Jeeper's 2005 Colorado

Owners Name & City-
Brian, South Jordan

Make, Model & Year of Vehicle-
2005 Chevy Colorado

Engine-
3.5L inline 5 cylinder

Transmission-
Automatic

Wheels and Tires-
245/75R16

I have been looking for new work vehicle for some time, and decided to try to cut out my work car, and work truck by using a half sized truck. I did a lot of searching and waiting until the right deal came along.
I found this 2005 Colorado that was at a stealership from a trade in. Story says it's a one owner, old couple. They traveled the country, resulting in high freeway miles.
The truck is in great shape. The back seat looks as though it has never been used. The driver seat shows some wear, especially on the arm rest, but in overall I give it a 7 or 10 for condition.
First order of business was to get some better wheels and tires.
I found a good deal on some Mud terrain tires. They are more aggressive than I would have preferred, but the price was right.
The wheels and tires gave the truck a much better look.





I was able to take a small dirt road while working yesterday, and was overly impressed with how quiet the ride was. No rattles, clunks, or popping. It was smooth and enjoyable.

The new tires rub on the passenger side while turning right, so I will need to remove the front mud flap.. or give the truck a little lift..

more to come..

 

[jeeper]

Fuel pump died on me yesterday. I filled up at the station, and it wouldn't start afterwords. I prefer to take the bed off of trucks to access the pump, especially when the tank is full. I looked under the bed and could see the fuel lines right at the front of the bed. It took about an hour to get the shell, all my tools, and the bed off.




And then...



The lines I saw were just vent lines! The pump is actually under the cab FML.



I took the pressure washer and cleaned it all real good. I will have to drain my tank now so I can drop it..

 

[boogie_4wheel]

Oh man what a pisser!
On my '97 GMC, I dropped the tank once and lifted the bed once. When I did the bed, I just loosened the back 2 bolts and tipped the bed up like a dumpbed.

 

[Stephen]

That sucks!

 

[DAA]

That's how I usually do stuff.

- DAA

 

[jeeper]

Because I had just filled up, it’s got 18 gallons of gas in it. I pulled the filler neck off so I can siphon the gas out.. nope.. it has an anti-siphon valve in the tank! I’ve always dealt with them in the fuller neck, not the tank. Lame.

 

[Spork]

Could you get a hose in where the breather is?

 

[glockman]

BOO. One step forward, two steps back. I find that if I just resign myself to being in the garage for at least two days on a little project, it usually goes way better. If I figure I can zip right through something simple, it takes forever and everything goes wrong.

 

[jeeper]

Could you get a hose in where the breather is?

No, the connections make a 90, so I cant stick a hose down.. and the fittings are plastic welded in place so I cant get it out.

 

[Kevin B.]

Crappy. I've played that game, except I fought for a full day to get the bed off because the bolts were rusted. Once I found out I couldn't get to the fuel pump with the bed off either, I just said ***it and used ratchet straps to drop the tank with the gas still in it. It's not as heavy as you'd think.

 

[jeeper]

I dropped the tank low enough to get the pump loose, then siphoned the gas out. After that it was a piece of cake to get it dropped and swapped. To get it all done and back together took about 4 hours today. The siphoning and pouring gas into my other truck took some of that time.
Not nearly as fast as doing it bed off.


I still have the tools out and shell off. Without all that extra weight, this truck rides like a tank! The lift i put on was an add-a-leaf. It rides awesome when I have it loaded. If I did the lift and didn’t carry a lot of weight, I would be way mad.

 

[rholbrook]

Fuel pumps always go out with a full tank. Cold fuel on a warm pump

 

[Gravy]

Can I make a confession? I once drilled a fuel tank to drain it. It was a 35 gallon Ford tank, can you blame me? Used a factory style compression squeeze plug thingy (they're on Hondas) to fix it.

 

[jeeper]

The tires I had (cooper atp) wore out much faster than I had hoped. I got about 37,000 miles out of them. We had them on other vehicles, and have always been happy.. but not this time for some reason.

I decided to go back to the stock wheels, as they provided an option for a slightly bigger tire. (the old man in me was happy to pay less per tire with the stock wheels also)
I went with some 31x10.5 General Grabber ATx tires. I am pretty pleased with them. I think the tires have the right amount of an aggressive look, without looking too ‘over acheiver’ish.
I kind of wish I would have gone white wall out now.. but oh well.


The truck is clocking in at 287,000 miles now. I’ve got my eyes set on the new Ford Ranger.. but I need a used truck price. I’m hoping the Colorado holds on long enough for the rangers to start getting re-sold.

 

[jeeper]

My poor truck has been shutting off randomly, and it has been getting worse and worse. 3 times this week, each while on the freeway. The truck will cut out, and I have to pull over and cycle the key, and it will fire up again. Code P0601.. needs a new PCM. I think I can get one for about $300.. but the PCM has to be programmed to learn the crank shaft sensor position.. They call it a CPS relearn. From what I can tell, that can only be done by a dealer.. Does anyone have experience with this?
I'd like to keep the truck running a bit longer.. but not if this is going to turn into a couple thousand dollars at a dealer..

 

[I Lean]

Doh.

 

[jeeper]

Looks like I can get a remanufactured unit for $150, and the dealer told me only $125 to get the crank sensor relearn done.. so the Colorado will live on.

 

[jeeper]

My new PCM came today, and I slapped it in this evening. The process was very simple. I removed my washer bottle and coolant overflow bottles to have a little better access, and since they were out I replaced the bad washer fluid pump.
After it was all back together, I had to do a key relearn for the electronic chip in the key. That is a 30 min process, and there were 2 options for what my truck may need. Long story short, I needed the second one, and my battery died half way through it.. so I ended up doing the process 3 different times. But while I was waiting, I was able to change the rotors on my wifes Expedition, so the insane shaking it does when slowing down would go away.
After the 3rd relearn, my colorado fired right up and runs well. It now has a P0315 code, which is the crank sensor learn failure. I will need the dealer to clear it.. but I am happy to have a truck again. We will see if I get any random shut offs now.
Overall, a productive evening in the shop.

 

[The_Lobbster]

I've always wanted one of these little trucks, and to drop a VW TDI into one. I'm curious, how tall are you and how well do you fit into it?

 

[jeeper]

Well, the old trusty girl is up for sale.
Anyone interested in a sweet LS swap vehicle??

2005 Chevrolet Colorado on KSL.com

Serious calls only. No trades. No emails. Great running truck with many new parts. On the day of listing, the truck got new front brakes, oil change

cars.ksl.com

 

[nnnnnate]

So what are you replacing it with?