Hello for now. I was looking for an active forum for the van and I found you folks. I've read through posts from about the last year to get a feel for the group. Myself, I'm an power equipment mechanic and do my own repairs and maintenance. The van is a 2008 Savana 2500 cargo 8600 GVW. Currently it has 104,000 miles, fairly well loaded. weight wise. I bought it with 9,000 miles when it was not quite a year old. The previous owner had a Clifford alarm / RKE installed and other than adding a bluetooth stereo to it and making the van accommodate the work I do, I just keep it maintained plus brakes and tires on it. It has an extra couple of batteries to run a 5000 watt inverter. I've beaten the dreaded shudder in the steering when hot.

Next for the van is replacing the shocks and I was contemplating coil overs for the rear just to give it a bit more substance, though neither Gabriel or Monroe spec them for this van after 2002. The van's only quirk that comes to mind is that my scan tool won't communicate with the computer. I'm sure that I've scanned it early on, but for the last few years, nadda. This is something that may bite me in the future. Though my tool works on the other car, I may just pop into a Napa or something and see if they can communicate with their scanner. Thoughts are certainly welcome on either of these. Otherwise, we'll see you in the forum! Tom

 

Depends ... did you bring any beer?

Welcome, and hopefully you will find some answers here.

I know there's at least a couple of us who would be interested in your electrical setup. A few words about that might draw some ooo's and ahhh's.

I'm not familiar with the steering shudder when hot issue, but I do have shudder on sticky pavement when moving slowly, so I'm curious about that.

As for the scan tool ... the same data lines that are on the OBD connector should also be available in other places too (eg. PCM, BCM, Stereo, Communications module etc.). So if it's a matter of bad physical connection, you can test it that way. There are wiring diagrams here:
Search Wiring Diagrams
https://www.gmupfitter.com/pages/body-builder-manuals

 

I'm only good for about 3 cans of beer at the moment, but I can find more!
Thanks for the welcome and link. I will elaborate more here in a bit. Tom

 

Welcome Tom. Regarding the scan tool, here's a thread on something similar that also reads codes;

https://chevroletforum.com/forum/exp...-thread-87881/

What area do you live in? And what motor is in your van? Inquiring minds want to know.

 

I live in Washington state BTW. The van has the 4.8. The engine has no issues serving it's purpose, but fuel economy may have been better with a diesel? Too late now! So the shudder of which I spoke occurred during braking as the brakes got hot (ie on long hills), the shudder was way beyond pulsation and would shake the front end violently. This happened from early on. I began to think this is why it was traded in by 9,000 miles. I went over the load factors, changed rotors, upgraded rotors and pads etc. In the end, the drilled and slotted rotors helped quite a bit, but as they came out of spec , it would reoccur. The culprit was apparently idler and pitman arms. They were likely no good from the get go. Go figure. I installed the HD MOOG ones and it seemed to conquer the issue. My van likes brakes. I went from EBC to Powerstop. I'd go through and meticulously set up the rotors with a dial caliper etc. I should really change the brake fluid but I feel that I'd need to be extra careful as if I would need to run the ABS pump, without tool support that I would need to find another way.

The inverter is a good quality 5000 watt set up , though not true sine. It will run an air compressor , laser printer or the occasional plug in tool. I use 3 deep cycle batteries including the one in the front tray. I never needed to up the alternator amps, just use a battery minder at the home base as needed. As a camper set up, one should have the high amp alternator.

I'll have to look over the scan tool info when time allows. It is something that could be real helpful in case there are codes to retrieve. I did once dig into it and got nowhere other than knowing no fuse was popped, power and grounds were where they needed to be at the connector. I dunno if the alarm wiring had something to do with it, but it looks like a good install. I made sure that the mobilizer feature was not used. Are there other DLC connectors at the modules themselves?

All in all, I like the van. Maybe when I'm done working it to death I'll hot rod it. Or make a camp mobile out of it. Anyone have thoughts on the lack of load adjusting shocks availability? Maybe the Dana rear end and clearance issues? I dunno. I should have scoped it out better when I was changing the axle fluid the other day.

 

I had that problem with my old Astro. But my 2013 Savana doesn't have any because it uses rack and pinion. Good, because there's less steering parts to break. Bad, because when you drive on rough roads, the steering wheel wants to break your fingers off.

So what kind of batteries do you use and where did you mount them? Where did you mount the inverter? What kind of isolation?
Sorry for the inquisition but this might be worth its own topic with pictures.


No. You would need to tap into the wires.

 

It is definitely a service truck type of set up. The inverter is mounted on the cargo barrier behind where the passenger seat would be. But, when I had the seat in place , it would let the seat travel nearly all the way back. It is a fairly thick inverter. I have a manual (golf cart) solenoid switch rather than a load sensing isolator, so I flip the solenoid switch and then the inverter. The solenoid lets me tie into the main truck battery to extend capacity or to allow charging by the vehicle in a situation where I would have a high use situation. Never happens. The two additional batteries are on the other side of the barrier in a vertical cabinet which houses other goodies. All 3 batteries are marine / starting Exides. It is cabled with welding cable pretty much and components are mounted to the barrier. Added an extra engine/ chassis ground for good measure. This set up has been dependable for the life of the van and could more elegantly be adapted to say a camping situation. There are reasons to have a true sine inverter , but I don't require one. This is the place I bought mine from 9 years ago. They are a great resourse as well. It is similar though not exact. Cheaper if I recall too! https://www.donrowe.com/wagan-tech-5...p/wag5000p.htm