Grumpy Bears 2015 Silverado 2WD

[Grumpy Bear]

August 27, 2021

09:05 AM

 

     We, Rex and I, left early before it got hot but it was already sticky. Just two hours earlier I had finished a reply to Nick's morning PM telling him, among other things, that it was 75F and 100% humidity. We would get home a by a late lunch with the mercury hovering 90 F but a real feel of 100F. I snapped this photo about an hour in when we could still have windows down. One of the many many deserted rural roads I love to kick about on. This part of the state has all sorts of terrain. This lane and a half road goes on and on and on...from nowhere and to nowhere connecting even lesser places together in a patchwork of hundreds of miles of Illinois farmland. Tens of thousands of these sorts of miles make up the bulk of Peppers history.  No one honks out here for being to slow but they do wave at the only other creature they've seen in the past few hours. We are schooled to avoid as many towns and villages as possible as we stitch together the days tour. Today was so hot even the Redwing Blackbirds were mute.  

 

 

With the heat building and the riverbed we were following the last two hours now in the rear view mirror I mosey back to a State highway, then Interstate for the return run. Roll up the windows and turn on the A/C. Dial in the cruise control and let a light tail wind push us home for a trip average 30 mpg and an Interstate segment of 32 mpg. 

 

At 89 F ambient / 91 F ITA and this 6 mph tailwind not favoring cooling the 55 mph pace gave up 199F on the oil temperature on a 175F water temp and the transmission held a steady 163 F. This is the very top of the radiators cooling capacity at the current 50/49/1 glycol/water - Red Line Water Wetter load. On one slow section of the Bureau Creek blacktop near Tiskilwa a somber pace of 45 mph netted a low 170 F trans temperature. This happens in town too. This inclines me to think a bit more cooler would be nice and yet....I just never get around to it. 

 

It was a pretty drive! 

 

 

Edited August 27, 2021 by Grumpy Bear

[Grumpy Bear]

Operational Notes: 

 

https://www.mtb.es/files/products/TBS_Viscometer_Brochure_2019_10_01.pdf

 

Pepper has spent over half her life on Red Line HP. And every mile of the time I chose to run a *W20 it was Red Line. GM's call out is 5W30 but I've been all over the map experimenting. It just dawned on me that I perhaps dodged a bullet with my choices. 

 

Recently while researching the Kirkland 5W30 I use in Dizzy I ran across a spec you don't see in print often. ASTM 6616 a high shear test run at 100C and that sent me down a rabbit hole for days. This test indicates the degree of temporary shear loss caused in an oil due to the viscosity modifiers (VM's) used to formulate it. It can be substantial. It is also the starting point of a second test, the Kurt Orbahn Diesel Injector Test. This test is the worrisome one. This test is run for 30 cycles then a second ASTM 6616 test is run to determine the degree of permanent viscosity loss. 

 

The difference between the Low Shear 100C viscosity, the one printed in the "Product Data Sheet", and the ASTM 6616  High Shear is the contribution the viscosity modifier is making to the base oil to make the 100C SAE grade standard. This standard is based on the Low Shear test BUT the motor doesn't care about test results or what appears to be. Just what is. I'll come back to this. 

 

Once the permanent loss is known it is divided by the VM contribution to arrive at the oils SSI. Shear Stability Index. The smaller the number the better..... The difference between the two is the treat sensitivity. 

 

Well what happens at 100C is also happening at 150C as the VM also contributes at all temperatures. Tis the point of a VM.

 

 

 

As you can see there is a minimum HTHS that gives peak fuel efficiency. Lower than this and WEAR becomes an issue!

 

The minimum HTHS for 0W20 oil is?

2.6 cP. 

ANY loss is therefore a trip to the accelerated wear zone. 

 

Which brings me back to Red Line HP. The 0W20 has a HTHS of 2.9 cP AND is shear stable with an SSI of 0% because it does not use ANY VM's to make grade.

 

I dodged a bullet!!

 

The viscosity you motor reacts to is the viscosity that is PRESENT with the oil you choose and under the conditions you operate under. It has nothing to do with the trickery of marketing and fancy graphs. 

 

 

 

 

Edited September 1, 2021 by Grumpy Bear

[Grumpy Bear]

August 2021 Fuel Report

 

9/25/2021

 

Little late getting this posted, eh?

 

1369 miles on 45.944 gallons for a result of 29.80 mpg for the month. That's a new high for August.

 

Cost of fuel has been on the rise so cost per mile is well off the 7 cent a mile summer low. Now 11 cents a mile. 

 

2019 was her best year for fuel efficiency and yet on a month by month....well, weather plays more on this than oil weight. 

 

This chart starts Jan 2, 2020 and runs to date. 

 

 

[Grumpy Bear]

September 2021 Fuel Report

 

9/30/2021

 

1,444 miles / 50.375 gallons = 28.67 mpg

 

You can see the summer winter relationship pretty easy. You can also see I'm slowing down the number of miles I drive her each year and by season. The lifetime average continues to increase but at a much slower pace. Such is he nature of numbers. However she's right at 150K and still rising.

 

There is a 4.5 mpg variation to the life time average, summer to winter, peak to trough. That's 8% above and blew the average. 16% seasonal change. 

 

Winter fuel has a 1.5% lower BTU content. A fraction of the total shift.

"Hot Fuel" variation is about 2% for each 30 degrees F.

It really is heating the oil and combustion efficiency that drives the bulk of the winter/summer swing. Both driven by air temperature. 

 

 

 

 

[Grumpy Bear]

150,000 Mile Oil Change

 

10/6/2021

 

149,857 actual

4,851 miles this OCI 

 

6 Quarts of Red Line HP 10W30

1 Purolator PL22500 filter

 

Learning from last change a funnel and a punch drained the filter...mostly. I may remote mount the filter as a project some time. Cut the bottom out of a Red Line bottle and use it as a funnel. Perfectly fits the valve cover grommet. Who knew, right? But I need to pierce the relief valve I think to get it all. Well see next time. Very little clean up this time. 

 

No measurable oil used. I did, by measurement, find the filter and block galley hold 22-23 ounces of oil. 

 

Balance and rotate the tires. Done at Deegan's this morning and full on brake inspection. Killer wear patterns. Alignment is spot on and nothing yet needs attention in the suspension.  

 

Pulled the pads, cleaned and lube the holders. Slide pins ditto. There is STILL OVER 50% of very even pad life left and nearly zero rotor taper. E brake is mint. Yea, I'm good with OEM Direct Fit brakes. The E brake has never been adjusted and I use it. 

 

I have no idea if I will need another oil change before winter (November 1) but by that date I will change to 0W30 for the next 4 months or so. 

[Grumpy Bear]

Milestone

10/8/2021

42.22 MPH

241,401.6 Kilometers

67.96 KPH

 

 

[Grumpy Bear]

150,461 Service

 

10/18/2021

 

Picked up a nail at 25,098 miles on this set of tires. Boot and balance. 

[Grumpy Bear]

October 2021 Fuel Report

 

Yes a few days left but weather being what it is likely the last tank I burn this month. If not, I'll add it to Novembers report. 

 

1246 miles on 43.950 gallons of fuel for a result of 28.35 mpg. Month started a 11 cents a mile and ended at 11.8 cents per mile. This is getting nuts, right? May 7th of this year I had a tank at 4.6 cents per mile.  Lowest 6 point moving average was 6.1 cents per mile. Nearly double in fuel cost. This too is slowing me down a bit. 

 

******************************************

 

A fellow contributor to this site has directed me toward: 

 

INSTITUTE OF MATERIALS, INC.
4800 JAMES SAVAGE ROAD
MIDLAND, MI 48642 USA

PHONE: +1 (989) 496-2307
FAX: +1 (989) 496-3438

A Savant Group Company

 

Enclosed a few post later was a 'sample' which included some rather extensive viscosity testing and in that report the solidification of my resolve, that whenever possible, to use Newtonian Fluids. That is, those whose content is free of viscosity modifiers. Pepper is a candidate for "whenever possible". Dizzy, the wife's Terrain is not. That is a pretty small pool of suppliers. Red Line, MPT, Penrite and SynLube. There may be others but not others willing to say and I have crossed SynLube off as a company that says to much and priced the same. Penrite has one SoCal US distribution center and I have not yet priced them.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

[swathdiver]

On 10/28/2021 at 12:11 AM, Grumpy Bear said:

Month started a 11 cents a mile and ended at 11.8 cents per mile. This is getting nuts, right?

 

Eleven cents ($.116) was my lowest ever!  My 5 year average is $.199 CPM.  Last 3 months have averaged a quarter per mile.  The Sierra has average thirty two cents a mile since August!  My daughter calls it, "Smile per Gallon"!  LOL

[Grumpy Bear]

November Fuel Report. 

 

876 miles 33.627 gallons = 26.05 mpg for the month. Roughly 13 cents a mile for the month. 11.9 cents per mile 6 PMA.

 

9 minutes ago, swathdiver said:

Eleven cents ($.116) was my lowest ever!

 

Lowest ever? 6.2 cents per mile. Been awhile. Spot price this month was 13.3 cent per mile this last tank. My cost has literally doubled so......I cut my driving in half. 

 

Seriously. It's been parked for any leisure driving. They can want what they want but they can only have what I'll give. 

[diyer2]

I have never done a cents per mile cost. Why? It is what it is. The cost is determined by your habits. You can afford it or you can't. You pay or park it. 

[KARNUT]

I’ve dropped to about once a week driving the Avalanche. It’s not a matter of whether I can afford to drive it. The CRV gets 30 miles per gallon in town. I don’t care how affluent you are your going to notice the difference in the gas prices. I’m sure if it stays this high we’ll get use to it, now it just burns me. Now I just look forward to the once a week. 

[Grumpy Bear]

7 hours ago, diyer2 said:

I have never done a cents per mile cost. Why? It is what it is. The cost is determined by your habits. You can afford it or you can't. You pay or park it. 

 

Habit I got into watching my father shop. Cost per unit pricing is just a tool. Home is both a micro economy and a full time business. Naturally there are 'false' bargains as well and why dad never let mom do the shopping. She once brought home some off brand of cream corn nobody would eat it was so woody. Dad spent a bit more and everyone like it. He'd say, "Doesn't matter how good the deal was if you're tossing it all in the trash" then he toss a fiver in the trash to make his point. (Dare you to take it out ) 

 

We always like to think we will always have plenty...until you don't and then: 

 

The habits you formed before that day are the habits you will use on that day.

 

Isn't about what I can or can not afford. I've always had plenty because I've never needed much. It's my habit. 

[swathdiver]

22 hours ago, diyer2 said:

I have never done a cents per mile cost. Why? It is what it is. The cost is determined by your habits. You can afford it or you can't. You pay or park it. 

I've compared the truck's fuel efficiency on different brands and we also mix fuels, running different blends of gasoline and ethanol to find that sweet spot of power and economy.  

[Grumpy Bear]

7 hours ago, swathdiver said:

I've compared the truck's fuel efficiency on different brands and we also mix fuels, running different blends of gasoline and ethanol to find that sweet spot of power and economy.  

 

Ya cain't learn nut' n if' n ya don't try nut' n. 

 

I do A-B-A-B testing all the time and it is always rewarding.

 

I will admit that some things I try are like boiled Okra and only do the A part and quit. 

 

Here's one I had fun with early on. The three in the middle were eye opening. 

 

I love this one for people who think oil temperature in a water cooled motor doesn't move and oil chemistry has no influence on temperatures.