Sugar Bears 2015 GMC Terrain SLE-2 2.4 AWD

[Grumpy Bear]

11 minutes ago, diyer2 said:

"Base of pleats now holding what looks like a fair amount of ground black pepper."

Residue from cleaning?

 

I hope so .

 

They claim this take 4 oil changes. I'm assuming standard 7.5K OCI's so a slow process. 

 

If this is bore polish this won't help no matter how long I do this. 

 

Dad is telling me to run it till it gets worse than a quart in a thousand then bury it.   It's not that bad yet. 

[Grumpy Bear]

242,000 Mile Services

 

4/13/2024

1,000-mile OCI.

 

9,430 miles using this oil. 

14 ounces of makeup oil. About the same.

.3252% of fuel. Milage is improving with weather. About 29 mpg for this cycle. 

1/2 bottle of Red Line S1 in the fuel. 

Gave it a bath and spray wax. Rust is starting to show up. 

 

5-Quarts of Valvoline Restore & Protect 5W30

No filter. Only a thousand miles on it. 

[Grumpy Bear]

243,000 Mile Service

ARX

 

4/22/2024

 

1K OCI

20 ounces of makeup oil. 

 

4 Quarts Shell Rotella T1 SAE 30 (SL)

1 Quart Citco SAE 30 SN+/SP (Can't find T1 in quarts). 

1 Purolator L15436

 

10 Oz Techron in a full tank.

Both Group II mineral oils.   

Edited May 2, 2024 by Grumpy Bear

[KARNUT]

1 hour ago, Grumpy Bear said:

243,000 Mile Service

 

4/22/2024

 

1K OCI

20 ounces of makeup oil. 

 

4 Quarts Shell Rotella T1 SAE 30 (SL)

1 Quart Citco SAE 30 SN+/SP (Can't find T1 in quarts). 

1 Purolator PL15436

 

10 Oz Techron in a full tank.

Both Group II mineral oils.   

I’m assuming you’re keeping up with the front end and all the other wear items. Probably nut and bolting on it periodically. My father was always climbing under his truck if there was a hint of a squeak. He probably had the only Ram that didn’t rattle. So my question is there an engine in its future. If my wife’s car blew its engine I’d have no problem putting a new engine in it. That’s why I take to the dealer for original equipment. At 135K it’s getting its first set of brakes. So I’m paying the 1K for brakes and rotors installed. I’d put one in my truck too. So again a new engine?

Edited April 22, 2024 by KARNUT

[Grumpy Bear]

4 hours ago, KARNUT said:

I’m assuming you’re keeping up with the front end and all the other wear items. Probably nut and bolting on it periodically. My father was always climbing under his truck if there was a hint of a squeak. He probably had the only Ram that didn’t rattle. So my question is there an engine in its future. If my wife’s car blew its engine I’d have no problem putting a new engine in it. That’s why I take to the dealer for original equipment. At 135K it’s getting its first set of brakes. So I’m paying the 1K for brakes and rotors installed. I’d put one in my truck too. So again a new engine?

 

It gets maintained well. It's an odd bird but the wife loves it. Tires are noisy and chopped up. We've been sorting alignment for years and can't seem to find her happy place. This winter was very hard on the paint and body. Lots of hiding places for salt. Really poor design with all the plastic body molding. Anyway...motor. Hum......Considering it. Mostly it has become a rolling test lab for her Buick. They share the same powertrain platform and are the same year. 

 

For now, I'll let it ride. Don't think this one is one of the 30-40-year keepers. We'll see. More likely drive it till it drops and kick to the curb. 

 

I'm looking at straight weight to see if it will slow the consumption any at all. Certainly, is quite with that oil. Had an old 64 Malibu with a 283 and a Powerglide. I'd go to the full service and say, "Fill the oil and check the gas please". Drove it for years like that. Never smoked and never missed. 

[OnTheReel]

I was wondering how she was doing as far as rust. The few of those that I still see around here are looking pretty crusty in the usual GM places. Would be hard for me to stick a new motor into something like that, even if it might make sense to do it. I hate rust more than anything in the world.

[Grumpy Bear]

Still running  

 

 

And sweetly I might add. Seems happy with straight weight oil. Enough so I'm adding 500 more miles to the OCI. Change it tomorrow. 

[Grumpy Bear]

244,500 Service

ARX

 

5/2/2024

 

1,500 OCI

24 Oz of makeup oil, quart in 2K

This is less per thousand than last service by 4oz/1K. Seems fine with SAE30

Not nearly as dark on the drop. 

 

4 Quarts Shell Rotella T1 SAE 30 

1 Quart Citco SAE 30 

1 Purolator L15436

 

10 Oz Techron in a full tank at 244,000. 

 

Service Extra!

 

You may have noticed the ARX below the titles of the last two post. Auto-Rx. No cleaning treatment I have tried to date has had this result. TONS OF CHUNKS of carbon type materials. 

 

This has resulted in only minor oil consumption reduction. This motor may have other issues, like valve seals and some bore polishing, BUT fuel economy jumped noticeably as did a major reduction in tank-to-tank variation. Blowby is reduced at the breather. 

 

 

You are supposed to add two bottles to a fresh oil change and run it for 3K miles when using mineral oil or 4K if using a synthetic. I'm doing this is two runs of 1.5K as oil consumption increases as run length increases AND this is a very small filter. 

Edited May 2, 2024 by Grumpy Bear

[Grumpy Bear]

246,000 Mile Service

 

5/7/2024

 

245,950 actual, 1,450 mile OCI. 5 day turnaround.  Wisconsin trip through the lower hill country. 

37 ounces makeup oil is my best guess. Rx instructions make it hard to gauge level with a bullet type stick. Roughly a quart in 1,250 miles. That would be second worst ever.

 

May have killed her dead but she just won't croak. Silent as can be except for first start of the day and I think that is an exhaust shield aging, and best it has ever run, smooth as silk and peppy. A mystery. 

 

Rinse cycle: 

5-Quarts Mobil 1 ESP 0W30 (Walmart sale) 

1 Purolator L15436 filter

 

No cake in the filter this time but element plenty dark but yet not crushed. Still no smoke unless you stand on her. Even then only about once in a thousand miles. Cat's, I expect sooting up. This low ash oil should help.

 

Very little blowby. Nothing in the breathers, clean or dirty. Oil looked nearly as good taking it out as putting it in. Average 31.35 mpg over last 3K miles. Two oil changes. Timing-cover no longer leaking.  No external leaks whatsoever. 

 

Did a breather check. Put the stock filler cap on. Plugged the PCV valve and fresh side air with the dipstick in. A small positive pressure. Like a child blowing out candles. Pulled the dipstick and covered the fresh side and have an ever so slight vacuum. That's a puzzler but it verified the manifold epoxy plug is still intact doing its job. Put the .050 orifice back in and dipstick and covered the fresh side. Held a paper and within seconds I could hear the main seal sucking air.  Vent is perfect. Baffle is dry as a bone. 

[Grumpy Bear]

247,000 Mile Service

 

1,050 OCI

16 ounces of makeup. or 15 ounces per thousand. 10 less per thousand than last interval. 

Use of Mobil ESP has nearly eliminated the exhaust soot under full load. 

 

5-quarts Mobil 1 ESP 5W30

2nd use of filter.

 

Filter looked like it used to when she was young. Color of oil-soaked media. Sweet. 

Nothing in the breather and the demister pad was but damp. Normally soaked. It too was clean. 

 

Without mechanical intervention, this is about as good as it will get.

 

 

 

Edited May 28, 2024 by Grumpy Bear

[Grumpy Bear]

248,000 Mile Service

 

1,000 OCI

16 ounces of makeup. 

 

5-quarts Mobil 1 ESP 5W30

3 Oz Auto-Rx

1 PUREOLAOTR L15436

 

Did a drain down study. No surprises. The longer the filter is in service the longer it takes to drain down. New filter took 2 hours and one at 2K miles took 12 hours. (checks every 2 hours until the level quits rising) 

 

AutoZone is the only place local I can find this oil in 5W30 and even then, not always. I buy a jug plus a quart for makeup. This time that quart is Mobil 1 ESP 3X 0W40. Not a quart of either W30 on the self.  I can get 0W30 at Walmart ten bucks a jug cheaper, but they were out. 

 

Still quiet, silky and smoke free, even on kick down. Low SAPS oil.   

 

 

 

[Grumpy Bear]

KR Spark

 

Local BP has added 91 E-0 and 100 octane no lead, no alcohol race fuel to accompany their 93 octane E-10. As Dizzy has aged her octane requirement has increased. A result of oil consumption. The knock sensor and ECU have handled this nicely and it is still within their range, but I like to play.

 

Starting with the E-0 91 I started and kept track of KR with the ScanGauge II monitoring MAP, ING, KR and TR. Once I had a full tank of 91 I started cutting in 93 and alternating 91/93 played in this zone which nearly eliminated knock on all but the steepest hills in high gear on hot days between 1500 and 1750 rpm where it would pull up to 5 degrees. 

 

Partial fill on the math of 100 to arrive at 95.4 octane seems to have eliminated it all. It's a bit rich for my taste at $7 a gallon. So, my number is between 92 and 95.4.  I'll start cutting in 93 again and monitor to find the tipping point. 

 

A side observation has been an increase in fuel economy above what has been normal for warm weather driving and even surpassed zero alcohol best multiple tank averages of her history. 

 

MAP

 

The increase in MAP happens so slowly as the rings fail to seal (stick) you don't even notice it until they free rapidly as they did during the Auto-Rx cleaning.  When blowby is greatly reduced it takes less blade angle to get the same BMEP increasing vacuum and decreasing MAP. About 2 psi observed or about 4+ inches of vacuum. (steady state cruise) Which also have an effect of fuel economy in the interest of transparency. Something we can double check walking the octane back. 

 

ING

 

Not a surprise that timing has increased as knock has faded with both an increase in octane and a reduction if blowby. 

[Grumpy Bear]

Milestones are fun  

 

 

2 PM CST 6/7/2024

 

 

[Grumpy Bear]

Spring Cleaning

 

6/15/2024

 

Full interior cleaning today which morphed into some rust mediation. Not a full-on detailing but a good deep cleaning. Door bottoms are to the point the paint washes off. Zero factory prep work for paint. I'd touched up the passenger rear a few years ago. It held up better than OEM. Comes off in sheets and metal below is smooth as a mirror. Peeled back the door seals and used the holes and drains to push a can of Surface Shield inside then sprayed the exposed outside. Not painting it again. Just doesn't work. Pulled a few fasteners for the rear wheel inner liners to gain access to the back side and hosed the daylights out of it with Lanolin. (Surface Sheild). Until it ran out the pinch seams underneath. I don't know how this will look once it attracts some dirt but right now it looks pretty good. 

 

 

Edited June 17, 2024 by Grumpy Bear

[Grumpy Bear]

Quarter Million Mile Services!

 

6/21/2024

 

2,000-mile OCI

1 quart Mobil 1 ESP 0W40 makeup

 

5-quarts Mobil 1 ESP 0W30

3 Oz Auto-Rx

No filter change but inspected. 

 

Add on bottle of Red Line S-1 on fuel fill. 

 

Pulled drivers side rear tire and inspected for slow leaker. Valve core good. Went over every inch of this tire with a pick and glass. Not a puncture anywhere to be found. Every rock picked out. The alignment is horrid on this vehicle and the inside of the tire looked like a bag of walnuts and would drive you from the cab noisy. Took an abrasive roll and air grinder to the high points of the inside blocks. Little hand profiling. Not an answer. A band-aid. It did quite it right down. See if I can get into the shop next week, reseat the bead and have the alignment done. Last alignment made it worse. Not putting tires on this beast until I get a printout that says the tires have a fighting chance. Then it will be a CHEAP set for conformation. 

 

Bought a supply of Supertech cheap paper oil filters and some Supertech 10W40 SP Conventional for makeup oil. 

Edited June 21, 2024 by Grumpy Bear