Well new to me at least!

Some of you helped me out in my other thread when looking for one. Well I finally pulled the trigger and picked one up!

It's a 2002 4x4 QC LB auto. Single owner, garage kept majority of its life, never had a goose neck or 5th wheel (which is harder to find than you'd think up here). Came with a 2in leveling kit and 35's and a hypertech 'tuner' to fix the speedo. Other then that, she's all stock. I crawled under to check for any signs of a 53 and couldn't find anything, so I might have a mexican block, but I'm going to keep checking. I couldn't be happier! I originally wanted a manual, but the wife said, if I'm getting a new truck then she better at least be able to drive it. So rather then argue, I just said 'ok' and got lookin!

Anyways, wanted to start a thread here because, since it is stock and I'm planning on keeping this truck for the long haul, I wanted to do some mini write ups of the mods and what not I get done to her. As of now, here's the order I want to go in:

1. FUEL! and lots of it!

2. Gauges

3. Steering

4. Transmission

5. More power!

3 and 4 may get swapped around depending on what's needed more and my budget but that's the general order.

 

So to start, fuel... The stock injection pump was replaced by the dealer 50-60k miles ago so it should have some decent life left, and it looks like they moved the stock lift pump. I didn't track it down exactly, just looking fairly quickly, and couldn't find it mounted on the frame, did they do in tank LP's for 02's? I'd like to fatten up my fuel lines to 3/8s everywhere possible, also looking to go with the Fuel Boss, but not sure how that works if my LP is mounted in the back in tank if that's even a thing. Any ideas or experience with this? As of now I'm looking at getting the following for step 1.

FUEL BOSS ----- BIG LINE KIT ----- MOD FUEL MODULE

As far as fuel lines, the obvious is the big line kit from Vulcan but I figured I'd talk with Eric about getting lines replace as much stock line as possible. I also threw on the modified fuel module. I saw that as I was browsing their site and hadn't seen it before. Is that necessary at all? Keep in mind I'm just looking to have fuel flow as easily as possible through the truck. When more power rolls around I don't plan on going EXTREME, but would like lack of fuel to never be thought of again after this.

I'll leave at this for now but really looking forward to wrenching on this truck and getting her setup for the long haul!

Is it everyone's habit to see how low they can run on fuel, or just checking in case of necessity. I always try to fill up at 1/4 tank. Course I live 15 miles from fuel and need to use fuel to plow road to get to hiway. 

I try to fill at 1/4 tank, but sometimes I don't get around to getting fuel until she is all the way empty.  

I have always run mine pretty low if I  know where the next fuel stop is on highways I run regularly. If I am unsure of the next stop I fill up around warning light time.

Out here since good fuel is long way in between so I typically go for quality name brand fuels and skip the Mom & pop places just too risky. So at times I do run below 1/4 down to Empty if I know I can make it to a large city or quality place.

3 hours ago, TFaoro said:

You could always do what my brother did... Bough a sump with a drawstraw. To me that's a pretty ideal setup!

You talking turbos now????

How would a sump with drawstraw work? 

No turbos yet  I was talking about a bhaf and exhaust. At least so I can hear what little whistles I can make now! Driving the 02 compared to my 99 sounds like a Prius! Hahah 

You just run the drawstraw 3/4 of the way down into the sump. I think Fass advertises one.

2 hours ago, TFaoro said:

You just run the drawstraw 3/4 of the way down into the sump. I think Fass advertises one.

I'll look into that.

 

On a separate note. I finally got around to driving around a bit to get used to how things sound and act. Things seem to shift at faster speeds then my 99. Is this because the bigger tires? I'm also getting a sort of a clunk sound around 45mph. Doesn't seem to affect driving forward or stutter the truck at all, but I did hear it twice. Did 02's have different transmissions then 99 or earlier models? The truck seems to lock the torque converter around 35-40mph and then again around 55-60mph. Again, nothing seems alarming or major, but it's different to me so just want to know if I should pursue this further or if this just comes with a leveled, 4x4 and 35in tire type of incident. Keep in mind my 99 is a 2wd, stock trans.

Forgot to mention, the truck has had a hypertech on it to fix the speedo with the bigger tires, not sure if the 'tune' is on or not, but I'll double check, maybe that's changing things?

3 minutes ago, notlimah said:

Things seem to shift at faster speeds then my 99. Is this because the bigger tires?

 

5 minutes ago, notlimah said:

The truck seems to lock the torque converter around 35-40mph and then again around 55-60mph.

You might grab a GPS and compare your Speedometer and odometer for error. The gearing difference cause by the tires will change shift points and lockup.

6 minutes ago, notlimah said:

Forgot to mention, the truck has had a hypertech on it to fix the speedo with the bigger tires

Might check with a GPS to see if the calibration is right. So many people assume that programming the tire size will be correct. Then find out afterwards the speedometer is still off because brand A and brand B 35" tires might differ by 0.5+/- so the revs per mile can be different. Just like my example 235's vs 265's is only 1 rev per mile difference by my Garmin GPS V can see the 0.5 MPH difference. Even my ScanGauge II can show a odometer error between the two.

Alright, that puts my mind at ease a bit as far as shift points. I drove the same route so religiously that even though I drove an auto, I'd have my rpm's and shift points down to a tee. I'll check out a GPS and see if it correlates.

Do you think there's anything to worry about or check in regards to the 'clunk' around 45mph? It doesn't feel bad, but it's enough to notice.

3rd lockup? Every time you take your foot off the gas pedal the torque converter unlocks. Then you get into the pedal again and 3rd locks up. 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 3rd lock up and 4th(locked). Lock up shouldn't "clunk" but you can hear and feel it. 

Ok so if I'm running down the road with overdrive on, as in, O/D is not highlight on my dash, it will lock up in 3rd, accelerate some more then shift to 4th, the lock again?

In my 99, it would only lock in 3rd if I had O/D off, then if I turned O/D on, it would unlock, rev up a bit then shift to 4th and lock up again once I gained speed. Not sure if there's a difference in years that's causing it to be different between the two trucks, or the tires or what. Just want to make sure things are working correctly.

As far as the 'clunk' it is more of a feel/hear it, doesn't sound like grinding gears or anything.

yes later trucks lock in 3rd without needing to mess with the OD button.

 

shifting goes,

1,2,3,3lu,4,4lu  the 4 lu should happen nearly at the same time as the 3->4 shift.  The clunk is likely just the converter locking right as / after the 3/4 shift.

So it seems what's happening is from 3rd lock up to 4th its causing a little rpm hesitation or jump, not really sure how to describe it. Probably because I drive the thing like a granny and don't accelerate hard so it's probably just getting confused at certain mph's.

This morning I went out to fire up the truck, started fine, had a decent amount of white smoke while she was warming up, but eventually stopped after a bit. Well I always reach in and turn up the defroster and heater to get that started. Yesterday, it worked fine, I was actually surprised at how well and quickly it worked. Today, not so much, even after the engine temp got up a bit it was still blowing luke warm air, definitely not hot. What can I check to see if something wrong? I saw something about a blend door? I'm lost haha

I'd say the first thing to do is check the coolant level and temperature of the heater core hoses located on the passenger side firewall. They should be about the same temp with the blower motor off and the engine running. Not real likely the heater core plugged over night but possible. 

It also could be a blend door issue. Turn the temp knob from cold to hot a few times, you should hear/feel if the door moves. I think there's an article on blend door repairs. 

The blend door motor has a little coupler that is made out of plastic and it tends to crack or break. Here is what I used on mine.http://www.heatertreater.net/. It is a bit a pain with the hvac box in place but easier than removing the dash. 

Edited February 9, 20169 yr by dripley

Thanks for the tips. The previous owner said he just took it in because the heater wasn't working and they replaced the serpentine, thermostat and the entire radiator, so I assume everything's good up there. I'll probably order up one of those heater treaters and see if that fixes it. Just need to figure out which module I have since apparently 02 was a cross over year.

You have the 95-02. The 02-08 deals with the 1500 02's since they were 3rd gens.

See if this video helps. I think its for a third gen model  but it works the same as a 2ed gen.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KAclL84Qq8E&feature=youtu.be

 

 

Edited February 10, 20169 yr by Mopar1973Man

Thanks! I was wondering where it was! Haha

Be sure and check the 2nd gen instructions. IIRC you dont have to take the dash apart you just have to pull the little actuator motor from under the dash. I did mine with the hvac box removed.