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My 2005 Yukon XL

It's together. Got a hodge-podge of parts. I can't find my dial indicator to save my life. We ended up using the donor case, gears, and bearings. Everything was disassembled and throughly cleaned. I pressed out my bushings that were in very good condition to the donor housing. Those bushings were wasted.

We used my internal 4wd engagement bits as the donors were very stripped. Also used my passenger axle tube as the donor was severely disintegrating. Did a thin coat of grease on all bearings to help until gear oil gets spread around.

I feel confident in it, but wish we had more time to do a bearing job and gear compound to check mesh. I couldn't fins issue with any bearings internally on the donor unit. Waiting for the anerobic to cure 24 hours, then will fill with synthetic gear oil.
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The mutt is in, what a cumbersome piece to install. Test drove went well, all i could hear was rhe annoying power steering pump. I really want to replace it, so annoying being the 2nd pump ive put in. Time to get some miles on, oil change, rear diff fluid swap and t-case fluid check. Fingers crossed its ready to go.
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Does that donor have a PS pump you can swap in? just install an inline filter with magnet to save on your steering box and booster, give it a shot. 90%of the time the factory GM pumps that have never been messed with are fairly resilient for many miles!
 
I think i will be swapping a PS pump, for the 3rd damn time. It's getting noiser, and for a while now low on effort while idle. Fluid is at full and clean.

The first pump was leaking badly, replaced with a Cardone reman, that reman was utter garbage and replaced with a Napa refurb, which i later found out was also a Cardone.

I really don't want to spend $350-450 on a new pump, any other options with success? For some reason the pump my Yukon requires is a bit odd. Non-Y91, and non-BPH RPO codes, which is more than the opposite RPO coded units. I am hydroboost, which may be it but i thought all 04 and newer vehicles automatically had hydroboost on the half tons.
 
dbrannon79 said:
Does that donor have a PS pump you can swap in? just install an inline filter with magnet to save on your steering box and booster, give it a shot. 90%of the time the factory GM pumps that have never been messed with are fairly resilient for many miles!
Click to expand...
I will have to look. The truck is severely rotted, was worried it's condition but agree with you.

I need to go back and drop off cash for the diff anyway
 
Asked my buddy if he is willing to sell the PS pump on the crusty plow truck. No response yet, but he is on vacation. So I don't blame him.

I stopped by his place and dropped off the cash for the diff, took a look at the PS pump and it's crusty as hell. Might be salvageable, but I am not sure if it's the right one as I couldn't see of the truck had hydroboost. I'm coming to find out not many 1500 trucks had hydroboost if any (I havent found one yet to be honest, but Rock Auto does list hydroboost for an 05 Silverado 1500), mostly 04-06 Yukons, Suburban, and avalanches. Wondering if I should try for a non-reman, aftermarket unit. I am definitely not buying anymore Cardone ever.

Also side note, the old assumed stuck thermostat was placed in water on the stove. It started to open around 189 degrees, fully open by 195. This stats rubber was failing and you could see daylight through it.

The new assumed Delco unit (thay I took out and replaced again because it was running 211 degrees) was also tested. I could see opening about 193 and it seemed to fully open about 200 degrees.

Not all stats are equal.... the new Delco unit i purchased runs about 198 to 202 degrees in the Yukon.
 
the pumps are mostly the same other than the orifice and pressure valve that lives where the pressure line connects to the pump. you can use a drill bit to check the size of the orifice in the center of the fitting and compare to yours. I would first try it as it is then if it's not to your liking, swap out the orifice and valve + spring and see what it does. iirc it's just three bolts that hold the pump on the engine that are in front behind the pulley.

should be a quick and easy swap so long as you don't need to change pulleys

if the res has an extra return barb, iirc there are metal clips that hold the plastic res to the pump. should be an easy but oily swap too
 
Ended up with another aftermarket PS pump. This one isn't a reman. It's MUCH quieter throughout all RPM range. I do still have hard steering issues, mostly at a stop while holding the brake. I really need to tear my old one apart and maybe modify/rebuild it.20250409_121917.jpg
 
Another trip in the books. No real issues on this trip from the Yukon, this marks the 4th long distance trip with it since I bought it.
20250419_095646.jpg

We averaged 15.5 MPG over the duration which IMO is respectable for this at the speeds we drove and considering the weight we had inside. I did notice a few things:

• The steering is still not as tight as I want it.

• I do have a small clunk in the front end, did it maybe a handful of times over turns and bumps across the trip.

• Power steering is still a struggle sometimes at a stop, with the brake depressed and trying to steer.

We visited an armory down there to drool over stuff highly illegal in the State I reside. Found a shirt the kids enjoyed.
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The Yukon is still going strong minus one episode of getting warm while towing my camper on a near 90 degree day. Saw temps of 221 trans, 227 coolant. Really thinking about a larger trans cooler and some type of bypass from the radiator for the summer months. ITs really not a tow unit with 3.42 gears and electric fans, but its much more convenient to haul my family, the dog, and the camper. Also thinking about a hardwire switch to override the electric fans.
 
Had an issue with the Yukon yesterday. A bit late to a golf tournament, part way there the CEL began flashing. Could tell we had a miss and down on power. Ended up parking it and caught a ride with a friend. Codes retrieved were P0306, so cylinder 6 misfire.

Today I went to Napa and got a coil pack per my diagnosis as such and abrupt failure. Got the pack replaced, CEL was rectified however still had a slight miss too it. Further inspection revealed I must have pulled to hard on the plug wire and pulled the fiber out of the crimp. Cut back and repaired. Yukon is running nice and smooth again.
 
Nearing 202K-miles this past weekend. The idle seems to have a miss or shake to it every so often, but to be honest has been this way for a couple months now. Got a new issue arising from the Yukon that started about 3 days ago. During cruise and TCC locked, I can feel a "buck" that at first scared me thinking I was having torque converter issues. Upon some live data monitoring I think its an engine issue. I have a fluid change ready as I did get it HOT over the summer towing.

All live data seems good, O2's oscillating properly, fuel trims within 3% at cruise, no CEL or pending codes. Truck still pulls the best it can with 3.42 gears (pulled the 5.5K-lb camper home yesterday). I think I am going to check fuel pressure next just to confirm steady, but I think it will be fine. Leaning towards checking plugs/wires. I have had issues with the current wire set before, pulling apart. Maybe a coil starting to fail but not failed yet? Its something the computer just cant catch on its own. The truck is still completely driveable, but its definitely not right. Will post back with some updated this coming weekend.
 
I know it might not be feesable to do remote mount coils on these engines but I have never liked the coils mounted over the plug holes or on the engine (heat). a fella can't really go old-school trying to find a miss! those short plug wires the last time I had to replace some, they came about 1/2" too short and were a stretch to get them installed. if you find that the issue, you might opt to get a set of wires for the 6.0l as they are slightly longer and will fit without being guitar strings LOL
 
something I just though about on the coils... do a resistance test on them when hot. not sure what the spec is, but if you get you an old connector and cut the clip off, leave some wire length on it to use on your meter. test the resistance between and as well as to ground on each. if you find one with different readings, replace it. keep the old one for a spare in the glove box. I know plug gap is also an issue on these too. if one has a weak spark and the plug electrodes are wearing, that might cause a slight miss.

side note: if you normally run regular unleaded not the premium stuff, go with a one step hotter spark plug. with the shoty fuel now a days anything that will make it burn better will help, just don't go too hot risking damage. I myself have been stuck to autolite plugs. back in the day I had an old elcamino with a 305 that the compression was round about 60 on all 8. it liked to eat spark plugs for lunch LOL I had put some regular autolites in it and dam if it didn't purr like a kitten and for a lot longer than with the other expensive ones!

autolite numbering is easy for heat ranges. say standard heat it a #45 plug, go with a #46 <- that numbers are for the older 305, 350 engines though. yours should be simple too.
 
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dbrannon79 said:
I know it might not be feesable to do remote mount coils on these engines but I have never liked the coils mounted over the plug holes or on the engine (heat). a fella can't really go old-school trying to find a miss! those short plug wires the last time I had to replace some, they came about 1/2" too short and were a stretch to get them installed. if you find that the issue, you might opt to get a set of wires for the 6.0l as they are slightly longer and will fit without being guitar strings LOL
Click to expand...
I agree, always gave me PMD heat soak fears, but to be honest I have only had a single GMT800 coil fail in my experience with them.

One thing I didn't realize was there are 2 types of coils for these engines square and round. I guess that is where the difference in wire length comes from leading them to be too short if you get the wrong ones. I'm finding lately some aftermarket is just making the single longer length which allows them to be used on either style coil. Not sure if any of these are direct interchangeable with the 6.0L though? I think I got the one size fits all from AutoZone, Duralast brand IIRC. Going against my better judgement I couldn't get AC Delco quick enough. I have regretted that decision.
dbrannon79 said:
something I just though about on the coils... do a resistance test on them when hot. not sure what the spec is, but if you get you an old connector and cut the clip off, leave some wire length on it to use on your meter. test the resistance between and as well as to ground on each. if you find one with different readings, replace it. keep the old one for a spare in the glove box. I know plug gap is also an issue on these too. if one has a weak spark and the plug electrodes are wearing, that might cause a slight miss.

side note: if you normally run regular unleaded not the premium stuff, go with a one step hotter spark plug. with the shoty fuel now a days anything that will make it burn better will help, just don't go too hot risking damage. I myself have been stuck to autolite plugs. back in the day I had an old elcamino with a 305 that the compression was round about 60 on all 8. it liked to eat spark plugs for lunch LOL I had put some regular autolites in it and dam if it didn't purr like a kitten and for a lot longer than with the other expensive ones!

autolite numbering is easy for heat ranges. say standard heat it a #45 plug, go with a #46 <- that numbers are for the older 305, 350 engines though. yours should be simple too.
Click to expand...
I will do some more detailed searching to see if there is a true reliable coil test in terms of resistance. I did a quick YouTube university yesterday and most issued were accompanied by a CEL code. This one I found interesting:
Not sure if this would show a weak coil if I did have one, obviously he had a fail that lead the coil to arc outside the body. Ultimately this is just going by visual, but a true number would be better.

I do normally run base 87, with 10% ethanol. I actually run AC Delco plugs in it that are maybe 2-3 years old, last time I had them out was early last year while trying to diagnose the No. 6 injector failure ordeal. I was always told the LS variants like Delcos or NGKs. I run hot NGKs in my Foxbody.
 
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