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jgedde

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About jgedde

  • Birthday January 26

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  • Gender
    Male
  • Drives
    2014 Sierra SLT 5.3L, 3.42 Axle

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  1. They'll probably charge you since: 1) The problem is caused by their design flaw. 2) It's not an OEM leaf! Then figure out a way to have it be it your fault....I've owned many GM cars bought from several dealers, and that is very often the case... My front wheel well liner was scraping on the tire with the wheel all the way t the right. It had been doing that since day one. The service manager told me it was because I drove through the snow! REALLY???? #1, the truck should eb able to drive in snow. #2 it did that since I picked the truck up. I wish GM offered better customer service... My neighbor's BMW was dead in his garage. I checked the battery for him and found it dead. Since he had to get to work, I jumped it for him. After jumping it, pretty much every idiot light on the dash was on. He didn't feel comfortable driving it, so he called BMW. Now mind you, this was on a Sunday, and the car ran and drove. BMW told him not to drive it; they'd come by with a flatbed and tow it to the dealer for him within two hours and deliver a loaner car! After that, he drove it around the block and the lights went off on their own. The battery still ran down though. BMW fixed it, but I never asked what the problem was... John
  2. I'm thinking next time I change the filter, I'll fabricate a vacuum cleaner attachment to get down in the around the bend to get any debris out. Maybe I'll make a screen that goes under the filter and stays in the slot. If any debris is on top of the filter and gets raked off, it'll only fall as far as the screen - where I can get at it. Since it not only happened to me, but others as well, the problem is endemic.... Design flaw! Way to go Valeo. We need a TSB to retrofit with a factory screen. Getting the blower out isn't too hard. Removing the underdash panel off is a little annoying. Getting the underdash panel pack and all the screws back in is a major PITA! There's one screw in the back right I didn't put back in because I gave up trying to get it to line up. John
  3. Suburban/rural. I do drive on dusty roads sometimes though. The filter was pretty nasty. It even had a somewhat bad smell on account of the decaying vegetable matter it had collected in the past year. John
  4. Changing the cabin air filter only took about 10 minutes. Diagnosing the noise, removing the floor kick panel, removing the blower motor to extracxt the leaf. then putting it all back together took the time. John
  5. Last night I changed out my cabin air filter. It had been in there a bit over a year and was absolutely disgusting. It's not hard to do. All went well, or so I thought, until I took the truck out for a drive. The fan motor was making a horrible sound. Like a Harley in my dash! At first I thought the filter was vibrating, but this wasn't the case. I then realized the blower impeller is direcly below the filter. Hmmm. Could something have fallen down into it? I removed the lower klick panel and all its semi accessible screws, then removed the three screws holding the blower motor in. Upon removal of the blower motor, I immediately saw the problem: an oak tree leave stuck in the impeller. Apparently what happened was the leaf was sitting on the intake side of the filter. When the old filter filter was pulled out, the leaf was raked off the top of the filter when it came out, and fell down into the blower. A 10 minute job turned into almost two hours! Don't let this happen to you! John
  6. Tell us more. What is a catch can susytem supossed to do? John
  7. That's what mine does... About 40 during cruise and 75-80 at WOT. Oil pressure is computer controlled. Above 3500 RPM it goes into high pressure mode. And no, contrary to popular belief, high oil pressure does NOT cause oil leaks - at least not external ones. John
  8. Here's my 0-60 After Black Bear Tune. 5.3L Sierra SLT, 3.42 rear, Auto 4x4. John
  9. Update! After posting this thread originally and hearing so many of you mention that Black Bear could indeed make my powertrain complaints go away, I contacted Black Bear. I got my tune yesterday and all I can say is WOW! The truck is completely different! Way better low end performance, better throttle response (there is still a slight delay), no more clunky shifts, no more premature upshifts, etc, etc. etc. #5 and #8 in my complaint list are basically gone. In short, Black Bear did what GM should've done to begin with. They'd sell a lot more trucks after a test drive if the set up the trucks more like Black Bear does. Too bad my warranty is shot now... But, I now enjoy driving the truck! John
  10. All good questions... Well first of all, I don't like the Silverado clip. To me, the GMC is much more aggressive looking up front. I test drove it in the daytime, so I never got to test the headlights. I figured , new projector lights with HIR technology would be much better than they actually are. :-( I have since upgraded to HIDs (FX-Rs) and the lights are much better. But FM reception has suffered quite a bit. I did drive another Sierra and it was the same way... Maybe I'm just sensitive to it? John
  11. Yeah, I guess it retrospect it was funny. But the truck was indeed in "transport mode" because it said just that on the instrument display and a few things didn't work. Also, the battery light was flashing. It is indeed a real function: It supposedly has something to do with keeping the battery charged while the vehicle is being transported to the dealer. John
  12. After 20+ years of being a loyal GM car and truck owner, it pains me to write this. The problem is I hate my 2014 Sierra and I can't wait to get rid of it. The truck is a 5.3L SLT with 3.42 rear. Call this a rant and flame me if you will, but it makes me feel better to get this out. I'm stuck with a $50k truck I despise. Last January my 10 year old Avalanche with 135,000 miles was starting to have problems. A whole bunch of minor things that I kept fixing. No big deal. Then she started throwing tranny codes about "slipping components" so I figured it was time to replace it. Now mind you after 10 years I still loved the truck - I wish I had kept it. So why do I hate my truck? It hasn't been unreliable and has only been back to the dealer for recalls and firmware updates.It just has a lot of issues that make it less than a joy to own: 1) The headlights are a disgrace. Nothing more to say there. 2) The infotainment controls and touch screen are slow and unresponsive. Just trying to change the station, I find I always overshoot the channel I want because of the delay before the screen updates. Also, having to swipe to get to the next bank of memory presets sucks. Unless you press firmly, and move slowly, it doesn't swipe. GM's software engineers have a lot to learn about making a snappy user interface. They need to learn from Apple or Android. We're used to our responsive smart phones but when I get in my truck I feel like I'm using a touch screen cash machine from 10 years ago. They updated the firmware and it got better, but it still sucks. Oh, and one more thing - FM reception is crummy. 3) This one is minor, but it still counts... When I start thre truck, if the radio is on and I want it off, the truck ignores my off button press for quite some time. This is just plain annoying. 4) The one is minor too: the tenmperature adjustment controls on the climate control are scratchy feeling and unresponsive. 5) This one is one of the show stoppers. The truck has absolutely horrendous throttle response - there is a delay before anyhting happens. I noticed this within seconds after taking my test drive and hated it from the start. The dealer told me it was because the truck was in "transportation mode". Imagine my dissapointment when I picked the truck up and it still did it. The throttle position vs throttle opening calibration also sucks. It takes way too much pedal to get the truck moving. Several friends and family member have bought new trucks this year - none were GM, they all bought Rams. Interestingly enough, all test drove either the Silverado or Sierra and didn't buy them. The main reason was the Ram felt much more powerful. They told me the GMs felt sluggish or slow. I recently drove a 2015 Hemi and It doesn't have the throttle response issues anywhere near as bad. Part throttle was night and day different than my Sierra. At wide open throttle the Ram was faster, but not substantially so. I can see why my friends and family rejected the GM. I have a theory why GM used this throttle strategy which I'll talk about below. The GM dealer claims it's because the vehicle is drive by wire. I know this isn't the case. My Avalanche was drive by wire and it was WAY snappier than the Sierra. My wife's old 2009 3.6L Malibu was also drive by wire and it was crazy snappy! 5) The accelerator pedal placement vs the brake pedal. The gas pedal is a long reach heightwise with respect to the brake pedal. This makes the poor throttle response feel even worse! It also requires the driver to pick up their foot to move it to the brake pedal. 6) The flimsy accelerator pedal. My truck has adjustable pedals. The gas pedal moves all over the place. The whole assembly deflects when you step on it. This makes the truck feel even more sluggish. 7) Gutless engine below 2000 RPM. This wouldn;t be so bad if the transmission didn't force the engine to be there 99% of the time. 8) Now for the worst issue: the transmission. All in all it's obsessed with getting into the highest gear possible as soon as possible. You take your foot off the gas because traffic is slowing and it immediately upshifts. Now, when traffic starts to move again, it has to downshift. This is VERY annoying in slow traffic. It also does this when turning a corner. The truck is never in the right gear after you turn. It is gutless when trying to accelerate out of a corner unless you step harder on the gas. That results in, you guessed it, a downshift! Why did it upshift in the first place? Isn't there enough technology on board to know I'm turning a corner? Getting back to transmission issues, the shifts don't happen instantaneously. That compounded with the sluggish throttle response means that the truck doesn't do much for a second or two after you step on the gas. Of course a downshift can't be completely seamless, so that slight lurch becomes annoying at times. In traffic it's upshift, hesitate, downshift over and over again on my 20 mile ride to/from work in traffic. There's a hesitation or lurch whenever the engine comes out of V4 mode, especially when it transitions from V4 to V8 mode during a downshift. You'd think I'd put this in an engine issue category, but I'm not on purpose. It's all tranny related - read on. I complained to the dealer about this and asked them if there was any revised calibration they could load. He said I had the latest calibration after reflashing the truck twice: once for abrupt shifts, the other for potential exhaust overheating. He then went on to say the transmission works like a manual tranny. I didn't ask what he meant by this, but after a few weeks of thinking about it, I figured it out... Unlike the older GM transmissions, the torque converter doesn't just lockup at cruise. That thing is locked up most of the time! OK, so what you might ask? Well, let's talk about what a torque converter does. First, it allows slip between the engine and transmission. When it's slipping, overall efficiency goes down, but torque multiplication occurs. The latter is a good thing. Secondly, the torque converter acts as an effective cushion against driveline shock. It looks like, in an attempt to get every MPG out of thre truck, GM chose to lock the converter during acceleration. OK fine. The EPA is making the car manufacturers do a lot of half baked things to get their CAFE results up. But, my Sierra is a truck not an econobox. Give me the V8 power I asked for! Now it all began to make sense. Since the converter is locked, slip can't occur. This means the engine is forced to lug itself on acceleration at low speeds because it's not being allowed to rev up. This also eliminates driveline cushioning. Now you see why I say the V4 to V8 transition issue is tranny related. It also explains why GM went with such a sluggish throttle response! Overall, in traffic the truck feels like my first car which has flat spots and hesitation. Problem is, that car was built 41 years ago and had a crummy carburetor! Remember how automatics used to be? You stepped on the gas and the engine revved up? Try this in your 2014 truck. When it's warmed up, step on the gas. But enough to cause a downshift though. Do the RPMs jump? Nope. It's just like stepping on the gas in a manual transmission car. I'm really hoping and praying GM's engineering team comes to their senses and releases a new calibration for this truck that can fix this. I don't care if I lose MPG around town!!!! I wonder if the aftermarket can fix this? Blackbear, Diablew, etc? I'm willing to give up my powertrain warranty to have a truck I can stand!!!! PM me if you can help... I've always noticed that the truck drives great when it's first started on a cold day. A few days ago I realized that the converter WASN'T being locked until the tranny warmed up. Slip was occuring, the truck felt more responsive, part throttle acceleration was better, etc. 9) Brakes are mediocre. They're suffieicnt, but it takes too much pedal force to slow down. This seems like a "GM thing" since I've felt that way about every GM vehicle I've had. 10) Engine sound. OK, so now I'm nit picking. Much like my Avalanche, the stock 5.3, doesn't much sound like a V8 unless you really get into it. The part throttle sound, while certainly quiet, really doesn't have a pleasing sound. It sounds more like a groan than a powerful V8. I'm not sure what I'm hearing. The tranny? The brake's engine driven vacuum pump? Whatever, it doesn;t have a sweet sound. 11) The heated seats are weak at best. OK, I'm sure there are a few more things I can add, but I'll call it a night. Cheers! John
  13. When I installed mine, I had to reverse the polarity of the pins in a connector in the capacitor link. The factory bulb harness is wired backwards compared to what the HD relay harness needed. It's easy to extarct the connector pins and swpa them around. John
  14. My guess is you got a set of bad bulbs. That blob is not normal AFAIK. Can you get your hands on a spare bulb to try? John
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