Couple of maintenance Questions Chevy 6.0

[Gebo]

First of all, my new vehicle is a 2008 Chevy Express 3500 with a 6.0.

Are there block coolant drain plugs? How do I drain my coolant? I know at the radiator petcock (I guess it has one)

How do I know which auto transmission I have in my Chevy Express 3500? Owner's manual shows I could have one of three. If I want to change my AT fluid, since there is no drain in pan, how do I do this?

Lastly, what is the proper sequence for bleeding the brake system. Do I start right rear, left rear, right front, left front or what?

 

[ls1mike]

Pretty sure the LSX maotors don't have block coolant drains. At least my LS1 and 02 6.0 don't.

You most likely have a 4L80E, infact with a 3500 that is what you will have. If there is anything else in there someone changed it.

I was always taught to start with the brake farthest from the reservoir. So passenger rear, driver rear, passenger front, driver front.

 

[hounddog]

Coolant is good for 5 years and 150k if I'm not mistaken. I think GM is using a lifetime or long life brake fliud. Its discussed a lot on the Corvette forum. Not to many changing it unless car is tracked a lot.

 

[SteveSRT8]

Probably a 4l85e, a slight upgrade over the 4l80e.

Pan and filter first, pan holds about 5 quarts. Then a full exchange as soon as possible. The pan gasket is reusable, do not discard it.

 

[ls1mike]

Originally Posted By: SteveSRT8
Probably a 4l85e, a slight upgrade over the 4l80e.

Pan and filter first, pan holds about 5 quarts. Then a full exchange as soon as possible. The pan gasket is reusable, do not discard it.

That is right, I believe it was 2006 that the 4l85E came out.

 

[Gebo]

Just got info from dealership, I have the 4180E??

Do any of you know how many grease fittings there are?

I found 7 grease nipples so far. All on front end.

 

[SteveSRT8]

There's a BUNCH of zerks on the front. The ones on the top of the idler arm are hard to see, there must be 11 or 12 total.

Whatever you do, don't believe a dealership about trans ID!

 

[Gebo]

Originally Posted By: SteveSRT8
There's a BUNCH of zerks on the front. The ones on the top of the idler arm are hard to see, there must be 11 or 12 total.

Whatever you do, don't believe a dealership about trans ID!


I know there is an "Odd" number of zerks, I'll go and search some more.

IF I can't trust the dealership, who can I trust? lol

Both the ..80 and ..85 transmissions have the same fluid capacity, so I got the info I needed.

The dealership said there were NO block drains for the coolant. Just drop the radiator hoses to drain the coolant. They said any Dex-Cool would be fine. Your thoughts?

 

[Cause4Alarm]

Originally Posted By: hounddog
Coolant is good for 5 years and 150k if I'm not mistaken. I think GM is using a lifetime or long life brake fliud. Its discussed a lot on the Corvette forum. Not to many changing it unless car is tracked a lot.


don't believe that lifetime fluid garbage.....i don't even when the germans say it.....you should have 11 fittings or so, the idler arm shaft fitting can be a pain

 

[GMBoy]

Originally Posted By: hounddog
I think GM is using a lifetime or long life brake fliud.


Nope. Regular Dot-3 spec'd fluid. Not many manufacturers recommend or even mention brake fluid changes. However, every 2-3 years is good practice and much cheaper than abs modules or lost braking capacity due to moisture that collects over time.

 

[SteveSRT8]

We use regular Prestone pre-mixed Dex in ours. Any licensed one will do. I normally do not open the cooling systems until their first repair, this can easily be over 100k miles. Never an issue here.

I strongly agree on the brake fluid. If it's over a year or two old it is suspect. Cheap and easy.

 

[Gebo]

As I was having my local GM dealer do a ATF "flush" and fill with Amsoil Light, their Service Manager gave me some very interesting info.

He said the 5 year-150,000 mile DexCool was a joke. Especially in the Blazers and the small pickups. He told me to change it every 30,000 or 3 years (just like Toyota Red) to be safe as that he had seen too many issues with it eating the plastic and turning to potting soil if it was not changed on a more regular basis.

He also warned me about the "% of oil life remaining" light in my 2008 Chevy Express. He said it would go off around 12,000-13,000 miles telling you your oil life was over. As a result of this, GM is putting in a bunch of timing chains because that it the "first" thing to wear out. HE said there is a major recall to reset this timer to reduce it because GM is having to make too many repairs due to overdue oil changes. He told me the long-life claims are a bunch of hogwash.

I had my antifreeze changed immediately. Oh, and for you skeptics, he is my friend.

 

[steve20]

friends don't let friends use transmission flush machines

 

[ArrestMeRedZ]

If you can figure out how the radiator drain plug works, you are a better mechanic than I am, unless it's different than my '06. I checked at the dealership and the mechanics there drain the radiator by pulling the lower hose.

Believe the posts about reusing your transmission pan gasket.

 

[George7941]

i don't think there is anything wrong with ATF flush machines, when used properly.

Do customers sometimes get overcharged for it? Yes.

 

[Gebo]

friends don't let friends use transmission flush machines [/quote\

It wasn't a typical "flush" machine. He said it was a new type of system that was different than the old flush systems.

 

[Gebo]

Originally Posted By: ArrestMeRedZ
If you can figure out how the radiator drain plug works, you are a better mechanic than I am, unless it's different than my '06. I checked at the dealership and the mechanics there drain the radiator by pulling the lower hose.


I could never find a drain plug and SM said there weren't any block drains but I could drop the bottom radiator hose. However, he said that would not do a complete drain. FWIW

 

[Gebo]

Originally Posted By: George7941
i don't think there is anything wrong with ATF flush machines, when used properly.

Do customers sometimes get overcharged for it? Yes.


I was charged $78 to replace ATF with my Amsoil Light. I was very happy with that price and I got to watch Dewey explain to me every step of the procedure.

 

[SteveSRT8]

As someone who has owned a lot of 6.0 Savana 3500's I can tell you that the factory OLM is the bomb!

Your friend is simply mistaken, the OLM issues he's referring to are with the DI engines. For a regular V8, it works great.

I have one working every day at well over 400k miles, runs perfectly and doesn't use any oil. Always changed by OLM!

And the factory coolant has always been left in our trucks until the first repairs are required. This has been way past 100k miles and sometimes closer to 200k. Never any of those so-called 'deathcool' issues here.

Note that the fluid exchange is not the same as a pan drop with a filter swap.

 

[RH+G]

My express 3500 oil light goes off around 4500 miles with the type of driving i do.

Also my van was an 07 with 69k miles and the coolant looked like new when it got changed due to an accident.

It sounds like ur friend doesnt really have his details right. Good price on the flush thou.