Grumpy Bears 2015 Silverado 2WD

[Grumpy Bear]

173,587 Miles

 

Hot weather again and more refining of the cooling charts. Between 50F and 75F it shows its throttling range of 142F. From 76F up it rides 66 degrees over ambient temperature. Inside that range it will run hotter given circumstances. Running faster or slower than 50-55 mph. Tailwind vs headwind. Terrain. Interstate, US Highway, county or urban all impact it but from about 90 F and below it will recover. Naturally the closer you are to the limit the longer it takes to recover. It will do this even hot soaked. 

 

From last posting I included the pill flip curves at two different water temperature thermostats. 

 

 

 

(New Graphs below)

 

 

Edited August 25, 2023 by Grumpy Bear

[diyer2]

You have to much time on your hands. 

[Grumpy Bear]

173,785 Miles

 

8/24/2023

 

On 8/23/2023 at 2:06 AM, diyer2 said:

You have to much time on your hands. 

Yep. 

 

Near 100 F today so finished up data collection. Last three data points show a radiator at 40% Glycol running out of capacity. Easy to see in the Delta T graph. Far right yellow both graphs. 

 

 

[Grumpy Bear]

175,000 Mile Service

 

9/29/2023

 

175,016 actual

4,716-mile OCI

Used maybe a cup

 

5 quarts Red Line Euro 5W30

1-quart HPL SAE40-EC

FRAM XG10575

 

Old filter stuck. Case crushed taking it off.  It was likely me ham handed putting it on. 

Edited September 29, 2023 by Grumpy Bear

[Grumpy Bear]

Other Matters

 

 

Ride has become more important than fuel, so I've been experimenting with lower pressures consistent with safe operation. 28-30 cold feels pretty good and seems to have limited impact on fuel economy. 28 will give you some flat spot running if she sits a few days. 30 psi gets rid of that and almost as nice.  

 

Did a deep cleaning of the windshield today and application of some Rain-X Original formula. WOW! Almost as good as installing a new windshield. Now if it wasn't so hard to find the Original Formula.  

 

Think I've decided to stay full E-85 this winter instead of blending to E-45/50. I will hand me some awful tank milage be a bit harder to start and I'm good with that considering how this fuel treats oil. Even Esters. 

 

 

Penny's make dollars. Lower tire pressures. Heavier oil. Cooler temperatures. Shorter trip lengths. Faster Interstate speeds. (I've added 5 mph routinely) As the graph shows; it's all adding up.  

 

 

[Grumpy Bear]

Service Notes: 

 

12/7/2023

 

Taking longer naps between drives. Salting even when it flurries. 

Increased tire pressures back to sticker. Hedging falling temperatures. 

Readjusted glycol mix to winter spec 50/50. 

Local supplies of E85 this winter, unlike last winter, have lowered the alcohol concentration to 60-70% depending on station. 

On battery tender robbed from the Buick. Need a third one.  

[Grumpy Bear]

177,412 Miles

Spring Wake up call. 

 

3/12/2024

 

165 days ago I changed oil and have put on 2,396 miles as of today. 5.4 months. Checked oil level. Full. Condition? Like I put it in yesterday color wise. Chemistry? , . 

 

Tire pressures. A bit over spec but it's a warm day and this will not last. 

 

Crossed 4,200 engine hours with 177,297 miles showing. 42.21mph lifetime average speed. Pretty darn quick for a slow guy. 

 

73 F today and windy. 20 mph SW winds. So took her for a drive. Been a few weeks since I took the trickle charger off this 9-year-old battery. Yes! She turned 9 years old the 8th of this month! Spun like a top. Ran about 50 miles into the wind on the backroads along I-39 then put the wind to her tail and set off down the Interstate running.... wait for it....65 mph Three hours total trip length. 175 F water. 203 F oil and 148 F on the trans. Perfect. Smooth and quite.

 

Hello Pepper. Time to wakey-wakey.

 

 

 

Edited March 13, 2024 by Grumpy Bear

[Grumpy Bear]

 

US Wheel. Thoughts?

[KARNUT]

7 hours ago, Grumpy Bear said:

 

US Wheel. Thoughts?

I had several vehicles years ago with baby moons. I paint the rims add baby moons. A couple I put slotted mags in the back baby moons in the front. Of course you’d have to install high jackers so the big tires would fit in back. I like that look on your truck.

[Grumpy Bear]

180,000 Mile Service

 

6/18/2024

 

5K mile OCI. Zero makeup oil. Maybe one hatch mark down. 

5-qts. Red Line HP 0W30

1 Purolator PUREONE PL-22500 filter

 

I'd planned a trans service this time, but my waste drum is full. Soon. 

I ran out of Euro Spec RLHP (only 4 qts on the self) and Hoerr Racing won't have any in for a few weeks yet.  

 

 

 

[Grumpy Bear]

180,113 Mile Service

 

6/19/2024

 

14,848 miles since last service. 

7-3/4 quarts of Red Line D6 transmission fluid. Half the charge, roughly. 

1 Valvomax drain for the PML alloy pan. Slick. 

Now I can do precision withdraws and refills. 

 

Guess which one is the new fluid 

On the stick they are indistinguishable.

On a white towel it was hard to judge.

It was time.

 

 

 

 

Edited June 24, 2024 by Grumpy Bear
Updated detail

[Grumpy Bear]

180,494 Mile Service

 

6/27/2024

 

6 NGK Ruthenium Plugs 90220 gapped .044"

6 GM Direct Fit plug wires, 19431550. This set has new heat shields included.

Yes, I use Nickle Never Seize on the threads and silicon dialectic on the boots. 

No, I don't torque tapered seat plugs. What would dad say? 

 

She's had a very mild cold miss for a while now. Plug steel to porcelain gasket crimp blown on #6.  

Cylinders #3 and #6 had oil on the threads but not the tips. These are the AFM cylinders, and this is normal. All six holes were bone dry. 

 

Ash deposits were evident but not excessive for a set with 80K on them. 

 

I though #6 would be the hard one. Nope, #5. Everything is in the way.... of my fat arms. 

 

I don't try to save plug wires. Job is hard enough. New sets are not expensive. I did save the shields. Never know when you will need one or two. 

 

Late add: 100-mile round trip. It was a pretty day. Cold miss is gone. Fuel consumption is down. I didn't notice it running rough, other that the mentioned cold miss, but it improved enough at road speed to be REALLY noticeable. Her 'new like' silky is back.  I'll quantify the fuel over the next few tanks, but it is a pronounced improvement. If you can feel a miss, it is at least 15% of the charges not burning. Rough Kettering rule of thumb.  

Edited June 27, 2024 by Grumpy Bear
data correction

[Grumpy Bear]

181,818 Mile Service

 

7/26/2024

 

Road Force Balance and rotation. I've never had this done on any vehicle before. It's a new kind of silky. I would not have though to be that much different. There are lots of things I don't know. 

 

Last tire service was 5/7/2023 at 165,265 miles. 16,553 miles ago. That's two skipped. It shows on the tread too. 

 

 Since Deegan's' has been in hibernation  Pepper has missed needed services while I sought a second provider.

 

This set has 56,990 miles on them and look 10 years old. 60K tread life warranty will be falling off a log, but the cracks say it's time.... soon. Another 3,010 miles or so.  

[Black02Silverado]

14 hours ago, Grumpy Bear said:

181,818 Mile Service

 

7/26/2024

 

Road Force Balance and rotation. I've never had this done on any vehicle before. It's a new kind of silky. I would not have though to be that much different. There are lots of things I don't know. 

 

Last tire service was 5/7/2023 at 165,265 miles. 16,553 miles ago. That's two skipped. It shows on the tread too. 

 

 Since Deegan's' has been in hibernation  Pepper has missed needed services while I sought a second provider.

 

This set has 56,990 miles on them and look 10 years old. 60K tread life warranty will be falling off a log, but the cracks say it's time.... soon. Another 3,010 miles or so.  

If you truly want a smooth riding experience. Find a place that will true your tires and rebalance them. Then you’ll never go back. The smoothest riding vehicle you’ll ever have. It’s a dying art not many places true tires anymore.

[KARNUT]

13 minutes ago, Black02Silverado said:

If you truly want a smooth riding experience. Find a place that will true your tires and rebalance them. Then you’ll never go back. The smoothest riding vehicle you’ll ever have. It’s a dying art not many places true tires anymore.

This may seem weird to most people. Every vehicle I’ve owned and every kind of tire I’ve used has some vibration. However slight it’s there. Add to that there’s hardly a perfect road. But when I find one usually the slight variation  goes away. If I went the extra mile for that type of balance work my OCD would drive me crazy. After all these years I finally can drive a not perfectly clean car through a trip without going out my way to clean it. Driving an odyssey as my trip vehicle probably helps. I’m not adding something else to feed my OCD.

Edited July 27, 2024 by KARNUT