with all new fluid. all of the new fluid contains a large amount of detergent,which was fine when the trans was new. since the trans has wear, all the particulate matter that has been spun to the inside of the parts is now getting washed away and "fluid bound", so it's now getting circulated back through your trans. this doesn't happen on a roadtest, it happens over time, so the customer drives away feeling confident he has done the right thing. 2 months later he shows up at my shop with a transmission problem. all the crap has been collected in the filter and sucked the filter shut and starved the trans of fluid, not to mention run through all of your bearings and bushings, and don't forget playing hell on the valve body.
in the case of a honda, the filter is internal (sump) , the valve body has 2 dime sized filters, and there are 12 tubes(smaller diameter than a pencil) that contain filters in the end of them. honda uses clutches that are "fuzzy" when they start to breakdown, they can clog the filters under normal conditions, flushing them really screws them up.
Click to expand...
QFT.
 
If it ain't broke, don't fix it.
Change the oil and roll.
 
My plan is to change rear diff fluid, unit bearings and shocks. Check tierod ends. Also might do new front pads if needed.

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150,000 miles isn't enough on a modern truck to just drive it till it needs work.

I'd do all the fluids. But, I wouldn't do them all in one go. Driving an hour a day will rack up the miles. You could probably get away with adding one of these per oil change and be set.

I just did the fluid and filter on my 2011 Sierra. I had to drop the exhaust to get the pan off. 5/6 exhaust bolts came off with a socket. 1/6 came off with a cutting wheel. Just be ready for that to not go well.
 
Just got done changing the wheel hubs. One was completely shot it had about a 1/4 inch of up down travel. The other was decent a tad loose so since I already had one I went ahead and replaced it also. It drives and handles so much better.

Next thing is to find the cause of the rough idle. I ran out of steam to do the fuel filter today so it's going to get done next weekend along with spark plugs.

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