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Now we are in my wheelhouse Any refinery that can run sour crude can and does process sweet. Just can't do it as efficiently. Fact, no refinery in the USA processes ONLY sour crude. They are run on a blend and that the split has more to do with the price of the various feed streams or equipment utilization numbers than the processing equipment itself. When you run sweet in a sour plant there are certain parts of the plant that no long have a function OR are not fully utilized. Sulphur content is what determines the feed being called sour or sweet. So when WTI is sold to Europe it isn't due to a lack of processing ability. It's due to 'limiting profit' running it here. Sour crudes are not just the middle east. Venezuela, Canada, Mexico are also sour. We import all three. Chevron has a very large presents in Venezuela. Chevron's refinery in Pascagoula, Mississippi, and several others along the Gulf Coast, Valero and Marathon Oil are sour plants as are many in the Midwest that use Canada crudes. This all is tied more to profit than to ability. A new refinery built specifically for WTI just makes more money but supply is limited in the big picture. Fact is we only have one refinery in the USA that processes only sweet. Toledo Ohio and it isn't a big one. 180K bpd. There is a second planed for Brownsville to run sweet shale crudes but....also small 160K bpd. Fact, it is cheaper to build and run a sweet plant and there are more high value products in sweet crudes. There is just a limited supply on the planet. Sour plants proliferate in the USA due to past practice when OPEC was flooding the market and it was cheap enough to warrant such a move and US production of sweet was small. There are refineries in the USA that have units that date back to the 1920's. I worked a Getty light gas plant that changed boiler and thermal cracker fuel type up to four times a day based on cost. Ran our butts ragged during the 70's embargo. Nothing in a refinery is not driven by extracting that last penny a barrel. It has nothing to do with the needs of a nation or it's people.

Well, gas prices would be low if we didn't have a combined 12 years of ideologues chirping about how "evil" oil and oil companies were. Why, you ask? When people say things like that, would YOU fork out millions of your dollars to build one? Nobody who understands how business operates would on their worst day! We don't have anywhere near the amount of refineries capable of refining light sweet crude, which is a TX staple (and most of the USA from what I understand), so it all gets sold overseas where they have that capability. We haven't built a new refinery in America since the late 70's!! This is all thanks to militant environmentalism. All our ancient refineries can handle the dirty, mid-east oil ... so we have to import it. We've been beholden to global market speculators FOREVER. I get it - everyone, even us Conservatives, want clean air and water (contrary to corporate media's take ...). But, shooting yourself in the foot based on unproven "science" is just plain STUPID. Not one person on this planet would run their household like this! While America suffers due to all these restrictions, China and India mine coal and burn whatever they need to to keep their BILLIONS of people comfortable and fed. Building an new refinery today doesn't mean an environmental disaster! They seem set on believing that green energy and similar profits as big oil are going to happen full scale. Not in our lifetime ... unless AI dreams up something earth-shattering. Since we could be less than 3 years away from a 180° political shift, NOT ONE oil company is going to dare spend the tens of millions of dollars of an investment, only to be shot down in flames by the next enviro-nazi. Do you blame them? So ... enjoy the fuel prices if you don't like the current leadership. Even with the war, prices would be $2 a gallon cheaper on average if we could refine what we have, and not be in a monetary stranglehold dictated by global speculators. And here's another take: IF prior presidents had taken care of Iran decades ago instead of bending over backwards and feeding them pallets of cash, we wouldn't be here right now!!

Appreciate everyone's help and suggestions. I am going to man up on this one and admit my stupidity. I had the lower control arms on the wrong side and obviously upside down. I should have disassembled and then assembled 1 side at a time. Instead I disassembled both side ones night, cleaned up, and then reassembled the next night. It's amazing how closely everything still lines up with the arms on the wrong side. Close enough that I was able to get one side loosely bolted up. As soon as I went to put the knuckle on and saw that the hole for the lower ball joint to fit into was tapered the wrong direction it hit me what I had done. Once I swapped the LCA's the passenger side bolted right up imagine that. On the driver side I did have to compress the spring again and rotate it 180deg. Once I did that the angle of the shock and mounting ears all lined up as well. Have not got the new tires mounted and alignment yet (later this week), but the improvement was definitely noticeable over the worn OE shocks. I did end up getting rid of the 1/2" Rough Country strut spacer and then adjusted the Eibach's up all the way to the 2.5" setting. No rubbing on the Superlift UCA like I had with the OE one with the same tires. Did not need the wheel spacers.

You can look up the capacities from AMSOIL on their look up guide. https://www.amsoil.com/c/products/1/?zo=521390 Let me know and I can get you the best price.

it is what it is

https://imgur.com/gallery/only-costs-30-to-fill-up-PxtnfUE#gmNI219

Any fuel tax suspension is just stupid because they will complain about it in every single legislative session moving forward, saying we don't have as much money anymore. Then they will dream up new ways to tax you more while also asking for pay raises for themselves because it's a tough job and hard to make ends meet.

Only us old geezers remember the long lines, every other day fill-ups, and the wasted time of the early '70's, and yes the increase in price too. Not worth my time to research the price increase in percentage terms as I really don't care as much about price as availability, thankfully we're not dependent on the middle east for our domestic supply any longer. I was reminded of this a few years ago when we were almost stranded in Maggie Valley,NC when Russian hackers shut down a pipeline from the Gulf that supplied a good part of the SE with refined product. All flow valving had been converted to electro-mechanical switching controlled by computers and all the old geezers that had a clue how to bypass the new valving had retired, so the pipeline company payed the ransomware hackers. There are only 4 gas stations in Maggie Valley, tourist town with mainly hostelry, restaurants, and curio shops. Fortunately for us the owner of our Air BNB had just seen a tanker at a Citgo station, so we hustled on down there and filled up. You hear lip service about how our critical infrastructure is vulnerable to foreign adversaries, but the solution seems to be all about "hardening" our critical systems against computer attack. It would be expensive to install and train the personel but I believe we need MECHANICAL redundant systems at all our critical points, a mechanical switch that could actually be thrown by a human at a substation or an actual valve that could be turned by a human at our domestic water supply station, but that's just me, since I'm old my only worries are for my children and grandchildren and their world.

Did the passenger side today. Seemed worse than the drivers side. I’ll check back in 5000 miles or when the low oil light comes on - whichever comes first. on another note - went to do sway bar bushings and 3 of 4 bolts broke. Gotta love New England.

I find all this amusing and perplexing. In measuring oil I use the supplied tool. It’s called a dip stick. Using the supplied tool I have been fortunate enough according to this thread not to have oil usage problems in all but two vehicles. They use one qt every 2500 miles. Different manufacturers both said within normal perimeters. I have access to quite a few vehicles. They have countdown meters for oil changes. I figured using that and pulling the oil checking device I could actually show no oil usage problems. I’ll show them I thought. Then I realized I can’t prove I didn’t add oil. So I decided, screw it. I know what I know. If people want to believe that all vehicles use oil. That’s fine with me. I’m not going to get in the weeds. It’s comes down to what your definition of what is, is. Seems I heard the analogy before.

The level of trolling from someone who joined on Tuesday of last week is pretty high. My guess is former member promoted to visitor who created a new account, or is using a shadow account to bypass user blocks. Just a guess. :shrug:

ENOUGH!!!! The rules say no politics

Driving habits definitely affect oil consumption. Grumpy knows. Towing with light trucks, heavy trucks, when you're running full boost more often or spinning gas engines at their peak torque for prolonged periods, they consume more oil. Period. Y'all flat-landers need to come out here in the Mountain West and tow for a while.

Yes Grumpy! I have said forever how oil changes are the lifeblood of an engine. Back in the 70's when I raced quarter mile on the weekends with a daily driver small block Chevy I always changed the oil before and after racing. Never had engine problems.

Yeah, a BIG one. Didn't your state have a CHAZ / CHOP zone where not even cops would go? Real nice. Ever wonder why all the leftist run left-coast states have THE HIGHEST fuel costs in the Nation? MA has the third highest electric rates in the nation, thanks to the green-eyed moonbats running the state. Green can't win on merit ... so they FORCE it. Kinda like communism. Funny how they love communism & socialism, and legislate in lock step with both. All your buddies bleat about how "great" MA is, as every road in the state tears your motor vehicles to pieces, the healthcare system bleeds us dry and then steals our tax returns if we don't have APPROVED insurance! (Ain't communism great? How does THIS help the POOR??) I can afford to pay cash for any procedure without insurance ... but for some reason I'm forced to buy it. Must be why auto insurers have to get a green stamp of approval from the state first before they do business here. That's not shady at all. Then any big city you go to is lined with homeless encampments full of addicts & criminals - they're even living on the bike trails they wasted millions on ... yet, still can't find a dollar to fix any of our roads ... Taxes are through the roof, there's a half-million fees on every damned thing the state FORCES us to buy, the People get ZILCH while illegals get put in 5-star hotels / motels ... and nobody seems to know where the money went or how much money has been spent on that whole fiasco ... the generational welfare crew gets free EVERYTHING - all paid by the state at OUR expense- and the weather sucks, too. Your idiot buddies also claim we have "the best" (there's that word again!) education in the nation. That's funny ... because NOT ONE KID knows ANYTHING about American history when they graduate here ... but know all about gender ideology and who George Floyd was. You're ok with that???? WTF man ... You & your acid-trippin' buddies definition of "best" is flawed.

E85 makes my Silverado run way better even though I have to mix it. The Suburban loves it since I converted it. I wish manufacturers would start back producing FF vehicles and let us decide what few we want to use. Also I wish they would produce a higher quality diesel fuel. They can do it, just don't want to spend the money to produce it. That would help solve some with pollution. A better quality fuel would burn cleaner.

About 500 miles on Pepper now since the latest maintenance. Was low 80's today and very pleasant. Moderate humidity and a nice northern breeze in double digits. 10 gallons of fuel set me back $53. Ouch. 222 miles so almost 24 cents a mile and 22.2 mpg on 36% alcohol. Whew.... I'm liking my Mitsubishi Mirage more and more. 11 cents a mile in this market but the truck in a nicer ride. She ran cool. 175 F water, 200 F oil and under 160 F on the transmission. I forced the fans on with the A/C in towns with low speed limits and long lights. Trans peaked 170 ish a few times in towns with low speed limits and long lights but would pull down to 150 F pretty quick once back in open air. Now that she has nearly 200K on the clock and well broken it the AFM will tip in at the drop of the hat and that is becoming problematic. The programing for the converter clutch struggles at city speeds so I find myself running in M5 for anything under 53 mph. 50 mph in high gear with AFM on was one of my favorite speeds for fuel efficiency. Not really doable now. Clutch shutter so it's 50 in M5 or M6 and 53+ or nothing. That's had an impact on fuel economy but makes it livable. Just part of the aging process. Happy to give away some milage to keep it out of self destruct mode. Now the Interstate is unchanged. 60-63 mph and low 20 mpg and running cool, smooth and in sync. Happy little camper. E-85 is locally priced at a point where even with the milage hit the cost per mile is attractive. Even runs a bit cooler. Off to it.

Thanks, y'all. After reading this, I ordered the Amsoil. It's quite a bit more than Valvoline full-synthetic, but I reckon it's worth the premium.

Its a shame the updated for 2005 version never hit the market as they shrunk the axle width out back to make it fit with a standard sided box instead of the 1/2 dually flares. Of course I can't find the picture right now, but it was a red crew cab short bed behind a fence with the rear wheels turned and everything. The price supposedly was cut as well. The Silverado EV/Sierra EV/Hummer EV 4 wheel steering works great though. And is the same principle as the old Q-steer, just modernized. Less complex since its IRS out back for suspension, so its like designing the front but for the rear, instead of a rack mounted to a diff cover of a Dana 60 like Q-steer used.

GM got the govt. money in 2008, and repayed in 2010. That was 16 years ago. Irrelevant to the current situation. The recent quality issues sort of mirrors Boeing. GM wasn't watching their suppliers as heavily as they should, the suppliers were letting product through that was bad. Cranks, lifters, rods, etc. Even the telematics module issue right now with them bricking on 2024-2025 SUVs. Lax in monitoring the supply chain during COVID, but an urgency to crank product out. Things were sacrificed to get product on the ground.

You mean the same states who say defund the police? There’s saving there. As we all know that wouldn’t raise the crime rates. Right? Anyone over 30 should know how the game is played in government especially. Knowing that how to mitigate the whims of our fearless leaders. I’m thankful that finally someone has the gonads to eliminate a potential disaster that everyone has warned us about. I was in the gas lines of the seventies. Bought my first home at 13 percent interest. Saw the hostage crisis until Reagan. And saw a resurgence of our economy shortly after. I know the game and who the grifters are, right Nancy. I’m ok with the federal taxes on gas. But I know how the game is played. I’m prepared. Venezuela the fifty first state sure, fifty two Cuba. Yea baby.

It’s at the point of amusement. I’m retired I have time. It’s fun seeing people try to convince me I’m using oil. I’m buying oil at the prescribed time. It gets drained and new goes in. Do I add in between, no. My oil doesn’t even get dirty in 5k miles. I don’t even see any drop on the stick. I check in the same place. All is well.

Ok well I guess Lake disagrees with me on a few points. I call oil consumption pretty basic. Rudimentary. He calls it "really complicated." I think 1qt consumed in 3k miles is a lot. He says that's normal. In 22 minutes, he'll use his natural talent to explain oil consumption to anyone watching this video. He covers everything from obvious engine damage to how normally functioning healthy engines consume oil by design. Lake explicitly states how you drive will impact oil consumption. Shut up and watch:

Guys, thank you so much for the help! Dealer called back and is willing to participate $7,000 towards lifter and cam shaft replacement. Basically complete engine rebuild. Our cost will be 5k. These replacement parts will be covered by a 3 year 36,000 mile warranty.

Yeah, amusing and perplexing. For sure.

Let's reason it out. If the motor is equipped with a knock sensor and that sensor is telling the ECU to pull timing then more timing is available if it gets more octane. Octane that eliminates that KR (knock r-e-t-a-r-d) adds timing and nine times out of ten increased BMEP (torque). The improvements are measurable on an engine dyno but can be small enough that your seat of the pants may not notice. Sometimes it will. More torque at the same rpm allows lower TPS values for the same load which leans the motor a bit in the part throttle part of the map. Will you notice it? Ever watch Engine Masters dialing in a motor bumping timing 2 to 3 degrees at a time UNTIL power drops off (incipient knock point). There's a Aussie tuner that tunes the entire map by this method. Further reasoning. A knock sensor has to HEAR the knock to react to it so doesn't move the timing until the shock wave is pounding the rings lands. Yes there is a difference in "Intensity" and the maps are well fretted to prevent most engine damage...until it isn't. KR is driving in the rearview mirror. Give it a bit of thought. Peck at the ring lands often enough even micro pecks will eventually hammer to the ring grooves. In my Ecotec3 4300, which is a flex fuel rig, the base map is 87 Octane but, and I watch it via a Scan Gauge II device along with fuel trims, will pull up to 9 degrees of timing on a 6% grade on a warm day with zero load at 60 mph in high gear. When I use 93 that value drops to under 3 degrees on any hill. When I use E-85 at over 80% it is ZERO KR. The milage difference between 87 and 93 hasn't been noticeable over the 150K miles i played with that. Been on E-85 and now at 193K+. In fact none of my 87 octane recommended vehicles of several makes looses even a fraction of a mpg using 93 and every one of them reduced KR. Lastly. Shell V Power Nitro + 91 or 93 and Exxon Mobil Supreme Premium 93 all three contain a proprietary antiwear/anti friction additive that has been PROVEN to significantly reduce bore/ring wear. Both Shell and Lake Speed Jr have some pretty good videos on this product with receipts. Dyson Labs LLC was my intro to the product. The fuels listed are the ONLY fuels of any rating CURRENTLY using these additives. Shell was there first and has the most data. FYI. Like Ripley....Believe it or Not. This will get some blow back so I won't respond to it.

Yeah I dont get it either as the gas in the tank keeps the pump cool and lubricated, when it drops below 1/4 tank the pump is no longer being cooled and lubricated by the fuel which will lead the early failure.

Why run the tank this low?

Added the denali cluster to the duramax today

He has no clue what he means. Argues like a child. Somewhere a village is missing its......

It’s very unfortunate your engines use oil mine don’t. I guess you are one of those who can’t stand that people have different experiences. I’m sure there’s plenty of people even on this website have the same experience. Most engines don’t use oil. Spark plugs would misfire, cats would clog. Vehicles wouldn’t pass smog. You should really quit while you’re behind. You’re looking like a fool.

Cant fix stupid

Because it has never used much oil, I haven’t monitored it closely enough to know for sure. However, the measured drop on my latest longer interval after our road trip of 4500 miles (nearly 0.6 quarts) was roughly proportional to the drop in previous 3750 miles intervals (a little less than 0.5 quarts), which would imply the drop is steady.

https://www.tsbsearch.com/GMC/01-06-01-011I Also GM TSB #03-06-01-023 Someone needs to call GM Engineering and tell them ALL what idiots they are.

Banks diff cover added. For those who have not greased their 9 zerks in your frontend, do it. Mine were bone dry.

jsdirt, you only see the negative, always. Lots of things I don't like but wouldn't want to live elsewhere.

HD truck engines and transmissions, although similar, are quite different so make sure you're looking at the correct information. The internet doesn't always provide the most accurate information as much is AI created and full of mistakes currently.

They definitely won't replace the entire bed. The outside skin can replaced. But the damage is minimal, I'd lean toward PDR as mentioned above.

Ok Guys, got the truck back today with the new long block, seems to be running fine “no knocks”! The truck only has 7k original warranty left and dealer told me that’s all the warranty the new engine will have on it that’s Bull ******! But he stuck to it so let’s hope this one doesn’t stack rod bearings in the future! At least it still has the original 5 year 60k power train warranty which should cover anything that oil touches in the block per dealer.

0 cylinder mode? That would be deceleration fuel cutoff via the fuel system. Any time an AFM/DFM engine enters DCFC, all cylinders go back to being active. So the DFM solenoids close the oil flow to re-lock the lifter, and all 8 cylinders become mechanically active again. Engine pumps on all 8 but they cut the fuel off. So extended coasting (down a hill, long offramp, if you like to save brakes, etc.). DFM can skip fire on as little as one cylinder. Deceleration Mode When the driver releases the accelerator pedal, air flow into the engine is reduced. The ECM monitors the corresponding changes in throttle position, Mass Airflow (MAF), and Manifold Absolute Pressure (MAP). The ECM shuts OFF fuel completely if the deceleration is very rapid, or for long periods, such as long, closed-throttle coast-down. The fuel shuts OFF in order to prevent damage to the catalytic converters. Fuel Cutoff Mode The ECM cuts OFF fuel from the fuel injectors when the following conditions are met in order to protect the powertrain from damage and improve driveability: The ignition is OFF. This prevents engine run-on. The ignition is ON but there is no ignition reference signal. This prevents flooding or backfiring. The engine speed is too high, above red line. The vehicle speed is too high, above rated tire speed. During an extended, high speed, closed throttle coast down—This reduces emissions and increases engine braking. During extended deceleration, in order to prevent damage to the catalytic converters Here's a great detailed read from GM/Tula Technologies. Tula is the one that actually created DFM, originally called Dynamic Skip Fire by Tula. GM bought into Tula to get DFM into the updated Gen V engines. @Grumpy Bear You'd probably love reading this if you haven't. The list of side effects are rather interesting, and some of them came to fruition with AFM and now DFM (torque converter problems being one of them). Dynamic-Skip-Fire-New-Technologies-for-Innovative-Propulsion-Systems-Paper-Vienna-2018.pdf

It’s wound be easy to end with complete destruction. A pause is to save lives. And to convince people who look for anything negative. That everything was tried. Of course we can continue to do it the old way and take our chances that they wouldn’t completely destroy the world because we aren’t fit to live according to their teachings. I choose patience pay a little more for gas. And then send them back to the Stone Age. Because that’s they want to do to us. Just in case you haven’t been listening.

REPAVE the roads after EVERY spring thaw cycle? Can tell you're not from here. They pave the roads every FIFTY years on average, unless it's in a place where lots of eyes see it (interstate) or where connected politicians live. My road hasn't been paved in SEVEN DECADES. Since we collectively send BILLIONS of dollars a year to the scumbags on Beacon Hill, I'd like to know just where in the eff all this money is going??? Certainly not the roads ... I would LOVE to live in Texas!! I'd be much richer I can tell you that much. And my vehicles would last 2,000x longer. P.S. _ you forgot the 0.254 cent per gallon underground storage tank replacement fee. So, 26.54 cents per gallon. WHY we have to pay this, I have NO clue ... but I'd wager the scumbags running the state stuff that right in their grubby pockets.

Imagine my excitement when gas price locally went down from $210.9 per litre to $207.9 per litre this weekend!

MA is screwing us to the wall as usual with road taxes. $4.49 for the company van - $119.00 to fill. If you saw our roads & bridges you'd wonder just where in the hell all this tax money ended up ... This is just a railroad bridge with 100+ tons rolling over your head while stuck at the traffic light. Nothing to see here! https://postimg.cc/gallery/dZdHmdG

1500s you do. You have to retract the parking brake which can be done with a scan tool, or via a procedure with the parking brake button/switch on the dash. Also. Disconnecting the negative battery cable is a MUST on the 1500s as if you don't, all sorts of errors and warnings will trigger. HDs do not need any sort of procedure as the parking brake is separate from the caliper. So only servicing the parking brake would require a special procedure.

Yep, Trump is the master negotiator - that's how he got to be a billionaire DECADES ago. People are so blinded and brainwashed by their hatred of this man that all rational thought about this campaign goes right out the window. They'll take CNN talking points as gospel. The longer this drags on, the more hurt it puts on our enemies - more hurt = more negotiating power in OUR favor. As much as people ****** and complain, I see plenty of cars coming and going from Section 8 MA housing (paid for by US, the taxpayers) - they seem to have found money to keep their cars rolling. We can take it. We've taken worse for much longer, people forget! One by one, Iran's oil wells will become unusable - you can't turn of the spigot without causing damage to the well. Since Trump closed the Straight, Iran has nowhere to store the constant flow of oil. If they shut them down, they'll never have the same output again. Brilliant strategy. Plus, the rest of our enemies are screwed. It's a win-win.

7 May 2026 2009 Silverado 1500 Z71 4x4 5.3L 113,162 miles, 5125 engine hrs. Changed oil and oil filter with 6 qts Valvoline Restore & Protect 5W-30 and AC Delco Ultraguard UPF48R, replacing same oil and filter installed last September, approx 1600 miles ago. This was the second fill with Valvoline R&R. Drained oil was dirtier than usual for the mileage and actually had a few tiny sludge clots in it, and the oil filter felt heavier than new. Guess that's the VR&R doing its job.

Slow and not so painful. This thing does have nht option.

Because I added the trans dipstick to a new truck. So I’m assuming the fluid is already at the right level from the factory. And because no one has ever opened up my new truck that I got with 5mi on it, I would also assume that the fact it is showing full on my added transmission dipstick, that all is right. it would be different if I added this dipstick to an old truck that I didn’t buy brand new. Then I get what you’re saying.