What did you do to your NNBS GMT900 Tahoe/Yukon Today?

[wsteele]

She was in beautiful shape. And yes, Firewall Forward in Ft. Collins had solved some, but not all of, the oiling issues. My friend's engine failure happened after it had received all of the mods.

Here's ours on the ramp at Ft. Nelson, BC, on the way to Alaska in 2009.

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Still has the old-school panel, which I've grown quite accustomed to.

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Actually it wasn't FWF that did my TIO541's. I can't remember the guy's shop name that did it. I have it in my N18292 file in storage somewhere.

He had done a lot of research into how to get oil onto the cam lobes to help prevent the galling of the lifters. I have read it was the weight of the valve springs that did the lifters in before their time (who knows). His cam mod was to add lubrication. It was a pretty big leap for me to choose him as he was a relatively small time operator whose primary focus was the Duke engine. I went back and forth on using FWF (the safe bet) or his shop. It turned out pretty well as I put about 400 trouble free hours on the engines before I sold the plane to an orange grower down in the San Joaquin valley.

Depending on what engine your friend lost and when he lost it, if it was the worst case scenario, he must have had monster muscles in his legs, and been pretty sharp on his "pitch, power, clean, identify, verify, feather" routine, because that rudder (while being a nice big plank), had enormous forces required in that circumstance.

Truth be told, they had stretched that power plant beyond where it made sense. Cessna went the geared engine route with their 421 and killed the Duke dead in its tracks. No comparison in so many respects for their stated missions.

Are those the digital face plates for the King radios in your stack? I still have a few KX165's somewhere in storage. That whole line of radio was about as bulletproof as they came.

You are in a pretty good spot with that aircraft, good for you.

 

[gooffeyguy]

What’s the difference in cost between wide and narrow band? Can you run the wide full time (granted it may be overkill)? I wasn’t sure if it did harm running them full time because they were meant more for tuning or if like your mustang they could be run in lieu of the narrows for a “real time” readout without being on a dyno.

Well it's been a few years since I've had to buy just the wideband O2 sensor, but they used to be about 2-3x the price. I think they've since gotten cheaper and run about the same price as a standard O2 sensor, but you need the hardware or gauge setup to read it.

I've also read that they can be used in place of your standard O2 sensors and run both as a wideband O2 to your gauge and narrowband O2 for the vehicle, but you have to do some wire splicing. They may make adapter harnesses now days to do this. I really haven't looked into it for a few years. The setup I have works for me, so why mess with it, lol

 

[Fless]

Actually it wasn't FWF that did my TIO541's. I can't remember the guy's shop name that did it. I have it in my N18292 file in storage somewhere.

He had done a lot of research into how to get oil onto the cam lobes to help prevent the galling of the lifters. I have read it was the weight of the valve springs that did the lifters in before their time (who knows). His cam mod was to add lubrication. It was a pretty big leap for me to choose him as he was a relatively small time operator whose primary focus was the Duke engine. I went back and forth on using FWF (the safe bet) or his shop. It turned out pretty well as I put about 400 trouble free hours on the engines before I sold the plane to an orange grower down in the San Joaquin valley.

Depending on what engine your friend lost and when he lost it, if it was the worst case scenario, he must have had monster muscles in his legs, and been pretty sharp on his "pitch, power, clean, identify, verify, feather" routine, because that rudder (while being a nice big plank), had enormous forces required in that circumstance.

Truth be told, they had stretched that power plant beyond where it made sense. Cessna went the geared engine route with their 421 and killed the Duke dead in its tracks. No comparison in so many respects for their stated missions.

Are those the digital face plates for the King radios in your stack? I still have a few KX165's somewhere in storage. That whole line of radio was about as bulletproof as they came.

You are in a pretty good spot with that aircraft, good for you.

Super interesting, guys, and I'm not a flyer. Why not start a members-only thread? I'd read it every day....

Moar pics....

 

[wsteele]

Super interesting, guys, and I'm not a flyer. Why not start a members-only thread? I'd read it every day....

Moar pics....

I feel guilty hijacking the thread this much. I have lots of airplane pictures with lots of stories that go with, but I think guys wanting to know about the NNBS changes going on probably wouldn't appreciate it much.

 

[alpha_omega]

I feel guilty hijacking the thread this much. I have lots of airplane pictures with lots of stories that go with, but I think guys wanting to know about the NNBS changes going on probably wouldn't appreciate it much.

I feel the same way responding to several different posts after not being on here for a few days/months. While I could just quote all of them in one response, things can get confusing when multiple people have responses to multiple questions asked especially when it’s an thread/comment that was made.
So, make a “what did you do to your little bird today” thread and we can share from there. Actually, change the last part of that thread name, otherwise any operators out there might think it’s about “little black helicopter” that we occasionally used, instead of about privately owned airplanes.

 

[CaptainAmerica1]

What combo are you planning to run next?
I hear the old 4.3l gets pretty good gas mileage, but sure can’t beat out the 2.8 that the early GM’s had. Haha! Come to think about it the 4.3l (LB4) was the engine my Typhoon had in it, but that wasn’t quite your average 4.3. I wonder if that would be comparable to putting a whip in 6.2? Wait, no…the LB4 was a turbo and the whipple is a supercharger, so that’s like comparing apples to bananas.

6.2 and the 10 speed auto would be kinda cool…

 

[Bill 1960]

This morning I dropped her off at the dealership where I had previously scheduled a brake booster replacement. When making the appointment I told them exactly what I needed and they agreed to order the parts and have them ready.

Which they did not.

So a quick in and out job is now 2 days of downtime.

And the story gets better. Today I picked it up and the service adviser was evasive when I asked if the “sublet” part on the paperwork was OEM. A quick look under the hood and an internet search told me it was a reman from the retail sector. Back inside I go.

Confronted the weasel about it and he tried the line that they’re just trying to help me out and speed the repair so I don’t have to wait. I reminded him I made the appointment a week in advance and they had told me the part would be on hand.

So, after some back and forth I expressed my distaste for their dishonesty, and declined to wait another week so they can get a GM part.

Adding insult to injury they charged a big markup on a part from CarQuest. I told him I don’t go to dealership service to get CarQuest parts.

The only small satisfaction I got was the expression on the faces of other customers and employees who heard it all.

Later, when I have the time, there will be a complaint to GM corporate. Then they can have the fun of responding to that.

And no, I won’t out them here. This is just venting. Better results in my experience come from working inside the system, and I’m pretty sure GM would like to have my future business.

 

[wsteele]

And the story gets better. Today I picked it up and the service adviser was evasive when I asked if the “sublet” part on the paperwork was OEM. A quick look under the hood and an internet search told me it was a reman from the retail sector. Back inside I go.

Confronted the weasel about it and he tried the line that they’re just trying to help me out and speed the repair so I don’t have to wait. I reminded him I made the appointment a week in advance and they had told me the part would be on hand.

So, after some back and forth I expressed my distaste for their dishonesty, and declined to wait another week so they can get a GM part.

Adding insult to injury they charged a big markup on a part from CarQuest. I told him I don’t go to dealership service to get CarQuest parts.

The only small satisfaction I got was the expression on the faces of other customers and employees who heard it all.

Later, when I have the time, there will be a complaint to GM corporate. Then they can have the fun of responding to that.

And no, I won’t out them here. This is just venting. Better results in my experience come from working inside the system, and I’m pretty sure GM would like to have my future business.

You might get some remuneration for their dishonesty if you write a quick note to the owner of the dealership. Sometimes the ultimate boss doesn't have a clear picture what is going on below him. You never know, maybe at least get your money back.

 

[Geotrash]

And the story gets better. Today I picked it up and the service adviser was evasive when I asked if the “sublet” part on the paperwork was OEM. A quick look under the hood and an internet search told me it was a reman from the retail sector. Back inside I go.

Confronted the weasel about it and he tried the line that they’re just trying to help me out and speed the repair so I don’t have to wait. I reminded him I made the appointment a week in advance and they had told me the part would be on hand.

So, after some back and forth I expressed my distaste for their dishonesty, and declined to wait another week so they can get a GM part.

Adding insult to injury they charged a big markup on a part from CarQuest. I told him I don’t go to dealership service to get CarQuest parts.

The only small satisfaction I got was the expression on the faces of other customers and employees who heard it all.

Later, when I have the time, there will be a complaint to GM corporate. Then they can have the fun of responding to that.

And no, I won’t out them here. This is just venting. Better results in my experience come from working inside the system, and I’m pretty sure GM would like to have my future business.

I do a lot of work with companies on their people strategy, and one of the golden threads through it is that the employees themselves are often left holding the bag for a broken system. Hypothetical example: service manager talks to you to set up the appointment, but does not have the authorization to order the part from GM. At the same time, their employer sets metrics for them (meet their goals, they can keep their job, miss their goals and they lose their job) for getting the customer fixed and out the door on the same day. That employee is in a no-win situation at that point and does what their metrics and constraints dictate they must do: They order the part from CarQuest when you drop off your truck, and not before. Who's fault is it? The dealership owner can blame the service manager if he wishes, but in my example, there was nothing that service manager could've done differently except delay the repair, which would've hit his metrics, and by extension his pay or job security.

Doesn't help your experience, but you might consider that the poor bastard may not be the right person (or system) to blame for it.

 

[RooTBeeRthe1st]

Time for some long overdue maintenance.