• Steel Soldiers now has a few new forums, read more about it at: New Munitions Forums!

  • Microsoft MSN, Live, Hotmail, Outlook email users may not be receiving emails. We are working to resolve this issue. Please add support@steelsoldiers.com to your trusted contacts.

Next Dmax conversion.

Mogman

Mogman

Moderator
Staff member
Moderator
Steel Soldiers Supporter
7,283
10,216
113
Location
Papalote, TX
Well I picked up a 2007 Duramax LBZ today, I have no idea how many miles are on it etc. we will have to wait and see.
So next step besides paying for and picking up the truck is to get it running and do an oil sample on the engine if everything seems OK.
 

Attachments

Mogman

Mogman

Moderator
Staff member
Moderator
Steel Soldiers Supporter
7,283
10,216
113
Location
Papalote, TX
Got the Dmax home today, stuck enough battery to get the inst. panel going and it show only 205K!!! although some of that was obviously on the beach by the rust in the rockers.
Then I noticed it was leaking fuel which makes no sense as the Dmax does not come with a lift pump, got to looking around and I will be damned it has an AirDog fuel preporator, $750 worth, not too shabby for a $2700 (with fees) truck!! and the second salvage Dmax I purchased that had one!
The oil is leaking out of the engine, possibly someone got a little frisky with the forks! (or maybe a rod is hanging out of the side of the block) will see when we get it off the trailer.
It also had the EGR system removed, a couple hundred less that I will have to spend on it.
IT has DSP 5, means it has up to 5 different tunes, can be selected from the drivers seat, kind of a bummer is I will never know what those tunes are as you cannot download tunes from a DSP 5 setup only upload them to the ECM so I will have to provide my own tunes because I cannot make any changes to the loaded tunes and will have to make changes to compensate for the missing "stuff" when going stand alone.
The panel shows what position the gear shift lever is in, that means it appears to have a functional TCM, I can shift the transfer case so it has a functional TCCM and since all the engine data looks to be working it appears to have a functional ECM
All in all not a bad start!!
IMG_20240105_122427670_HDR.jpg
 
Last edited:
Mogman

Mogman

Moderator
Staff member
Moderator
Steel Soldiers Supporter
7,283
10,216
113
Location
Papalote, TX
NDT said:
This a Copart buy? Chevy kinda looks fixable.
Click to expand...
Yes, I have dealt with a ton of auction companies in the last 50 years or so but none match those folks for tacking on every little fee etc.
Like an $83 "internet biding fee" hell that is the only way you can bid, they charged me over 12% tax when the vehicle tax in TX is 6.25%, this of course I can get refunded if I jump through enough hoops and file for a refund from the state, I am sure that will be easy :(
It costs $100 a year for the privilege to bid.
You must have 10% cash deposit in your account.
A "gate fee"
An "environmental fee"
It just goes on and on.
They also cannot count, in the world I grew up in a day consisted of 24hrs, you have 3 "days" to remove the vehicle, my calculator says that is 72hrs
The auction ended at about 1 PM on Tue, I was there at 11 AM on Fri, 70hrs after the auction and had to pay a days "storage fee"

The frame is pretty tore up but I suppose one could get it road worthy again, interior is actually very nice, even has a Pioneer DVD panel in the dash, but considering its age and the rusty rockers I doubt it would be worth the effort., the air bags did deploy, that a few bucks
The bed and tail gate, doors etc are pretty nice, I think I can recoup some just selling what is left after pulling the drive train.

The rust in the rockers does not match the rest of the truck, off hand I would say maybe the whole family would jump in the truck while still wet with salt water, there is no rust in the rocker area of the bed and none I can see on the frame, strange..

I just hope the drive train is good, it is always a crap shoot...
 
Last edited:
Mogman

Mogman

Moderator
Staff member
Moderator
Steel Soldiers Supporter
7,283
10,216
113
Location
Papalote, TX
I found the oil leak, the front diff. was driven into the oil pan, looks like both the steel and aluminum part of the pan will need replacing but at least it is not a rod hanging out of the block and it looks like I can still "test" run the engine but it will be leaking oil...
Going to try and crank it tomorrow!!
 
Mogman

Mogman

Moderator
Staff member
Moderator
Steel Soldiers Supporter
7,283
10,216
113
Location
Papalote, TX
Well the 07 GM used side post batteries of which I did not have any so I pulled the batteries out of the truck, patched the holes with epoxy and scavenged electrolyte from some old batteries and to my surprise after a couple days of cycling from charge to repair and back both batteries came to life.
Put them back in and she fired right up!
Sounds great, really good oil pressure etc.
I could not run it long as it was puking trans fluid out of the busted cooler, but did confirm it would go into forward and reverse.
I also found allot of paperwork, the present owner bought it in 2018 (truck came out of Georgia) with 110K on it so he at least got to drive it 95K before wrecking it!
I also found a receipt to replace the oil cooler and some other work 8-22, $1900 total also two new batteries for $630 on 1-22 (42 month free replacement Delco) too bad they have holes in them!!
The license plates expired 5-22 so I guess he was just driving around on expired plates, or he never got around to replacing the windshield sticker.
The thought has crossed my mind that "oil cooler" may have been code words for "eliminate EGR" :ROFLMAO:
I also found a couple citations for speeding one for 77 in a 55, BAD BOY!! That is 20 over+ which does not allow one to take a driver safety course to get out of the ticket.:eek:
I may start pealing off the front so I can bypass the cooler, other than that it is time to stick it in the pasture, tarp the front so it can wait until I start THAT project, it will be a while...
 
Mogman

Mogman

Moderator
Staff member
Moderator
Steel Soldiers Supporter
7,283
10,216
113
Location
Papalote, TX
Another dang Dmax followed me home today.
This one popped up (I had not looked at the salvage auction in a while) and sold the next day after I found it so I had no time to go and preview it so it was a total shot in the dark, kinda like GP :LOL:
But I got it so dang cheap I could not have possibly be disappointed.
It was sold as a non runner and when I saw the radio had been removed I was concerned that someone may have stripped more of the expensive electronics like the ECM/TCM etc.
But no it is complete other than missing the right front steering knuckle outward, took a hell of an impact that ripped the right front wheel off, busted the steering as the steering wheel has no effect on the remaining wheel so the driver had nothing as far as steering after the impact, and it stripped the right side of the rear axle from the leaf spring, so no brakes ether as both the front and rear systems were damaged, if they were still moving after the impact they were just along for the ride man what a ride that must have been!
Anyway I got it home opened the hood, re-connected the one remaining battery and she started right up and runs like a watch, she does have a few miles on her 325K, I mean everything works but the steering, brakes and of course it probably does not drive worth a damn :ROFLMAO:
AC, wipers, windows all the remaining lights, SCORE
There is no damage to the "stack" at all so we will run her up until warm, change the oil and get a sample and send it off for analyses and go from there.
The hope is to use this engine to replace the LMM in my tow vehicle (305K) but has high lead and iron in the oil sample which means something serious is failing...
It is the same as my tow vehicle but only has the LT trim instead of the LTZ of the tow vehicle.
Oh yes it has 5 nearly new Toyo tires that cost the same as my bid, not counting the added fees which Copart takes to a totally different level than even GP
Dispite the rear axle damage the tires look fine:eek:

CHIVE ON!!!!!!!!!!!!
resize.jpg
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
112,569members
166,176threads
2,340,555posts
754online users
Top