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After years and years of working on GM stuff I'm fully convinced GM has a department whose sole function in life is to make life harder on mechanics. I swear it's the only way to explain why stuff that could be put anywhere is put in the one place that it almost but won't quite come off without spending an hour removing several unrelated items. I wouldn't be a bit surprised if all three automakers had the same engineering thoughts on this. After all, they're all in Detroit, you know they all get together for beers on the weekend and talk shop, and when they job hop they're all right there in the same place.
Yeah, like water pump bolts you have to drop the engine cradle down eight inches to remove........ (celebrity) Worked at a Chevy dealer for three years. Some of the stuff I saw there defied belief.
I think you hit the nail on the head there though, sure would explain a lot......
Yea, the downstream is likely on top of the transmission.
Well, I dunno about the other models but on this quad cab, it's the upstream that sits above the tranny. I'm not as worried about unscrewing it, as I am about getting at the plug. I think I'll use one of those trim tools to pop the plug from the body, then zip tie it somewhere easier when I'm done. Seems like I'm always relocating stuff on this truck. One of my faves was the hood latch.
Well, I finally got the O2 sensors installed. Lets see if they have any effect on mileage. Lately I've been seeing slightly less than 14 mpg, mostly local driving.
Almost 7.5K since the valve job, so lumped it in with an oil change and wheel rotation. With the new valve seals and valve stem seals, I lost no oil. Even with 7.5K, the oil was still honey colored on the stick. The tailpipe still has no soot buildup from when I cleaned it out back in early June. https://dodgeforum.com/forum/2nd-gen...ml#post3483358 Not bad for 317K.
The old sensors 'looked' to be in great shape. I'm keeping them as spares since they were technically still good. The downstream was easily removed with an adjustable wrench. The upstream was a bit more challenging cause the transmission pan was in the way. I managed to find a rusty old Chinese 22 mm wrench and was able to lean it just enough to make it work. Getting the plug off where it was mounted was a beyotch, but it's done
Upstream
Downstream
Rear pads getting low! Maybe on the next oil change.
Last edited by Dodgevity; Oct 3, 2020 at 09:03 PM.
It may take a couple of tanks before the new O2s show their worth. You can speed it up by clearing the computer's fuel trims. Easiest way is to unhook the battery overnight, but there's probably other ways too. The computer learned the old O2s, and will have to unlearn them then learn the new ones. Setting it back to base is the quickest way.
If you cut the floorpan out and 'flintstone' it, you'll get better gas mileage! My mileage has dropped since I live closer to work and it's pretty much a short trip in town... 8 miles @ 35-45mph and lights is not good for mileage... Even my Camry took quite a sock to the MPGs (~30 to 21mpg this morning).. So they might be sneaking in more ethanol.
Updating: First two tanks were a bust as I spent lots of time idling on long lines and what not. Filled up today and I got 15.36 mpg, mixed. So far that seems to be a bit of an improvement with the new sensors. Hopefully I can do a long drive soon. Got family in NC I wanna see, but no one wants visitors in the age of Covid... LOL. I'll update this now and then, in case someone is thinking about getting new sensors.
Oh... I also threw on some new rear brake pads a few weeks back.
Last edited by Dodgevity; Nov 11, 2020 at 12:16 PM.
