22's_on_dat_B!@#h
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,Hey Everybody, this is my first post here. I had recently got this '03 Yukon 4X4 for my wife its used with a bit over 200k on the odometer, its got the 5.3L V8 that runs smooth as silk no ticking or lifter tapping. I immediately seized on that deal, because the 5.3 was one of the motors GM had built that I've seen go over 500k before a major failure as long as you're good to it anyway.
I've began some minor repairs on it, that we can discuss later if anyone has some helpful shortcuts for them as well. However, after i got it home and began working on it, giving it a detailed going over. It got dark & i noticed that both my brake light (not the ABS) but the E-Brake light is really dimly lit but it is on for some reason, also was the battery light. Even with the ignition off & the key out of the ignition, the Anti-Theft Light is on and bright like it should be, but the E-Brake light and battery light stay on and when i say really dimly i mean you can only notice it at night. During the day it is too faint to see(which is why i hadn't noticed it until in the evening that night).
At first, I thought it could be the battery being low on the charge, so i put it on my trickle charger over night and then reconnected the battery the next day, checked the dash & unfortunately the lights are still faintly lit. Since i had got the battery to full charge, I think i can say its not the battery (though I'm not fully sure of that).
So next I bled the brakes because i figured that's a possibility but that didn't get rid of the light. I checked all the lines for leaks and inspected the brakes visually and nothing seems out of the ordinary, I also ensured the brake fluid reservoir was full of fluid too.
I had decided I'd figure that aspect out later, because I frankly ran out of what would be on my normal list of possibilities, and would rack my brain on what else to check over to figure out that issue later, that way I can gave it more thought before going further on it.
I decided to start taking the parts of the dash loose to get the front heater core, that's in the air box. Which according to the step by step removal process in the Haynes bible i buy for every car I've owned, they've helped me figure out some non-redneck ways of taking things apart without breaking them in the process HA-HA! Although the Yukon appears to be a bit more involved than some of my previous vehicles, I did notice when disassembling some of the dash pieces. I inadvertently moved a few wires and it made the anti-theft light on the dash glow brighter. although that may have helped that out a bit, it still didn't solve the brake light nor the battery light issue.
I was really hopeful someone else on this forum had dealt with this issue or something similar to be able to help me narrow down the possible culprit. Any info would be extremely appreciated, and i thank you for the time you may have spent reading my post and would implore you to expound upon the knowledge that i am seeking...also some other info that may or may not be relevant to this issue. the Yukon sits on some 22's and I'm not sure if it had wheel sensors in the original rims that may be causing the issue. It also has a 2000 Watt Amp and Two 12's in it. some cheap head unit that I'll be replacing with a Ken-wood head unit and the wiring kit that the kid i bought it from is being replaced with a 0 Gauge hot wire as well as a 0 Gauge ground, and i have the wire reducers to fit into the amp and will use the wire that is being replaced to use on a big three setup to eliminate the noise from the rectifier in the alternator not entirely doing its job to eliminate the hum of it converting the AC to DC when charging the battery when its running. Also the battery itself. Though i put a full charge on it, I'm still suspect of it being part of the problem, so I'll be replacing it with a more powerful battery, one that is a top post, because I've never been a fan of side post batteries, but it has to have more power to keep up with the sound system and all the electronic junk in these newer cars. That also means I'll be replacing the alternator with a bigger more powerful one as well, to keep everything charged up and to hopefully have a better rectifier in it. besides all of that i have put my code reader on this beast multiple times and the only codes it threw back was the bank 1 and bank 2 heated O2 sensors were not sending signal back to the ECM so i replaced both upstream and downstream sensors, and now it isn't throwing any codes and the data stream for all the sensors and readings I can see on my scanner come back clean...
So am i looking at a battery issue, a wiring issue, a possible ignition cylinder issue or is there something that I'm just staring right at but over looking? The mystery light gremlins are stumping me on this one as of now. So again, this is my first post here and I'm hopeful some awesome cat who's dealt with this issue before me can please enlighten me. For now I'm be nose deep in my bible and online chasing down wiring diagrams to start that nightmare of a job. Also again, any help would be much appreciated and if you're able to help me figure this out I'll cash-app you some beer money LoL! thanks for your time gents. until next time I hope either someone can give their wisdom, or one of the repairs I'm already committing to is going to solve my electrical gremlin issue. thanks again and I'm so glad i found this forum. I'll be adding Pics of my Drive-By Bucket on Wagon Wheels here shortly. Have a good day and thank you for your time for real.
-Hoop-D.B.
I've began some minor repairs on it, that we can discuss later if anyone has some helpful shortcuts for them as well. However, after i got it home and began working on it, giving it a detailed going over. It got dark & i noticed that both my brake light (not the ABS) but the E-Brake light is really dimly lit but it is on for some reason, also was the battery light. Even with the ignition off & the key out of the ignition, the Anti-Theft Light is on and bright like it should be, but the E-Brake light and battery light stay on and when i say really dimly i mean you can only notice it at night. During the day it is too faint to see(which is why i hadn't noticed it until in the evening that night).
At first, I thought it could be the battery being low on the charge, so i put it on my trickle charger over night and then reconnected the battery the next day, checked the dash & unfortunately the lights are still faintly lit. Since i had got the battery to full charge, I think i can say its not the battery (though I'm not fully sure of that).
So next I bled the brakes because i figured that's a possibility but that didn't get rid of the light. I checked all the lines for leaks and inspected the brakes visually and nothing seems out of the ordinary, I also ensured the brake fluid reservoir was full of fluid too.
I had decided I'd figure that aspect out later, because I frankly ran out of what would be on my normal list of possibilities, and would rack my brain on what else to check over to figure out that issue later, that way I can gave it more thought before going further on it.
I decided to start taking the parts of the dash loose to get the front heater core, that's in the air box. Which according to the step by step removal process in the Haynes bible i buy for every car I've owned, they've helped me figure out some non-redneck ways of taking things apart without breaking them in the process HA-HA! Although the Yukon appears to be a bit more involved than some of my previous vehicles, I did notice when disassembling some of the dash pieces. I inadvertently moved a few wires and it made the anti-theft light on the dash glow brighter. although that may have helped that out a bit, it still didn't solve the brake light nor the battery light issue.
I was really hopeful someone else on this forum had dealt with this issue or something similar to be able to help me narrow down the possible culprit. Any info would be extremely appreciated, and i thank you for the time you may have spent reading my post and would implore you to expound upon the knowledge that i am seeking...also some other info that may or may not be relevant to this issue. the Yukon sits on some 22's and I'm not sure if it had wheel sensors in the original rims that may be causing the issue. It also has a 2000 Watt Amp and Two 12's in it. some cheap head unit that I'll be replacing with a Ken-wood head unit and the wiring kit that the kid i bought it from is being replaced with a 0 Gauge hot wire as well as a 0 Gauge ground, and i have the wire reducers to fit into the amp and will use the wire that is being replaced to use on a big three setup to eliminate the noise from the rectifier in the alternator not entirely doing its job to eliminate the hum of it converting the AC to DC when charging the battery when its running. Also the battery itself. Though i put a full charge on it, I'm still suspect of it being part of the problem, so I'll be replacing it with a more powerful battery, one that is a top post, because I've never been a fan of side post batteries, but it has to have more power to keep up with the sound system and all the electronic junk in these newer cars. That also means I'll be replacing the alternator with a bigger more powerful one as well, to keep everything charged up and to hopefully have a better rectifier in it. besides all of that i have put my code reader on this beast multiple times and the only codes it threw back was the bank 1 and bank 2 heated O2 sensors were not sending signal back to the ECM so i replaced both upstream and downstream sensors, and now it isn't throwing any codes and the data stream for all the sensors and readings I can see on my scanner come back clean...
So am i looking at a battery issue, a wiring issue, a possible ignition cylinder issue or is there something that I'm just staring right at but over looking? The mystery light gremlins are stumping me on this one as of now. So again, this is my first post here and I'm hopeful some awesome cat who's dealt with this issue before me can please enlighten me. For now I'm be nose deep in my bible and online chasing down wiring diagrams to start that nightmare of a job. Also again, any help would be much appreciated and if you're able to help me figure this out I'll cash-app you some beer money LoL! thanks for your time gents. until next time I hope either someone can give their wisdom, or one of the repairs I'm already committing to is going to solve my electrical gremlin issue. thanks again and I'm so glad i found this forum. I'll be adding Pics of my Drive-By Bucket on Wagon Wheels here shortly. Have a good day and thank you for your time for real.
-Hoop-D.B.