Jsdirt

Shouldn't have to remove Y pipe. Its tight, but the pan will side past. BTDT. Gray muck is grease - gives the particles something to stay put on, helping the magnet do it's job.

A tune is the last thing on my mind. I'll be lucky if this engine makes it much over 100k miles. Saving for a crate.

Nice - can't beat that! Some people are paying that MONTHLY on these new trucks .... Don't know what the previous owner did to mine, but it was a rocket ship out of the hole. Just enough power to launch hard, but barely squeal the tires. I beat alot of newer vehicles at the "stoplight drag-race" on my commute home every night by quite a distance. Once at 4k rpms, the party was over, though. On a 2-lane highway, I'd eventually get smoked - but on the lane-drop single-lane roads, I'd always end up in the lead. It made my '07 seem like there was something wrong with it. I actually took it back to the dealer just a couple weeks after I first got it - they let me drive a couple trucks with the same engine to compare - same gutless off-the-line power. Hate that about the LS - miss that low-end grunt. My '72 El Camino was the exact same way - all low-end, signing off at 4,500. If only I could have the best of both worlds without getting 12mpg ...

Hang on to that gem, Steve! That's a nice one! Wish I still had my '94. Last of GM's solid trucks - was all downhill from there. I got 222k miles out of my OE u-joints, and NEVER changed the ball joints and hub bearings when I sold it at 266k to buy my '07 - keep in mind, this is MA, where craters in major highways, and getting a foot of air off of bridge expansion joints are just part of life. The '07 ate the lowers in 38k, and the uppers & hub bearings by 50k - BIG difference. My '07 rides, and handles better, and has way more top end power, but sometimes I wonder if all that was worth the trade off. No BCM to control ANYTHING in that '94's interior, either.

Ceramic coating of paint is a thing now? I remember back when I had my '94 CBR600 that I bought new, I had the rear swingarm ceramic coated (around '96 or so), and my buddy had his header off his bike coated that same day too. Was a silver powder-coat-looking coating - was much stronger than regular powder coat. I guess alot happens in 22 years, lol.

Yeah, aluminum. My OE wheels are 18", & my summer wheels are 20" ... and neither match this 17" spare. There would've been nothing left of it if it were steel, LOL.

I just recently checked my spare tire for the first time in over 10 years - was completely FLAT! The bead area of the rim was all corroded, and all the air just leaked out from there. Had to break it down, wire wheel the corrosion off, then used rust-proofing bead lube to remount the wheel, aired it up, and blasted the bead area with LPS-3 - should be good for another decade I figure. Was also a good time to blast the winch and cable with oil. Good idea to check that spare every so often! I make a terrible example. I fix everyone else's vehicles and forget the basics on my own, lol.

Hey, look at that! Water droplets in liquid form! Been a while since I've seen that ... I haven't cleaned any part of my engine in 11 years. Might clean my cover, now that you mention it. Might look funny, with the rest of my engine covered in crap. Big contrast.

Yeah, warmer climates sure make a big difference in electrical component longevity! Learned that in Phoenix. A regular Sears Diehard battery I bought in Phoenix in May of 2000, and brought back to MA in May of '01, lasted me until the summer of 2011. I normally average 8 years out of all batteries here in MA, unless there's some catastrophic external damage. The battery I personally prepped (shipped bone dry) for my Yamaha generator was 8 years old this past October. No signs of weakness yet. How it's prepped makes all the difference too, and I went above and beyond. Hoping to get 12 years out of this one. We'll see!

I haven't either - even with several key-off 5-minute + runs of my dual Viair compressors pulling 60A at startup, and about 30A continuous. It cranked over slow once, but it started.

Yep - AGM's ain't cheap. But, take care of them (with the right charger) and they'll last 12 years. They'll also handle a TON of abuse - you can run them down to nothing like a deep-cycle many, many times, and not have to worry, unlike with a regular lead-acid battery. But, to tell you the truth, if I had to do it again, I'd have just bought a regular lead-acid. The constant maintenance with the charger (mine sits alot) is a pain in the ass. The ECM-controlled charging systems on these newer trucks don't play well with AGMs, since they weren't designed for them. They cut the voltage off far too soon.

Wow, you did damn good on that one - I think I paid $310 or something like that (will have to look it up - was a few years back). I think yours has more amperage - typically with Odyssey's, the higher the model number, the larger the battery (Ah). EDIT: Ahh, just found it's 3 years old this month, and a little over $300. You still got a damn good deal there!

Using that same battery. My first one didn't arrive very well, thanks to UPS ...

A '09 Ford F-150 came in with a coolant leak. Didn't take long to see the pee stream, which I found coming from the water pump with the best tool ever - a high powered LED flashlight. To be honest, I like FoMoCo's water pump design better than GM's. GM's is MASSIVE, heavy, houses the t-stat, and has the lower hose attached (like they've been since the dawn of time - not a real big deal). Ford one comes off with just 4 bolts, and seals with an o-ring - super easy.

You're just chomping at the bit to "catch me in a lie", aren't you? I can see the drool through the monitor. It's become exhausting trying to explain myself ... but I'll make another attempt, and then this will be my final post on the subject. MY PERSONAL HANDS ON EXPERIENCE WITH THIS SYSTEM IS LIMITED. I've done ONE AFM REPAIR. 1 ... ONE ... that's it!! ONE ... O ..... N .... E .... I can just see you now squirming at your keyboard ready to pounce ... but take it easy now! You don't have to win or lose here! The problem isn't going away! I do ALOT of reading on all aspects of automotive repair, so I can stay ahead of the surprises they all pull on us. I've already stated that I've read countless posts from other professional techs on the multitude of ways AFM components fail. SO, you think I'm lying? Making this crap up? Why the hell would I, or anyone for that matter, go through the effort to do that??? You don't even have to be on a professional website - just do a Google search! There's ENDLESS stories on the subject there - many of them right here on GM-Trucks! I would post links to the endless posts, but that is a violation of the website's policy. I'm not losing my membership to prove a point that you probably STILL wouldn't get anyway. In addition to that, you have to be a member .. so what good are the links to you? If your not working in the field, then there really isn't any reason to become one ... and you won't be able to anyway. You have to be, A: Employed in the field over 3 years, or, B: Be a tech student. That keeps all the b/s out of the site, and it works very well. I've seen the pictures, I've read the posts, and I've seen a few of these at different shops around the area undergoing AFM related repairs. Don't believe me? I really don't give 2 shits. No amount of explaining will make it sink in, and nothing will change! It is for this exact reason GM will continue to roll out piles of manure that you guys will willingly lap up for $80 LARGE ... and have ZERO incentive to change. They're laughing all the way to the bank, probably calling us "a bunch of morons" on the way. I still can't believe there are people out there defending this practice! No wonder the world is in the state of affairs it's in .... I've said my piece. I can't explain it in any other way that you could possibly understand. I think the best way for you to see what I'm talking about is to find a '07-'12 Silverado or Sierra with roughly 50k miles on it, and drive it yourself (preferably an '09, since those seem to be the problem children), and let us know how great the truck is, IF you make it to 140k.

I work from home. I'm not a busy garage - I don't see volume. Relying on what I personally see for numbers is NOT accurate. HOWEVER, rest assured the THOUSANDS of posts on professional auto technician forums tell a different story. You are making assumptions and stating them as facts. You're seriously giving me a headache. Believe what you want. I'm done here.

Just from what I've seen personally, I believe it's metallurgy related & design related. Honestly don't know if they had been repaired prior - didn't see any baffling to suggest dealer repair, and didn't care to investigate further - the customer wanted it done ASAP (like most of them), and I wanted to get it the heck out of here after battling the LS design learning curve. Lets just say, working on that sure made me miss the 350 ... With today's technology, these companies know EXACTLY how many cycles a lifter can handle before it comes unglued (which used to far exceed the overall engine's life ... but they were also far less complex then) - we all know they always err on the side of cost. Useful life isn't even in their thought process ... unless it could fail under warranty. Could it be designed better? You can count on that, just as death and taxes are as sure as the sun will rise. Every problem today is the result of cost cutting. It would be appreciated if it were for OUR benefit ... but it never is anymore. Quite the opposite, actually! I've long since solved this problem on my own. I made the one mistake 11 years ago of buying my '07. From now on, anything I buy will be built before the 1973 model year - I'll choose and install the parts from there. Fool me once, shame on me. Even if I spend double what a new truck would cost, it will be well worth it to me.

Sorry if I came across snappy on that last post. The whole state of automotive affairs today just gets me all fired up - didn't mean to take it out on you. Honestly I haven't done enough of these to provide any useful data. It's Ford country around my shop - I see more of those than anything. Lots of diesels grenading, 1-hour spark plug jobs taking 30 hours or more, since they snapped off in the head, timing chain failures of all kinds, and RUST galore ... I would LOVE to see that data myself. I think we'd all be surprised by what we'd see. I think the problem is much worse than it appears, just from what I've seen posted on the tech forums. I think the reason we don't hear even more about it, is these vehicles are long out of warranty, and on their 2nd, 3rd, or higher owners by then. Trends are easy to spot, and this was one of them. Wish I had the math skills to compile that.

Ahh crap! Guess that stuff is moving this way now. Was nice having bare ground for a change. Hit 60° here for a brief time, then back into the single digits hours later. Cleaned about 3 oz. of water & sludge out of my catch can.

It's your money - you do with it what you wish. That's what makes this country great - we're free to make our own way, no matter how misguided it may be! We're guaranteed equal opportunities - NOT equal outcomes.

I agree, and I'll say it again; THEY'RE ALL JUNK TODAY! Manufacturers are chasing the almighty dollar today, not customer satisfaction - that's the difference between the 50's-70's, even the 80's & 90's, and today. Still doesn't make it right. Also like I said before, domestics of ANY brand have ZERO tolerance to lack of maintenance. Couple that with the owner's manuals & the DIC telling people they can go 7,500 miles on cheap crap oil, it's not wonder there's oil related failures happening as well. The DIC doesn't know what anyone is running in the crankcase. I see several posts of sludged up GM 5.3's and other LS engines - I never mentioned that because it wasn't the point I was trying to make. More reading for everyone's enjoyment: http://www.gidcumb.net/jerrysblog/gm-active-fuel-management-headache/

Grumpy Bear, I thought you were smarter than this. I can't believe you'd defend a company that within the last 11 years or so has charted a course to rip off their customers at every possible turn. Not just their customers, but their TECHNICIANS too! How can anyone possibly get the data you ask about without being employed by GM, or work for every single private garage in North America??? There is NO WAY to compile that data! Common sense dictates that when you start seeing post, after post, after post of FAILURES on general internet forums, AND PROFESSIONAL AUTOMOTIVE TECHNICIAN FORUMS, that there just might be an issue, don't you think??????

All I know is, I have yet to see an LMG (which is what my truck has) make it over 130k without a major valve train failure. I'm at 91.5K, and oil pressure has been trending downward. Just a matter of time ...

Pretty much any company that builds nothing but engines. These days I wouldn't trust GM to tie my shoes. Thank God they don't build aircraft ...

If your already burning and making noise, it's too little too late. No point wasting money on a expensive synthetic when the engine is going to eat it up anyway. Just my .02. I have never run synthetic in our 249k mile '86 Grand Marquis, because the rear main seal has been leaking for the past 15 years we've owned it. Would just be throwing money down the toilet. I just change the oil more often - ends up a wash.