Hummer H1 The original Hummer, which brought the Hummer look to the public eye during Desert Storm, with the addition of some features that make the H1 more of a street vehicle and less of a Army truck

2004 Hummer H1 - Restoration and bringing it back to life

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Old Nov 17, 2022 | 02:59 PM
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Default 2004 Hummer H1 - Restoration and bringing it back to life

Howdy everyone!! I'm new to the H1 community. I've been a lurker for 10yrs. Long time listener, first time caller :-)

I've been a Land Cruiser junkie for the last 20yrs. This is my first time in an H1. I always wanted an H1 since I was in highschool in the 90's. It was always on my bucket list.

I picked up this 2004 H1 at the beginning of September. Purchased it from a gentlemen in Louisiana (2nd owner I think). It had been sitting undriven for the most part of the last 8yrs (since 2014). Only around 4000 miles put on it since 2014 till now, and only around 1000 miles since 2018. I talked to the seller/owner at length over several weeks, did plenty of due diligence, made sure it was a solid truck with a good history. Main thing that the owner knew it needed to make a the 800 mile drive home if I drove it home was a set of new tires. I found a shop local to the owner that was well versed at installing tires on military run-flat/donut style wheels that come with the H1's. I had them install a brand new set of tires, balance them, and mount along with the runflats and all installed correctly.

I flew in to pick it up, and it was all going great until I was about 30-45 minutes into my drive. The PCM went into limp mode, stuck me in 2nd gear and threw various errors. The owner was gracious enough to meet me up and brought a PMD + extension cable along with him that another H1 friend of his gave him to bring along, just incase it was a PMD issue. We tried that, it got me about 20 minutes further down the road when the same thing happened. At that point I limped along at 35mph to the nearest hotel, found comfort at a Courtyard with a very nice attendant well into the midnight hours, and got some sleep. The next day I flew back home and tried to regroup from all the frustration, I found a great transport person out of the area that was familiar with transporting Hummers, he picked the truck up and had it to me the following day. Instead of bringing it to my house, I had him drop it with Ian Ward (hummer specialist mechanic) that is about 45 minutes from me.

IanW dug into everything and gave me a list of all the things that needed attention. The big dollar item was the injection pump and a possible PCM issue. William Anderson (has been a huge help) from the Hummer community was able to get me a diesel injection pump specific to the 2004. I got that ordered from William and in quickly.

While in Ian's' hands I had him go through getting a lot of baseline maintenance done. Here is the list:
* Diesel injection pump replaced + all gaskets
* Intake manifold gasket
* HD Gates Green Serpentine belt
* Coolant crossover tube gasket
* Top coolant hose
* Upgraded to mechanical wastegate controller
* CTIS Wheel valve quick disconnect for front two wheels
* CTIS Front wheel hub seals
* Engine oil and filter
* Transmission fluid and filter
* Transfer case fluid
* Front diff fluid
* Rear diff fluid
* All 4 portal axle geared hubs - drain and replace fluid
* Coolant flush
* Brake fluid flush
* Install two 180 degree thermostats
* Replace 4L80E transmission 1-2 shift solenoid (was sticking from lack of use)
* Replace 4L80E transmission 2-3 shift solenoid (was sticking from lack of use)
* One more CTIS spindle seal

During all this work I had Ian send the PCM out to GoECM, one of the main CAT ECM/PCM repair companies in the US. They were fantastic to work with, hooked it up to their systems, tested everything, and verified that it was all good to go. That was great news for me. They just billed me for a full diagnostic and shipping and were very fast too.

Once the truck was all back together I picked it up from Ian and drove it back home. After putting some miles on it daily for the last 2 weeks it seems to be running very strong. Starts up surprisingly quick with no hesitation, has lots of power with no hesitations, feels very healthy. The rear CTIS was leaking a little the first couple days, I removed the quick disconnect valves, cleaned them, and put them back, and since that I have lost maybe 3-5 psi in 7 days, so CTIS is working perfectly again and holding pressure as designed.

So far, a huge thanks goes out to William Anderson and Ian Ward !!! They have both been a tremendous help in getting this H1 back on the road and running like new again.

I love to document any project I have, whether its a daily driver, restoration, or one of our boats. I'll use this thread to document my little adventure with this 2004 H1 as I go, and share my experiences with you guys. And would love to learn from everyone here along the way!!

Here is one photo from the day I picked it up from the old owner and stopped for gas.


 
Old Nov 17, 2022 | 03:03 PM
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I like to make videos of most of what I do on my projects. So you'll see a lot of Youtube videos of what I am working on, even the little things
 
Old Nov 17, 2022 | 03:04 PM
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I have collected Hummer catalogues over the years. A little obsessed

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Old Nov 17, 2022 | 03:05 PM
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And I got a kick out of doing this video with my hummer toy models once my H1 was finally in the garage

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Old Nov 17, 2022 | 03:08 PM
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A quick look at the truck in the exact condition when I got it home from Ian Ward's shop. Excuse the missing door panel, it was off to replace the window regulator:

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Old Nov 17, 2022 | 03:09 PM
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Based on recommendation from a GM master tech and an H1 owner I bought a clone Tech2 scanner. Tested it out and it works perfectly on my H1, shows all the variables, details, and apparently can even be used to time the IP.

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Last edited by nkpgarage; Nov 17, 2022 at 03:12 PM.
Old Nov 17, 2022 | 03:11 PM
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Got the H1 to the neighborhood state inspection station. It passed just fine. I got tons of questions and lookers while I was there. A few people wanted to take photos with the H1. It was a fun experience to see the excitement.

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Old Nov 17, 2022 | 03:14 PM
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I purchased a brand new OEM window regulator for the rear passenger side door. Got it installed and have 4 functioning power windows again. Here's the video to show step by step how to remove and install a new window regulator on the H1:

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Old Nov 17, 2022 | 03:16 PM
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It took me a while to figure out what the "correct" windshield wiper blades are for the H1. There's some conflicting information on the internet on whether you should use 11", 12" or 13" wiper blades. I found the correct Michelin 12" blades and got them installed. I know it's just wiper blades, but I tend to over document things. Hopefully this video is helpful for others trying to replace their H1 wiper blades, because I couldn't find detailed info when I was looking.

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Old Nov 17, 2022 | 03:18 PM
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When I picked up the H1 one of the glass sections on the right side mirror was loose and the adhesive was not holding it in place. I could have glued it back in place, but instead I got a new OEM replacement mirror glass from hummerpartsguy. Install was easy, cleaned up the old surface, hooked up the wires for the heated mirror, and got it installed. Back to having good visibility out of this super wide H1 again

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