Hello and glad to meet fellow Chevrolet owners! I'm in northern Alberta, Canada just east of Dawson Creek where the Alaska Highway begins.

It's a handicap modified vehicle with very low floor and automatic wheelchair ramp, but basics first.

Does the V6 have a timing belt? It has 215 000 km, no maintenance records. Our other van, a Toyota required a new belt at 140 000 and 280 000. Expensive. Disaster if it breaks in use. There is no mention of a timing belt in the Uplander manual. We are trying to track down previous owners. Might there be a Chevrolet registry with some records? Any way to tell if the belt was changed?

How the devil do you get the battery out? It's under a stabilizer bar (?) with a lot of stuff attached to it, possibly for the wheelchair ramp, though there are several similar looking boxes with "HID lights" written on them. Beyond that, the post connectors are strange to me - looks like a small screw is sticking straight up, no bolt clamp. I don't think the battery is in very good shape after sitting for 8 months in a garage. Voltage was 12.3 after driving it 50 miles home. My automatic charger worked on it all day applying 15.5 volts. I've never seen it charge for that long before.

There are check engine codes, all P036 and something like "heater circuit bank 1 H025," - something to do with sensors in the exhaust system, that I will take to a repair shop.
The good news is it drives well, lots of power and the wheelchair ramp works very well. We used it today to take mother in law to the hospital, which otherwise would have required an ambulance. And another old lady who fainted at an art show.

Thanks for reading an appeal from a very amateur mechanic who may be in trouble!

 

P036 refers to the oxygen sensor on bank 1 sensor 2. This is the sensor on the same side as cylinder 1 and the sensor after the converter. Your engine has a timing chain not a belt. The little screw on the battery terminal is for loosening and tightening the clamp onto the battery terminal. How old is your battery? 12.3 volts with the engine not running is good. What is the amp rating of your charger?

 

My charger was on the lowest range, 10 amps. I like to disconnect the battery when using higher ranges because it goes a little past 16 volts and I worry about damage to the computer, etc. I can't see enough of the battery to tell the age but I know it has been misused so expect it is about done. It sat in a heated garage for at least 6 months and had 12.1 volts when I first saw it. I would do a desulfate run on it if I could get it out of the vehicle. I read somewhere that it comes out if the strut over top of it is removed.

So a timing chain rather than a belt - thank you very much. I am thinking that means it won't need to be changed for a long time if ever. Great news!

 

hey there, Here's a link on how to remove the battery.
There a few other videos out there if needed.
hope this helps.

 

Thanks, Alex! That helps but ours has a lot of boxes with wires attached to that bar. I will have to take lots of photos before dismantling that mess.

Meanwhile MIL passed away in the hospital so we no longer need pd a wheelchair van so its needs are low priority.
I read that a dirty air filter can cause oxygen sensor engine codes so that would be the first step. YouTube videos suggest replacing the sensors is easy but the sensors are expensive.

 

If the filter is dirty replace it...but a dirty air filter will not set a 0xygen sensor code.

 

Thanks, tech2!
Another suggestion was to clean the contacts on the sensors using Deoxit D100 contact cleaner and rejuvenator. It seems reasonable for a contact failure in such a hostile place to disable a sensor. I'd hate to toss an $80 sensor because it's contacts are corroded.

 

I finally got at the oxygen sensor codes. I recorded the codes more carefully; all four were on bank 1, sensor 2. All my worrying about accessing the sensors before the catalytic converter were unnecessary; that single sensor is very easy to get at. I disconnected the cable at its connection to the van wiring, gave each side a shot of electrical cleaner and connected again. I had a 7/8 inch wrench with me and checked the fit - a wee bit loose so I tried turning the sensor out of the exhaust pipe and it came loose with no difficulty. Maybe I should have cleaned it but was anxious to see if the contact cleaner worked. It did - the codes cleared when I used the code reader clear feature and the check engine light stayed off. Took a drive; after two blocks two of the four codes came back. I cleared them again and so far no more engine light! Lucky!

Thanks very much for the help!