Jsdirt

If it were me, I'd run 20W-50 if I were using that much oil. The way I see it, the engine is pretty much junk anyway. Not going to hurt much running a heavier oil. I saw a big decline in piston and ring wear metals in my oil analysis by switching from 5w-30 to 10w-30. Even though the "10" is rating it's cold flow properties, it's an overall higher viscosity oil, which helped alot in my case. I just wish I had started doing this right out of the gate

The heads aren't the major problem (cheap valve springs are, but that's a discussion for another day) - I believe the problem lies in cheap and/or poorly designed AFM lifters, cheap/poorly designed piston rings and/or sub-par quality control. My suspicion is they're running their tooling until the last possible minute to extract the most for their money. So, when the tooling wears out, you'll have thousands of engines that are out of spec, or on the ragged edge of being out of spec, and will become oil burners much sooner than they should. They change the tooling, and all is well for thousands of units until it wears out again. This explains the hit or miss nature of these problems.

That SUCKS Dan - sorry to hear that. I friggin HATE thieves!

The shield was a band-aid by GM to try and save their asses. Few people reported it working, and those that did were back in the same boat just a year or so later. Just enough to get you out of warranty ... I've had a catch can on mine for a couple years now. Still burns oil if I use cruise control while towing, and let it scream to 5 grand on hills. If I go easy on it, the consumption is tolerable. That to me screams piston rings, no matter what GM tells me.

Sadly, the folks who spent $50 GRAND on a new one won't know until it's just out of warranty. The issue with dino oil in these engines is, if left unchanged for too many miles, will be more likely to plug up the screen under the pressure sender with crap that will make the gauge read very low - it'll get your blood pressure up there when you see it, and throw a light (P0521).

There's a lot of theories floating around out there, but the bottom line is, GM tried to save a buck and screwed up! Any engine builder that built an engine like this would be out of business. TOTALLY UNACCEPTABLE. I just learned from my last oil analysis that my cam bearings and cam are wearing out at an alarming pace. Been seeing lots of valve train issues on these engines from '07 on up. Broken valve springs, wiped out lobes, stuck AFM lifters, & prematurely worn out bearings. A fine job they did for us being loyal customers.

That's a nice one there - nice work! Good find!

My rear doors look similar, except mine doesn't wash off - it's all scratched up from jamming 10'L x 18"W foldable ramps back there whenever I pickup a dead lawn tractor. When folded in half, they only fit diagonally, so I have to jam the passenger seat all the way forward. They did a number on the plastic ...

Both fobs look gigantic! Makes me appreciate my '07 a bit more. Odd looking keys, for sure. I had a newer Volvo I had to deliver once. I sat there for 10 minutes trying to figure out how the hell to start the damn thing. Had a key fob only that sat in your pocket, then had to push a huge button. I push the stupid button, everything would light up ... I'd push it again, and everything would shut down! It was so stupid that I grabbed my ancient phone and started recording the process - my buddy responded, "Step on the brake, dummy!" Can always count on friends for help.

Aww man that really sucks. They couldn't just open the door in the basement and grab them for you? Have to call "someone" ... how dumb is that. You'd think they'd have the keys to the shaft door. Can't say I'm surprised though, the way everyone goes way overboard on "safety" today. Gotta have a "professional" handle every different aspect of the building ...

That sucks man - I came close to losing mine down a storm drain in some craphole city I was in. Another half inch and I'd have been stuck there. Another time, a day after I got married, I was doing another craphole neighborhood route in Worcester - I was driving in the stand-up position on the right-hand side, took my glove off, and heard "PING .........ping ping ping" ... saw my brand new wedding ring rolling down the curb towards a drain! I pretty much dove head first out of the truck and grabbed it about 3" from the grate. That one sure got the blood pressure up there! Speaking of keys, I lost my spare set for the Silverado, with the fob and all of course, back in the summer of '11. Was around $300 back then, so I've been getting by with one key since. I'd imagine they've come down quite a bit since then. Probably wouldn't be a bad idea to grab another ...

I get that alot with my '07. Been garaged nightly just about every night for 10 years. These days it sits for weeks before it sees the light of day. They stay nice that way. Still have a ton of scratches in that crap GM calls "paint" ...

In that case I'd fit right in that thing perfectly, LOL. Sounds like a great setup too - right up my alley. Got too many irons in the fire right now, unfortunately. I've grown to love anything built before '87 lately. These days I think I'd be happy with an AMC Pacer! Although, the thought of doing a valve cover gasket on that straight 6 that was shoehorned into that thing .... on second thought ... Too much glass to clean, too.

That's the best way to buy 'em - let someone else take the depreciation hit. Model A sure would be nice, but I'd want something to beat on ... and that ain't the car to do it in. I'd like the Chevelle better if it were an El Camino. As far as my car goes, had to order new door lock solenoids for the Grand Marquis - the less than 4 year old Dorman ones are already junk. Par for the course. Found a pair of OE ones on eBay. Grabbed a package of door panel retaining clips, and a couple more door strikers for the rear doors - nothing makes me cringe more than a door slamming on the striker constantly, over the shitty roads we have up here ...

Busy week. Towed my neighbor's '88 Trooper up the hill here with the s10 plow truck. Was first time that thing has gone over 10 mph in many years, and let me tell ya, it was a handful, lol - scared my neighbor at least. So we made it down the hill to his truck - I toss the strap around my bumper in a choker, and threw the other loop on his tow hook. I said, "You ready?" "Yep", he says. So off we go. I didn't get 20 feet up the road when all of a sudden I'm MELTING the rear tires in the middle of the street, and the ass-end of the truck blows out sideways across the entire road! I look in the mirror, and he's GONE! Look over my shoulder and he's off the road! WTF! I jump out, "What the #$@* are you doing!?!?" He says, "I forgot to unlock the steering. Sorry." Anyway, got it to the house, and I diagnosed a bad fuel pump. I had just rewired it 3 months ago, so thought it was my wiring, but ended up being the aftermarket pump we had taken out of the parts truck. Glad we found that out now rather than in February during a 3' blizzard ... Then on to a Husqvarna lawn tractor. Owner had changed a belt, and didn't tighten the center bolt for the clutch/drive pulley enough ... so the $200 clutch shot out the side like a missile, and tore wires right out of it. He got a new bolt, extracted what was left, and bent the tweaked drive pulley back into shape with a block of wood. Well, check out the pic of what happened from THAT fix! One pulley flange busted right off, and SHREDDED his brand new belt! Got that fixed up, plus fixed the hunting carburetor, and gave her a wash. Then UPS came - FINALLY got the damn board for my balancer. Was only a 3 week + ordeal! First, they sent the completely wrong board out - not only was it the wrong board, but it wasn't even for my model balancer! Then, they send out the right one - it spends 6 days in Indianapolis before UPS says, "We've incorrectly sorted your package - this may add 1 business day to delivery" ... yeah, try 14 business days!! It gets to MA, and spends almost a week in THEIR terminal. Then ... it gets sent back to Indianapolis!!! ARE YOU FREAKIN' SERIOUS??? Yep! At least Greg Smith Equipment worked with me - they 2nd Day aired this board out Wednesday afternoon. Installed it a couple hours ago, and I'll have to calibrate the machine tomorrow. Too much for one day - I'm going to bed!! Truck was the workbench throughout all of this, yet again.

Ahh, that sucks - sorry to hear that. My buddy's daughter is in a national soccer league, so I know how that goes. She just won the last game, so they're flying out your way (I think) sometime soon, for the finals.

You and me both, Ryan. Turns out I can't afford ANY generation Camaro ...

I would LOVE to be living in TX, rather than this bastion. Love my neighborhood ... but the state government? Well, my mom always said if you ain't got nuthin' nice to say ....

We've got the same problem down here in MA. I've spent alot of my life trying to figure out how the state where freedom began has done a complete 180° swing since 1776, and become the polar opposite of what it once was. Instead of fighting for freedom, we have people begging to be enslaved ... and electing those who are happy to oblige. I would never own a modern muscle car living here. Way too much b/s with emissions - I'd have to leave everything stock, which goes against every fiber of my being. My buddy with the '10 Camaro SS has the deep pockets necessary to get around that - I don't.

That right there is the #1 reason I HATE GM dealerships - DISHONESTY!! I hear so many stories of it, and have experienced it myself first hand. Ahh, yep - exhaust leaks will do that too - forgot about that variable. They annoy the crap out of me too, lol. Glad this all worked out good, and glad I could help!

That's a fix! Confirmed it on Eric O's channel - this is part 2 of a FPCM diagnosis - note the scan tool reading. He had replaced and programmed the FPCM here, and is now checking scan data: The fuel trims are well within the acceptable range. Anything ±10% is good. My truck has been up to -15% in the long term, and no light yet. If you're like me and you will sleep better if everything is perfect, you may have a very small air leak on bank 2 to diagnose. See if that trim number gets better with heat - if it's +8 when cold, then drops as it warms, that's probably an intake gasket leak in the beginning stages. If temp has no bearing, then it could be an EVAP vent valve that's partially stuck open.

Sorry to hear that. Everyone always tells me how hard it is to find decent mechanics out there today. Few and far between these days. Wish I had a concrete answer for you, but that's tough even in person, let alone over the net. I've never heard of a code specifically for clogged cats. There's the P0420 / 0430 cat efficiency codes that might indicate they've melted, but nothing specifically indicating that they're plugged up. A vacuum check will find that issue pretty quickly - lower than normal vacuum at idle, then drops like a rock, and sometimes even goes positive at light throttle, higher RPM. On Fords you can test for that right on the DPFE sensor ... but that doesn't apply here. Trims will certainly go rich though with clogged cats, so that coupled with a vacuum test usually tells the tale. Also, removing the upstream o2 sensor and running the engine will be a dead ringer on really blocked up cats. Just a few things I've been thinking about on this. In addition to the o2s and MAF, also check to be sure your air filter is good and clean, make sure the MAP sensor isn't reading improperly, and if your scan tool is capable, I'd do an injector balance test using your fuel pressure gauge - maybe there's a bad injector that's reducing your fuel pressure. That would also certainly melt down and plug your cat too.

Thinking outside the box here ... I would double check the line connection on the new fuel pump - maybe the o-ring slid over and is blocking flow, or something got in there unexpectedly? Long shot, but you never know.

Yeah, these modern vehicles are rolling cans of worms! I don't do much electrical troubleshooting since I'm still in the learning stages on that, but I've seen enough of them to know that much! Ahh now I see. It's certainly possible (especially knowing GM dealers) to install the incorrect programming. It also could've got corrupted if there was a glitch in their internet connection, or if battery voltage wasn't maintained throughout the procedure. No idea how it could maintain a lower than normal fuel pressure. I would imagine it's getting bad info from other sensors. Are your o2s looking ok? MAF ok? I would imagine your fuel trims are counting rich to compensate for a lean condition, due to the low fuel pressure. In the process of refreshing my memory on this system (I had better, since I own pretty much the same truck). I did discover just as an FYI that there are TWO gray wires coming out of the FPCM (FSCM in GM terms) -- one is to pump +, and the other is labeled "FSCM SHIELD". I would imagine the wire gauge size would be different enough to tell one from the other - the pump should have heavier gauge wire, obviously. But that's neither here nor there at this stage ...

Ahh, gotcha. What is the scan tool reading on the fuel pressure sensor PID? You might have to go into generic OBD-II on the scanner to get the correct reading - alot of the time, the factory side uses substituted values, which can send you on a wild goose chase ... The PID is labeled " Fuel Rail Pressure Sensor (PSI)".