Useless Information

[swathdiver]

Fuel prices generally speaking are falling in our area but as is often the case I do not always get to the least expensive station. Anyhow, for Christmas Eve, we drove about 180 miles averaging just over 39 mph and could barely get 12.1 mpg. Oil level is fine, tires equal and running about 52 psi once warmed up. LTFTs at highway speeds are 0% and at 40 mph are usually 3%. Alcohol content was 73%. At that ratio she should have delivered over 14 mpg on the highway and up to 15.2 @ 70 mph. Never happened.

Tonight we had a six hour run and the usual stations were not open. Topped off on the highway rest stop with E85 @ 78% alcohol content and barely averaged 13.5 mpg @ 71 mph. Fired up the Tech-2 on the return leg and could not find anything amiss. She should have seen just over 14. Cats were in the 1300s, downstream O2 sensors steady, upstream moving great but only into the 700s. Occasional torque management knock retard, about every 30-45 seconds, timing was usually 37 degrees. Load was about 100 foot pounds and 55-60% if I remember right. Outdoor temps were in the 50s and 60s and the transmission spent most of its time around 129-133 degrees.

Fueled up just before returning home and the six hour run averaged 13.65 mpg for 285 miles with an average speed of 55.69 mph. Well, that's five hours between refuelings.

Are y'all down a little bit mpg wise too with this cooler weather and E85 or might something be amiss again?

 

[swathdiver]

Oh, what are you guys paying for E85 right now? I paid $1.859 per gallon coming back into town. Usual station runs $1.999 and highway rest stop in town is $2.229. Last two tanks were under sixteen cents a mile to drive! Catching up to the Kia!

 

[gooffeyguy]

Still $1.849 here.

Regular unleaded (87) is $1.899 and premium (93) is $2.299.

If I'm not running E85 I'm running premium. These prices it's still cheaper per mile to run E85. I filled up on the 24th and the ethanol % is 67.5. I still had about 8 gallons in the tank from the previous fill up of E85, which gave me 58.8% ethanol. When I filled up then I had about 10 gallons of premium 93 still in the tank.

I'm still getting used to having a 31.5 gallon tank in the XL vs the 26 gallon in the SLT, which I've been driving for over 10 years. The low fuel light comes on when the gauge is on E and the tank still has about 6 gallons left. I usually fill up before it gets that low which results in there still being 8-10 gallons still in the tank.

2001 Yukon SLT
2012 Yukon XL Denali
2011 Yukon Denali RIP 5/20/18

Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk

 

[swathdiver]

Still $1.849 here.

Regular unleaded (87) is $1.899 and premium (93) is $2.299.

If I'm not running E85 I'm running premium. These prices it's still cheaper per mile to run E85. I filled up on the 24th and the ethanol % is 67.5. I still had about 8 gallons in the tank from the previous fill up of E85, which gave me 58.8% ethanol. When I filled up then I had about 10 gallons of premium 93 still in the tank.

I'm still getting used to having a 31.5 gallon tank in the XL vs the 26 gallon in the SLT, which I've been driving for over 10 years. The low fuel light comes on when the gauge is on E and the tank still has about 6 gallons left. I usually fill up before it gets that low which results in there still being 8-10 gallons still in the tank.

Same, it's either E85 or 93. I saw some stations in Houston, Texas were down to $1.60 a gallon the other day. What's your mileage been? I've been running E85 since October.

When the needle is showing about an eighth of a tank left, it takes on 22 gallons. Filling up soon after the light or right before it comes on, it will take 26-27 gallons. This is normal. About twenty pages back I posted the amount of fuel remaining at each position of the needle for all three tank sizes.

 

[swathdiver]

I need to vent!

Discovered another nail in a tire and figured it was a good time to take the truck in to have that fixed, the tires rotated and balanced using the policy I purchased when the tires were installed. I ignored the warning bells ringing in my head as I walked up to the counter and smelled marijuana on the salesman.

A while later he walks over and tells me that the tire is not repairable, the nail is outside of the repairable area. I told him where it was and now he tells me this? We go out into the shop and he gives me this story about the grinder wheel hitting the sidewall on the inside, etc. etc. We go back into the lobby and I show him on a KO2 on display that there is plenty of room to work. He's holding to his guns thinking he's going to get at least one tire out of me. Not happening, I told him that I would fix it myself. He shows me a chart that excludes the outside tread for making repairs, this is for P-Metric tires, not LT. Either way, I've repaired hundreds of tires with plugs and patches and know tires, I was a store manager before this pothead was born.

They finish, print the receipt and I'm out the door. Fire up the Tech-2 and see that the TP Sensors are still in their original positions. Well, they did rotate, but not cross-rotate as I asked and did not relearn the sensor positions. If they didn't do any of this, did those knuckleheads even balance the tires? Torque them to 140? I'll go look later but am pretty steamed right now. There's nothing I hate more in this fallen world than a liar!

I left and went to an auto parts store and picked up some new plugs. We usually plug our tires and carry on but I had the last nail patched. The plug tools are in the other car so I'll do the repair myself tomorrow morning and rotate the tires with the kids. Or maybe take it to another tire store?

I looked up the industry standard for tire repairs and they do indeed now refuse to fix tires with road hazards more than 1/8" in diameter outside of the center tread area. However, that is for P-Metric tires and I then contacted BF Goodrich directly and they said anywhere in the tread on the KO2 is repairable.

Tires are tough, I've plugged and patched road hazards successfully in the crown but understand this is not ideal. They don't even do plug repairs anymore but we rarely have problems with them still. Just to prove the point decades ago, one of my new to me Buick Grand Nationals had one tire with seven plugs in one tire. We ran that car on the track, full burnouts and all and never had a problem with that tire, or any plugged tire that we raced with.

Rant over.

 

[kbuskill]

I need to vent!

Discovered another nail in a tire and figured it was a good time to take the truck in to have that fixed, the tires rotated and balanced using the policy I purchased when the tires were installed. I ignored the warning bells ringing in my head as I walked up to the counter and smelled marijuana on the salesman.

A while later he walks over and tells me that the tire is not repairable, the nail is outside of the repairable area. I told him where it was and now he tells me this? We go out into the shop and he gives me this story about the grinder wheel hitting the sidewall on the inside, etc. etc. We go back into the lobby and I show him on a KO2 on display that there is plenty of room to work. He's holding to his guns thinking he's going to get at least one tire out of me. Not happening, I told him that I would fix it myself. He shows me a chart that excludes the outside tread for making repairs, this is for P-Metric tires, not LT. Either way, I've repaired hundreds of tires with plugs and patches and know tires, I was a store manager before this pothead was born.

They finish, print the receipt and I'm out the door. Fire up the Tech-2 and see that the TP Sensors are still in their original positions. Well, they did rotate, but not cross-rotate as I asked and did not relearn the sensor positions. If they didn't do any of this, did those knuckleheads even balance the tires? Torque them to 140? I'll go look later but am pretty steamed right now. There's nothing I hate more in this fallen world than a liar!

I left and went to an auto parts store and picked up some new plugs. We usually plug our tires and carry on but I had the last nail patched. The plug tools are in the other car so I'll do the repair myself tomorrow morning and rotate the tires with the kids. Or maybe take it to another tire store?

I looked up the industry standard for tire repairs and they do indeed now refuse to fix tires with road hazards more than 1/8" in diameter outside of the center tread area. However, that is for P-Metric tires and I then contacted BF Goodrich directly and they said anywhere in the tread on the KO2 is repairable.

Tires are tough, I've plugged and patched road hazards successfully in the crown but understand this is not ideal. They don't even do plug repairs anymore but we rarely have problems with them still. Just to prove the point decades ago, one of my new to me Buick Grand Nationals had one tire with seven plugs in one tire. We ran that car on the track, full burnouts and all and never had a problem with that tire, or any plugged tire that we raced with.

Rant over.

This ^^^^^ is why I insist on watching them do the work at any place I have to take my vehicles to. If I can't watch... I will take my business else where.

I just don't trust anybody. That's why I do my own stunts... or at least I used to before my accident.

 

[swathdiver]

This ^^^^^ is why I insist on watching them do the work at any place I have to take my vehicles to. If I can't watch... I will take my business else where.

I just don't trust anybody. That's why I do my own stunts... or at least I used to before my accident.

If we had the room, I'd own a tire mounting machine and balancer!

 

[swathdiver]

My dear wife suggested that I take it to another tire store, a local one with a good reputation in the area. I made an appointment and brought the truck in this morning. The crew were clean cut and competent. Tire was fixed right and I was on my way in no time, and for less money than those potheads wanted to charge me! Fellas in the waiting room had musclecars and Tahoes and Yukon XLs, fun stuff.

So Tire Kingdom, after 24 faithful years, you're FIRED! Saint Lucie Battery & Tire, you're HIRED! Now who's going to lunch?

 

[swathdiver]

Over the past few weeks, every time I opened the garage door and saw the front of the truck, it looked like it was leaning down on the driver's side. I chalked it up to the driveway but that's not so.

When we were checking the tread depth of the tires today, some of them were wearing unevenly, in a slope from one side to the other. Looking at the RF tire, it was leaning inboard a bit too.

My daughter whipped out the tape measure and sure enough, the LF is down, the RR is highest.

I'm thinking front shock and or spring, what do you guys think? No visible leaks, no funny noises, nothing seems out of place. I'd look underneath and check that swaybar fix but it just started raining. Guess what my girls just finished doing? If you said washing the truck you get a cookie! LOL

 

[kbuskill]

Over the past few weeks, every time I opened the garage door and saw the front of the truck, it looked like it was leaning down on the driver's side. I chalked it up to the driveway but that's not so.

When we were checking the tread depth of the tires today, some of them were wearing unevenly, in a slope from one side to the other. Looking at the RF tire, it was leaning inboard a bit too.

My daughter whipped out the tape measure and sure enough, the LF is down, the RR is highest.

I'm thinking front shock and or spring, what do you guys think? No visible leaks, no funny noises, nothing seems out of place. I'd look underneath and check that swaybar fix but it just started raining. Guess what my girls just finished doing? If you said washing the truck you get a cookie! LOL

How much of a difference are we talking from left to right???

It could be the "GM lean" which is pretty normal. Usually about a 1/2" difference with the drivers side being lower.