New Avalanche owner

Hello all,

Figured I would stop in an introduce myself and also ask a few questions. I am new to the Avalanche world just got a 2009 LTZ with 118,000 mi on it. It was my fathers since it was new but the company he is working for has a policy that there trucks can not be older than 7 years old. So I bought his off him.

Overall it is a very nice truck.

I have been reading this forum for the last week and I have concerns about the AFM. Although the truck has none of the symptoms that have been described as a result of AFM I still feel it is in my best interest to disable it.

Originally I was going to do the Black Bear tune, but 599 USD is closer to 800 CAD. So I will probably just be using the range module. So my first question is, are there any other routes worth exploring that can disable my AFM other than the Range Module or BB tune?

Second question. I noticed there a pieces of paper shoved in the center of the dash by the windshield. When I take them out the dash rattles like crazy, does anyone have any solutions to this problem other than jamming it with paper?

Third question. A friend of mine is a heavy duty mechanic and said that overall the 6 speed transmissions in the avalanche is pretty good in terms of reliability as long at they don't get too hot. Can someone fill me in on what the acceptable operating temperatures are?

Fourth and final question, for now. I can not just plug in my Ipod and run it off the stock head unit, so I would like to change this out with an aftermarket one. Generally I just buy a head unit and a wiring harness and I am good to go. Is there anything specific to the Avalanche that I need to know about before swapping out the head unit?

Anyways, that's all I have for now. Thanks for taking the time to read this.

First welcome to the site and to AV ownership!
As far as AFM ,that was more of an issue with first year second generation AVs (2007). The problem is less for later year AVs and if your AV shows no sign of problem after 118,000 mi on it I wouldn't worry too much. You have to realize that reading stuff in the "problems" section that the vast majority of AV owners aren't members of this site, then look at total number of members and out of that how many have a specific problem......Many people drive their AV every day and don't generally post things like "drove my AV today and nothing went wrong!"  so all you see are those few with issues and their attempts to find a fix.
The dash rattle can be early signs of a known dash cracking problem. If you try to add brackets or some reinforcing under the upper pad it may prevent or delay the inevitable of having to replace the upper dash pad. Some have said it is due to a bad design flaw in the molded dash pad. You could consider getting a Dashmat cover to help in quieting down the dash noise and act as a UV blocker so the plastic doesn't get much sun exposure.
You might want to contact www.crutchfield.com customer service for help in selecting an adapter to allow you to play your Ipod in your head unit for your AV, If they don't have a solution they can help you select a new head unit and all things needed to get the features you want. Their customer service is great........

Same as above though I may add that since you have removed something you expect was intended to provide support, not a typical GM modification procedure, you should be diligent with not adding that back and MORE or additional material. Unless you figure out it was for a squeak and it is returning, then add more in small amounts and spread it out.

Since someone either recognized a possible dash sag or squeak and did this to resolve it, they may have reversed the degradation process. Your actions could make it worse going other way.

Try to use just enough for it to work. Not much more believing More Is Better.

Continue to monitor for a Dash Crack and try to figure out what area the newspaper was trying to support or resolve.

Owners manual indicates the tranny should be 70 C to 93 C when hot.  If you tow it will go higher. When I tow I hover around 87 C. This summer I hit 100 c for the first time. Just had the tranny fluid changed too, although I did hit some good hills. I have the factory HD Cooling system wit aux Tran cooler.

Do you think it may have been the weather, it was quite hot this year.

yep.. it was hotter than usual. So maybe caused a side effect with a little bump in temp. I was a little nervous driving, but from research I saw, the added temp was still in acceptable range. I think the aux was doing the job.

The trans temp on my 2013 crept to 198F in slow, stop and go, traffic coming back from Nationals in Charlotte in July.. It usually hovers around 160 at the highest, but it was a hot 100+ degree day.. I have the trailering package so I believe I have a heavier duty cooler?

Once I got up to speed, it went back down to 170ish and never touched much higher than that the rest of the way home to WV.

if you are wondering if you have the Tans cooler... look through the front grill and will see a small rad cooler about 12" wide and 10" high or so right in front of your main rad. Also you can look at your codes in the glove box. I'm not sure of the code, but someone else could chime in.

Check for K5L, that is the heavy duty trailering package that includes the extra trans cooler. My truck also has KC4 and KNP which are codes for oil and trans cooling systems. I'm not sure if these codes also apply to 1st Gen trucks. When pulling my 5000 lbs boat during the HOT Sacramento summers, I see 210-215 temps on the DIC.

For all you 2009 up owners with the 6 speed tranny it's not considered hot until it's over 270F or 132C

just wondering where those numbers came from?  The manual says 93 c is upper normal range. Other Tranny shops say 265 F will require replacement of the tranny.

Bassman Z71 said:

just wondering where those numbers came from?  The manual says 93 c is upper normal range. Other Tranny shops say 265 F will require replacement of the tranny.

Click to expand...

http://www.acdelcotechconnect.com/shop-program/psc-program/gm-service-information/

MS03 2500 said:

For all you 2009 up owners with the 6 speed tranny it's not considered hot until it's over 270F or 132C

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270F seems awful HOT for a trans to get.. I had a grand prix that ran in the 180 range normally, and when it hit 220 or so, and it started slamming into 2nd, and slipping 3rd.

I was always under the impression that less heat=more longevity and heat=failure.

It has been in the 60's and lower 70's here the last couple weeks. We took a trip to OH last weekend, and it never got hotter than 150 the whole trip. I have been keeping more of an eye on it lately

I'm not saying that's a normal operating temp, but it's not considered hot till it reaches 270 F


Heck if mine hits 220 I shut the engine down.

MS03 2500 said:

http://www.acdelcotechconnect.com/shop-program/psc-program/gm-service-information/

Click to expand...

Looks like a great site. Thanks for sharing.

MS03 2500 said:

I'm not saying that's a normal operating temp, but it's not considered hot till it reaches 270 F


Heck if mine hits 220 I shut the engine down.

Click to expand...

crazy that they would let it get that hot before popping a warning light.. Then again, someone has to make money replacing smoked trannys... 

Bassman Z71 said:

Looks like a great site. Thanks for sharing.

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It is the same one as all GM dealer use. It has the information on all GM products from 1998 to current products