Doing dishes - Not flying

At least it's dishes tonight and no Tahoe Follies, the Sequel.
 
AggieMike88 said:
At least it's dishes tonight and no Tahoe Follies, the Sequel.
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After it started acting even worse during this morning's drive to see if cleaning the throttle body helped it, I ran out of patience and drove it straight to a Chevy dealership.

Then texted Karen to come get me to which she replied...

"Guess I needed more than brake pads in the front. New pads front and rear and new rotors up front and resurfacing rear rotors."

I apparently forgot to teach her that pickup trucks don't have warning wires or layers in their brake pads and since she does all maintenance on her truck... Argh. My fault. I talked her into driving a pickup and forgot about truck-specific stuff she should know.

Anyway, hours later after she had new brakes all the way around... she picked me up and the cheerful service guy who said the diagnostic on the Yukon would take "about an hour", and I just chuckled at him...

... said "I think the tech is still looking at it..." as we left. Haha. Yup.

I knew that before I asked him, of course... Both because whatever hissy fit it is having is weird, and because I peeked and there was still a guy with his head under the hood in one of the service bays.

I did get to walk around a car dealership for like three hours though. Boy there's some fun. Peeked at all of Chevy's models that look identical to my '04. Boy they've gone exactly nowhere on their trucks since the early 2000's and the bailouts... Silverado is the same. Colorado is the same. There wasn't anything on the lot other than a '16 Honda Pilot (how it got there is anyone's guess) that was designed in the 2010's. Ha.

They had so many Corvettes that aren't selling they ran out of places to park them...

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But the Camaros looked nice. I wouldn't buy one, but they do look nice.

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I did notice a distinct lowering in sticker price of the Silverado HD 2500 trucks over comparable trucks from Ford or Dodge. Maybe not redesigning the things is having a monetary impact? Don't know.

They also claimed in bold letters stuck everywhere on Windows that they'd give someone $10,000 off on the 2500s. I wasn't buying, just passing the info along.

Other interesting trivia... The Chevy "work truck"/"fleet truck" level of trim and options appears to be significantly higher than Ford. These were actually trucks a frugal person would be fine with. Not stripped and totally bare bones. I was kinda surprised at that.

If I could live with a SRW 2500 Duramax with a short bed and four doors, I could see buying one of the "work trucks" they had on the lot. Sticker was $40K on them. Doubt there were any incentives or much wiggle room on those. No heated ass warmers either. Haha. Would need a slider hitch though. :)

The Yukon started dying even under load this morning. Not just an idle thing anymore. It easily stalled 20 times in a half an hour of driving. While trying to shift to neutral to attempt to "save" it with throttle, it threw a misfire code too. Haha. Duh.

They'll figure it out and my wallet will whine and it'll still be cheaper than a new truck... But it's hitting the age where I'll be ready to dump it as soon as I wear down another set of tires, since it has new rubber on it this last Spring.

Which for me will be a couple of years. Easy.
 
Yup, domestic chores. A few weeks back I reinstated my CFI. I was pretty stoked as I flew the 2 hours home. After flying 2 hours to get there, 5 hour oral test, 2 hour flight test, & a two hour flight home I was beat. When I landed at my home airport I still had to fuel my 182 & put it away.

When I arrived at the house my wife gave me a big hug & kiss & had a fabulous dinner prepared.

After dinner, I did the dishes, & took out the trash. CFI or not I was still a domestic slave.
 
Nate,

My 2003 Silverado 1500 decided to kill its second air conditioner compressor about a month ago. It was 2 years old to the month and was replaced by the dealership. Can't affords to replace it yet. The driver's side seat heater turns on and off randomly with rain, the belts squeal with rain or high humidity (replaced by dealers twice now, no more.) And the truck only has 106k on it. It also has a couple rust spots where paint has chipped.

So, I am thinking I do not want another one. It drives good but I think I want another brand next time. Chevy lacks some quality/does not age so well.

David
 
flhrci said:
Nate,

My 2003 Silverado 1500 decided to kill its second air conditioner compressor about a month ago. It was 2 years old to the month and was replaced by the dealership. Can't affords to replace it yet. The driver's side seat heater turns on and off randomly with rain, the belts squeal with rain or high humidity (replaced by dealers twice now, no more.) And the truck only has 106k on it. It also has a couple rust spots where paint has chipped.

So, I am thinking I do not want another one. It drives good but I think I want another brand next time. Chevy lacks some quality/does not age so well.

David
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Aging well and GM are not things to put in the same sentence. Especially if compared to say, Honda. Haha.

Dealership found the problem.

"We found that the connector from the fuel pump to the body wiring harness was arcing and burnt."

Just for fun, after telling the guy I would take it back to the shop that put the pump on and make them get a new pump or harness under warranty, I asked what a new fuel pump from GM would cost...

$1098! Before labor to install it.

Yeah, ummmmm no thanks. I'll be over to pick it up later.

On the bright side, $109 to find the problem.

And even better? The tech who found the problem must have unhooked the connector and cleaned up the contacts and reconnected it.

It drove all the way home and I bypassed dropping it off at the original shop altogether.

I'll get under there and examine the connector and see if I want the original shop to repair/replace it, or just call it "fixed" and forget about it.

That stupid pump will run another 100,000 miles before I care about it again.

If it's not visibly hosed, I'll just call it done.

And I suspect... The stupid connector was never fully seated together in the first place, when the pump was replaced. Which matches all the stalling at random and the overall stupidity.

So it sat there -- barely making contact -- and trying to burn itself up slowly, and it would change with vibration and temperature -- and all it ever wanted was to be fully plugged in. It just wanted a little connector love.

Lordy what a stupid wild goose chase that was.
 
$1098 for just the pump? Wowzers. Maybe I need to raise my price.... I sell them for $99 retail, $85 wholesale and buddy buddy.
 
denverpilot said:
Peeked at all of Chevy's models that look identical to my '04. Boy they've gone exactly nowhere on their trucks since the early 2000's and the bailouts... Silverado is the same. Colorado is the same.
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I heard from a friend (yes this is already on shakey ground) that during the bailout they werent allowed to invest ANY money in R&D. Because of that, Ford got a huge jump over GM and it shows.
 
denverpilot said:
Aging well and GM are not things to put in the same sentence. Especially if compared to say, Honda. Haha.
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I'll tell that to my '47, '70 '93 and '05 GM vehicles. :)

If folks were required to do maintenance on their vehicles like on airplanes, we would all still be driving models from the 60s.

And the fuel pump wiring harness problem on certain year model GM Pickups is a well known problem that any mechanic that is worth anything will know about.
 
Zeldman said:
I'll tell that to my '47, '70 '93 and '05 GM vehicles. :)

If folks were required to do maintenance on their vehicles like on airplanes, we would all still be driving models from the 60s.

And the fuel pump wiring harness problem on certain year model GM Pickups is a well known problem that any mechanic that is worth anything will know about.
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^^^ LOL. Translation: "If you know all the **** to fix on them, they're great!"
 
Zeldman said:
If folks were required to do maintenance on their vehicles like on airplanes, we would all still be driving models from the 60s.
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And we would get more revenue from the sale of the used car because we kept a logbook of all the upkeep.

If I found a 250K+ mile vehicle, but there was a complete record of every time a wrench touched the car, I would have more confidence in the purchase than the less than 100K machine some 20-something is trying to sell.
 
AggieMike88 said:
If I found a 250K+ mile vehicle, but there was a complete record of every time a wrench touched the car, I would have more confidence in the purchase than the less than 100K machine some 20-something is trying to sell.
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Amen to that, AggieMike.

My first and last GM vehicle was a 2005 Corvette, bought used in 2013 with about 17,000 miles. First-year C6, with a 6-speed manual, the Z51 package, Magnetic Red paint and every conceivable option. I flew with a friend to pick up the car in St. Louis, then drove back across the country on the original fossilized tires. Great car....while I had it.

I sold it to that very same friend (who's still a friend, BTW!) at about the 25,000-mile mark, and he had a litany of issues. Harmonic damper exploded; wacky readings from tire pressure sensors; intermittent electrical glitch affecting starter circuit that left him stranded at least twice. But the kicker was the in-tank fuel pump that let go at about 48,000 miles, which is a bear to replace in a C6 with its twin interconnected tanks.

So I bought an old, reasonably well maintained E46 3-Series with 120K miles, addressed the Achilles' heel issues...cooling system, oil filter housing gasket, etc...and I did replace the fuel pump as a precautionary measure, but it's a 20-minute job as it's under the rear seat cushion. Pump assembly was about $150, and the entire cooling system parts bill was just under $500, and that's pump, expansion tank, hoses, thermostat, coolant and the radiator itself. There are so many of these tooling around Europe and the U.S., so the economies of scale keep parts prices pretty reasonable. It is ticking along like a fine watch now, nearing 160K miles.

Caveat: I would never own an aging BMW if I weren't prepared to do the repair work myself. Dealer labor costs are complete thievery, and even the independents are pricey.

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Zeldman said:
I'll tell that to my '47, '70 '93 and '05 GM vehicles. :)

If folks were required to do maintenance on their vehicles like on airplanes, we would all still be driving models from the 60s.
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Interesting thought but prolly not. Lots of improvements in automotive aerodynamics and crashworthiness since the 60's even if one could replace engine/transmission/drivetrain for fuel economy and handling improvements...
 
Clark1961 said:
Interesting thought but prolly not. Lots of improvements in automotive aerodynamics and crashworthiness since the 60's even if one could replace engine/transmission/drivetrain for fuel economy and handling improvements...
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That's where resto-mods come in.
 
Zeldman said:
I'll tell that to my '47, '70 '93 and '05 GM vehicles. :)

If folks were required to do maintenance on their vehicles like on airplanes, we would all still be driving models from the 60s.

And the fuel pump wiring harness problem on certain year model GM Pickups is a well known problem that any mechanic that is worth anything will know about.
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Ahem, wife's '99 and '01 Silverados were trash. Broken tailgate handles on both, instrument gauges inop or intermittent (fuel gauge, speedo), window motor failures, radio on the fritz. You couldn't pay me to own a 99-05ish GM vehicle. I own an 07 Pontiac GP GXP and am about to dump it as the DD because of the ridiculous crap I'm fussing with. My '00 Z28 Camaro had window motor failure, as well as ignition circuitry fried (luckily under warranty). Wifes current '07 GMC has TPMS faults and random interior lighting failures.

Pre-'99, I'd be okay with the trucks/suvs. None of the issues I've had on the GMs are maintenance-related. Delphi Electronics is flat-out awful.

However, I do drive an '08 F-150 with 136K on the clock which has been nothing but fuel/oil/normal maintenance that I'm very happy with, and the '98 F-150 was the same way outside of a heater core replacement at 120K due to a leak. Dad had a 1990 F-150 that never needed a thing as well. He has an '00 model that still runs like new. I've got to give it to Ford on their trucks/SUV's, they just seem to work.
 
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AggieMike88 said:
And we would get more revenue from the sale of the used car because we kept a logbook of all the upkeep.

If I found a 250K+ mile vehicle, but there was a complete record of every time a wrench touched the car, I would have more confidence in the purchase than the less than 100K machine some 20-something is trying to sell.
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The sarcastic side of me wants to say...

Oh! You think every time a wrench touches an airplane it's always written in the logs! Aren't you precious?! ;)

Hahaha. We all know that isn't true in all cases... Logbooks are for the honest folk.
 
Made lunch. Added antifreeze to the tractor. Filled tractor with diesel. Graded the entrance road where it eroded in rain. Cut a hole in the county's berm on the edge of the main road so the erosion will happen further upstream. Mowed down the weeds over the leach field. Found new hole where dog decided to dig around leach field check pipe. Scrubbed out trash can that somehow had attracted some ants. Fed ants some borax for lunch and wiped down area with vinegar. Thinking about whether or not we are going to use the fifth wheel anymore this year, might be time to treat the black tank with soap and drive it to RV dump for last dump of season. Laughing that someone keeps keying up a ham radio next to a radio playing Copa Cabana every ten minutes or so on one of the club repeaters. Friday drinking must have started early today. Put away all the clean dishes. Did more dishes. Wondering where I put that 100' length of direct bury coax. Took a phone call from a friend in the news biz who watched the twin to down live at the TV studio from the helicopter video feed out at Opa-Locke or however the hell you spell that.

Not flying.
 
Zeldman said:
I'll tell that to my '47, '70 '93 and '05 GM vehicles. :)

If folks were required to do maintenance on their vehicles like on airplanes, we would all still be driving models from the 60s.

And the fuel pump wiring harness problem on certain year model GM Pickups is a well known problem that any mechanic that is worth anything will know about.
Click to expand...

Which 47 GM do you have?
 
ColoPilot said:
Which 47 GM do you have?
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47 Thriftmaster 3/4 ton, 5 window. A real survivor I picked up out of a field. I aired up the tires, replaced the fuel tank and lines, rebuilt the carb and put a 6 volt battery in it and drove it on the trailer. All I have done to it is recover the seat, put in a new water pump, rebuild the fuel pump, a basic tune up on the motor, then converted it to 12 volt and a complete brake job. Finding new 8 hole brake drums was an adventure. It still has the foot operated starter.

I don't use it as a daily driver. I just drive it occasionally on sunny days around town. Every time I drive it someone will ask me if I want to sell it. I tell them make an offer, and keep going up until I say ok. No one has gotten that far yet.
 
Clark1961 said:
Interesting thought but prolly not. Lots of improvements in automotive aerodynamics and crashworthiness since the 60's even if one could replace engine/transmission/drivetrain for fuel economy and handling improvements...
Click to expand...

Very true, but the same can be said for airplanes. Old planes still sell for more than the original sticker price and are still flying with newer and improved planes available.
 
Zeldman said:
Very true, but the same can be said for airplanes. Old planes still sell for more than the original sticker price and are still flying with newer and improved planes available.
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Yeah... because most of us can't buy new.

If every 1970 car was between 15-70k and every brand new car was 500,000, there'd be a helluva lot more 70's cars on the road.
 
ircphoenix said:
Yeah... because most of us can't buy new.

If every 1970 car was between 15-70k and every brand new car was 500,000, there'd be a helluva lot more 70's cars on the road.
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Preach on brotha......well said.
 
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