Useless Information

[swathdiver]

Wow! My wife is now complaining that the AC is too cold! The change was so gradual that I did not notice the degradation in performance of the AC until about a year or so after it began. Now I remember how nice the chill coming out of the vents was and is again now that we have replaced the Recirculate Actuator! I can run the AC at 68 instead of 64 again like when I first bought it. Wow! My wife was driving the truck for a few days before I got some seat time yesterday and today.

Just passed 174K the motor runs like a top and the suspension and tires make the ride feel like we're riding on clouds.

Going to start the 14-bolt axle work soon and make the swap in September or October.

 

[Fubar0715]

Wow! My wife is now complaining that the AC is too cold! The change was so gradual that I did not notice the degradation in performance of the AC until about a year or so after it began. Now I remember how nice the chill coming out of the vents was and is again now that we have replaced the Recirculate Actuator! I can run the AC at 68 instead of 64 again like when I first bought it. Wow! My wife was driving the truck for a few days before I got some seat time yesterday and today.

Just passed 174K the motor runs like a top and the suspension and tires make the ride feel like we're riding on clouds.

Going to start the 14-bolt axle work soon and make the swap in September or October.

Sounds like a nice winter months project! That said, in Florida, that can be 3 days in late January or a random couple days in February-otherwise, its summer! That place is like having Malaria-hot or cold with no in between! Good luck with the axle swap though-will be a great upgrade!

 

[swathdiver]

Took a little drive on the way home from my church tonight. Wife will be using the truck tomorrow so I refueled it so she won't have to. Alcohol content on this Chevron 93 is next to nothing, in fact, it was at zero after 18 miles.

The trims are climbing once again at idle. Over -10, the passenger side is worse. Maybe I should pony up and buy a smoke machine finally? Speaking of, the Torque App says the emissions system is still "not ready" whatever that means. No codes, no recent codes for the engine side in a long while.

Call Guiness Book of World Records, on level ground at 65 mph she was delivering 21.5 mpg and creeping higher until we hit the "hills". The closest the truck came to that with the KO2s was 20.4 mpg, the average was 19.9 mpg back then. She does this regularly now, sometimes more with a tailwind.

Stopped at a light just off the highway, felt a momentary shudder, idle didn't drop, lights were steady, might have been a truck shaking the bridge we were on, just mentioning it in case something pops up in the future and you know how my memory is!

Been thinking about 3.73s, 5 angle valve jobs and camshafts lately...

 

[swathdiver]

The USS Orleck is a WWII era Gearing class destroyer that served in Korea and Vietnam and into the 1980s before being retired. She then served with the Turkish Navy and was returned to the United States for use as a museum ship. She was recently overhauled and will soon be open for tours in Jacksonville, Florida.

Since starting the fuel log in late 2017, we've not driven the truck continuously on a tank of gasoline such as when on a road trip. There are always stops involved and long periods of idling. This one wasn't perfect either but it's a start!

Knowing the Orleck was docked right in front of the Hyatt in Jacksonville, I had it in my head to make a midnight run to see her and run the test while my sleep schedule was out of whack again. This allowed me to basically pull right up next to the ship without leaving the truck, which is why this fat man even considered the run!

The truck was refueled earlier in the day and used to pick up groceries and then around 1 AM my youngest daughter and I set off for Jax. Immediately after refueling, the truck was getting 21+ mpg at 66 mph. Early on in the trip she delivered 20 mpg at 65 mph, 18.5 mpg at 70 mph and 17.4 mpg at 75 mph after nine miles for each leg.

We stopped at a rest area then later at Buc-ees in Daytona then on the way back grabbed breakfast at Bojangles in Saint Augustine, all the while never shutting off the engine. The truck was burning Chevron's 93 octane gas with no alcohol detected in it. Fuel trims were zero for the most part at speed but jumped to -13 and -17 when idling, something clearly is amiss again.

That tank of gas lasted about 9 and a half hours for 515.2 miles. We burned 27.2 gallons for 18.9 mpg with an average speed for that tank of 55.4 mph. Could have gone a little further with 4 gallons of gas left aboard! Cruise control was set for 67 mph.

The only other tankful of fuel to average over 55 mph was a run we made on E85 once that delivered 13.7 mpg on the KO2 tires. The truck is now wearing Michelin Defenders.

Curb weight started out at around 6,700 pounds and she never downshifted to cross a bridge and rarely even unlocked the converter to do the same. Good torque!

Jaime and I had a great trip, she was an excellent DJ and even put up with my oddball music requests!

 

[Sparksalot]

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The USS Orleck is a WWII era Gearing class destroyer that served in Korea and Vietnam and into the 1980s before being retired. She then served with the Turkish Navy and was returned to the United States for use a museum ship. She was recently overhauled and will soon be open for tours in Jacksonville, Florida.

Since starting the fuel log in late 2017, we've not driven the truck continuously on a tank of gasoline such as when on a road trip. There are always stops involved and long periods of idling. This one wasn't perfect either but it's a start!

Knowing the Orleck was docked right in front of the Hyatt in Jacksonville, I had it in my head to make a midnight run to see her and run the test while my sleep schedule was out of whack again. This allowed me to basically pull right up next to the ship without leaving the truck, which is why this fat man even considered the run!

The truck was refueled earlier in the day and used to pick up groceries and then around 1 AM my youngest daughter and I set off for Jax. Immediately after refueling, the truck was getting 21+ mpg at 66 mph. Early on in the trip she delivered 20 mpg at 65 mph, 18.5 mpg at 70 mph and 17.4 mpg at 75 mph after nine miles for each.

We stopped at a rest area then later at Buc-ees in Daytona then on the way back grabbed breakfast at Bojangles in Saint Augustine, all the while never shutting off the engine. The truck was burning 93 octane Chevron with no alcohol detected in it. Fuel trims were zero for the most part at speed but jumped to -13 and -17 when idling, something clearly is amiss again.

That tank of gas lasted about 9 and a half hours for 515.2 miles. We burned 27.2 gallons for 18.9 mpg with an average speed for that tank of 55.4 mph. Could have gone a little further with 4 gallons of gas left aboard! Cruise control was set for 67 mph.

The only other tankful of fuel to average over 55 mph was a run we made on E85 once that delivered 13.7 mpg on the KO2 tires. The truck is now wearing Michelin Defenders.

Jaime and I had a great trip, she was an excellent DJ and even put up with my oddball music requests!

Was she berthed in Lake Charles, LA previously? I’m pretty sure I’ve been aboard her there.

 

[swathdiver]

Was she berthed in Lake Charles, LA previously? I’m pretty sure I’ve been aboard her there.

Yes! She was on display or go on display in Texas and had trouble getting a berth, then she broke loose in a hurricane and suffered some damage. Somewhere along the way she was on display for a time in Louisiana and then went back to Texas to be drydocked and overhauled and then was towed to Jacksonville.

She arrived before her permanent berth was ready, just a few hundred yards from in front of the hotel. Looking forward to taking a tour aboard someday.

 

[Sparksalot]

Yes! She was on display or go on display in Texas and had trouble getting a berth, then she broke loose in a hurricane and suffered some damage. Somewhere along the way she was on display for a time in Louisiana and then went back to Texas to be drydocked and overhauled and then was towed to Jacksonville.

She arrived before her permanent berth was ready, just a few hundred yards from in front of the hotel. Looking forward to taking a tour aboard someday.

I forgot about the hurricane. Yep, same ship. I’m glad to see she’s being conserved. There was still a lot of Turkish markings all over below decks when I was aboard.

 

[swathdiver]

Based on YouTube's Project Farm channel review of pressure washers, I purchased the Caterpillar 1800 psi electric pressure washer.

Works pretty good, we tested it out on the Sierra and are pleased with it. Looking forward to see how it does on the black Yukon. No leaks at any of the fittings!

It comes with 5 different nozzles, 4 quick disconnect types and one attached to the soap bottle. We tried out the white for most of the wash and then the green. If you get too close it'll lift the paint. I ran the red, the most powerful on some stains on the driveway, some disappeared lickety split, others took more effort.

This will be good to clean the engine bay and maintain the cars with, making quick work of car washes I think. We used our Meguiar's Gold soap.

 

[swathdiver]

Pressure washer working good on the Yukon as well of course. I still pull out the long brush to get the stubborn bug guts off the bumper cover and grill, mirror caps and windshield.

Went into the hospital again on Monday and got out Friday a few days after surgery again on Tuesday. Been to the hospital so often lately the staff is beginning to recognize me and I them! No slackers this time. Some of the newer people were absolutely hilarious.

Tried to buy the Harbor Freight 26" tool chests in Orange. Drove 80 miles to the store that had both in stock only to be told to come back later as they were too busy to get them down off the shelf. By that point my medical condition had deteriorated and I could no longer drive, the kids picked them up in Red for me at the local HF and put them together. Boy is this thing huge! It's deeper than expected even though I knew the specs going in, it will hold a lot more tools than anticipated. I'll get some photos of it soon.

The 9.5" 14-Bolt Saginaw axle mod is well underway now. I ordered new rear brakes for it, parking brake shoes and some other parts which include GM seal and bearing drivers and some pullers. The brakes were the last GM OE available in the country, as were the AAM 3.73 gears. Going to open and inspect the packages tomorrow for damage. In 2017, the Brake Pad Kit, 171-0999 or 19329677 and Brake Rotors, 177-1149 or 22968231 cost $263.45. Today they cost $386.61, what's that, 68% more in 5 years?

I'll try to take more photos while getting the axle ready. Recovery will slow me down as will transferring tools into the new tool chests but that kinda works in my favor, the weather will start cooling soon. The only tough part is going to be making the truck available for downtime. We have a lot of stuff going on now through the holidays. I do not want one axle gear swapped and the other not for more than a week, thinking about buying a spare front and rebuilding that or swapping it out and rebuilding/regearing the original. I prefer the latter option.

With the need to minimize down time, I might also convert the parking brake system to the JNC "Push to Release" option at a later date. Not too late!

 

[swathdiver]

Picked up an Autool SDT-206 smoke machine finally from a pawn shop selling on Ebay. Finally got it cleaned up and tested and put it to work on the Yukon. Disconnected the passenger side PCV hose going into the air plenum before the throttle body and inserted the smoke at about 3 psi. Held it there for a minute or two and nothing, no leaks. Popped the top of the purge solenoid hose on top of the intake right behind the throttle body and inserted the smoke again, nada. So back to square one looking for the source of those high negative fuel trims at idle.

The tensioner or idler pulley started squeaking for the first time so I put in an order at Rock Auto for new GM OE parts. Not bad for 177K miles I guess. I think the driver's valve cover might be leaking too. The manifold bolt broke on #7 but it isn't leaking yet. A new manifold is only about $100 for that side so I think I'll just replace it instead of fooling around with making the flange flat and replace all the studs, nuts and bolts on both sides, plus the gaskets for the Y-Pipe even though they are only about 60K miles old. What say you?