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swathdiver

swathdiver

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About a month ago Ebay sent an alert for one of those Canadian Onstar VCIM modules that allows us to retain Onstar in our GMT900s. So I pounced and bought it right away. Then looked up the donor vehicle and saw that it never left Kentucky and Tennessee. Hmmm. It took the seller a couple weeks to send it and when it arrived, my concern was validated, it wasn't even the same part number. The seller promptly refunded and told me to discard it.

The car would be perfect with an updated navigation map and functioning Onstar. Guess that ship has sailed.
 
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swathdiver

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Between Vero Beach and Tampa here in Florida is a road called State Road 60 that joins the two towns together, about 3 hours apart. We find ourselves on this route regularly to pick up and deliver our grandson. Well, we met his mother on SR60 last night and a few hours later along the same route 3 souls passed into eternity.

A selfish 22 year old woman was heading westbound and kept passing people at 100 mph. A mile before her demise, she almost crashed head-on into an 18-wheeler, a man smashed on his brakes so she could slide back into her lane before being hit by the truck. The kid has just left the last of 4 passing zones on this 2-lane highway and was within seconds of encountering the 4-lane portion of the highway for the rest of her ride home (15-20 minutes). Did she chill out for the next 30 seconds after having almost crashed into a semi? No, she did it again, tried to pass someone else and crashed her Ford Flex head on into an F150 killing the grand-parents of the little 3-year old boy in the back seat. He lives.



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A few days earlier I was put under a time constraint to pickup our grandson at the half-way point. Traffic was chaotic with the flow of traffic going from 45 to 80 and everywhere in between for much of the run. I limited myself to 75 and worked through the slower cars slowly. After the first passing lane I had no traffic of consequence in front of me and arrived at Jimmy's Truck Stop 10 minutes early. I went inside and picked up a corndog for the boy and some gator bites for the run back to grandma.

While my grandson was biting down on his corndog, I offered him a piece of gator which looked like a chicken tender. He loved it! So the corn dog went back into the wrapper and we shared the gator but saved some for grandma! She liked it too as did my youngest daughter. Have to buy a bigger order next time!


On that run, the truck barely kicked over when I started her back up after going inside the truck stop and noticed during the whole trip that the alternator was at full output almost the entire time. The next morning the battery's state of charge was 64%, that's replacement territory! The battery at the time was 39 months and 39K miles and 1200 hours. So I put her on the tender for about 15 hours and the battery was now 100% but still cranked over slow. So this morning on the way back from the doctor, I fired up the Torque Pro app on my phone and noticed that the throttle at idle was 18%. Could this be causing the hard starting? As for the low battery, it's possible that leaving the OBDII adapter in drew it down along with the short runs and sitting for a few weeks.

So the moral to these stories is, slow down, stay healthy and love your loved ones. And most importantly, if you don't know the Lord the bible's way, get to know him and walk with him because you don't know when your last day on this side of the grass will be.

My back injury is finally getting the attention that it needs. Hopefully I can resume work on the axle soon but it is heating up outside, spring is here and summer is right around the corner!
 
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swathdiver

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Had business over in St. Petersburg and spent a few days over there. Took the southern route on the way back to minimize time in the big storm front that passed through and that worked. Truck is covered in sand, it's still piled up on the grill louvers, the opening to the tow hooks and of course, all over the back of the truck. Popped the hood and there are small piles of sand on the cowl, never seen that before. This route was at a much slower speed, below 60 most of the time and I only passed one rig who could barely run 50 mph, must've had 6-series gears in there or something!

Airbag light went on and stayed on on the way over. Checked the code today and it was for the passenger front sensor. We replaced the driver's side sensor back in September of '21. That one was more corroded than this one but it quit nonetheless. Replaced it with the same Dorman 590-222 as before, now $149.79 versus $99.81!

Battery was doing good but a little hard to start after my wife got back from using it. It's state of charge was 73% this morning when I checked it and the airbag code.

Other than that, truck is running smooth as a jeweled watch. Two tanks of gas away from 200K miles.
 
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swathdiver

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Towards the end of April my helper and I did some more work on the Saginaw 14-bolt 9.5" axle. We put the ring gear on the carrier, installed new wheel bearings and VSES tone rings, new races, etc. Of course we cleaned the inside too. A few days later we went to install the pinion with the crush washer, seals, etc. and I messed up. Got the order messed up and ruined a brand new pinion seal. Then I had my helper torque down on the nut too far and it was 38-39 inch pounds of rotational torque instead of 15-20. It was at 15 and then pushed it a little too far!

So more replacement parts had to be ordered and today two helpers came over and we took it apart and did it again. This time I went slow, aggravatingly slow! Seemed like we would never get off of 7 inch pounds but she finally went to 11 and then 20. Glory to God!

Then we put everything away, cleaned up and had a great meal cooked up by our ladies; my wife and daughters.

Almost there, next up is dropping in the carrier and checking the contact pattern before it gets buttoned up and I can work on the outside. Oh, gotta put the axles back in too before the cover goes back on! LOL

I'm supposed to be in the hospital but I don't wanna go, sick of it. Going to try and get this car finished first.

The truck is running great, smooth on the highway and she's been making more torque down low allowing me to accelerate comfortably onto the highway without even hitting 3K rpms. She'll be due for an oil change soon and when we get that done, samples of the engine oil and transmission oil will be sent off to BlackStone Labs for analysis.

P.S. - Thought my Tekton torque wrenches would work backwards on the ring gear bolts, I mean, they do reverse. They did not! Luckily, my old Craftsman beam torque wrench was handy and did the job for us.

What are you working on?
 
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swathdiver

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It was hot out yesterday, nearly a 100 when we left for grandma's house. The AC in the truck was cold, it was in the high 30s coming out of the vent but the flow was low even though the fan was on high.

On the way back home I pulled out the Tech-2 and saw that all of the actuators were within spec but just barely so. They were 3-4 counts off each. The recirc door opened or closed didn't affect the flow. So while waiting to pick up our tasty BBQ dinner, the Tech-2 performed a reset or calibration of the actuators and the counts were then spot on for the next two drives and the cabin cooled down quicker. Still the flow seems a little low.

We missed the Northern Lights by a few minutes. Next time.

Have two unexpected business trips coming up soon. If I can get the axles put in sometime in June and put a tank of gas or two through the truck before departure, do you think it wise to take on a 3,000 mile trip?
 

mountie

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It was hot out yesterday, nearly a 100 when we left for grandma's house. The AC in the truck was cold, it was in the high 30s coming out of the vent but the flow was low even though the fan was on high.

On the way back home I pulled out the Tech-2 and saw that all of the actuators were within spec but just barely so. They were 3-4 counts off each. The recirc door opened or closed didn't affect the flow. So while waiting to pick up our tasty BBQ dinner, the Tech-2 performed a reset or calibration of the actuators and the counts were then spot on for the next two drives and the cabin cooled down quicker. Still the flow seems a little low.

We missed the Northern Lights by a few minutes. Next time.

Have two unexpected business trips coming up soon. If I can get the axles put in sometime in June and put a tank of gas or two through the truck before departure, do you think it wise to take on a 3,000 mile trip?
IMO...... I like driving my '05 XL..... But going on a long trip, I usually rent. Any "on the road" issues is a quick fix, because you just call the rental company & replace. No time lost.
 

iamdub

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It was hot out yesterday, nearly a 100 when we left for grandma's house. The AC in the truck was cold, it was in the high 30s coming out of the vent but the flow was low even though the fan was on high.

On the way back home I pulled out the Tech-2 and saw that all of the actuators were within spec but just barely so. They were 3-4 counts off each. The recirc door opened or closed didn't affect the flow. So while waiting to pick up our tasty BBQ dinner, the Tech-2 performed a reset or calibration of the actuators and the counts were then spot on for the next two drives and the cabin cooled down quicker. Still the flow seems a little low.

We missed the Northern Lights by a few minutes. Next time.

Have two unexpected business trips coming up soon. If I can get the axles put in sometime in June and put a tank of gas or two through the truck before departure, do you think it wise to take on a 3,000 mile trip?

Are you questioning the axle swap on the road trip(s)? With your forethought and how you adhere to specs, I wouldn't be the least bit concerned. The only questionable factor are the parts used. Yes, you can use [what should be] the best parts. But, it seems everything is questionable these days. U-joint, bearing, seal, etc. manufacturers can make mistakes that won't show until later. Chances are low, though. Swap it and test it with some hard throttle and highway cruising until it's out of your mind. As for the roadworthiness of everything else, only you can answer that but I think that's not a concern for you.
 

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It was hot out yesterday, nearly a 100 when we left for grandma's house. The AC in the truck was cold, it was in the high 30s coming out of the vent but the flow was low even though the fan was on high.

On the way back home I pulled out the Tech-2 and saw that all of the actuators were within spec but just barely so. They were 3-4 counts off each. The recirc door opened or closed didn't affect the flow. So while waiting to pick up our tasty BBQ dinner, the Tech-2 performed a reset or calibration of the actuators and the counts were then spot on for the next two drives and the cabin cooled down quicker. Still the flow seems a little low.

We missed the Northern Lights by a few minutes. Next time.

Have two unexpected business trips coming up soon. If I can get the axles put in sometime in June and put a tank of gas or two through the truck before departure, do you think it wise to take on a 3,000 mile trip?
I'm with Chris. With your attention to detail and especially your depth of knowledge should anything go wrong, I would trust your Yukon more than I would trust a rental these days.

One of the reasons I maintain our vehicles the way I do is to reduce the chances of a breakdown on the road to as close to zero as I can get it. Doesn't mean that it won't happen, but so far, so good. We have multiple long road trips planned for this year. Two in May and June alone of 1,000 miles each.
 
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swathdiver

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Thank you fellas! Well, it looks like the window is closing on getting this done before the fall. My helpers are overhauling the 2012s suspension and steering and brakes and rebuilding the engine in their 2008 Duramax. I may get the carrier in and finished up before then though. We shall see.
 
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swathdiver

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Helper lifted the front of the truck for the tire rotation this afternoon and saw the passenger front tire slump over. Pulled the wheel and sure enough, the hub was toast. No noises whatsoever but for the past 6-8 months I noticed a vibration at speeds over 75 mph and now that I think of it, the vibration has become more pronounced as of late compared to when we were doing 80 mph in Texas back in November.

So that Timken SP500301 was installed in August of 2017 and went 84,547 miles and 2,746 hours. In my mind, it should have lasted longer.

We'll be on the road all next week so it was imperative to repair the truck today to at least give me a day of testing before hitting the road. $491.03 later, a new GM OE hub was picked up from a local dealership by my daughter and installed. The hub has been sitting on their shelf for about 2 years according to the stickers on the box. This hub was made in Korea.

The GM OE 4x4 part number for the hub is 84856654. The current part number for the RWD hub is 84856653 in case anyone is looking.

Going to proactively replace the other hub when we do the axle swaps after our trip to Detroit. Price for that hub ought to be about half then!

Engine oil and filter changed, tires rotated, tire positions relearned, tie rods greased, hub replaced, air filter replaced, all wiper blades replaced. Motor runs smooth as a jewel. Forgot to take an oil sample for Blackstone-Labs. Car was guys came out and gave the truck a bath and detailing too, she's ready for the road.
 
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j91z28d1

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it's a shame the hubs go out so quickly on these. Hopefully the gm one lasts.


I have heard timkin has had so many issues with fakes, they had to put a pr code on the box so you can scan to make sure it's real before buying them.
 

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As of a little bit ago when I parked after working today, 103,450 on the odometer, 397.5 engine hours, and 9,053 gallons of fuel used! I think the engine hours may have been reset. I’m sure I’ve driven more time on the engine in the 2 and a half years I’ve owned my Denali than that. But over 9,000 gallons of fuel used blows my mind! Lol
I would think only a dealer or a thieve would be able to reset engine hours.
 

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The truck was at 14.6 mpg average on Saturday, but by the end of today it's down to 13.1 due to several hours of idling. Still playing with air pressure too.
The manufacturer has already done the research on tire pressure and put it on the drivers door entrance. This number will give you the optimal mileage.
 

mountie

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I get 20 mpg at 80 mph.
Back in the early days ( '70's?)..... The estimate city & highway mileage......
The 'test' was in the California desert....; A long stretch... flat elevation......
48 mph , highway..( city don't remember)..But, steady for a specific length...... Test designed, and partially 'funded' by the automakers.

No 'stop-start'....... no acceleration.......
Now, imagine driving like that, every day, in the real world....
 

j91z28d1

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I would think only a dealer or a thieve would be able to reset engine hours.


I'm almost postive mine reset after I first got it when the battery died. not sure if it reloaded itself later on, but think it said 00 once.


I have a hard time with 400h equaling 100k miles. I don't know the math but at work we change oil at 500h or one year whichever comes first, and lately started sending out oil samples to be tested at the beginning of deice season. it's kinda painful to dump gals of oil every year that has maybe 20h or on it and comes out of a diesel engine looking brand new. luckily the samples have come back good, and we've been able to let them go a extra year.
 

j91z28d1

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this site says to use engine hours time 27.5 to get mileage equivalent





in that case 100k miles would be 3600h ish. which makes more sense. one of the little Ford 2.5L engines we have says on the data plate it's good for 4000h life span. now we have well passed that on a few, but they don't get much load on them. Just a little above idle most of the day
 

buckwild27

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I think when the battery gets unhooked the engine hours reset.
The engine hrs are stored in the cluster. For sure on the 14+ also whiteautoandmedia.com can reprogram the engine hrs. They offer that when you are getting a cluster programed by them.
 

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