Camino LS6

OK, so yesterday was an exercise in frustration - mostly due to the insane location of the actuator for the air door that directs air either from outside or inside the cabin. Long story short, out came the glovebox, the ECM, the heater core cover, the old fan, the overflow tank for the cooling system, almost the housing around the fan (it CANNOT be removed without dismantling the netire system)... And then, Finally, The actuator. I confirmed that it was indeed non-functional, and set about getting a new one. Had to drive about an hour round trip to the only Chevy place that had one in stock. Plugged it in. Inop! So, I made one out of two and made it work. Today, I began re-assembly. Only to discover that my new NAPA blower motor does not fit. Since it has been working, I re-installed the old one. Actuator now works fine. But... Still no heat to speak of. Only two things left to do. 1) install my new thermostat. Which needs to be done anyway, but is unlikely to solve the problem. 2) replace the "new" heater core. I suspect that the Dexcool crud has plugged the fine passages internally, even though the flow through the unit is fine. I want to know for sure, so I will do the thermostat tonight and re-test. Most likely I'll be replacing the heater core tomorrow if I can find one on a Sunday.

Today was not a good day in Tahoeland.

Interesting, but it isn't a smallblock. The 265 was indeed the first smallblock, and began the legend.

Thanks a ton for posting this, DF! I've been wanting to know if that stuff did the trick. I am now convinced! Your lights look great!

I will keep that in mind, sir.

Noted!

True. This will all be useless when I dive into the HVAC on the wagon. Totally different systems.

I've been many things... Thanks for the compliment though. It's all in good fun, as long as it works properly before the real cold hits. I now know the dash of the Tahoe in much greater detail than I ever intended.

That had to have been the blend door (its actuator unplugged?). I do have a new theory about the Tahoe's current issue. The fact that my fan now seems to be working just fine is making me wonder if debris got in there that now might be jamming the blend door in an open position. All of the stuff I've done so far was needed, but there is still another problem that I haven't positively identified yet. Time to rip out the old fan and have a look, I guess.

Hmmm... I can't speak for the 3.1, but LS1s defintely got better with age - noticing it happen was very cool.

This has certainly turned into quite the saga - and it's not over yet. Ever since I ordered the new blower motor, it has been working just fine - figures. I picked it up anyway, along with a new thermostat. I decided to flush the heater core again, it flows quite well. Still not getting hot enough. Has me a bit puzzled to be honest. So, I decided to check the intake manifold bolts. Quite a few few of them were very loose - so there is my coolant leak. I tightened all of the ones I could easily reach. For now, I think I'll put some miles on it and see what happens.

Well at 15 years old and over 185K miles, this truck is better now than many a sub-100k car I remember from the past. But, the electronics could prove to be a real achilles heel as time passes.

Bravo! This is a nice addition to C&G.

Thanks, it does look pretty good.

Yeah, the Blazer. I really liked that one. I think I posted one pic of this Tahoe here. It's green with barn doors.

On Sagan, I must have missed him when I read your list as I tried not to duplicate anyone else's choices. But the guy had a huge impact on me through "Cosmos". If I hadn't been beaten to it, George Carlin would have been on my list. Thanks for the spelling correction on Cousteau - I don't do French well.

I also resist the term "hero", but there are many people who's lives, or work, or thinking mean a great deal to me. Zora Arkus Duntov Justin Hayward Richard Bach Gene Rodenberry Carl Sagan Jaques Cousteu Thomas Jefferson Isaac Asimov Just to name a few.

Interesting.

True. Ordered the blower motor today.

The new control panel seems to have brought all of the doors back to full functionality. The heat issue may be crud in the heater core, I suspect that the previous owner didn't flush all of the Dexcool out before he used the green stuff. The heat level is improving now. The last major problem is either the blower motor and/or the resistor.

Repeatedly.

SUCCESS! Well, at least to a point. I now have airflow where, and when I should. That gold-plated control panel did the trick. Now I have just the lack of enough hot coolant flowing through the heater core (which may correct itself with some miles), and the intermittent behaviour of the fan motor (likely the resistor). So, -windows work -door handle works -heat and defrost work to a point - new radiator is doing its job Getting there now.

Not so sure I like that solution... 'sides which, my rear defrost works!

I wish you were around too! I could use an assist with this one. Good to know that your thinking concurs with mine - let's hope we are right. I'll report the results either way.

Thanks for the offer, Samadei. But I need to get this done - yesterday. My Tahoe is a '95, and the controller panel is a one-year-only part. Figures, right? The mounting is really simple ( if a bit weak). The unit just clips into the dash framework with plastic tabs - unfortunately, they are prone to be brittle and easy to break. The main I/P surround has to be popped-off to get access. Just drove it through the rain and could barely see where I was going, so I'm going to try to make this happen today.