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Some Assembly is Required
Chuck FB replied to Grumpy Bear's topic in Maintenance, Oils/Fluids, Detailing & Rust Prevention
Which has made me wonder with the various engine failures of a few brands in the last few years, is it sub par materials such as lifters etc causing failures, or bearing clearances on the crank etc or perhaps bad designing of an engine physically or causing too much load on the components due to the hp/torque they can push out of them. Or is the oil viscosity and additive package of current oils or a lack of oil flow by an oil pump not able to supply sufficient oil at idle or under high load at low rpm. Or is it every item I listed that combined together has pushed the limits so far to the left that there is hardly a margin of safety left and add in some fuel dilution and too long of an OCI and premature engine failure is the result ?. -
Some Assembly is Required
Grumpy Bear replied to Grumpy Bear's topic in Maintenance, Oils/Fluids, Detailing & Rust Prevention
He is not saying that an SAE *W20 will have more viscosity than a *W40 due to MORE VII polymers. He is saying that although multiple *W40 may post in the PDS the same or similar 100 C and 150 C viscosities that the blenders choice of modifier TYPE and AMOUNT to get his chosen base to grade will not give identical real world viscosities in shear and at temperature. All will pass the SII test but not all will pass the 100 C HTHS (unpublished value) testing the blender does and relies on to get the required by law "percentage improvement' referenced to his last great work. Tis the problem with the lie. Once told others are required to support it. - Today
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I have a `25, 1500 that auto sets on incline. Never knew that at first. I have the electronic shifter. Just think if it didn`t do that? Unlike a mechanical shift that you can muscle out of park, how would you get this thing out? That would be a problem. What I found out later is, I don`t have to push the button to release. Just put it in gear. Setting parameters? Don`t know if it`s possible.
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2023 GMC 3500 HD, SLE, 6.6L Gas, 4x4, 6 Spd Options: SLE Convenience Package; Driver Alert Package 1; Spray on Bedliner; X31 Off Road Package; TRAILERING MIRRORS, HEATED POWER -ADJUSTABLE, AUTO DIMMING, WITH TURN INDICATORS WHEELHOUSE LINERS, REAR INC. REAR AXLE - 3.73 RATIO INC. GVWR, 11,350 LBS. (5148 KG) INC. FRONT AND REAR PARK ASSIST, INC. ULTRASONIC I have been launching my new boat and noticed some things related to the parking brake.. I usually set the parking brake (habit) when on flat ground for typical driving. When backed down on the launch ramp to launch the boat and I place gear selector into Park, the parking brake activates automatically. My second nature is to set parking brake manually and noticed I was turing the parking brake off. The parking brake appears to be setting itself automatically. I looked all over my owner's manual and only found references to being on an incline and manually setting parking brake, or at times parking brake will be auto engaged, but nothing specific to my situation. When is the parking brake automatically engaged? Under what specific circumstances? Can the auto set parameters be changed? I like the auto set feature. It would be nice if always engaged when shifted into Park and released when shifted out of Park (like my wifes 2025 RAV4). Thanks!
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Some Assembly is Required
Grumpy Bear replied to Grumpy Bear's topic in Maintenance, Oils/Fluids, Detailing & Rust Prevention
www.enginelabs.com/news/what-i-learned-today-bearing-clearances-vs-oil-viscosities/ www.enginelabs.com/news/oil-viscosity-can-the-numbers-be-misleading/ The Big Lie… Coming full circle to the reason Lake discusses the Porsche engines in particular. Based on the 2000 samples in the SPEEDiagnostix database, increasing the oil viscosity in these engines, even those run on the track, showed no significant difference in results. The smoking gun was in the oil chemistry. That is where the data shows higher instances of more wear. Molybdenum was the key; the higher the amount, the less the wear. Speed postulates that higher viscosity oils have more thickeners to artificially inflate their viscosity numbers. These thickeners lose viscosity under shear, and the result is that not all oils of the same viscosity have the same shear stability. Having enough viscosity is the most important characteristic, but according to Speed, once that required viscosity level is reached, additive chemistry matters more than additional viscosity. Speed also states, oil pressure problems on the racetrack aren’t a viscosity problem; it’s an oiling system problem. Running a thicker oil is just a band-aid for an underlying oiling system problem. -
Some Assembly is Required
Grumpy Bear replied to Grumpy Bear's topic in Maintenance, Oils/Fluids, Detailing & Rust Prevention
Can it still be Assembled II? Viscosity on the decline by various means. Heat on the rise making that worse. Engine RPM in the tank. Smaller motors with more boost trying to emulate an electric motor. Full torque, zero rpm. Then we will triple the OCI. Argh. But wait....there is more. LSPI has pushed a shift from Ca to Mg and as that cost more PLUS the run to lower sulfur compounds the TBN is moving in the wrong direction for the increased OCI's demanded. That not being enough to placate a demand for a parameter they can't measure the other sulfur bearing compounds are also under attack. That would be zinc and phosphorus sulfonate compounds. To some degree those are being replaced with boron esters and others, i.e. titanium ect. All of which have shorter service lives. And there there is the "Secrete Sauce" marketing for AW adds that 'Can't be detected by UOA's" but trust me because I (the blenders) never ever lie. Spoiler alert; ALL additives are sacrificial! Smaller amounts of the old blended with less robust versions of the new do not equal longer service lives. So what are the blenders recommending? Wait for it....... MOVING THE GOAL POSTS! OMG Let's declare the long standing TAN/TBN crossover irrelevant and tell people that soot is a great 'graphite' based lubricant which can aid tribo films. Wait, what? Let's declare that the standards used for oxidation and nitration were to conservative and can be expanded. Let's tell them that because GDI fuel dilution, although being a VISCOSITY KILLER and an acid generator is actually okay because we have better base oils that limit viscosity failure limits. (Said knowing this is measured in fractions of a centipoise and in bases not commonly used in shelf oils) Lying from the heart is not just the new normal but we have a public, a very young public, that is so ignorant of the facts and so sure of their "RESEARCH" into AI driven models base in regurgitated instead of scientific research based unvarnished, peer reviewed FACTS that the incoming guard is loosing their grip on reality and the OEM's are tickled pink while the blends bend the knee. You have an ever limited set of tools to work with. And sooner or later those will be taken from you as the API and the EPA strangle the last remaining fluids from the system. What you have left is your wits. If you care to use them. At some point in the very near future it will not longer be possible to do "What is best for the machine", and be replaced with "The best you have access too". You WILL be rewarded with half the life and twice the cost. That isn't that hard to predict. -
I trust you saw the other comment where he knew what he was talking about !. Yes, these darned newer vehicles with all their so smart they are stupid technology, goes and drains the battery down. As you might see my other comment, I installed a Noco 5 battery tender under the hood and at this point still have the cord routed so I have to lift the hood and then plug it in but am typically parked in a garage or a shed so its not risking the engine hood in the wind. That way I am assured or hopefully so of not finding I have a battery drawn down and can't even start the truck and that also damages the battery to draw it down too far.
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I guess no surprise my guesses were wrong !, at least now I know if I ever happen to see it grayed out in my own truck as to what is going on. I never happened to catch my truck with it grayed out, it seemed every time I would test to see if there was an update it never found anything and yet more than once I would check to see if there was an update and there was nothing, then a day later or even that same morning I would drive to town and after more than one engine shut down in town as I did my errands it would pop up that there is an update now ready to install and the only place I have a connection to the internet is at home by wifi so its not as if it grabbed the download while driving. I don't trust these new vehicles due to all the crap they can decide to do while sitting for some days not running and run the battery down so most of the time if I know the truck will sit for a few days I plug in the battery tender I have mounted under the hood and so the only time the truck must have downloaded software was when it was sitting in the garage where the signal is awful but I have that tender plugged in and somehow it managed to download it. I honestly detest all this crap, way to easy to leave a person stranded. Since I don't trust any of it I don't do the install of the already downloaded software until I get home and sometimes have even sat in the truck to watch what its doing as its going through the process to its conclusion as its not like it is set up that it will tell you the next time you fire up the engine that the update that was initialed actually installed or installed properly. Yes I can go into the updates and see the list. After I go through the install where I feel its safe to do so in case it breaks down as a result, I will plug in the battery tender after the fact to recharge as I don't know how much power its taking just to do the install and that can take a while for it to install.
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Thanks for the reply. All settings were correct and the engine was off, as it was supposed to be. It turned out to be something simple. I took a drive for about an hour. I must have had a low battery without knowing it. The voltage gauge on the display looked ok. At the end of my drive, I shut off the engine and the update prompt came up and it updated normally. It’s ironic because one of the features of the update is a reduction of battery drain.
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when it's greyed out that is it's way of telling you that it's downloading the patch in the background. Eventually it will be fully downloaded and then it will prompt you at ignition shut down to run the update. I highly recommend doing the update once you get home and can run it a few times. I've had several issues with updates not going the first time around and I had to retry the update multiple times in my driveway before it was successful. Some updates are huge and take awhile to download. You can help it by connecting to your home WiFi and keep the truck on service mode for the ignition and keep it alive for awhile on a battery charger too. There are specs it needs to be in for updating such as a full enough battery charge, no running ignition, etc.
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Chuck FB started following Dave's Auto (custom engine builder) tear down of L8T and Software Update
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I am not techy at all but wondered if you have the truck running but sitting still in park as some functions gray out as soon as the truck is moving. I believe in the settings for updates you can choose for it NOT to update and I wonder by chance if maybe that was chosen before and now it won't allow you to chose to press update, I think that is back in the settings menu where it has all the items one wants on or off etc. Also I assume you have a wifi connection and checked that it has some signal strength, not that it would have anything to do with the grayed out updates choice in that case. What I am thinking out loud of here may be be of no value but thought I would suggest it, sometimes it can be the simplest thing that resolves an issue.
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Dave's Auto (custom engine builder) tear down of L8T
Chuck FB replied to mrjulian416's topic in 6.6L Gas V8 (L8T)
The so called rare failure that some certainly liked to tout ( die hard Ford fan boys ) as per the lifter failing and wiping out the cam. Back when it started happening the blame was being pointed to the lifters and honestly I never did hear anything myself conclusively one way or the other on that. Ford themselves in I believe 2024 had a technical bulletin I will call it that came out and for some engine platforms they were reprograming the engines idle speed but also they had a software update for the oil pump which then some time later was said what that software update did as to be increasing the oil pressure at idle. It is a good question if that issue was completely solved as one Ford specialist mechanic youtuber said he saw failures after that time period. Like anything there would be the variables, what oil is being used and the OCI and how much idle time gets put on an engine. I've seen some comments to claim that the L8T isn't so happy with high idle time either but I also know that companies that require their vehicle to idle a lot on the job don't tend to get the oil changed often enough for all those hours of idle time and go off of the odometer. -
I have a 2026 base 1500 "WT" regular cab with basic Chevy "Infotainment 3" 7-inch screen/radio. How many speakers do I have If I want to upgrade? Is the audio amp separate from the radio/display unit]? [I listen to classical and it gets a bit raspy at slightly higher volumes. Don't need a sub etc.] Do I have two or 1 speakers in the doors? etc. Thanks Bill San Jose
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davester started following Bench seat swap for 2021-2024 suburban
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Bench seat swap for 2021-2024 suburban
davester replied to Ahmed101's topic in 2021-2026 Tahoe, Suburban, Yukon & Escalade
probably won't get a response from that user, as they haven't returned to the site since making that one post. users don't (at least I don't, and I haven't seen any setting which would notify me via say, email) get any notification other than going to this site, and checking if they got a response on their thread... -
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Wow I'm in a pickle. (Broke down truck) and a story.
Atlas replied to Atlas's topic in The Off-Topic Bar
Thanks - I wasn't quite caffeinated this morning. 2:1 makes sense, turning the crankshaft 360 degrees will turn the cam 180 degrees, and had I done that, the cam's dot would be at 6 and the crank's at 12 again. I went ahead and took the sprocket off anyway, aligned everything dot-to-dot including the balance shaft just for s&g. I'm glad I did because I discovered no Loctite on the timing sprocket bolts. Maybe it's not required, but at only 20 ft-lb torque spec, those bolts aren't in there very tight. Cleaned and reassembled with some thread locker and torqued. A general observation: Less is more with RTV. If a little doesn't stop a leak, a LOT probably won't, either. RTV is thinly veiled revenge, in a tube... -
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Wow I'm in a pickle. (Broke down truck) and a story.
richard wysong replied to Atlas's topic in The Off-Topic Bar
The timing marks are ok, that is #1, you can turn it over until they line up and it won't change anything, the crankshaft turns twice for every camshaft revolution, I have always set up SB Chevs as your pic shows using a straight edge -
Wow I'm in a pickle. (Broke down truck) and a story.
Atlas replied to Atlas's topic in The Off-Topic Bar
Someone's been here before.... There is a receipt for a 3-piece timing set, purchased earlier this year. Is this picture something, or, nothing? I have the timing cover off and my crank is perfectly TDC and the keyed gear's locating mark is dead on 12 o'clock. The cam gear locating mark is also at 12 o'clock. Now, I'm not an expert, but all the install guides say the two locating marks should meet and be perfectly aligned when installing a timing set. The mark on the crank should be dead on 12:00 and the cam gear's mark should be dead on 6:00, and both marks should be perfectly vertically aligned. I believe the timing gear is keyed or has a dowel that ensures it can only be installed on the cam in one position, so I have to believe the cam is out of phase somehow. At the very least, with a triangular bolt pattern, it can only be installed in one of 3 different positions. Before I pulled the front cover, the truck was running alright, no service engine soon lights except an occasional P0172 / rich condition. Timing -16 timing at idle (should be +16), and total -35% fuel trim, two conditions I haven't been able to figure out. In related news, my injector tested pretty well, wasn't leaking, but I had it rebuilt anyway, and it's on it's way back to me. Along with this discovery, the good and bad: Good: The oil pan seal appears undamaged. Bad: -The timing cover has been reused, and the positioning dowels have been broken. That could explain some of the leaking. -Some kind of white paste or grease was used to try to seal the oil pan seal and timing cover (since wiped off..). -Then, someone globbed silicone all over the front of the cover and also buried the ckp sensor in it. But, they didn't put any inside the cover or use RTV to try to seal the oil pan seal with the timing cover (good). -
The guy that owns K&P filters last I checked in with him has over 300,000 miles on his Dodge base Hemi using his own 35 micron absolute stainless mesh filter from its first oil change. The GM study I've posted a dozen times shows the relationship in engine life based in multiples of base units, not miles or years. That is the base unit is the number of miles the motor ran using the reference filter efficiency. The above two paragraphs dismantle anecdotal arguments IF one changes oil often enough to prevent particle formation and the motor is in otherwise good shape. That is not full of silica (no air filter) or suffering a metallurgical issue that is not part of the lubrication discussion. Poor heat treat in example. Data from UOA's I've reviewed from more than a few engines can show remarkably broad variations in oil cleanliness using the exact same filter over the course of an engines life. Lastly there is the common sense of it. Wear debris WILL circulate the engine BEFORE it ever sees a filter in route to that filter and WILL harm the pump which NEVER sees filtered oil. Alpha question then becomes, given the facts, how long do you believe is a reasonable service life from a vehicle you are certain you will not pass down? That is the junk yard will be it's resting place when you're done with it? (the moral issue most don't care about). Omega question is then how diligent are you prepared to be in general mechanical, air & oil maintenance? Preventing particulates and keeping them sufficiently dilute; preventing the precursors from generation, amalgamation and precipitation. If I get a good look at the engine bay of a vehicle I have a fair idea of the owners commitment to the inside of the power train. That 30 micron WIX is still more efficient than a sieve.
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It also depends on what criteria someone is using for “best” when talking filters. Are we going off best efficiency? Best quality/QC? Etc. because the two may not mutually exclusive.
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They’re not the same wiz as 10-15 years ago. QC has fallen pretty hard. The XP line was never good though in the first place. https://bobistheoilguy.com/forums/threads/wix-filter-rusted-through.386492/post-6991372 https://bobistheoilguy.com/forums/threads/i-ve-used-my-last-wix-filter.27299/ https://bobistheoilguy.com/forums/threads/looking-for-a-better-replacement-for-wix-51258.403977/ https://bobistheoilguy.com/forums/threads/convince-me-in-using-the-purolator-boss.401537/post-7420147 the forums are littered with posts and examples of not great wix filters the last couple years
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I'd guess that it's because they are Mann-Hummel filters since about 2016, they own Wix and are mostly all made in China now.
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Personally, I've been running Wix filters for a very long time. No adverse affects. That I'm aware of. Someone said "used to". What has changed?
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We've hit that time of year...I'm ready for a good day of rain. Just a day, though. We're also into "smoke season". Have been getting a little bit of smoke over in these parts, but not too bad. Wasn't always like this, has been much worse over the last 10 years and has become an annual thing we just expect now, but times are a changin'. We have family who are affected by the wildfires around Spokane. They were evacuated and staying with friends in the area for about 2 weeks. Thankfully, their home did not burn, but the wildfires were literally just a few streets over from their home.
