Ivany » Sierra

Frozen Washer Fluid Sucks

Jeff Ivany — Sat, 22 Jan 2005 19:25:07 +0000

It really sucks when your washer fluid freezes in the lines leading up to the wipers. I had been driving around for almost a week trying to figure out how to melt the ice that had formed in the line on my driver’s side. Luckily it’s been dry along with the -26�C weather we’ve been having. Hmm, “luckily” seems wrong in that statement.

Anyhoo, I was getting ready to hit it with the hair dryer this afternoon as my last resort. However, we were over at Place D’Orl�ans and I parked in the underground lot. Apparently it was just warm enough! No more frozen washer fluid line! :)

I probably left a good amount there though. Figured I should run enough fluid through to try and not have it freeze again tonight.

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2004 GMC Sierra Wiper Arms

Jeff Ivany — Fri, 21 Jan 2005 15:23:33 +0000

My old 2001 Sierra had wiper arms that you could pull up and they would stay off the windshield. They locked into place and it was great because you could do this when clearing ice/frost/snow off of the windshield. It also made it a lot easier when you knew freezing rain was coming.

So, what did they do to the 2004 Sierra? Well, they made it impossible to do this now. Heck, you can barely pull the wiper up enough to get a snow brush under it. The hinge now has a solid metal piece that prevents you from flipping up the wiper. Well, at least I’ve been unable to flip mine up. The old truck didn’t require any force so I don’t really want to pull hard on the new ones.

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GMC Engine Block Heater

Jeff Ivany — Tue, 10 Dec 2002 14:59:55 +0000

Have you ever tried to find the plugin for you GMC Sierra’s engine block heater? If so, I’m sure you were as frustrated as me when I went looking for mine!

The designers at GM must have thought it was a great idea to put the plugin where they did. Seems to make sense in some ways. It’s relatively easy to get to, as long as you know where to look.

Where you ask? Well, on my 2001, the plugin is located in the front driver’s side wheel well near the front, behind the tire. It’s probably easier to get to it if you turn your wheels to the left first. On the 2001 there is a plastic piece that is between the wheel and the engine. Down near the frame you should be able to see the cord of the block heater. It might be coiled up or it might be sandwiched like a letter S over and over (there is Christmas candy that looks like this, like a ribbon).

Now my only problem is trying to figure out where to feed that cable out through. Once I detach the cord, it’s going to drag so it can’t stay in the wheel well. Guess I’ll have to fish it up through the engine compartment and out through the grill or something like that.

When I figure out the easiest way, I’ll add more to this entry. ;)

Please feel free to add comments about other models and where you can find their plugins.

Update: I finally got around to pulling the plugin through to the front of the truck. There are a couple ways to bring it through, but the hardest part is getting the plug from the bottom of the engine block up into the engine compartment! A rope or old coat hanger would probably have helped but I have long arms and managed to fish it through. ;)

One thing you can do is have it come out underneath the grill. There’s a gap in between the bottom of the grill and the top of the bumper that is large enough to fit the plug through. You’ll probably have to take the plug cover off to do it because it kept getting caught.

The other option (if you have front tow hooks like me) is to pull the plug through and attach it to the tow hook on the driver’s side. It’s probably easier to do that since you don’t really need to fish the plug up through the engine to get to the grill. Of course, it’s a lot lower down so it’s sort of personal preference where you’d like to plug into. ;)

Update 2: Well, I now have a 2004 Sierra and it turns out the block heater cord is in the same spot. It was a little more difficult to get at this time though as it appears the plastic wheel-well insert is larger and stiffer than on the 2001.

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