mrjulian416

This is good info/detail. Thank you for laying it out.

ISO-9001 certified means they have a process and they follow it... doesn't mean it's a good process.

Can't we all just get along...

1500's only for the service mode, and I think that is only for the parking brake shoe. You will need a bi-directional scan tool to reset the brake wear indicator (and new wear sensors, they are a wear-out part as the pad thins). Other than that, nothing special. I did both fronts and rears on my '21 2500 to get rid of the dammmm squealing from the factory pads.

And then 5 years from now, a law firm pockets 66% of the funds and each owner gets a check for $28

Unfortunately you probably did piss away that money due to marketing and internet forums. Catch cans, while they do something, don't really do anything to prevent valve buildup in DI engines. I've posted it on here before, there was an actual independent engineering test/study done and the empirical evidence shows blow-by is not the source of valve deposits. It's primarily due to exhaust gas reversion caused by the variable valve timing which is done to create EGR flow to improve emissions. This happens mostly at light load and with cooler engine temps (aka short trips). Your fire suppression guy is hauling ass on the highway all the time, so he's not operating in that condition most of the time. Yes, a catch can does stop some amount of oil mixed with a larger amount of water vapor, but it won't affect the formation of valve deposits to any real degree. Having said that, I won't tell anyone not to use a can. If it makes you feel better to use one, by all means use one. It can't hurt... unless you forget to empty it and the engine sucks in a big enough slug of water.

Perfect summary of these things.

Ahhh.. adding clearance makes sense. I was going to ask how you'd deal with the quart of fluid that would end up on top of the plate if you pulled that plug with the plate in place.

The new GMC Speilcoog 1500. Deona trim level. From the exhaust design, it's probably that new twin-engine format the AI's have been botting about.

At almost 5 years and 55k miles, frame and diff are still black and waxy. I lived in the "north" for my first 35 years. I'm never moving back.

Carbon fiber/ceramic. I just did a pad swap. Still did the recommended pad break-in/burnish per Powerstop's directions.

I ended up putting power stop pads on all four corners. Left the stock rotors. It's been silent ever since.

With the stock coolant thermostat of 190F, there have been discussions on this forum about what that means for transmission fluid temps. With water temps that high there is only so much the transmission cooler can do. I'm now seeing easily available, lower temp thermostats. Even Autozone now offers 180F, 174F and 160F options for the L8T. 160F seems pretty low. But how low could you go without causing unintended problems? Years ago when I was an engineer for a diesel engine manufacturer, our concerns with "too low" water temps was fuel dilution of the oil, excess soot generation, increased emissions from poor combustion. Other than soot generation, are they the same concerns with gas engines? If you wanted to cool things off a bit, 180? or 174?, or .....?

But, it doesn't do anything. Stock is fine. Seems like a waste of money. I kid, I kid

I've been web searching for this same thing lately. Fortunately I'm not in a hurry, but I was looking to find the "heavier duty" options out there as a possible preventive measure. What I've found is not much. Most options are high-stall converters for race applications. There is some info on the Sonnax web site, but their stuff seems to be all upgraded rebuild components for converters. The directions of which start with "cut the converter open"... beyond my capabilities.

This is the truth that many people just don't want to accept (especially people who sell catch cans). I've linked it before, and here it is again, but actual engineering research has shown blow-by has almost no effect on valve deposits in DI engines. In fact, in the testing, when they completely bypassed the PCV lines, there was slightly more deposit formation. The biggest factor is engine load, with low load levels generating more deposits than high load... which comes down to the EGR phenomenon C/K Man references above. Considerations on Influencing Factors of Carbon Deposit in Gasoline Direct Injection Engine Yes, Top Tier fuel can help, especially with carbon inside the combustion chamber, and to some extend on the intake valves as well.

The 125k mileage comment is likely referring to the need in some direct injection engines to have their intake valves to be de-carboned every 100-150k miles. This is typically done in a shop using walnut blasting after removing the intake manifold.

Now that I've read that article, I can almost convince myself that the sound I'm hearing is kinda like a spark knock you'd hear under load/acceleration... kinda. Almost.

Plenty of clearance on my '21 6 speed to get the factory pan off and install a cast aluminum pan.

There is the typical transmission filter which is not part of the pan. Not sure what you mean by a filter or strainer other than that. Both the stock and extra capacity PML pans work with the OEM (or equivalent) filter. I changed the filter while I had the pan off. Went with the Delco OEM. You could certainly use an extractor to do a fluid change. But I would suggest dropping the pan at least once in the first ~50k to change the filter. With the wear metals in there from the break-in, I feel a new filter is worth the effort. While running, the magnet doesn't catch everything so the filter is doing its job. Best to get a clean filter in there once most of the initial wear in is done. IMHO

We can't jack up the rear end by the differential anymore? Did something change in the last 100 years?

I've not had this issue with my '21. My fob also has a brass key chain, house key, office key, and a few others. And I always have a metal wallet in the same front pocket. It might be that since new, I've had this fob protector on it, which is relatively stiff. Could be it's just enough to keep the buttons from getting pushed. And being made from TPU instead of silicone, it doesn't break down and get slimy over time. GM fob protector Comes in 5- or 6-button versions.

The PML pan is about 1/2" thick. I don't think a rock strike is a big concern. Bottoming out on boulder would be a problem, however, for any oil pan whether stamped steel or cast aluminum. I did not choose the high-capacity version because seeing that thing hang down just didn't seem like a good idea if there's any chance of going off road.

Consensus? Never. Just use the pf63 yadda yadda it equivalent

Bottom line, it was easy and I'm glad I did it. For a bit of background... I have a '21 SLT 2500 gas. I had previously installed the transmission dipstick/tube because... it should have a damn transmission dipstick! Since I tow more with this truck than my last one, I also wanted to make fluid changes easy, so I wanted a pan with a drain plug.. I went with the PML standard capacity pan. It not only provides a magnetic drain plug, but it also retains the fill-level port of the stock pan, making refills fairly fool-proof. There's a ton of videos out there showing the clearance issues with the 6L80 pan and the exhaust cross over on half-tons and Yukon/Suburbans. Looks like a nightmare to fully remove the pan just to do a filter change on those. I can report on the '21 HDs there is plenty of room to remove the old pan and install the cast aluminum version. I put the truck on ramps, and vacuumed out as much fluid as I could get with my extractor... about 4 qts. Unbolting the pan resulted in no additional fluid spilling out all over the place. There was still 1-2 qts in the bottom of the pan. At 45k miles, there was an expected amount of fine metal particles on the magnet, nothing out of the ordinary. Fluid was somewhat darkened but not burnt. I cleaned and reused the gasket, bolted the new pan on, torqued it down. Easy access to all bolts with a 1/4" torque wrench and allen socket. The PML pan comes with new, longer allen head screws to accommodate the much thicker flange. Poured 5 qts of Delco dex VI in via the transmission dipstick tube... which should have been there from the factory. Backed it off the ramps and drove around the block to get the temp up to ~110F. While idling I removed the check plug and poured in another half quart... no leakage. Added the rest of the 6th qt and saw it running out. When it slowed to a drip, put the check plug and called it done. It's not the cheapest mod there is, but it's a high quality part, easy install, and easy future maintenance made it worth it for me.