7milesout

Labor Day? Naaah. My guess is, there will be some magical way they stay lower than before (like they are now), until after mid-terms.

Yeah, I agree. However, if they made more money from people spending more in the store, that would be greedy. They should just take a loss on it all, instead of being greedy.

Since fuel prices are dropping, then that MUST mean that greed is dropping too.

Been kind of satisfied with the 4.8L here of late. I'm fighting an evap system issue of late, so I've been driving it more than usual to resolve that. As I have to do emissions in September. I knocked out a 17.8 mpg tank, 100% suburban driving, driving miss daisy style though. But thought that was pretty darn good. Then I filled it, took it to my son's college to move him in. Some steady driving on the interstate. Then came home and picked up a uhaul car transport and hauled his G35 to a local shop I trust. Must have been about 30 miles towing the car transport (but only maybe 10 miles with the G35 on it). Then I let my youngest drive it to school, and my G35 son drive it on a date with his gf (his car was in the shop). I refilled it and that tank hit 17.4 mpg. The long steady highway run must have been in the 20's to offset the slight bit of towing and sons driving. I drove it once before on a long highway trip for my Paw and got 21 something on the interstate (I think it was). So, pretty impressed with the 4.8L. I put a Borla muffler on it for my dad before he passed and it sounds nice too. Not too loud, just right. Sounded like it put on it's big-boy pants versus the stock muffler. Gas was ~$3.60 a gallon for those 2 tanks.

Have any of you E85 drivers ran E85? I know it yields less power / mpg. But wonder if you've ran the numbers, because at some amount less than 87 octane, E85 should break even or maybe be even a bit less expensive to use. I'm curious about E85, but a) I would only use it if it were mathematically less expensive and b) my truck is not an E85 flex fuel truck. I drive around like I'm driving Ms. Daisy, so a small power drop would not be an issue. Just curious how you guys feel about it, if you've used it.

When we went to lift the bed, I had forgot to remove the attachment of the fuel filler neck. The ground strap got pulled apart, but the neck was OK, as we set it back down momentarily, I detached the neck and we lifted it again. Yesterday I soldered the ground strap back together and the put Permatex #3, Aviation on the nipple and slid the hose fitting back on the solenoid nipple. And called it a night as it was threatening to rain (never did). Giving that Permatex 24 hours to cure. If this works, I'm going to start slathering that Permatex on everything. I'll set the bed back down tonight, then drive the truck tomorrow and over this weekend. I've got a BT OBD-II reader so I'll be able to know quickly if that Permatex did the trick. It's just a shame to have to deal with such issues. The truck rides like a tank, it must be the Z85 (High Payload Firm Ride), but other than the tank ride, the truck is really nice. The 4.8L is a better than decent engine, smooth, good low rpm performance. And the truck is a completely clean cream puff, zero rust, drives straight, no vibration. Once I get this straight, wow, what a nice truck.

Well ... this joint is not a high pressure joint. I don't understand the GM numb-nuts who would use some weird-ass fitting that takes some weird-ass method to remove it. A friggin hose clamp would have been a thousand times better. I generally will do every single repair I can do without taking my vehicles to a mechanic. And never take them back to the stealer once warranty is gone. I figure that a) this fitting holds itself in place already, and does not / will not just come off. And b) there's not much pressure in this joint. I guess intake vacuum is all the "pressure" it would see. Adding Permatex should complete the seal. I even thought about using coca-cola. Get the nipple wet with coke and shove the hose on. That stickiness of the dried up coke / sugar would actually create enough seal (I think). And later it should be easy enough to break that joint loose if necessary. This weird-ass fitting didn't seem to create pressure to form a seal, it just held the hose in place on the nipple (the best I can tell). I should also mention that I think part of the sealing problem was that I didn't realize it, but I let the hose slide away from the solenoid and then had to pull it real hard to put it back in place. My thinking at that time is that's the way it was. However, before tilting the bed again, I could shine a light between the bed and cab and see the hose, and I noticed, there were marks offset of some hose holders. Meaning, I had let the hose slide through those holders about 2 inches the wrong way and didn't know it, when I changed the solenoid. So, that lack of slack created a torque at that nipple, and it looked like I didn't push it all the way back on. That's the source of the "leak." So, the combo of fixing the hose slack to get a tensionless hose attachment, and some Permatex #3 should do the trick.

Since the price of gas / fuel is dropping, we should all vote for Democrats across the board, since they're the extraordinary geniuses that are causing it to drop.

Following up. The truck bed is back up on TILT. The check engine light is back on. The code this time is an evap emission large leak. I know it is the hose ... I broke the fitting when taking it off. And when putting it on, it had no slack and was tight to put on, so I likely didn't push it on far enough. But, this time, I'm not taking any chances. I want to put some permatex on the nipple and push on the hose. QUESTION: What type of permatex would work best in this case. I want it to seal, but I'd like to be able to pull that hose off in the future if need be. So, maybe some soft seal permatex?

Let's hope. I'm with ya on that.

I should have also mentioned, that I drive my Dodge Ram conservatively because it is a big 7,130 pound battering Ram. And to a person in a different vehicle, it probably wouldn't feel very good to get crashed into, so they probably wouldn't like it. As such, I drive it accordingly, as if I somehow know that other drivers might not like the way it feels if I Ram into them. It does a little better than the Sierra on fuel, but kind of apples and oranges as far as powertrains. However, the Ram is like driving / parking a Sherman tank, and the Sierra is like driving / parking a Camry (but with plenty o' nagging problems). I've come to the realization that there must be others who drive like me (slowly, carefully, methodically, safely, conservative, etc). But I am not likely to see them much or ever because they and I are driving about the same speed. Yet the ones that are driving the opposite of me, blowing my doors off only to have me roll right up next to them at the traffic light, are the ones I'm exposed to. I'll be honest. High gas prices aren't killing me. Yet I absolutely despise paying for fuel. However, I'd rather pay for fuel than to need to go pick up my mother-in-law down in south GA (180 miles away) at the spur of the moment but can't do it as I have to wait on the friggin batteries to recharge. And sweat the fact she lives very rural so I can't make it home without a slow 110V overnight recharge. Gimme some gas and let me go... Last thing - Recharging might be less expensive than liquid fuel right now. But when a lot more people jump into EVs, our good ole trusty gobment is going to have to tax them out the wazoo somehow, in order to make up for all the lost gas tax revenues. It's coming. Just a matter of time. 7milesout

I'm seeing RU from $3.999 / gallon to about $4.199 / gallon. I took a drive this weekend in my inexpensive runabout to my sister's house. 300 miles total trip. Primary interstate run is between Chattanooga and Atlanta. Me and all 3 sons our luggage and blasting the AC. $4 a gallon gas is nothing for the rich / successful folk around here. I kept to ~the speed limits and got just a skosh under 41 mpg. There were plenty of lifted F250 Powerjokes, and soccer moms all alone in their QX80s and Audi Q7s blowing by me on the interstate. Everybody down here in the dirty south likes to make a big fuss about fuel costs, but get behind the wheel and put their foot to the floor from one traffic light to the next one ahead that can be seen red from a half mile back. I totally get the practicality of a 12 to 18 mpg pickup truck. Heck, I have 2. But even if I'm not driving Ms. Daisy, I'm still driving conservatively. Yet the people around me drive like fuel is free. Maybe it is ... to them, I dunno. Most people work in this area, and it's their money, so more power to 'em. 7milesout

I guess you don't, never have, and never will ride a motorcycle. The gas sipper is INFINITELY safer than riding a motorcycle pal. And I've probably put 50k miles on motorcycles (and raced them when I was younger).

Tim - Mine is either older or a lower trim level. It only has the old-school blinker stalk controls. No controls on the steering wheel.

The vehicle in my signature is averaging about 16.4 mpg. If I drive like I'm driving Ms. Daisy, I can get low 17's. Now that's all suburban / 'round town driving (not city ... suburban). Of course it does better on the interstate, even the low 20's. However, based on some of the mpg numbers I saw earlier in the thread, I've got nothing to complain about. Of course I have a 43 mpg average gas sipper too. One of my sons is driving the gas sipper right now due to covering 104 miles a day. So, I'm driving Ms. Daisy around in the Sierra daily at this time.

I know this is not the typical thread. But I'm wondering if there is a way to cancel the cruise, other than the brake pedal tap, or switch off the cruise. Sitting in a parking lot yesterday with windows behind me, I tapped the brake pedal the same way I tap it when cancelling the cruise and it saw in the reflection from the windows that it blinked the brake lights. I don't want to blink / flash my brake lights when I cancel cruise. And flipping it off loses the set speed memory. There's got to be another way. I seem to remember years ago that I found another way of canceling the cruise, but either I remember wrong or it now escapes me.

Thanks Richard. Seems I remember there being a metal coil on the front of the replacement one, but I'm not 100% on that. I searched on here for normal operating temperature because I was concerned maybe my radiator might be a bit plugged. But according to what I read, my 4.8L is spot on everyone else's. Mine seems to run (by the best estimate of the gauge reading) between 195° and 200° WITHOUT the A/C. Maybe a skosh warmer than that in lots of stop n go traffic. WITH the A/C on, it seems to run about 8° warmer. Something like 205° to almost the 210° mark. And it seems that ~205° is the threshold to activate the fan clutch on this truck. The cooling system seems to be nominal, I double checked the oil level (been a while since an oil change and it was perfect at the top and looked very healthy, was impressed), the A/C blows ice cold. So, it could be just as you say, maybe it is dumping warm air right on the front of that fan clutch. I'm interested in running a fan clutch that engages minimally as this truck really only hauls my fat ass around. Not much more. I was studying up on part numbers. There are 2 fan clutch part numbers for my truck in all the info I found. 15911779: This seems to a little LESS heavy duty. It reads like it is for some of these generation trucks WITHOUT A/C. However, WITHOUT A/C trucks are going to run cooler than those with A/C (when the A/C is on anyway). So maybe this fan clutch has to engage at lower heat levels. I.E. Let's say they're pulling 5,000 pounds. The one without A/C is going to be running cooler than the one with, yet may still need more air pulled through the radiator ... so maybe this one activates at lower temp. 20913877: This one seems to be the one for trucks with A/C. However, how it is worded it seems to say the 15911779 one is for 4.8L trucks. Exact wording: "All models. 6.0l. All models. 5.3l. 5.3 & 6.0L, without ac. 2000-04, without ac. All models. 4.8l. All models. 4.3l. 4.3L, 1999-04, without ac. 5.3, 6.0L 2002-04, 8.1L. Helps quiet noisy cooling fans with stuck fan clutches\ This GM Genuine Part is designed, engineered, and tested to rigorous standards and is backed by General Motors\ Original equipment parts are designed to work with your GM vehicle safety systems -- aftermarket replacement parts may not meet the same OE safety regulations, depending on the part type." Gonna break that down below to see if I can make sense of it. All models. 6.0l. All models. 5.3l. 5.3 & 6.0L, without ac. 2000-04, without ac. All models. 4.8l. All models. 4.3l. 4.3L, 1999-04, without ac. 5.3, 6.0L 2002-04, 8.1L. In any event, it is not clear. I have the old original part, and pictures of it, but it does not have either of those 2 part numbers on it. It has these numbers on the front of it: 7E11F2 (printed / stamped), AAAD (printed / stamped), a small G53A (embossed / cast). On the back it does have AC and 5.1 (embossed / cast) on it. So I suppose that would direct me to the 20913877 part number.

Guys, About 3 or 4 years ago, the subject truck was my dad's. And everywhere he went, the coolant fan would be roaring. So, long story short I wound up putting the (seemingly) lowest duty fan clutch on it I could source. In the end, it worked as original. The first maybe 1/8th of a mile after cranking the fan would be engaged, but it would drop out and run quiet. I'll mention, the truck has had an easy life. It has towed very little. And when it did tow, it towed very little. It towed a decent load one time. Anyway, the current problem is, that if I crank the truck with the A/C already on, the fan will stay engaged and roaring. Yet if I crank it with the A/C off and drive it until the fan decouples, then turn the A/C on, the fan will remain decoupled. But once that fan comes on, with the A/C on, it will not decouple, and will roar and roar and roar. Even with driving the truck around like I'm driving Ms. Daisy. I know the coolant is not getting hot. The gauge is down in the 190° like it always is. I think this fan is strictly a viscous coupling, I don't believe there is any electronic control with this fan whatsoever. Can anyone confirm that for this generation? It's annoying to be driving around nice and easy and have the fan roaring, and I'm sure it is less fuel efficient with that fan roaring. I realize it's been stifling hot down here in the dirty dirty south, but surely it should take more than the temps being in the 90's to pull the fan into engaged. Maybe for a short distance until the cool air is flowing through the grill, but it should drop out soon after. There's got to be more to this viscous fan clutch than I am aware. If it is just a viscous coupling controlling the fan only, I suppose this fan clutch could be on its way out as well. I would appreciate any feedback!

I wanted to go ahead and follow up here. Lifting the bed was easy. It took me no effort at all. I let 2 of my sons do it! Then I placed the jack stands under there. Had to lift it way up because the bottom edge of the bed was cutting me in the back. In the end, it got lifted higher than the picture below. And the blankets I placed as shown stopped any scratching of one part to any other. The stink of this whole effort was that, I think the connector wires had just broke off. I don't think the solenoid failed. But since I already bought a new solenoid, I replaced it. Spliced in some new wiring, and put it back together. After I cranked it up, I got a bit miffed that it didn't immediately turn off the CEL. I left it idling and went in got cleaned up and put on some non car work clothes. When I came back I looked in the cab at the CEL before I opened the door. Just as I was looking at it, the light went off and I swear I bleeve I heard a tiny solenoid sound right at the spot I just put the new solenoid in. So all is well now. I got happier when the light went off. P.S. - I don't care that y'all can see my license plate, everybody on the road can too ... no big deal.

Not wanting to start a new thread about much the same problem, I'll revive and add to this thread. I had the check engine light come on on my 2003 GMC Sierra SCSB 2WD. The code that came up is P0449. I read about this and watched some youtube videos, and decided to replace the Vapor Canister Purge Valve Solenoid. Which requires a bed tilt on this truck. The bed tilting was easy enough. Anywho... The point of this thread is 2 things: 1) To let others know to look for this -> When I popped the connector off the unit, and when I went reconnect the connector to the new unit, both wires from the connector were dangling. They had broke off about a half inch away from the connector. I'm going to hazard a guess these wires were either already broke off, or finished breaking off when I popped loose the connector. They were very brittle. So this may be other people's issue who replace this unit but then have the problem come back. As I recall from reading, the P0449 has maybe a couple meanings, one is that the computer is not receiving the signal it expects. Well, if the wires are broke off, it certainly won't get the signal it expects. 2) I broke one side of the hose connector fitting, when trying to get the damn thing off the Purge Valve Solenoid. Can anyone help me find a replacement part? A part number would suffice. Thanks! 7milesout

Awesome. Thanks!

I would have searched this, but I'm on my smartphone and my phone is not working right. On my SCSB, the solenoid is on top of the tank at almost perfectly between the bed and cab. I've seen some videos of guys with a solenoid in the same place tilting their beds up and accessing. Has anyone done this, or seen this done, without tilting the bed? I can release the wire harness, and can access the bracket fastener to pull the whole thing off. 2 problems, I don't know if I can release that hose (it does have the plastic fitting) and sure don't know if I can get the wire harness back on 1-handed. Or if not, how can I jack up this bed? I don't have or have access to a cherry picker to lift it up from inside the bed.

I think I know what you mean. I have an old 1972 Plymouth Scamp with an LA360. It's not a monster by any means. It is tuned well and makes maybe 270 hp at the rear tires / maybe 325 flywheel hp. It's also running stock size 14" pizza cutter tires. It looks fairly stock, but sounds mean as all get out. And will roast both rear tires (Eaton Tru-Trac diff). With that set up, it's not all that fast, it barely runs 13 second quarter mile times. But it is really fun to drive with the way it sounds, responds at at this power level.

My old Dodge. First picture is my Zombie Apocalypse set up. 2nd picture was later, using the Pappy-Cap to support my son's BMX racing (keeping stuff out of the rain and theft prevention). 3rd picture was all my middle son's bedroom stuff on the trailer hauling it to said apartment, some in the bed and the back seat is full (can't tell). I played tetris with all the furniture and got it all packed down artfully on that trailer, with shipping blankets, nothing got damaged or scratched. Long bed was very handy.

AUMAN - Looks like you've done quite a lot to that truck actually. Mine, being my dad's looks like it just rolled out of the showroom (not as clean, but no mods). The only mod to the whole truck is the toolbox in the bed. No mods, but I did plenty of repair to it during my dad's ownership. KARNUT - Good eye. I didn't catch that stick "sticking" up. He said just like mine, so I was assuming his was an automatic too. My truck (course both trucks are mine now) is a 2000 Dodge Ram 2500HD 4x4, QCLB with a Cummins and a 6 speed manual. It is mostly stock looking, but it is cranking out about 800 lb-ft. My dad's truck (my truck now), is bone stock except the toolbox. AUMAN - It looks like you may have lowered the rear, but not the front. Am I right? Lastly (for now): I have 2 sons in college, and a younger son a junior in high school. The junior is on the wrestling team. I rented an apartment in the town my 2 sons are going to college. 1 son lives in the apartment (housing issues) and I have to rent out the other rooms to be able to afford to rent it for him. Which renting it takes money and time keeping reasonable renters in it, and is a real nuisance. AND on top of this, my wife is a non-vaxxer conspiracy theorist and got herself fired from her job. So now, I have ZERO MONEY to do anything to this truck. I don't care that she's not vaccinated, she doesn't actually need to be. But she knows I'm plenty pissed at her for not being reasonable and taking a vaccine that has proven successful and won't hurt her ... in order to help provide for her family. It's not like we can live cheap at this point. 2 in college, 1 high school. You get vaccinated and move on with life. But now her income is just plain GONE. And it hurts, big time. Anywho - that's a whole nuther can of worms. I'm going to just make some (probably long term) plans regarding what I would like to do to my (dad's) truck. And your posts really help. And I thank you for it. Those engine mods sound good. However, I don't so much care for the "performance" of the truck because it would probably still be fairly slow (yet still is good at truck stuff as-is). But I would like the "sound" stuff. Meaning, I think it would be cool for the truck to look and sound tough. It doesn't necessarily have to be able to back that look and sound up (but nobody needs to know that). Hehehe!