Out of sight. Out of mind. Topics.

[Grumpy Bear]

 

 

When is the last time you checked the pressure and condition of your spare? 

 

Edited July 27, 2023 by Grumpy Bear

[KARNUT]

Oops 

[swathdiver]

Twice a year, New Years Day and July 4th.  The spares are dropped to the ground to exercise the hoists and the air pressure checked.  They usually only need air once a year.

[KARNUT]

I’ve never seen the spare in my wife’s Genesis. Happened on the spare with the odyssey looking for a lost key. It was under the center console plate the console bolts to. The spare is under the floor behind the front seats. My avalanche is over 20 years old spare looks new. The problem is I’ve never had a flat. It’s true, never.  Maybe it’s the southern roads or my tires never see the wear bars on my trip vehicles. My town vehicles age out. Not that I don’t take precautions. I have a neat jump starter, air compressor combo. It’s been tested.

[Grumpy Bear]

Sadly, I pulled Mrs. Bear's Buick out for a road trip and just happened to think of it. It rarely leaves the garage. Yep, about 8 psi. YIKES!! So, yes, I check the rest. 3 out of 5 were more than 5 psi down. Two under 10 psi. Thought a reminder might be handy. 

[Grumpy Bear]

Clean that A/C condenser! 

 

Extreme heat shows up hidden things. Passenger side fan came on when I started the truck this morning. A/C was on coldest setting and in recirculation mode. So, I expected that. The second fan then kicked on and that I did not expect. It was cooler yet and raining. Later when the rain passed the heat came in peaking about 92F and a sweltering humidity level. About a half hour into my ride, I noticed the oil temp is running a few degrees warmer than usual, but I brushed that off. It's hot! Water temp is throttling but, again, warmer by 3 to 5 degrees. Hum... Trans temp hit 170 F and would not come down. By the time I got home it was 174 F so I shut it down and had some iced tea.  

 

I pull up a stump in front of the truck a bit later. Not a huge number of bugs but allot of dirt. Not mud but more like what you get from a vacuum after doing the carpets. Top two inches of the radiator and pretty much the surface of the condenser. We had a lot of wind this spring while the fields were being plowed and seeded and it looked worse that wildfire smoke at the time. This mess was more IN the fins than on them except the top of the radiator. 

 

Sprayed it down with some Dawn then came back in 20 minutes and hosed the life out of it. Result? First thing I noticed was on startup with AC on the fans stayed off. Both of them and the AC was cooler. Not down right COLD. Water and oil temps came back to normal. Normal being my logged data points from the last few years. Trans temperatures came back down about 12-15 degrees and better, they would recover. Even at 92 F when I hot soaked it to test. 

 

 

[Grumpy Bear]

Check those Tire Pressures! 

 

Hit the low 90's yesterday and I checked my tire pressures in the morning when it was 70 F. Pressure goes up about 1 degree per 10 F air temperature. Tire pressure will raise about 10% driving. By the time I hit the Interstate it was just under the 40-psi limit and riding like I hadn't any springs.

 

The sticker number is the cold inflation pressure. When? Meaning what time of day. When you do the most driving. For me between the 10's. AM to PM. So, first thing at 7 AM has them overpressure before I enter that cab. 

 

Best time for me is a bit after noon, in the shade as the sun will add a pound to the side it shines on. That will make them a bit soft very early and, on the money, when I do the most driving. I let 5 psi out after sitting two hours in the shade yesterday afternoon. What a difference in ride, harshness, noise and still perfect pressures once up and running. 

 

Now I set those pressures a week before this heat spike in the morning on a day in the low 60's. Just did't give the 20 degree average increase a thought. Should have. 

[Grumpy Bear]

DING DING DING Have you done a Coolant Check lately?

 

By multimeter Pepper is 397 Mv. By PH 8.5-9 by litmus papers.  New is 8.5. Refractometer reads 40%. 

 

All About Dex-Cool® - GETAHELMET.COM

 

0.2 V to 0.5 V - good

0.5 V to 0.7 V - borderline

0.7 V or greater - unacceptable.

 

Best info I could find on Dex-Cool. 

 

 

Edited July 29, 2023 by Grumpy Bear

[OnTheReel]

Cabin air filters are good one nobody thinks of. For just a year and a half on mine, it was shockingly bad. Put a K&N one in, noticeably more airflow and reusable.

 

I have a full size matching spare I rotate in on my truck so I never lose track of its pressure. My mom’s car on the other hand was 8 PSI when I checked it. Don’t think my wife’s car even has a spare. Progress.

[Grumpy Bear]

On 7/28/2023 at 7:21 PM, Grumpy Bear said:

DING DING DING Have you done a Coolant Check lately?

 

By multimeter Pepper is 397 Mv. By PH 8.5-9 by litmus papers.  New is 8.5. Refractometer reads 40%. 

 

All About Dex-Cool® - GETAHELMET.COM

 

0.2 V to 0.5 V - good

0.5 V to 0.7 V - borderline

0.7 V or greater - unacceptable.

 

Best info I could find on Dex-Cool. 

 

 

 

I want to circle back to this. I checked voltage again this morning dead cold on a hunch. < 0.0** Mv. Now it makes sense. Several dozen videos on this topic and they all vary wildly on what it a good number and what is a bad number. Why? As it turns out the UNSTATED REFERENCE TEMPERATURE. 

 

The numbers above at taken at thermostat OPEN temperatures. Actually, this guy stated the entire test sequence. 

 

So, something between 175 and 205 degrees thus the window. Those that are calling anything over 0.15 bad are done at dead cold. Simple explanation and allot of trash over incomplete information.