asilverblazer

I pulled mine last night at my latest oil change. It has at least 90K mile on it since its seen daylight. It looked about like the photo above. I knocked the loose stuff off, shot it with some cleaner, hit it with compressed air and put it back. I'll be danged if the truck doesn't seem to be a little lighter on its feet today. With a bit better milage too. Guess I'll be more regular about cleaning it.

Update to my experience, my truck was due an oil change per the GM OLM, right at max mileage around 7500 miles. As I've stated, the dipstick doesn't appear show a tremendous drop in oil volume over the course of a change, that needs some correction. Just prior to pulling the drain plug I noted the level on the dipstick. It was about 2/3-5/8 down on the acceptable range, not 3/4 but more than 1/2 way down. After refilling with the full 10 quarts, the dipstick measured at the top of the acceptable range - full. After noting these two dipstick readings at each end of the oil change interval spectrum, I might notice the gradual drop on the dipstick more easily during regular checks. I measured the drained volume of oil and what came out of the drain pan was about 8 1/2 quarts. To be below the add mark on the dipstick it would have to be about 2 quarts below the full 10 quarts.

The one I used between 5-10 years ago could report enhanced data. Yes I'm not sure; but it seems you've mentioned/alluded to these a bunch so I'm presuming you think these are going to be valuable, my opinion is I'd bet these won't be as useful as you think they will - UNLESS - they correspond to some other event.

I don't think you will need a split, separate product, etc., the OBD port should be able to deliver everything you need. Since your device would be plugged into it all the time, it wouldn't miss anything. Hardware in this case will be the easiest part of your project - ELM 327 devices will already deliver all the data you need. Reporting/software is where your advantage/marketability is.

My "best 20 mile average" is 26 in my truck. A whole tank average is about 17. An average commute is 17-19 depending on how recent a regen was.

For me, they would be a great second vehicle or daily driver. I'd still need my ICE truck for long hauls. Weird comparison, here SXS and UTV's can be driven on the road, what I've seen, their price point is generally higher than this vehicle. While one is strictly intended for recreation the other is more useful. Another comparison, is where these land in the greater vehicle market, a decent used mid-size truck like a Colorado is a likely competitor, or even the smaller Maverick. So, for 20K what am I wasting my money on? I'd rather have an older K5.

You will probably need more drive cycles for the system to run its own tests. I don't know how many or how far they may be though. Resetting the computer or clearing codes may restart the drive cycle counter too, so beware of being tempted to do that to speed up the process.

How accurate is the pump? How much actual fuel is in the tank before the pump was triggered off by air/fuel/bubbles/turbulence in the filler neck? Even if you use the same pump at every fill up, it could still sway the average to be off by the pump's calibration. Bottom line, the volume in the tank is not known (exactly) the volume added to the tank is not known (exactly). Further, how is idle time captured, fuel is being lost but the miles aren't increasing? A bunch of idling would show a lower MPG than what the vehicle achieves going down the road.

Exactly.

Yes. Yes. We might be intermingling ideas with the term 'severity', in one of my past vehicles it could pull up DTC via the vehicles own user interface, at any given time when one would do this there would be an assortment of codes that were 'trivial' including 'communication' issues. This would generate a bunch of, potentially false alerts or some many that they would get ignored. Which you mentioned earlier. You also mention several things that might be redundant with the vehicles own systems or indicators: The truck has an oil pressure gauge, monitoring it via this other system wouldn't be a priority except in comparison to other values or if there is an actual oil pressure problem. Same thing for miss-fires or other problems, the MIL already signals the operator to an issue... ...to the point about what one wants to see first, if there is a miss fire detected, I want to see miss fire counts or fuel trims first, if I have an oil pressure problem I want to see the oil pressure first. So, perhaps the 'systems' that are showing abnormalities are what gets displayed first. I think your device is what connects at the OBD port, ease of use for the consumer, it could still have a 'pass-through' port for a second scanner, computer, etc. Yes. Based on my comment above, if an error appears, the report would be more specific to the system having an error.

That's a tough spot to be in, I personally would question spending 1/2 the book value on a repair vs. selling it as-is. Presuming you own it out right, sell it for 10k and have a down payment for a replacement truck, or spend 10k on the one you already have... I still think there is a cheaper transmission out there via recyclers, aftermarket or rebuild. (Cheaper than 5k for the unit)

Yep, just a quick reference point. My main point being I’d do a thousand other things before I’d pay 10k for a transmission. Speaking in ignorance cause I don’t look at these trucks, what is it worth? 20k?

I think users are going to want to pick their monitored parameters, which parameters they want to see first. It should probably start with baseline at a minimum and adjust to learned, but be able to overlay baseline for comparison. A simple severity level would be able to determine what type of alerting is appropriate or user selectable. Why not use the OBD port though? I think a phone connection would be a good idea, push notifications type deal. Number 1 issue is having data is useless if you don’t know what the data should be under normal conditions.

Length/amount of data capture will be important to consider, sifting through 5 minutes of a data log can be enormous when it is stored in milliseconds. Being able to find the 'event' let alone decipher it. Presumably the driver would notice something and hit a button to capture the 'window' of data. That window has to be large enough for the operator to recognize the event and react accordingly. The data has to be able to be retrieved easily. The data has to be able to be understood. Which is the biggest challenge, dealer techs won't even know what most of it is and would likely not even look at it if an owner brought it to them. Meaning the owner, the least educated/qualified, trying to understand it. How will the data be presented? Could specific PIDs be selected and a timelapse graph be watched? How will a specific value be noted as abnormal? Additionally, a good data logger would be able to 'learn' normal values for a specific vehicle and flag abnormalities automatically. It could in theory watch parameters degrade over time and suggest maintenance as needed. (If the MAF reading begins tapering off for a given set of other readings - MAP, throttle position, Ambient, etc.. a flag to check air filter.) With the amount of data available, a device (really the vehicle rather than an additional accessory) should be able to do more than issue a DTC. It should be able to run the full diagnostic suite automatically and present a solution rather than a code. (It's not the 90's anymore). The technology is available for the vehicle to not just say "P0087", it should know low fuel pressure, check other PIDs to narrow down the problem itself, and determine if it is a lift pump, high pressure pump, regulator, leak in the fuel line, clogged filter, etc. Even if it can't narrow it down, it should be able to guide the user to the likely problems. This would be a major problem for dealer service departments, which are the manufacturers customers it is in their collective best interest to NOT have this available to the consumer. Further, if the owner is going to be the primary consumer of the data, it's got to be at a consumer price point vs. dealer only specialty tool price. This group is more 'involved' in their vehicle than general public/consumer and will have knowledge, experience, needs and desires that are quite different from the market at large.

Facebook groups hate VSE, poor customer service; their responses to criticisms are pretty poor for a reputable company. I'm not a customer, haven't bought anything from them, but how they handle themselves on social media is a definite "No" for me.

$10,000 for a transmission? Pretty sure I could buy all the parts, tools, and education to rebuild it myself for a quarter of that amount. or swap it out with a new one...

Older trucks had to have a fuse and wire connected underhood... You could check that. I've noticed a lot of aftermarket discrepancies between wire standard colors/plug terminal location function. If you've never used the trailer on a GM truck it might be something to check.

My 2008 started exhibiting similar symptoms, wasn't 'cold' enough. I went through a pretty extensive diagnostic process for a DIY'er with limited OBD access. System evacuation and recharge included. Noticed one day the passenger side was cold (I'm never over there so took awhile to notice). Pulled the drivers side blend door actuator out, disassembled it and cleaned it out. Put it back in and did some kind of reset and it fixed the problem. Long story short, it wasn't the A/C system at fault, the blend door wasn't moving to full cold position.

Careful, you'll find yourself on his ignore list too. Some people can't or won't discuss things when they encounter disagreement.

Is the carbon pro bed still a thing? I figured it was one of those things that quietly disappeared from low take rate. I thought Chevrolet tried adding it too... Minimal. Despite all the 'all new' versions since GMT-800, lots of parts still swap from generation to generation. I've seen a bunch of GMT-800s with a K2 rear bumper on them.

I'm underwhelmed. Too much Hummer parts bin salvaging, mirrors and steering wheel. "More expressive interior color schemes", nowhere to be seen. Same old Jet Black everything with different seat covers trim bits and maybe door accents. Lots of dumping every other idea in the truck world into this: work surface console lid, pano sunroof, passenger screen. Not saying they are bad, pretty obvious GM was late to the game now adding it. The weird marker lights over the bumper at the front of the bumper. Mixed feelings on the fender flares. I've touched my headlight switch twice in the last 5 years. Its not bad, but nothing game changing. No massive leap frog over Ram or Ford, its competitive.

Everything's always easier the second time!

I apologize, I missed this post, at risk of going off CURRENT TOPIC. I'm not saying it is BS, I'm questioning how much information is being held back. GM is NOT going to spell out exactly every parameter in the algorithm. Liability, intellectual property, etc. I'm not naive enough to believe that it is as simple as revolutions, coolant temperature, miles, time; are you? I don't do irrational either, and boiling the OLM down to four simple values that I could code in an afternoon (I'm not a coder) is irrational - unless it suits your agenda to ignore it.

I've had good experience with my Android head unit.

You should be evaluating enough comparable trucks to know if one sounds different than the others - if you can't tell something is amiss by ear, it's probably fine. Further evaluate enough trucks so that you can determine what 'normal' looks, sounds and feels like. Even if this is the first truck you're looking at and want to buy, go look at several more (regardless of whether you intend to buy them). Insist on taking the vehicle to be evaluated, spend some time looking ALL OVER IT, look for overspray where it shouldn't be, paint damaged on bolt heads that are not normally removed. Check for rust, missing fasteners, non-factory style fasteners, suspiciously new parts especially on non-wear items. Check for leaks, check fluid conditions and level (dirty isn't the worst thing in the world but exceptionally low is). Ignore tire shine and plastic dressing that makes an engine 'shiny'. Beware of heavily fragranced interiors to mask odd odors that could hide potential mold from a leaky rear window. Carfax is barely worth the paper it printed on. DO NOT trust it, a vehicle can be wrecked, fixed by a bunch of drunk hillbillies in their cousin's backyard and still have a clean Carfax. I can meticulously maintain my vehicle at home with top quality parts, materials and methods, the Carfax won't show a thing. Taking it to a shop to have a teenager working afterschool (an inexperienced mechanic) evaluate it is a waste of time. Lastly, a good, well taken care of truck will present itself as such, it would be generally comparable to a new truck. An uncared-for truck will show it, dents, scratches, seat stains, paint swirls, tears, scuffs, marks, rattles, vibrations, clunks, miss matched tires, etc...