Chuck FB

That's all my own fault, I seldom look at the bottom of each post as quite a few members I noticed had put their short vehicle description just under their name and I had done the same when I signed up as a member a few months ago and tend not to look down below ... oops !. That is interesting about the engine compartment design now allowing through flow, the trucks may have been a bit lower on the underside but certainly lower at the top of the grill and underhood area I believe, you know how tall the front of your new truck is as reaching very far into the engine compartment is impossible and the physical engine ( not all the crap on top of the engine with the intake ) is way down there and that would change the airflow all right. I know in later years they talk about the duramax having a new and improved high capacity cooling system, I don't know if they really say much about the gas version but whatever they are doing seems to have promise with your findings and others on here and towing tests I've seen in Colorado on the mountain grades ( not talking about TFL though ) I tried looking up your camper model and did find some specs from back in 2007 but they don't talk about the weight, I see that model number is not made now but manufactures are always changing things anyway so the same model numbers can change drastically over the years. The only reason I was looking for the specs was to compare to older campers I was around as a kid, one my dad had and actually is still sitting in a shed on this farm and then a relates camper and truck they had. Campers back then did not have the false floor and tanks under it as that just jacks the height up all the more but these were full size campers otherwise in that over 10 feet long range from the front of box to the back of camper. If I am correct I believe my dads single cab long box with a standard trans and a 396 ( talking a 1969 GMC as this is a while back ! ) I think maybe he was getting around 10, the uncles crew cab single rear wheel with an automatic and a 454 was around 8, Like I said don't quote me on that but I think that was what was talked about years back and both were two wheel drive trucks. We were never flying down the highway, just going along and I am guessing 60 typically and maybe even a bit slower. Which brings me to a couple of questions, what speed do you typically drive with your camper ?. Also have you added anything to the suspension being that it is not a 1 ton like your diesel was. I've heard of the Senora pass more lately, never knew anything about it the only time I was in that general area as I went from Death Valley up 395 to Lee Vining and over the pass into Yosemite that summer and then angled south west to Paso Robles and out to highway 1 and followed it all the way up until it turns back inland to 101 and hit up the various coastal redwoods as well, fantastic coastal scenery and wish I had been able to do the whole number 1 and spent a lot more time out there along the way vs always on the move to get back home to work, that is 18 year ago and you just got your camper as it donned on me. Your question as to being able to do anything without starting the engine and the answer is yes. I haven't experimented much with it but presume the electronic park brake should operate in this setting as well, I just never tried it. As I see it there is a good side and a negative side to putting it into that mode as boy does it suck battery power like crazy and one doesn't want to put it into that mode for any length of time the way I see it anyway unless one has a decent sized battery charger on the battery that can keep up with that draw ( such as running diagnostics in that mode messing with a diagnostic tool ). So with that warning out of the way, what you do is have your key fob with you as usual and without pressing the brake pedal you push and hold the starter button. I don't know the exact time but it takes maybe 7 seconds for it to get into what they refer to as the run mode as the dash lights up just like the truck has started. WIthin that procedure the dash will tell you "press the brake pedal" because it thinks your wanting to start the engine but ignore that and continue holding the button and then the dash lights up and your in the mode and you let go of the starter button. Now its sucking the power like mad as the truck systems are alive and now without pressing the button you can press the brake pedal and wa la ... the gearshift will go to any position you want it to and would roll away unless the park brake was set or your foot is on the brake pedal. Remember that I don't believe you would have any power brake assist either. I assume that to get the truck set up to be flat towed ( I think they can be but not entirely sure of that ), I suspect the transfer case has to be put into neutral, nothing I have looked into though. So hope that helps but just don't do it on a steep driveway and back into the neighbours Ferrari F40 or something !. To turn it off you simply press the starter button as usual and it partly shuts down and then when you open the door everything should shut down.

I've just not been around the LLY enough to have realized they had that overheating issue and a neighbour that has owned I believe its an LMM and still has that and then had a LML he sold recently and bought a first gen L5P, never happened to hear comments of running hot but then I haven't asked either. I imagine GM did some changes after the LLY and looking up some write up comments about the LLY, number one on that list of issues is overheating because of an undersized cooling system and that the fan clutch was not robust enough and resulted in overheating when under load. His L5P he bought used back in the winter and its a crew cab dually and bought it to haul a Northern Lite 10-2 and unless he put down a weight figure wrong he said he was at 14500 lb loaded for going camping but in any event he said for that load and wind resistance it just goes, very happy with the power it has ( was down to California this winter with it ). Being that we are talking both diesel and gas in the same breath, the fuel mileage you mentioned, was that for the diesel. I'd be curious to know what your getting for mileage with your gas truck hauling the camper. Also unless I missed it, I don't know what your actual gas truck setup is, if its a one ton crew cab long box with single wheels or its a dually ? That's the problem with what I bought when it comes to the idea of a camper, it would have to be a lighter unit and shorter to fit the short box as its the one ton crew cab with short box and single rear wheel. Just what fits a more all around pickup theme but unfortunately not a good base for a decent sized camper but would be fine for a reasonably sized trailer. Overheating and be it pushing a unit that was never designed for the task even though they claim it is, there's no fairy that comes along and waves the magic wand to make the repair bill and being stranded along the road go away. I've heard comments for example of people from Colorado noticing travellers with Ford F150 eco boost trucks sitting on mountain passes with a trailer behind and she is all but done, wiped out the engine. High altitude density air doesn't cool as well but the turbo can ram in the air and make that engine put the power to the ground ... until it doesn't. No one wants to be the person in that mess far away from home so being an overheating wienie as you call it is what saves your bacon by being aware and taking action vs being a steering wheel holder and too busy trying go faster up the mountain then those around you.

While not some large heavy trailer where your slowed right down on a hill and airflow vastly reduced which is the test that really shows the maximum that a vehicle can withstand ( and some literally come to die in that situation, hot day and a long grade ), I gather comparison wise this truck is doing a lot better vs your older duramax for a similar load and weather. I wonder if the fan on the gas truck is less aggressive due to the rpm the gas engine is capable of vs the diesel and may not sound off at a more midling rpm, just speculating. The cabs sound proofing would come into play also as I hate to admit as well that my hearing is not what it once was either, being around and operating equipment years ago with no access to hearing protection catches up. Being that the thermostat is listed as a 187 or 190 range unit I would be surprised if it was the thermostat on its own doing this, what you describe is like the reaction a highway tractor has when the fan clutch engages as the temp just drops back pretty quick if its on a reasonable temp day but with the semi it has a light on the dash that comes on to show that the fan is engaged due to how its being engaged. With a pickup with a mechanical fan with a fluid clutch I doubt there is any way of sensing what the fan is doing and also can't manually control its engagement like one can in a semi. I am curious if you owned the LLY from new and the reason I ask is that bugs plugging up the condenser and in fact damaging the fins as well as whatever accumulates in the fins of the rad over the years takes its toll on cooling performance when the air can't get through even if the fan is howling away. In any event I am glad to hear your gas truck which is the same unit I recently bought is capable of cooling in adverse conditions as my old half ton chev was pretty pathetic and that is just driving the truck not hauling a camper or pulling a trailer. I ended up putting in a thicker core rad and toying with the fluid clutch bimetal spring to get the clutch to activate sooner, I think that's the reason I made it through death valley without having a melt down and I also was real careful with air conditioner use being gun shy after my prior experiences with that truck.

Were you running the air conditioning on the climbs ?. As to the temp ( being that you can actually see the coolant temp the the monitor ) dropping like that, could you detect the sound of the fan howling. I assume if the engine rpm is up a ways that the fan would sound off or at least that has traditionally been the case with fans when they are forced to drive at a much faster speed then they normally do when the clutch is not locked up on it. I am guessing that the engine oil and trans temp dropped some as well when you noted the coolant temp was notably falling ? So now you just have to head to Death Valley this summer the moment you hear they might have a heat wave like I was told happened the week before I drove through there years back and was 118 when I was there but they had hit 129 the week before ... then drive out of the valley on the long climb in the heat of that hot day with the air con running, now that would be one killer of a test !.

I had not looked at the price until after my comments, certainly pricey in USD, never mind what horrific price would be attached to something like that up here as the Dorman pan is stupid expensive up here for no good reason. While more oil is usually better, I do wonder how much of a difference a bit of oil would make to the trans temp.

That's interesting, odd why they only list it for a duramax on the main page if it might have the ability to fit onto the gas version. I know some of these companies that make pans specifically say does not fit the gas truck with the 10L1000 Just now I looked at their application list and they word it rather strangely but you are right that they elude to it fitting on a gas truck that has the 10L1000. Hmm, have them confirm it and send you one and if it does not fit that they take it back on their dime.

Good on you for having the welder and the tig experience, I am severely lacking when it comes to welding and only have a stick welder at my disposal and so seldom weld ( its embarrassing to admit ) and once in a blue moon I do some brazing with ox/ac. As to that link to the pan, I don't expect that pan will fit on your gas truck and I've not looked just lately at the various companies that make higher volume aftermarket pans but it certainly had been not long ago that they were all for the Duramax because it doesn't have the cross over pipe and so it would have to be an oddball pan made for the gas truck to have a deeper sump if that was sought after. I believe the Dorman pan is a direct factory volume swap that either the diesel or gas can use and my guess is that they made it because they added the drain plug, like the factory should have done in the first place !.

Yes that is true as per the aluminum bung and designed for the plug style you want and if you did decide to do that lets say rather than the Dorman pan, one would have to find a shop that has skilled tig aluminum welders on staff. Definitely easier to buy a pan ahead of time and the filter and oil etc so there are no hang ups. Oil, again your able to purchase that quite reasonably cost wise through Rock Auto as one source and I know from buying oil to have on hand from the dealer here in Canada, they were kind and dropped the price from the normal dealership price when buying it by the full 12 quart case, its not an oil most other parts supply retailers carry up here I found.

That would be the way to do it by having a bung welded on or as was suggested on here as per buying a Dorman pan and I will admit I cringe every time I hear that brand come up but its not a very expensive pan through Rock Auto as long as one is in the states, it would cost many times that if bought in Canada ( for no logical reason ). Being that your in Florida your exhaust may not have the sort of rust that happens very quickly on a salt covered winter road and the two nuts that join the break point at the rear of the trans might undo easily. Between that and undoing the hanger on the trans you might be able to flex the Y pipe without too much stress to the header flange mount. I don't know if there is a seal or gasket of some sort at the manifolds to Y pipe, as long as it would not ruin a sealing surface perhaps the hardware could be backed off just a bit at the manifolds if need be, again as long as the hardware isn't all seized up. Your trial will prove good information as to what method will allow the pan to slip out.

If you decide to install a drain plug into your factory pan, take some photos of it and whatever information if any that you used to decide on the location to install the plug. I expect there would be certain spots or a best location to install it due to not interfering with the trans filter for example or the locations of the magnetic pads. I also presume any of these aftermarket plug install solutions will unfortunately have to stand up a distance inside the pan and takes away from allowing as much fluid to be drained out vs if one had a specialty bung welded into the pan that did not have an internal rise above the bottom interior, or bought an aftermarket pan that fit the limited clearance of the exhaust cross over on the gas trucks.

The Edge or Banks units, are they compatible with the gas engine as they appear more refined in how they are made as well as rigged up with methods to mount them vs the scan gauge.

I definitely like the various fuel mileage perimeters it gives including the miles to empty although I assume it bases it on what its been doing prior and if hooked up to a trailer it would then need to cycle through some fuel to gain the appreciation of being very thirsty. Deleted pickups is common place here if its possible to delete because the government isn't bothering anyone with deletes, not yet anyway. However when I was doing the diesel/gas debate there was no solution on the market then for the global B GM trucks and not sure if that has now been resolved or not but also do a delete and along with it goes the warranty and that whole game. I decided the costs of the whole picture was out of hand for what they charge for deleting the up to 2023 duramax and would become a real issue to repair any problems on the road as a dealership would not be able to touch it. I have diesel farm equipment all around me but older with little to none of the emissions crap on them so resigned to going a simpler and less powerful route. Interesting how the computer on your past diesel figured the mileage one way when empty but fell into line when loaded. I would think there are times you miss it because of the power and fuel economy, but like you said before the gas setup with the aux tank allows you to have a common fuel for your generator as a slide in camper doesn't give room like a large trailer with basement storage compartments to overload the trailer !.

Does your truck qualify for warranty yet, although I realize even if it does that means waiting and waiting for yet another valve body that more than likely still has the same built in failure issues ... all extremely frustrating. The reason this transmission shop I talked to in person had a question mark when it came to the Nextgen kit or method as it were, is orings on a moving part such as these spools. Wear on the orings etc was his worry because for the most part he claimed that orings in a transmission are on stationary items that seal the oil from escape rather than cycled/moving parts. That's one persons opinion and its not like he has even had a kit in his hands nor installed one. The proof will be in its use, will it cure the issue and cure it for a long time. If I was in your position I'd be very tempted to do as you plan also, there is no real good answer when it comes to dealing with issues like this as it makes one feel like your beating on a dead horse to keep it moving. Keep us posted as to how it goes, what your mechanic thinks of the kit and how it seems once your able to try it. I imagine he will cut open the filter to make sure things have not gone sideways in the trans and take a read on what is on the magnetic pads.

You got me with this bar rate number, I imagine it relates to something such as how much the bar ramps up in pounds per some measurement distance, certainly a number I've not noticed before. Those two wheel drive trucks, yes if they are within the years that have the same bar fitment as these 2020 plus chassis have ( or are there a few years prior that these current bars also fit into dimension wise ) , then having the ability to look at the bars to measure accurately as well as take a part number off of and if your able to see the door post sticker to confirm what front axle rating they have. Piece all the info together and compare the diameter to the mystery Cognito bars. What are the odds that they have been laughing all the way to the bank and pretending stupidity at the company, we may figure this out yet. I have not seen a two wheel drive truck for a number of years now, on dealers lots or used for sale. What was so common up here for so many years has now become the unicorn in the newer model years that is. Still some older trucks on the road that are two wheel drive but less all the time as they rust up if used in our winters.

Its more about the theme of the odd quirk in how the fuel tank seems to fill with a slower flow of fuel and due to that I can't trust hand calculating which is something I had not encountered before. I'll see how it seems once I do go on a longer drive and am fuelling up at stations and hopefully then see how close the computer is to hand calculated. Just never know how much to trust a computer system. The technology/information is there in front of me as far as fuel calucations, its if its trust worth or not in my mind, yet anyway !. Does the scangauge give information like actual engine oil temperature and pressure, true voltage output and gear position. Of course this is a global B truck so hard to say what its compatible with compared to the global A system. With this new dash it tells what the fuel mileage is between key starts but deletes itself after the engine is shut down ( again based on what a computer is telling me ) which is interesting simply because the truck is able to do an over all trip calculation as well as this point to point key cycle calculation all at the same time. I've noted that on my particular drives of about 50 miles one way to or from town, that final start and heading home I can get as good as 17.5 as long as I drive easy and keep the speed at no more than 62 ( 100 km an hour that is ). While 17.5 may not sound fantastic and again that would be pure highway driving with no headwind but a bit of hills and everyone else blowing past me like I'm going backwards, trucks from many years back that were lower and lighter would never think of getting that sort of fuel mileage being driven easy, fast ratio gearing in top gear and engine refinements have certainly made a difference.

I wonder if there is more to it than software, if its a combination of both the computer control factor and a valve body issue. Back to the dealer of course and can see if there is a different course of action now given its almost a year later from the first dealer visit. When I had talked to a local transmission shop on the topic of these transmissions, because most of the issues end up back at the dealership he has not had the opportunity to work on one or even touch a valve body because a new valve body would be impossible to get ones hands on other than a dealership. I had mentioned NextGen Drivetrain to see what his response was and he didn't know much about them but certainly questioned the whole concept of orings on spool valves, but did mention that in his world of rebuilding transmissions that two companies stand out that have developed a lot of transmission fixes over the years, TransGo and Sonnax and would have faith in what they develop. I see both of those companies have a few little items they have come out with and its a few parts for the valve body and one of those items looks to be involved with preventing the transmission from trying to go into more than one gear ( the rear end momentary lock up issue ). I am purely speculating but I just wonder if your transmission is trying to pull that stunt and why the slam shift feel. I don't recall when they said that software update came along that is supposed to be warning the driver that something is starting to go wrong with the transmission, yes I know its completely retarded but wondered if your trans electronics had that warning software update. Different truck and trans but a friend just had his 2023 1/2 ton with its 10 speed decide to go stupid and was dropping out of forward or reverse out of the blue on his way to work the other day and had it towed off to the dealer and they diagnosed it as the valve body, now its wait for who knows how long before they get the part to throw on it as there was already someone ahead of him that has been waiting almost 2 months for the very same thing on his 1/2 ton. But I bet if one goes to the Ford or Ram dealer your going to find pissed off customers, oh and add Toyota to that list.

Thanks, I've never messed around with the dash on that series to know what information the instrument cluster or the center info screen has. What I have found with this truck and might apply to GM trucks for some years now, because I have a gravity flow fuel storage tank on the farm which has a slow flow compared to a typical station fuel pump, I find the tank filling to be wildly inaccurate from one top off to the next if the trucks fuel is over 2/3 full. The trucks computer was saying one thing fairly consistent to how I drove and my mechanical fuel meter was telling me something wildly different, one trip to town it would hand calculate to fantastic mileage and the next tank horrific mileage. Just something I've never encountered with a vehicle before but for some reason this has a quirk to being filled slower than what is typical at a fuel station pump does. Of course I don't dare try to "fill" the tank as I understand the evap system would not like that and may even ruin something in the process. So me being the person that has only hand calculated all my life as no vehicle I personally owned had diddly on it to tell me what mileage it was getting, now I am dependent on the computer if filling at my farm. I guess that's called progress ... maybe ! LOL.

The dash information of the WT models, does it include the best/average of the 25/50/450 mile distances ?. While I realize its not giving realistic fuel mileage it lists on the "best" side category, certainly in the 25 mile distance, I'd be curious to hear what numbers others with the gas trucks have shown. Mine happens to show 19.3 as a best 25 mile while on the other end the best 450 is 15.2. I have not been on any longer drives with it so don't have a handle on what to really expect as its been my typical drives 50 miles one way to a small city and back along with running around the city some and just driving it easy and no load. The fuel mileage just drops when driving around town, no surprise there with a heavy truck and some engine restarts.

Same would apply to installing a lower temp engine coolant thermostat as long as it didn't cause issues on the other end with running too cold and causing too low an engine oil temp increased sludge buildup and fuel dilution. Starting at the base of a climb with coolant and engine oil and trans temps well in check give that edge over the same fluids at elevated temps as your beat before you start climbing the hill and yes, turning off the air conditioning before a hill in those more extreme hill and temp conditions.

Good point there that I had not thought of, when I was reading his comment on the empty trucks trans temp running around 185-190 I was comparing it to my truck not being pushed and in the 70's outside and assumed it was due to driving fast on a hot Texas day that it ran that hot, not about this high temp bypass for the cooler. Whoever thought that was a good idea for an HD truck to crank up the trans heat that much, good thing someone at GM pulled their head out of their behind and corrected that. Road testing I've seen with the Ford HD trucks with the 7.3 pulling the same load on the same stretch of highway as a 2024 GM gas so both 10 speeds, the Fords temps were even more insane yet, I can't see that making a Ford trans happy either.

The thread I would agree with but not the actual rod diameter from what I at least measured the other day. I'd have to remeasure using a micrometer to say with 100% certainty. Its quite noticeable when looking at where the threads end and the solid rod continues, how the threads are larger in diameter than the rod itself.

I am so limited in the metric bolts and nuts I keep on hand but a while back when I was looking at the ubolts and measured the unthreaded rod and came up with an approximate 5/8 or 16mm diameter and also noted that the outer diameter of the theads is larger due to how they formed the threads, I took a 3/4 course nut and it spun on easily although it was loose side to side. That told me the approximate thread pitch as I never did pull out my metric thread pitch gauge to get an exact figure. Unless I am off and I believe I mentioned this in another comment that its highly likely the thread is a 18mm with a 2.5mm pitch. However its not an 18mm diameter rod so bolt charts won't take that into account, nor would it be easy to find out what actual material GM is using for the ubolts. The only thing I can say with certainty is that a deep 1 1/16 socket fits perfect and that should equate to a 27 mm socket .. so if one does not own much for metric tools the standard socket works perfect !.

That got me wondering, just what is the OE thermostat rating of the 6.6 gas and I find slightly conflicting numbers but 187 to 190 seems to be the temp rating. Looking on Rock Auto I see an aftermarket company MotoRad makes a few temps, 187 OE, 180, 174, 160. I haven't a clue nor is it probably easy to find any spec on the mechanical thermostatic fan hub as to what temp they lock up at but I know years back that the theme tended to be that they never kicked in nearly soon enough so the engine was already well above a comfortable operating temperature by the time it kicked in. I played around with the bimetal spring on a hub to lower the kick in temp and covered over the grill for my tests to see where it would lock up engine coolant temp wise, didn't want it kicking in too low either as a locked up fan takes a lot of power and locked up all the time would put a lot of stress on the fan drive. In that particular truck which was a half ton I could drop in a rad with more cores that the 3/4 etc trucks used as the dimensions were the same. What I could not do is put a 3/4 ton fan on it as the drive is more stout to drive that deeper fan that moves more air on the heavy duty trucks of the time vs the marginally built 1/2 ton cooling system.

Very interesting and why I had asked, that is vastly different in consumption but also two very different engine load and over all rpm operating scenarios. I also have to wonder as Grumpy Bear mentions engine oil temps, if the oils raised temperature during high load operation is a factor in its high use. That also makes me wonder if different oil formulations and their varying viscosity at temperature ( higher viscosity ) could assist in preventing as much oil from getting past the rings when the engine is highly loaded. Overpasses, that makes sense and again my driving along not pulling anything and its night time and unaware of the surroundings, one misses those details. That reminds me of a bridge/overpass by Corpus Christi and I thought it was near Mustang Island but it looked like a wall as in steep as one approached it, that was quite the overpass where ever its located.

When the truck in the past was driven without the trailer and from the starting point of a fresh oil change, what distance was it able to obtain before being down one quart ?. I've been on that stretch of highway once and heading northbound but its so many years ago and most of the drive was at night but isn't that a fairly flat stretch of highway ?. South bound you would drop 700 feet between those two cities and at those low elevations is where I have found vehicles to get the best fuel mileage, if all else is equal with fairly flat ground and no headwind vs high elevation. But speed with a high wind resistance unit, that kills fuel economy and the amount of power required is vastly higher than if one was idling along at 55 to 60 mph with the same unit.