Recent content by Drakito

First I've heard of that. Still have tons of DOT 3 at my shop. Every parts store near me has hundreds of bottles of dot 3 sitting on the shelf. Maybe 5 DOT4 and 1 to 2 DOT 5. 1 DOT 5.1. DOT 3 is the standard clearish-yellow brake fluid used in every car and truck from the 60's up till today. I...

I have a "go box" in every vehicle. The go box in the Suburban(The Hulk) has wheel chocks, a small hydraulic floor jack, a bottle jack, jack stands, 4 way lug nut tool, gear wrench set, small hand tool set, extra serpentine belts that fit that vehicle, 1 qt oil, 1 qt trans, 8oz brake fluid, 1...

I've done complete race rebuilds of these engines, as well as in car head gaskets. My engine build log has about 600 photos of the process in it.

Old green and dexcool will actually slowly chemically react and turn into a sludgy gel. The main problem with dexcool is that GM originally said it was a lifetime fill fluid in 96, Cadillac in 94. Turned out it is a maintenance fill fluid that needs flushed and exchanged every 3 to 4 years. Old...

The volt light could indicate the bad battery. Reason being it is not just a dummy light on the newer models. The computer could be reading too much AC flutter in the feed, showing the battery's filtering capacity is shot. Not sure if your 02 has that ability though. Grounds are a huge thing...

Seems like you hit all the major ones. The only further things I can think of are:Check the vents in the trunk to make sure they open and close without sticking. Change the cabin air filter and vacuum out the inlet under the cowl. Check the cowl drain vents are not blocked. Check the climate...

Wire chafing in the trunk lid or by the front lights can short to ground. I have also seen minor collision damage cause it. My guess though is the other 2 fuse boxes you didn't know about. ;)

It could be heat related. As the oil heats up the pressure sensor starts getting flaky. As they are cheap and easy to replace yourself, it never hurts to swap.

Certain states can impound your vehicle if they give you 2 or more tint tickets and you don't fix it. Some states don't. Utah can revoke the registration on the second and impound on the third, making you pay the registration and impound fees for every violation. That adds up super fast, like...

The monroe all in one struts sit about 1.5 to 2 inches high for about 1 to 2 months and around 1000 miles before settling to level. The rear air ride should be normal height. If the wheels are tucked and in low rider mode there is something else wrong. Usually its an air leak somewhere, but the...

There are 3 fuse boxes on the PAU. The first under the hood is easy peasy. The second under the back seat is a little harder to find. The third in the passenger footwell is a pain and has the most fuses of them all. The lights have feeds at all 3 boxes. A single shorted out bulb can also cause...

Jeez O Pete. everything you have written about that shop would make me run as fast and as far away as I could. Fuel delivery issue is a simple check. A clunk in the engine area and they immediately jump to a new engine? What did they tell you went out? Oil pump, rod bearings, main bearings, cam...

Scan tools are always worth it. Buy the best one you can afford. The better it is, the more functions you get, such as ABS and airbag codes, ABS pump activation for bleeding, etc.

Definitely gasket leaks if you are smoking. Oil will breakdown over time and become "runnier" if you will, lowering it's viscosity due to shearing of the oil particles with use. A cracked head can also be your coolant leaks. The 3800 series 1 and 2 both are notorious for it in high mileage...

Luckily on the 2003 PAU you have, the traction control codes get stored and can be retrieved with a scan tool. They will NOT set a check engine light, but will set the traction light. When my traction light showed up 8 years ago it was the steering wheel sensor, but it can be any of the wheel...