hondaman74

Hello all,
I just recently bought a 03 Burban 2500 8.1L LT Auto ride to replace my 99 Tahoe. I had a few questions that I thought you could help me with.

1. What are or are they any areas that I need to look into with consistent problems? For example, the Tahoe’s had fuel pump, coolant leaks, etc. What does the 2500 8.1 got wrong with it.

2. Are there any bulletins or recalls I need to be aware of. I check NHTSA but only found 1 for turn signals with camper mirrors which mine has.

3. Any general precautions or recommendations you may have to keep this truck going. It has 52k on it.

4. It has the Bose stereo, and I want to add the DVD player, practically the only option it did not come with. In research the Bose DVD is different that the Panasonic unit. IS this true, anything needed besides the unit and harness to the radio. It also has a sunroof in it so doe it take the side-by-side unit instead of the front to rear unit.

Any info you could give me would be great. Ay recommendations you may want to suggest for improvements to power, I know it does not need it but he y were guys and can never leave things alone.

Thanks a new member to the site.
Keith

vf171

We have a 2002 2500 8.1L LT w/ Autoride.

We have about 82K on it but we only put about 16K of that on it. The only thing I can think of is the crankshaft position sensor. If the truck starts stalling with amazing repetition this is something I would look into. Ours would stall almost within 1/10 of mile of the same spot every day. We were told it was the fuel pump (the GM garage pressure tested it) but it kept doing the same thing. I did some searching and on one of the Avalanche owners web sites I ran across a thread where at least 35 people complained about the same problem. Every one of them had an 8.1L and was cured by replacing the sensor. Ours was too. It's in a very hard to reach spot and after 4 hours of trying to get the old one out I took it ti the mechanic to do it. I think it was less then $100 including sensor.

As far as I know they still use the same basic fuel pump design as many of the other GM vehicleswhich is unbelievably expensive and prone to failure. We never let the tank go below 1/4 on any of our GM's now. The fuel helps to keep the pump cool from what I understand. I have had fuel pump failure on 4 out of the past 5 GM vehicles I've owned.

I was the same way as you when I got the truck, I replaced the wires, plugs, engine coolant (flush and drain), thermostat, and a slightly leaky water pump. Replaced intake filter as well as the cabin filter too. While I wasin there I went ahead and drained the tranny and replaced the filter. It was all going to have to be done anyways so I figured I better do it while I was "excited" about the truck and try to prevent failures. I also had the delaer replace the serpentine belt since it was squeeling pretty bad when we test drove it.

The only other thing done to it was replacing almost the entire A/C system (TWICE!). I'm not sure what caused it to fail the first time for sure but the compressor came apart and contaminated the entire system. The second time was about 2 weeks later and the local A/C shop I took it to replaced everything for no cost. He thought the replacement compressor was faulty but not sure. It has worked fine since then.

Sorry, can't help you with the DVD stuff. We don't have the Bose stereo but we do have dual headrest players (Audiovox). Since it was all wired up when we bought the truck I don't know much about it other than I hope it never breaks. They are pricey and look like they are a wiring nightmare.

Good luck.

EDIT: Oh yeah, welcome to forum....

Tashier

if you get a knocking in the steering column, get your intermediate shaft replaced. It's got an updated part for it.
I've had a million probs with my 05 3/4 ton 8.1L so good luck.