garagerog

I agree with Gangly that GM uses the Corvette as their rolling "testbed" for future technological developments and some of those do make it to their regular production lineup, so it is wise to keep an eye on the Corvette for the possible direction of GM's vehicles to come. The Rochester mechanical fuel injection in 57 was pretty much a fail, but in 63 they scored big with IRS and disc brakes. So are we going to see other mid-engine ICE's in the GM lineup? Most probably not, but the Corvette often does offer us clues on the future of the automobile.

Designed in California=Silicon Valley oligarchy=George Orwell ?

Maybe a bottom of the garage door seal or door sweep (it would take 2 of those).

Congrats on getting that extra 10 to 12 ounces of dirty oil out. Not only will you do a better job than the dealer, but you'll know that the job was done right. Being a bit OCD I've most always done my own oil changes, even let the oil drain out overnight when possible to get that last bit of dirty oil out. The bottom of the oil pan is where the sludge collects, just check your oil drain pan after it sets for a bit. Due to age and the creeping miseries (osteoarthritis) it won't be long and I'll be at the mercy of the dealer.

Crazy, I don't have a dog in this fight so. . . Wait until the baby Max owners opine, that actually may be what you might want to consider, especially with the farm use you mentioned. If you expect to get your mother in your new truck, you're going to definitely half to stick with a 1500, especially if you will be getting a 4wd.

Biden plans on asking congress for beaucoup bucks for infrastructure spending, a good part of that to go for building a network of charging stations. Probably putting the cart before the horse because the countries electric transmission grid is iffy as it is. California is already in dire straits meeting electrical demand and they already rely on a lot of surplus electricity imported from the hydroelectric dams in the PNW. One good drought winter in the Columbia River basin and the brownouts they've experienced of late will seem like the good old days. And yet by the 2030's the only new car you'll be able to buy there has to be electric? Course maybe by that time most every one will have moved out anyway.

Creed, although I live in SC now, I was born in Wenatchee and spent a lot of time there after my parents retired from the farm to live there, so I'm well familiar with the area. Whatever gear change you go with, you're going to really enjoy the difference, even driving empty. Unless you're just driving north to Chelan, you have significant grades in all the other directions, Stevens Pass to the west, Pine Canyon to the east and that short grade on Trinidad hill to the south. I try and keep up with the local news there by perusing the KPQ and Wenatchee World websites. BTW, welcome to the forum!

ArcticFox, given the info you have provided about a hard working work truck that even had a dump at one time, I would suspect the drivers side rear spring pack might be your issue. You would probably have to replace both sides with new springs to achieve a level bed. If you have a frame shop in your area, you might take it in and run the possibilities by them.

To me those human looking robots are creepy and a bit scary, maybe I watched to many Terminator movies. My wife often comments that she will only use self-checkout when the big box store sends her a W-2 for doing their job. I only use self-checkout when I only have an item or two and the regular checkout has a long line. I have yet to see a store giving a discount for using self-checkout, so I'd rather try and help keep someone employed, especially during these trying times.

Shouldn't be a problem, a little anti-seize dope on the threads should make removal the next time much easier.

Aaron, not for sure on yours, but on at least the older GM differentials the fill plug was NPT, 3/4" was a common size. You could try and match it up at any hardware store, the recessed plug style may be hard to find, most NPT plugs have a square head.

Hold onto that Goat and baby it, it might end up helping fund your retirement someday. One of GM's worst head up their ass moments is when they got rid of the Pontiac lineup.

Hands down best and favorite of mine is the 71 Chevelle SS that I still own. Ordered it new when I was still in college, insurance was a bit of an issue at that time so I had the choice of getting a BB and automatic, or a SB and 4-speed. I really wanted a 4-speed so I went with the L48 350 and the 4-speed, it has a 3.31 12 bolt, the 3.31 is a bit of a comprise gear ratio but it worked ok for me. Only thing different I would have done is gone with a bench seat instead of buckets and a console, found out that crawling in the backseat on moonlit nights was a bit of a pain, but still worth it. ? 211,000 miles on it, never had the heads or pan off. It's sat for awhile now, I have a new master cylinder for it and it needs a new radiator, just haven't gotten around to it yet.

Beamie, the only thing I haven't seen mentioned so far was if you're sure you got all of the air "burped" out of the coolant system after your coolant change. If you have an air pocket you will get errant dashboard temperature readings.

OP, you might want to mention that 3 of those tires are Bridgestones and the orphan child is a Goodyear. Also post pictures of the tread patterns so a prospective buyer can evaluate whether the different tread patterns are compatible enough and suit their needs.

Thought this might be a fun topic to get some feedback on. For me I really enjoy "Roadkill", yes it's a "reality tv show" and I'm sure they have a lot of staging and support but to me it more accurately depicts what your average Joe or shade tree mechanic might run into with their roadside repairs. "Garage Squad" is another one that's a little more realistic for your average Joe. I really enjoy all of the shows, but some of them just leave me a little depressed because I don't have a 2500 square feet shop with pristine floors and every machine tool at your disposal, e.g. they have machine presses to press out a bearing when the rest of us resort to a socket and a 6 lb. hand sledge and hope for the best. And when they're installing accessories or doing a brake or suspension upgrade for instance, it almost always seems they're working on a brand new rig without a spec of dust or grime on the underneath of the vehicle. Your thoughts?

Speaking of cold weather, let's not forget to be thankful for synthetic gear oil in this day and age. Back in the day when I lived in eastern Wa. state that sees it's fair share of winter weather, I had an 84 K20 HD camper special with the HD compound low manual transmission. This p/u had a block heater and on cold days I would leave it plugged in overnight even though it was in an insulated garage because I'm a wuss and like instant heat from the get go. After sitting out in the cold all day at work, no problem with the engine turning over because of using the correct winter weight oil. The gear oil in the MT, transfer case, and differential was another story however, it felt like I was dragging a battleship anchor behind me for the first few miles until it warmed up some, the manual transmission was especially difficult in pulling off crisp shifts.

Plenty of blame to spread around, epa for requiring absurd mpg standards whereby the manufacturers have responded with iffy cylinder deactivation and di, and yes the consumers too for demanding hi-tech Cadillacesc conveniences that are prone to failure in a vehicle once meant for work. Now consumers want a Barcolounger with a built in remote control that they can beat to hell off road too.

Possibly the flex connection after the exhaust banks Y? Not sure on a Yukon, but typically that would be under the firewall, cab area and would make sense if it's being smelt in the cabin. The rotten egg smell was typical of catylitic converters of the mid-70's before they were located closer to the exhaust manifolds where they heat up and do their job quicker and more efficiently now.

Do a compression check to verify that a head gasket didn't give up the ghost with the engine running on diesel.

Did you replace the self-adjuster? Maybe something out of whack with that?

rav3, that is a nice setup on your pickup. 2wd or 4wd (maybe those options only available on 4wd, IDK)? Anyway, if only 2wd, some substantial weight in the bed of your pickup over the rear axle will make a world of difference in snow and in any poor traction conditions. A lot of people use bags of sand readily available from your local big box hardware store. Many moons ago when I lived in the snow country of eastern Wa. state I had a C10 that couldn't get out of it's way at the first sign of a snowflake. The boneyard at my family farm provided roughly 500lbs. of roller sprocket chain off an old crawler tractor, secured to plywood in the bed and I was good to go, no more slip sliddin away.

Wouldn't matter with the ecotec 2.4, hot or cold, the oil filter housing has indents that allow puddling of oil no matter what. I guess if one was so inclined, you could remove the hood, strap the car on a rotisserie, flip it upside down to drain the oil filter housing, but by that time, it would be cold anyway. Not trying to be facetious, just make a point.

I always do on a conventional motor that has a spin-on, replaceable vertical filter or even the horizontal ones that the 3800 series used at times that sits on the bottom of the block. The ecotec 2.4 and I believe some other ecotec 4 bangers have the oil filter housing built into the top of the block that uses a cartridge filter, the filter housing is designed as such that even with a downward slope via front wheel blocks towards the oil drain plug, there still is a pool of dirty, sludgy oil left in the housing. I normally drain the crankcase on this motor, let it drain over night, then tackle the filter the next day on a cool motor.

Sounds like a good idea, a remote filter for ease of changing, but wait, the oil filter housing on the ecotec 2.4 motors is another crappy design feature of this motor. Changed the oil and filter on my wife's 17 Nox 2.4 today and even after letting the oil drain overnight, the filter housing retains a good bit of oil, and the retained oil is almost sludge. I use compressed air and paper towels to clean it out the best I could and I do this every time, no dealership or qwik change is going to those lengths. IDK if using a remote filter would address the sludge catching design of the filter housing or not, your guess is as good as mine.