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Tractor Talk Discussion Forum

O.T. SES light on Chevy 1500

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KSwhiteguy

04-29-2006 19:13:00




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I don"t post too often "cause generally most of my questions will be asked by someone else...

My problem?

Got a 98 Chebby K1500, 93K one owner miles (me), 5.7L (350ci), fairly well maintained.

Smelled coolant for quite a while, finally took it to the dealer. Replaced intake manifold gaskets and other stuff. Seems Duracool or whatever eats "em up... That"s their story. Cost me $850. (Still smell coolant, only not quite as bad.)

900 miles later, the Service Engine Soon light comes on. Took it back. They say bad catalytic converter. Want another $800+. I say "bad sensor?". They say "nope".

The local muffler shop will replace the converter for way less than $800. But, will that fix the problem? BTW, it seems to run good, quick as ever, haven"t checked gas milage for a while but doesn"t seem abnormal. The exhaust system is original and unmolested.

Is there a way to check the sensor? I would hate to mess with the original exhaust only to find out the sensor was bad, but on the other hand, if the converter is bad, why mess with the sensor?

Has anyone else run across this or something similar? Any ideas?

Any help would be appreciated. A trip to Atlanta is planned for Memorial weekend so hopefully everything can be fixed before then.

Thanks,

Claude

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bradk

04-30-2006 07:47:00




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 Re: O.T. SES light on Chevy 1500 in reply to KSwhiteguy, 04-29-2006 19:13:00  
You didn't mention if the truck still takes anti-freeze.Chances are,the quick-disconnect couplings on water pump and intake are leaking.I automatically replace these with the intake job.
I agree with Russel AZ about after market converters not working right.This is especially true on vehicles with pre and post converter O2 sensors.You'll be better off spending the extra money for GM stuff here(been there)...assuming the code is a catalyst low efficiency fault.~brad

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Can't even use my name

04-30-2006 09:19:40




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 Re: O.T. SES light on Chevy 1500 in reply to bradk, 04-30-2006 07:47:00  
Much better to throw those quick disconnects away. They never easily come apart and seem to leak constantly. Better to replace with a barbed nipple and a hose clamp.



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mnjoe

04-30-2006 06:35:44




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 Re: O.T. SES light on Chevy 1500 in reply to KSwhiteguy, 04-29-2006 19:13:00  
My wife's 2000 Tahoe the light would go "on" and "off".....would take it in. Local one shops told her not to worry till it stalled ON. Had local NAPA guy install his coder. It told us that the problem was emmisions. Check gascap and lines with ends under hood....light went out. It would always stay off for me but not my wife. We took it to Estes Park CO. Light stayed ON then for me never went oFF. We drove around the park area about 600 miles looking for wildlife (elk, (found one day a herd of about150 bulls), sheep and other stuff}. Drove it home 80mph...wanted to beat the snowstorm. filled the tank, found a hotel in Lincoln Neb. Next morning it would not start...fuel pump in tank out...Local Chevy dealer that was open on Saturdays took it in...After $815 and a long wait they had it ready.They asked about the light if it was ON...Their man narrowed it down to a tank pressure sensor and to replace it would have to drain the full tank and lower it after he drained and lowered to remove the fuel pump. We drove it home and had the Local Chevy dealer replace it after my wife drove it to get the tank almost empty.They didn't have the right part...Told them what I needed...had the Neb. mechanic write down on the invoice what the code was. After sitting in the shop...we had a major leak. The intake gasket leaked out bad..it did not get into the oil or exhaust....Now after $615 the light stays OFF....Things happen after the extended warranty goes off after 15000 miles.

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Can't even use my name

04-30-2006 05:37:22




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 Re: O.T. SES light on Chevy 1500 in reply to KSwhiteguy, 04-29-2006 19:13:00  
Best thing to do is get the codes it is throwing. Advanced Auto and other places will hook up a reader for free and tell you what the code numbers are and what the book say they mean. Go from there. The later model GM vehicles are notorious for intake gasket failures. Another bright idea by some dill-hole engineer. Same goes for that orange coolant. If I have to drain it out I replace with green, less problems.

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John M

04-30-2006 05:31:04




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 Re: O.T. SES light on Chevy 1500 in reply to KSwhiteguy, 04-29-2006 19:13:00  
HAd same truck.The leak WILL NOT cause the SES light to come on unless its run out of coolant and runs hot,and Im not sure that that would even make that light come on, or it splashed back on a sensor.If it were me,and at one time it was,find a dealer with a proper scanner and have them pull the codes.Mine ended up being a transmission code.That was the only thiung that I ever had done to the truck,with exception to the normal wear and tear items.As far as the sensors and converter,any good muffler shop can change both of those,but cant clear the code.

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RusselAZ

04-29-2006 21:38:43




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 Re: O.T. SES light on Chevy 1500 in reply to KSwhiteguy, 04-29-2006 19:13:00  
The oxygen sensors should have been changed when the coolant leak was repaired. Hopefully it was fixed. Oxygen sensors do not like coolant in the exhaust stream. Catalytic convertors don't mind it as much and before paying for one on a 98 chevy make sure what the warranty period is on the emission parts. Some of them are good for 100,000 miles. Also, make sure they check service bulletins for a re-program to allow a wider performance window for the cat operation.

If the oxygen sensors don't report correctly the code could indicate more than one thing but one code that says "Cat efficiency low" only means that the rear sensors see, or think they see, a problem.

My experience is the aftermarket convertors for chevy's don't perform to the standards the computer wants.

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Bob

04-29-2006 19:35:57




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 Re: O.T. SES light on Chevy 1500 in reply to KSwhiteguy, 04-29-2006 19:13:00  
What trouble code did they pull? Buy yourself a cheap OBDII reader, or stop at one of the auto supply stores offering a free code reading, and find out what the computer thinks is going on.



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Bryan in Iowa

04-30-2006 17:05:15




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 Re: O.T. SES light on Chevy 1500 in reply to Bob, 04-29-2006 19:35:57  
You need to remember ,codes are "Cause and Effect". Just because such n such code set ,,,does not always mean that particular sensor is BAD .It indicated that, that reading is out of limits. Several factors must be considerd before throwing $$ away replacing parts without finding out finding the cause of the problem .



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