WVMTNBIKER

Just purchased a Clean Car Fax 2001 Suburban K1500 LT with 111K miles. Excellent running condition w/no issues and with an excellent body and interior. Well cared for.

Purchased new General Grabber HTS tires today for it.

Wondering if there is anything special that should be done to it other than changing the oil, filter and air cleaner? Are there some areas that should be addressed asap i.e. tranny fluid, rear end gear oil etc? I am changing the serpentine belt too. Can Stanley Steamer steam clean the carpets too just to get them a bit more clean?

Finally, anyone know where we can purchase a side cover for the left rear captain seat in tan/beige/bisque? This covers the seat rails and the lever to move the seat up.
And also need maybe some new rear captain seat latches as the passenger rear captain seat seems to be very loose when ratcheting it foreward for third row egress. Seat almost acts broken. Shame.

Glad to be a part of this forum community. Look forward to some answers.

moose_hunter

do the trans fluid/filter and diff fluids , its better to do it now then have it go when you need the truck maybe even plugs wires and a cap and rotor all good stuff to keep ti running great

73shark

Welcome to the forum.

I'd change the transfer case fluid if it's 4WD. As far as getting parts goes, there are about three sources, dealer parts dept, on-line, and salvage yard. Check out a detailing shop for cleaning the carpets.

Might want to check the brake pads and parking brake. Also hoses.

dh1

Like the others said, you can give your fluids (oil, coolant,trans, differential and Transfer case) a change.

Personally I like to do a thorough cleaning (all over) when I get a used vehicle. I wash under the hood, under the body, and interior...so I can get a handle on any fluid leaks or whatever right away.

I wouldn't jump right onto major tune up items unless you notice performance or driveability issues. Just get on the maintenance schedule in the manual and you should be good. Expect that at 100K+ miles you might have sensor failures (o2, knock, egr, etc) occasionally.

The carpets can be professionally cleaned, but if you are really **** you can do it yourself. I wouldn't do it in the winter, but in July I pulled all my seats and carpet out of my tuck and cleaned them thoroughly. Let them air dry in the summer sun, then re-installed everything.

To pull your carpets out, you really gotta want it though It required pulling the seats and interior panels. The upside is it gave me a chance to clean everything back to like new condition before re-assembly. If I had hired a carpet steamer, it would just have cleaned the wide open spaces and not gotten the panels or the areas around the seat bases where the grime and spills tend to coagulate.

The amount of soil that I washed from my carpet was super nasty.

WVMTNBIKER

Thanks for all the great replies. In changing the diff fluid, tranny fluid, and transfer case b/c it IS a 4WD, would you really go to the Chevy dealer to do this? I know some good backyard mechanics/shops but are they really equipped to do this type of maint.?

Also, I had to order off eBay an owners manual, but I would like to change the oil asap, like tomorrow or the next day, does anyone know what weight oil this 5.3L requires? It gets pretty cold here in WV but the weather is starting to change a bit for the best. The oil pressure guage sits at a hair above 40psi at idle and goes up with RPMs. Does anyone recommend a can of RESTORE with the oil change or not? No oil leaks, no smoking at anytime, very slight valve train "tick" after really getting on the throttle for a few seconds. Hmmmmm...normal? Otherwise cannot hear the motor running at idle when standing right beside it.

And thanks for the carpet cleaning advice--makes sense--so might wait until July when it's really warm out.

And finally thanks for admitting me to this forum. I'm sure I'll have a ton of questions as time goes.

dh1

5W30 oil is recommended. Personally I use Valvoline Synthetic.

I don't know about the Restore additive. I do know people on this board and other boards that have used Sea Foam with good results. A little in the fuel tank, a little siphoned into the brake booster vacuum line. It will smoke like crazy and likely stall, but it will help clear out carbon deposits.

Regarding dealers, I would suggest that you take your truck to someone you TRUST. The best thing about my suburban is that there isn't anything mechanically fancy about it and every competent mechanic can work on it. Swapping out the fluids, general tune up, and light repairs can be done in any shop. I do nearly all of the mechanical work on my own, unless it's just too cold...or I don't have the time.

A chilton's manual would be a good thing to pick up as well. Even if you aren't going to do the repairs yourself, it's a good thing to know what the mechanic is talking about to make sure his advice makes sense.

73shark

I'd hold off on the Restore 'til you see if it's using oil. No use wasting money. Also use that money plus the Chiltons money and buy a Factory Service Manual here http://www.helminc.com/helm/Result.a...elected_media=

WVMTNBIKER

O.K., so we picked up the Suburban tonight at the dealer. After putting a bit of power steering fluid in and topping off the gas tank, it was a 25 mile drive home. All the way home I followed my son and never not once did I ever see any kind of white smoke or anything at all come from the tailpipe--even under hard acceleration.

Later this evening, my son called me to tell me there is a coolant smell OUTside the vehicle and nothing at all through the interior vents. No real evidence of puddles on the ground either.

So now we have to look for a coolant leak somewhere in the engine bay. Temp was good while running and heater works great.

Anything special we should look for besides the evident? Overflow bottle right at where it is supposed to be when hot.

73shark

Check your overflow reservoir after it completely cools and see if it's at or above the Cold mark. Hopefully the smell was just some residual coolant from a recent fill burning off.

Good place to check that usually doesn't show up initially is the water pump weep hole. When the seal first starts to go bad, it doesn't leak until the temp. is up and the pressure will cause some coolant to come out but usually doesn't drip as it dries off. Of course as the seal gets worse which is usually caused by the bearings failing, then it'll start to leak all the time. It's hard to see since it's underneath the pump.