Sarstan

Hello everyone! I'm Sarstan. Just picked up a 1995 Silverado K1500 recently and thought I'd join. Especially since I keep looking up things from this forum to fix issues I'm having. Looking forward to diving in!
She's got a good bit of body rust and has seen better days for sure, but I plan on putting her to work and keeping her going.
Around 216k miles. The engine and tranny are smooth, but the AC was out, instrument panel wouldn't show what gear you're in or the tach and speedo. Radio is aftermarket and I was amused that I could try turning the **** to turn the volume up, but it would just go up and down about evenly doing that. Pretty sure the suspension needs some work (she's VERY soft and rolls quite a bit while cornering), but haven't taken a proper look yet. Lots of other little odds and ends to work with.
Never owned a pickup before and I'm a hobbyist mechanic at best. I'm an accountant as a profession, but thoroughly enjoy turning a wrench. At least when the project is going right.
Anyway, long intro, but I plan on being around on asking how to fix problems and perhaps documenting the trip.

jfmorris

Welcome to the old Chevy truck club, haha! I've got a 1996 C1500 in the driveway with the same shade of blue and peeled clearcoat. My wife always asks why I have two pickup trucks - it's because I can't bear to part with the old one, which was my first truck as well.

I recently replaced every single light bulb in the instrument cluster. Only 4 of what I think was 17 bulbs still were lit, making it hard to see what was going on at night for sure! All those bulbs are in little twist sockets. However, the gear light is in fact the only LED in the instrument cluster, so I am kinda surprised it isn't working.

One possibility is that the cluster needs reseating. The entire thing is held in with I think 4 screws, and then if you tilt the wheel down, move the shift lever to 3 to get it out of the way, you can pull it right out and off the connector it mates with in the dash. I would reseat it, and see if that brings back any of the functionality. If not, you have more wrong than in my 1996, and it will be more work to replace non-working gauge movements, but its doable.

Sarstan

Oh, I should have mentioned I fixed a few issues so far. The cluster turned out to be the ignition switch. Naturally I replaced a couple of other things like the speed sensor and bought a whole new instrument panel to replace the original (but put the original back in, after a clean and polish of the plastic). I haven't had a chance to drive it at night to see how well it lights up (probably should soon), but I might get a whole new set of lights in there for it just for good measure. Any suggestions on lights for that? I've been tempted to pick up a bunch of LED ones on Amazon, but not sure what to expect with them.
I also took care of the AC working. Mostly it was just about dry and the low pressure switch was out. I replaced the AC clutch on that (that was a fun job) and was a bit bothered after that didn't solve it. It pays to check the cheap options first, lol. After that it was just jumping the connection and refilling the AC.
I've got a blower resistor or whatever it's called coming to take care of the climate control panel only blowing at full blast or not at all. Should be here tomorrow. I'm also planning on diving into learning to weld in the next month or three and patching up some of the bodywork after I get competent at it. It doesn't show in the picture, but rust has eaten a good bit of the lower body away.

jfmorris

Glad your AC fix was that easy. Mine works if I pull a vacuum and then charge it, but won't hold a charge, and I have yet to spot a leak, other than the high and low side valves, that I replaced. I recently spotted what looks to be another low side port on the condenser, behind the grill, and need to remove the entire front grill to get to it and see if it is leaking. Hopefully that is it.

On the lights, as you may have noticed, the bulbs on the cluster are all socketed, and I just replaced them with the same bulbs, all Sylvania, off Amazon. There are a couple of sizes used, and you can purchase them on Amazon, RockAuto, etc. Looks like I ordered a bunch of Sylvania 194LL (10 pack) and Philips 74LL (6 2 packs) bulbs off Amazon back in March. That gave me a few extras for the instrument cluster. Some of the bulbs are for general illumination of things like the tach and speedometer, others are for the actual indicator lights, most of which were burned out for me.

I thought about doing the LED's, but was actually concerned they might be TOO bright. If you do it, I'll be curious to hear how you like them.

Good luck with the welding. I've got a dented in passenger side rocker panel I would like to replace/repair before I get the truck repainted. I was in an accident where I got T-boned about 18 years ago, and the passenger door was smashed, and it dented in the rocker panel. At the time, I just threw a new junkyard door on there, with my interior panels, and spray painted it with touchup paint to match the rest of the truck.... as I restore the truck I want to do it right this time around.