Want to take my 2010 Yukon XL Denali with 180,000 miles for a family trip from Michigan To Florida - Can you help me make this a success!

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Doubeleive

Wes
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Wow! How do you get one of those manuals?
I have a couple different one's. I have the gm shop manual in a pdf but it's not hotlinked and it is over 10,000 pages so it can be burdensome to search thru and I have a hardback chilton shop manual which was a old library book.
there is also a alldatadiy service you can subscribe to for $19 a month or $60 a year, I haven't ever subscribed to it but some of the other members have
 
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bobby2175

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Any recommendations on a good scan tool - I'm doing more and more work on my cars, so want to be able to diagnose myself as well. Have the 2010 Yukon XL Denali, 2012 Impala, 2016 Acura ILX. Want to get something that can help me diagnose issues and something I can keep growing with.
 

Doubeleive

Wes
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Any recommendations on a good scan tool - I'm doing more and more work on my cars, so want to be able to diagnose myself as well. Have the 2010 Yukon XL Denali, 2012 Impala, 2016 Acura ILX. Want to get something that can help me diagnose issues and something I can keep growing with.
for multiple vehicles some of the autel tablet scanners seem to be worthy, you need to go up to the $300+ range for one that will do enough to be useful. there are so many options out there now it's really hard to pick a specific one that's not a disappointment
the snap-on's and big brand name one's are priced so high the average person won't want it, they are marketed more for a shop that will use them to bring in money.
 

Geotrash

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Any recommendations on a good scan tool - I'm doing more and more work on my cars, so want to be able to diagnose myself as well. Have the 2010 Yukon XL Denali, 2012 Impala, 2016 Acura ILX. Want to get something that can help me diagnose issues and something I can keep growing with.
If you have the means and want the Cadillac, this is it: https://a.co/d/16kMNbl

I have GM Tech2 clone for my Yukons though, and those are available for $250 at chinacardiags.com
 
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bobby2175

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If you have the means and want the Cadillac, this is it: https://a.co/d/16kMNbl

I have GM Tech2 clone for my Yukons though, and those are available for $250 at chinacardiags.com
I'm going to have to do some research on these autels...I have no idea what the differences are. Will I get the value out of the Cadillac version vs the next ones down?
 

petethepug

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Run the e85 for at least one tank before you leave. It’s free scrubbing bubbles for the entire intake & combustion chambers. If you like it as much as I did, you’ll run it exclusively. Here in Cali using a Chevron app it’s $1.75 gal for 1st 25 then the remainder is 2.85 or $60 fill ups. It’s $180 to fill up on 91.

We’ve clocked over 30k+ miles on the stuff in our 6.2L the last 3 years. It was a TX for the first 140k until 2020. The first tank of e85 smoothed & quieted the idle plus gave it a crisper throttle response. In highway miles you only lose 10% in range.

I didn’t see you had turned off the cylinder deactivation yet.

With the heater hose T’s and accessory belt replaced you’re doing good. I’d replace the coolant reservoir too, they’re prone to cracks at age and cause quick overheats.

Pull the panel where your bottle jack is located. Unscrew the lug wrench jacket and verify the jack isn’t secured with standard 8mm nuts. If it is, remove one with a ratchet and replace all 3 with wing nuts from the hardware store or your not getting that jack out later. Verify your key unlocks the spare tire tire barrel lock behind the tow cover (if equipped) and lube it and the mechanicals to the spare tire.

Order one of the quickie shift cable end repair kits from Amazon or eBay and stash it in the storage compartment in the back. You got some really good info for your trip, Enjoy!
 
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bobby2175

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If you have the means and want the Cadillac, this is it: https://a.co/d/16kMNbl

I have GM Tech2 clone for my Yukons though, and those are available for $250 at chinacardiags.com
Run the e85 for at least one tank before you leave. It’s free scrubbing bubbles for the entire intake & combustion chambers. If you like it as much as I did, you’ll run it exclusively. Here in Cali using a Chevron app it’s $1.75 gal for 1st 25 then the remainder is 2.85 or $60 fill ups. It’s $180 to fill up on 91.

We’ve clocked over 30k+ miles on the stuff in our 6.2L the last 3 years. It was a TX for the first 140k until 2020. The first tank of e85 smoothed & quieted the idle plus gave it a crisper throttle response. In highway miles you only lose 10% in range.

I didn’t see you had turned off the cylinder deactivation yet.

With the heater hose T’s and accessory belt replaced you’re doing good. I’d replace the coolant reservoir too, they’re prone to cracks at age and cause quick overheats.

Pull the panel where your bottle jack is located. Unscrew the lug wrench jacket and verify the jack isn’t secured with standard 8mm nuts. If it is, remove one with a ratchet and replace all 3 with wing nuts from the hardware store or your not getting that jack out later. Verify your key unlocks the spare tire tire barrel lock behind the tow cover (if equipped) and lube it and the mechanicals to the spare tire.

Order one of the quickie shift cable end repair kits from Amazon or eBay and stash it in the storage compartment in the back. You got some really good info for your trip, Enjoy!
Thanks so much for the tips! I will work to get to these as well!
This is a can of worms topic for me and I was trying not to bring it up because I was already bombarding everyone with questions!

i was reading up on E85 on the forums. I actually was a big user of it for both my Yukon and Impala - they are both flex fuel vehicles. One day, my Impala wouldn't start. I had to have it towed to the dealer and they told me the issue was related to my fuel filter getting "gummed up" by my use of E85. It was something they kept telling me over and over and how GM did should never allow the use of it and I definitely should not be using it. Haven't used it since. I know everyone here is a supporter of it and I definitely want to do it, but have been hesitant - premium gas adds up too fast and it's always tempting when I see it, but I always remember those words.

Also, I remember @swathdiver mentioning put the E85 in to help clean things out while also saying that as long as the O2 sensor was less than 100K miles. It's an original, so should I replace that first? I'm definitely interested in trying it again.

No concerns like the dealer had mentioned about the use of E85 and the fuel filter?
 
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bobby2175

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Run the e85 for at least one tank before you leave. It’s free scrubbing bubbles for the entire intake & combustion chambers. If you like it as much as I did, you’ll run it exclusively. Here in Cali using a Chevron app it’s $1.75 gal for 1st 25 then the remainder is 2.85 or $60 fill ups. It’s $180 to fill up on 91.

We’ve clocked over 30k+ miles on the stuff in our 6.2L the last 3 years. It was a TX for the first 140k until 2020. The first tank of e85 smoothed & quieted the idle plus gave it a crisper throttle response. In highway miles you only lose 10% in range.

I didn’t see you had turned off the cylinder deactivation yet.

With the heater hose T’s and accessory belt replaced you’re doing good. I’d replace the coolant reservoir too, they’re prone to cracks at age and cause quick overheats.

Pull the panel where your bottle jack is located. Unscrew the lug wrench jacket and verify the jack isn’t secured with standard 8mm nuts. If it is, remove one with a ratchet and replace all 3 with wing nuts from the hardware store or your not getting that jack out later. Verify your key unlocks the spare tire tire barrel lock behind the tow cover (if equipped) and lube it and the mechanicals to the spare tire.

Order one of the quickie shift cable end repair kits from Amazon or eBay and stash it in the storage compartment in the back. You got some really good info for your trip, Enjoy!
One more question - if I add the coolant reservoir as well, should I just also replace the radiator too and redo the entire cooling system? Everything is original. At this age, do radiators also leak?
 

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