Grumpy Bears 2015 Silverado 2WD

[CadillacLuke24]

Thank you for the reminder on the PCV valve. I'm thinking after 168xxx miles Clyde has earned a new one out of prevention.

[Grumpy Bear]

Trivia 8/29/2020

 

Broke 3000 engine hours today on 127,000 miles. 42.3 mph lifetime average.

Stumbled onto the fact Pepper has lane change signals. Who knew? WT1? 

 

Seems the new tires will not be subtracting nor adding to fuel efficiency. 

That is really good news. 

Now logged 2K miles on new tires 29.33 mpg

2K previous miles on old tires 29.36 mpg

 

[Grumpy Bear]

August 2020

 

Month ended with treats! A local Murphy station was out of 87 so was selling 93 at the 87 price. Plus I had a 2 cent a gallon discount. Gave her a long drink. A buck a gallon cheaper!! Been awhile since I've seen $2 a gallon premium. 

 

Okay, for the month we put on 4,576 miles and used 156.648 gallons = 29.21 MPG for August.

No wonder my butts sore. 110 hours seat time this month.

More than I've put on the Buick in three years.

Running yearly average now stands at 27.98 mpg with a 12 point moving average of 29.33. 

Last 3,700 miles really consistent. 29.32 =/- 0.39 mpg. Eerie. 

2,328 miles on Pirelli / 29.30 mpg and 2,248 on Bridgestone / 29.12 .

Plus 0.62% on the new tire.  

A statistical dead heat.

 

Down about 1.2 mpg over this time last year. Weather. Using the AC more. Running a bit faster. And then the alignment which still isn't fully resolved. Soon I hope. Everyone is out of parts. Shop is backed up. Looks like fall is coming early this year. I see it in the beans and corn color. Looks more like mid October around here. 

 

[Grumpy Bear]

I know I haven't posted an update on this in about a year. Four summers, 2017, 18, 19, 20 and winters between. The last two peaks, as far as my data can tell, is largely the difference between 0W20 in 2019 Red Line HP and 10W30 in 2020 AMSOIL SS. Some influence yes in the difference in weather...a minor part. That sharp drop and rise with the change of season is the 60 F air temperature threshold. Crazy, right? I took note of how 'tight' the summer data is the last two summers vs the first two. 

 

 

Just this year is being tabbed in another worksheet. Jan 1, 2020 to date. This is a 12 point not 6 point average. I'll change that tag. Three sigma boundary shown. Anything in that boundary would be normal. See that lager early on? That's the shop letting her idle on the rack for an hour. Everything is included in the data. 

 

[Grumpy Bear]

09/19/2020 Services

 

Remove Reische Racing 170 F (Made in USA) summer thermostat and installed new winter Balkamp 180 F PM 180-0025 (Made in Israel. Interesting). I have misplaced my Stant Superstat and the Balkamp NAPA had in stock.

 

I had a bit of a problem with Stant searching for the proper bleed hole size. IPSCO had recommended .125" which first outing was a disaster. Would hold temperature down the road in colder weather. So the second one I used .0625" and while better was still to large. Would drop 10 F below set point at idle. This one got a .051" bleed and it's still to large. Much better however as temperature doesn't sag excessively at idle but will not keep the valve off the seat yet. .032" next. I'll solder a piece of .050 stainless tubing with a .009" wall into the hole then ream as needed is .032 proves to be too small. If I get this sorted well may become my year around thermostat. 

 

At .051 holds a steady 177 F at 55 mph. Drops to 175 F running 45 mph. At idle fully closes, sags to 173 F then then spikes 190 F and cycles a few times before settling into its load. The Balkamp like the Supersat has some bleed built into the disc. A V notch in the Stant and four slots in the Balkamp. This is suppose to help it maintain set point. Thing is the Balkamp, unlike the Stant, has a weir which closes the valve completely when cold. 

 

Patients Grasshopper. 

Edited September 20, 2020 by Grumpy Bear

[Grumpy Bear]

09/22/2020 Services. 

 

Okay we have the Reisch Racing 170 F stat back in the housing and working like it always has. Flawlessly. 

 

NAPA says Balkamp is the 'direct replacement' for the Stant Superstat. If they mean it will fit directly in the holder, then okay but that is NOT what they implied. I rarely rake a product over the coals but this thing is JUNKKKKKKK. 

 

A 180 F that has a throttling point ranging 172 F to 178 F. About the same as a 170 F stat and I could have lived with that except it does not like to open on the first hit of the day. I recorded a peak open temperature of 233 F. 

 

The Reisch opens in the low 190's and throttles 173 to 175 F. 

 

I though it was sagging due to the bleed being perhaps too large?? So I actually took the time to fabricate the duplicate of the 'jiggle pin' in the Reisch. It wasn't sagging. I just doesn't regulate....period and it sticks something awful. It has some sort of polymer seat instead of stainless and weir slots instead of V notches. The spring is much lighter than either the Stant or the Reisch. Ought see it in a pot of water. 

 

Side note. I was at the shop yesterday and a Ford needing axles was in the bay. NAPA set shows up as ordered. One new one and one used one...not remanufactured. Just used. Axles were ordered from Ford. 

 

C'mon NAPA. 

 

LATE NOTE:

 

Balkamp heat engine is stainless. Stant is copper Reisch is copper. There's the swing. 

 

Edited September 24, 2020 by Grumpy Bear

[Grumpy Bear]

September 2020 Report

 

2,417 miles. 82.900 gallons.

Yearly running average 28.09 mpg

12 point rolling average 29.24 mpg. Down a tenth from last month.

September average 29.16 down 1.3 mpg from previous year. 

Life time average 27.67 mpg. 

 

Cooler wetter weather and learning the new tires along with 10W30 V 0W20 count for the declines. 

At 130,000 miles it seems she's peaking out as I start to change direction from pure economy to longevity. 

 

 

 

[Black02Silverado]

I have found that new tires will give lower mpg.  They did on my diesel Cruze.

[Grumpy Bear]

2 hours ago, Black02Silverado said:

I have found that new tires will give lower mpg.  They did on my diesel Cruze.

Nearly every time, right? I knew it was coming. Tires run more economical the shorter the tread. Hyper-miler trick to shave a new set to half. I tried to hedge that some with a tire that started as light as the worn out Bridgestone. I got pretty close. Not unhappy or disappointed with the truth. 

 

 

[Grumpy Bear]

130,000 Mile Services

 

130,140 actual miles

4,777 OCI

 

Rotate tires. No balance this time due to a weight shortage. NAPA warehouse Covid-19 closed. 

 

6 quarts AMSOIL  and a Purolator One PL22500 filter. 3 quarts 5w30, 3 quarts 10W30 (just using up odds'n ends)

 

 

[Grumpy Bear]

10/20/2020 Alignment. 

 

Two months after the new tires and toe adjustment and sourcing new camber/caster extended range cams AND finding a place in Deegan's busy schedule we have it. If it looks familiar it's a dead copy of the specs I gave him to hit from the best of the earliest of four previous alignments Pepper has had. 

 

When there last the adjusters had frozen solid and he hit them with creep oil but.......now that he had kits in hand...the creep oil did it's job and they were not needed. Patients....patients. 

 

It drives nice....real nice. We are going to check it again at the next full services. The toe seems to want to creep. No obvious reason. Well....other than Illinois roads.  

 

Printer was not working for the previous 'before' but we took a bit more than 1/2 degree from the castor. It isn't moving. The truck is settling. Frame rake directly translates to castor inclination degree for degree. Think about it. It will come to you.........

 

Edited October 20, 2020 by Grumpy Bear

[Grumpy Bear]

October 2020 Fuel

 

Only 795 miles this month using 27.85 gallons for a monthly number of 28.54 mpg

Running average for the year is 28.11 mpg and 12 point moving average 29.1 mpg

Lifetime average now stands at 27.68 mpg and evidently still climbing slowly. 

Cold wet windy month. No joy in that sort of driving. 

[Grumpy Bear]

November 2020 Fuel

 

796 miles this month using 28.274 gallons for a monthly 28.15 mpg

Running average for the year is now 28.11 mpg and a 12 point moving average of 28.92 mpg. 

Lifetime average stands at 27.85 mpg.

[Grumpy Bear]

132,500 on this Swiss Watch now. Third tank of 91 E-0 and alky meter finally showing zero. Yes cost a bunch more but I don't drive it much in the winter so no boozing while she's snoozing. 

 

It was 25 F today with a 10 mph NW wind and the ride was down I-39 to Oglesby, Illinois. Right at 150 miles round trip give or take a mile or so. She had been sitting for days so this was a cold start. The fuel meter is now within a fly fart from dead on the money and I had the time. Starting cold I headed for the Phillips 66, the dead half way point. Marked the fuel used and miles driven, filled and returned at the same speed. Difference is the trip home is started with a hot power train and a head wind. The result was miles within a few tenths and fuel within a few hundredths of a gallon. Virtually the same fuel used for the same miles. 

 

Think on that. I start cold with a 10 mph tail wind and return hot with a 10 mph head wind and get the same mileage. Exactly. 

 

That 20 mph shift in wind direction normally yields 10 to 15% in fuel difference. That's 3 to 5 mpg over 75 miles. I take this to mean that cold oil uses ALLOT of fuel and does so for quite a few miles. I was on my home trip before I had a cycle free water reading and a steady over 1990 F oil temp. Trans logged 125 F peak for 125 miles of the trip. . Just say'n

[Grumpy Bear]

December 2020 Fuel Plus Year End

 

1365 miles for December using 52.1 gallons for 26.22 mpg. 

For 2020 26,352 miles using 940.9 gallons for 28.01 mpg

12 point moving average: Low 24.13 mpg. High 29.74 mpg

$2,063.16 in fuel cost for $0.08 per mile. 

 

 

Bought an antifreeze refractometer. I like precision and after a few dilute bottles of 50/50 premix (39%) and a fussy plastic pendulum style hydrometer that is ballpark close (if squeaky clean when last put away) AND finding this one on sale it was added to the test equipment collection. Naturally I had to test it out and received a result of 52% (-40F) . Closer than I thought it would be as after poor results from premixes I bought straight stuff and mixed into a partial system that was 44% (-20 F). Just the math got me that close. I like numbers. $20 on Amazon. Automatic Temperature Compensation too!!!

 

This may be useful: 

 

https://www.getahelmet.com/jeeps/maint/dexcool/