Gpcalero's "The Duke" H3T Alpha Build
#82
01-14-2023, 12:48 PM
More updates...
Been mostly doing random maintenance on the truck recently when needed. So a bit of what's been going on.
Had a bulb go out in the tail lights, so I took the opportunity to replace all the bulbs back there while I was at it. Went with LEDs and was impressed with the reverse lights after install. Here's a shot with just the reverse light changed on the driver side, and stock type bulb on the right. You can see the difference in color in the picture, the LED is whiter, but what you can't really see is how much brighter it is than the bulbs that come in the truck from the factory. Went ahead and replaced all three bulbs on each taillight with their LED counterparts and am happy how it turned out. Can see a lot more light when backing up now.
Right before the dual battery install, changed the hood struts after I just about slammed my face shut when the hood fell on itself.
And plastic trim painted the fuel door bezel. Never did this when doing the rest of the truck, and it was starting to look faded from the sun.
Took the truck to downtown Tampa and there's no damn place to park, except for the parking garages. Luckily she still fits in there, and looks damn good.
Been mostly doing random maintenance on the truck recently when needed. So a bit of what's been going on.
Had a bulb go out in the tail lights, so I took the opportunity to replace all the bulbs back there while I was at it. Went with LEDs and was impressed with the reverse lights after install. Here's a shot with just the reverse light changed on the driver side, and stock type bulb on the right. You can see the difference in color in the picture, the LED is whiter, but what you can't really see is how much brighter it is than the bulbs that come in the truck from the factory. Went ahead and replaced all three bulbs on each taillight with their LED counterparts and am happy how it turned out. Can see a lot more light when backing up now.
Right before the dual battery install, changed the hood struts after I just about slammed my face shut when the hood fell on itself.
And plastic trim painted the fuel door bezel. Never did this when doing the rest of the truck, and it was starting to look faded from the sun.
Took the truck to downtown Tampa and there's no damn place to park, except for the parking garages. Luckily she still fits in there, and looks damn good.
#83
01-15-2023, 10:43 AM
FYI, In my last H3 (09 3.7 with MT) when I put LEDs into the reverse bulbs the auto dimming function on the rear view mirror stopped working. Something about the bulb electronics made the mirror think the car was always in reverse, so auto dimming gets turned off. Didn’t figure that out till after I bought a replacement mirror. De-pinning the reverse signal wire at the mirror “fixed” the problem.
BTW, your truck looks amazing!
BTW, your truck looks amazing!
#85
01-18-2023, 05:13 PM
Gotta say, I'm not a huge fan of the H3T (I know, sacrilage, right?), but your truck is really really sweet. I think the rear shell takes away the "too long" look, at least for me.
BTW, when I went with LED back up lights, my rear camera in the mirror went wacky. It would come out in reverse, but then WOULD immediately go back in (even while still in reverse). Adding a resistor solved the issue.
BTW, when I went with LED back up lights, my rear camera in the mirror went wacky. It would come out in reverse, but then WOULD immediately go back in (even while still in reverse). Adding a resistor solved the issue.
#86
02-05-2023, 05:03 PM
More maintenance recently.
Couple of months ago I got a random P0449 code triggering the Check Engine light. Cleared it and it went away for a week. Then it came back and never went away lol.
After some research and clearing the lines in the rear, I found it extremely hard to believe that it was the eval vent canister, so I bought a cheap one just to see if that was the issue. Like I said, I found it hard to believe this would be the issue since it's just a tube, canister and a simple electronic so this was just a gamble purchase to verify.
So back under the truck I go to pull the charcoal canister and vent canister... Old vs new.
New vent canister on charcoal box.
When pulling the old vent canister, I took off lid off the top and peered inside. Seemed pretty empty and line seemed to still be clear as from before when I checked. But I turned it upside down and tapped down on it and dust/sediment/charcoal started to fall out. Tapped it a bit harder and I started to see the caked layers and dust of what I'm just going to call charcoal come out. After re-installing everything, fired it up and no codes now for a month. I am wondering if the old stocker would have still worked if I just cleared out the debris clogging it. Who knows...
And then started to notice that the T would start just fine while cold, but was slow to start when warm. Wasn't a battery issue since voltage is fine and have plenty of capacity now with the dual battery setup. Ordered up a new starter and replaced.
Old vs. new.
Turned out to be the winning ticket. Starts like new again, and no more slow starts when warm.
Couple of months ago I got a random P0449 code triggering the Check Engine light. Cleared it and it went away for a week. Then it came back and never went away lol.
After some research and clearing the lines in the rear, I found it extremely hard to believe that it was the eval vent canister, so I bought a cheap one just to see if that was the issue. Like I said, I found it hard to believe this would be the issue since it's just a tube, canister and a simple electronic so this was just a gamble purchase to verify.
So back under the truck I go to pull the charcoal canister and vent canister... Old vs new.
New vent canister on charcoal box.
When pulling the old vent canister, I took off lid off the top and peered inside. Seemed pretty empty and line seemed to still be clear as from before when I checked. But I turned it upside down and tapped down on it and dust/sediment/charcoal started to fall out. Tapped it a bit harder and I started to see the caked layers and dust of what I'm just going to call charcoal come out. After re-installing everything, fired it up and no codes now for a month. I am wondering if the old stocker would have still worked if I just cleared out the debris clogging it. Who knows...
And then started to notice that the T would start just fine while cold, but was slow to start when warm. Wasn't a battery issue since voltage is fine and have plenty of capacity now with the dual battery setup. Ordered up a new starter and replaced.
Old vs. new.
Turned out to be the winning ticket. Starts like new again, and no more slow starts when warm.
#87
02-05-2023, 07:36 PM
More maintenance recently.
Couple of months ago I got a random P0449 code triggering the Check Engine light. Cleared it and it went away for a week. Then it came back and never went away lol.
After some research and clearing the lines in the rear, I found it extremely hard to believe that it was the eval vent canister, so I bought a cheap one just to see if that was the issue. Like I said, I found it hard to believe this would be the issue since it's just a tube, canister and a simple electronic so this was just a gamble purchase to verify.
So back under the truck I go to pull the charcoal canister and vent canister... Old vs new.
New vent canister on charcoal box.
When pulling the old vent canister, I took off lid off the top and peered inside. Seemed pretty empty and line seemed to still be clear as from before when I checked. But I turned it upside down and tapped down on it and dust/sediment/charcoal started to fall out. Tapped it a bit harder and I started to see the caked layers and dust of what I'm just going to call charcoal come out. After re-installing everything, fired it up and no codes now for a month. I am wondering if the old stocker would have still worked if I just cleared out the debris clogging it. Who knows...
And then started to notice that the T would start just fine while cold, but was slow to start when warm. Wasn't a battery issue since voltage is fine and have plenty of capacity now with the dual battery setup. Ordered up a new starter and replaced.
Old vs. new.
Turned out to be the winning ticket. Starts like new again, and no more slow starts when warm.
Couple of months ago I got a random P0449 code triggering the Check Engine light. Cleared it and it went away for a week. Then it came back and never went away lol.
After some research and clearing the lines in the rear, I found it extremely hard to believe that it was the eval vent canister, so I bought a cheap one just to see if that was the issue. Like I said, I found it hard to believe this would be the issue since it's just a tube, canister and a simple electronic so this was just a gamble purchase to verify.
So back under the truck I go to pull the charcoal canister and vent canister... Old vs new.
New vent canister on charcoal box.
When pulling the old vent canister, I took off lid off the top and peered inside. Seemed pretty empty and line seemed to still be clear as from before when I checked. But I turned it upside down and tapped down on it and dust/sediment/charcoal started to fall out. Tapped it a bit harder and I started to see the caked layers and dust of what I'm just going to call charcoal come out. After re-installing everything, fired it up and no codes now for a month. I am wondering if the old stocker would have still worked if I just cleared out the debris clogging it. Who knows...
And then started to notice that the T would start just fine while cold, but was slow to start when warm. Wasn't a battery issue since voltage is fine and have plenty of capacity now with the dual battery setup. Ordered up a new starter and replaced.
Old vs. new.
Turned out to be the winning ticket. Starts like new again, and no more slow starts when warm.
#88
10-08-2023, 02:11 PM
WeatherTech Time
Catch up time!!
Bought some WeatherTech front & rear floor mats. Had these on other cars and really enjoyed them.
Here they are, fronts and rear. Only item that I was really concerned about is that WeatherTech does not offer a rear floor liner for the H3T directly. Instead, they only sell a rear for the standard H3. However, upon the limited research that is available on them, I took a chance.
Fronts done and are a very nice addition. Here is the driver's side compared to the optional factory mats (did not take a picture of a comparison to the front standard carpet liners). You can see that they cover a far greater area.
Passenger:
Driver:
Rear comparison of the rear carpet liner for my fellow H3T owner's in case they are wanting to pick up a set.
They fit just fine. However... On the previous picture (shown upside down to actual position), the raised side wings on the H3 version stick up a little bit on the H3T when installed. Not a HUGE deal, but I would imagine that WeatherTech wouldn't have them as raised up if they had offered an actual H3T version. Also, the stock carpet liners go a bit further underneath the front seats than the WeatherTech mats do, but not an issue. The liners do extend a bit further out than the picture shows, but the liner was folded up in the shipping box and hadn't fully settled yet.
Next day, this guy decides to get behind and cruise down the highway quite a few exits with me going 80mph. Hummer trucks on the highway must've been a sight lol
Bought some WeatherTech front & rear floor mats. Had these on other cars and really enjoyed them.
Here they are, fronts and rear. Only item that I was really concerned about is that WeatherTech does not offer a rear floor liner for the H3T directly. Instead, they only sell a rear for the standard H3. However, upon the limited research that is available on them, I took a chance.
Fronts done and are a very nice addition. Here is the driver's side compared to the optional factory mats (did not take a picture of a comparison to the front standard carpet liners). You can see that they cover a far greater area.
Passenger:
Driver:
Rear comparison of the rear carpet liner for my fellow H3T owner's in case they are wanting to pick up a set.
They fit just fine. However... On the previous picture (shown upside down to actual position), the raised side wings on the H3 version stick up a little bit on the H3T when installed. Not a HUGE deal, but I would imagine that WeatherTech wouldn't have them as raised up if they had offered an actual H3T version. Also, the stock carpet liners go a bit further underneath the front seats than the WeatherTech mats do, but not an issue. The liners do extend a bit further out than the picture shows, but the liner was folded up in the shipping box and hadn't fully settled yet.
Next day, this guy decides to get behind and cruise down the highway quite a few exits with me going 80mph. Hummer trucks on the highway must've been a sight lol
#90
10-15-2023, 02:14 PM
lololol. Haven't used Husky liners before. I'll have to look into them first before my next liner purchase on another vehicle.