Grumpy Bears 2015 Silverado 2WD

[Black02Silverado]

Not sure how I missed this thread but it is some good reading. 

[Grumpy Bear]

Haven't posted one of these in awhile. Red is a 24 tank moving average. Blue dots tank by tank. Yellow life time linear trend. Band bars are 3 standard deviations. This is a season and a half and shows summer winter longer term trending. 

 

I picked new markers for the transmission modification. Temp points picked with the coolant thermostat opens. Those points are 181F water 143F oil 98F Transmission fluid. These will be less ambient sensitive. Modification happens Friday morning.  

 

 

 

Edited March 27, 2018 by Grumpy Bear

[CadillacLuke24]

Is that the thermostat delete?

[Grumpy Bear]

2 hours ago, CadillacLuke24 said:

Is that the thermostat delete?

Yes. I bought a replacement thermostat and altered the internals. It will be swapped for the factory is Friday. There are two YouTube videos on this modification. They both work fine. I did the part shuffle. You have to assure that the window in the bobbin aligns with the port to get full flow. I'll have a spare if it isn't to my pleasure. 

[Grumpy Bear]

Swapped transmission thermostats today at Deegan's. Pretty straight forward. Mine did not have the screw in clips for the lines but a 'crows foot' plate and it only goes on one way. A little grease was needed to reseat the lines. The single central unit attachment bolt was finger tight! Torque spec is 182 in/lb. The crows foot just nice and snug. 

 

It is in the 30's (F) here today and the truck was already warm from the 18 mile drive to the shop so I still haven't an idea how quickly it will warm up...but...peak temperature was a surprise even for 37F ambient. At 55 mph over hill and dale for a hour it ran between 125 and 130 F. An easy pass through the lower four gears got it to 141 F and then cooled right back down. That is colder than I thought it would go by quite a bit. Don't expect this on yours unless your running the same 170 F coolant thermostat. Oil peaked at 188 F on the hot side. It's pretty close to warmer weather so I'm going to take a wait and see if this will be enough on hot days and I'm sure it will be but.... This is still warm enough to trip the set points for the transmission and AFM. Everything works just fine. It ran cooler than that on 0 F days without a cooler. 

 

Seriously I had thought it would be over 160 F and I'd still like to see that temperature routinely. But that isn't going to happen with the factory unit in any configuration I can dream up. The factory unit in the open position still bypasses too much fluid around the cooler and restricts what does go to the cooler. Aftermarket units have a built in 10% or so bleed in the closed position. I had anticipated that there might be need for a second stage cooler with it's own thermostat for addition cooling but as it looks now that thermostat may be better placed between the pump and cooler. Warm weather will make that choice. IF one is installed it will be a 160F unit. Time will tell.

 

FYI the top line on the thermostat is the out and goes to the bottom of the radiator tank mounted cooler. From the top of the cooler to the bottom of the thermostat. Now you know. 

 

 

 

 

Edited March 30, 2018 by Grumpy Bear
additional content

[Grumpy Bear]

I did not count on the crazy radiator efficiency of this truck. I have a measured 40 degree F spread hot to cold on the water side and what you read in the photo on the oil side. 

 

The photo is 3.5 hours into a 4 hour 200 mile trip today that ended at 28.0 mpg. Trip speed average was 48 mph with the highest speed driven 55 mph. Ambient air temperature peak was 52 F with a low of 48 F. 20 mph wind split equal against and assist. 25.9 mpg into it and 30.1 with it. Most of this trip is Interstate. Federal and State highway most of the rest and about 5% city. I can bump the trans temp to the low 140's on an on ramp or in town but it recovers quickly. Warmer temperatures will moderate the radiator efficiency. I just don't know how much yet. It shifts sweet.

 

 

[Grumpy Bear]

You may have noticed I've had 1/2 the grill covered all winter and it still isn't enough! It was right at freezing today when I left for the horizon. First time with the cooler modification from dead cold. Took 9 miles for the water to come to heat. The trans and oil were pretty close to stable in that same period of time. No comparison to the unmodified version though as it just doesn't get that warm. 

 

The Jet 170 radiator thermostat will modulate to a stead 168 F at 50 mph and 170 at 55 F. Below 50 mph it vacillates around 172 F +2F / - 4F.   

 

 

Edited April 2, 2018 by Grumpy Bear

[Grumpy Bear]

I love statistics and only wish I was a Black Belt at it but "There can only be One"; Stephen Hawking. (too soon?) 

 

I actually keep about six different charts based on different time periods and against some modeling. This one, like the previous, is every tank plus a 12 point moving average. Normally you use multipoint values to dampen noise in an otherwise noisy environment. Literally it is too soon to peg this but it would appear the transmission cooling circuit modification has done the dampening for us. Actually pretty cool as it make reading them easier and results show sooner. We will watch this trend. Note what has happened to the blue line. 

 

Seasonally, this is the second cycle which will complete in August this year. I can pretty much peg November 1st to April 1st as inclusive of all data points that normally fall within 3 sigma to be below the central tendency and life time average of 26.4 mpg (to date) The bars, I've explained previously are 3 sigma plus and minus and what you may have noticed is that the individual data points obviously lean toward the area above the centerline. If your inquisitive as to why the reason is quite simple. I drive less between 11/1 and 5/1 as a matter of life habit. Evidently creating a asymmetric node.  I could quite literally raise the center line by 10% or more by storing her in the winter. So to the fellow who asked if a 27 mpg lifetime average was possible....yea. 

 

Another note of interest, if to no one other than myself, is the Transmission Fluid Temperature Gauge now acts as somewhat of a 'hot wire anemometer' of sorts allowing to know for a certainty if the wind is with or against me. No Witchcraft here. A radiator is a fin fan exchanger whose terminal exchange rate for a give fluid delta is about 25 meters per second or roughly 56 mph. It's the basis of cooling design for iron cylinder motor cycles. Funny thing is that's is my personal preferred driving speed. For instance today the temperature was 35 F. Into the wind the TFT was low 120's and when at my back lower to mid 130's. Cross wind 127F with no more than 10 degrees off cross. I just need a base reading which I get entering the truck and keeping an eye on the ambient number. There is a good reason for the grill shutters hated by most without understanding. As there is with CAI system and dismissing the box out of hand. Whatever. I keep plugging along making progress and paying my own bills. 

 

Without stats you can own a truck it's full lifetime and not know much about it. Sad. 

 

 

 

[Grumpy Bear]

Four Seasons Chart. 

 

Fall          Sept-Nov

Winter     Dec-Feb

Spring     March-May

Summer June-August

 

They way I've broke this down reflects the seasonal fuel changes within a week or two instead of the traditional solar based seasonal breaks. Most of the differences can be attributed to seasonal temperature and winds instead of fuel blend.  

 

 

[Grumpy Bear]

29.85 MPG over a 303 mile road trip using 10.151 pumped gallons of 87 octane E10. Meter shows 9% ethanol content. 29.2 MPG by the Scan Gauge showing 10.4 gallons used. DIC showed 31.2 MPG. 8.8 cents per mile.  I've had this Scan Gauge II for a long time and have both the fuel metering and odometer dialed in to always be pessimistic. I.E. the odometer is dead on and the fuel metering is set to record @ 2% fat so that I'm never taken by surprise. Whatever the Scan Gauge II is reading I'm getting a bit better. By design. 

 

5.7 hour trip averaging 53 mph trip average speed with a cruse control regulated 55 mph. 61 mph peak shown on Scan Gauge II. Ramp speed merging. 62 F degree day. 65 F degree AIT. 142 F TFT, 192 F Oil Temp, 170 F water temp. 3 mph wind with gust to 5 mph from a direction of 135 degrees magnetic. 153 miles east and west. 150 miles north and south. Interstate travel I-39 and Toll I-88. Moderate traffic and only about 10 miles total in road construction. Only made two stops for puppy and I to stretch our legs and get a drink.

 

Talk about road buzzzzzzzz. 

 

Northern Illinois doesn't get too many windless days, ever, and Pepper shows her appreciation for them when we get one. Good Girl. Windless, Warm and oh so steady. No hypermiling. Just being steady. 

 

 

 

 

[Grumpy Bear]

Enjoy. I did. 

 

http://www.engineprofessional.com/articles/EPQ415_12-20.pdf

[Grumpy Bear]

60,000 Mile Service

 

6 quarts Redline 5W20 and WIX filter. Zero consumption for this 5K interval. OLM showed 40% remaining. 

 

Check of all other fluids both level and condition. All good Belts. lights ditto. Add two 10 oz. cans of Techron (done each 5K) to this full up.

 

Have a look see behind the throttle body. Dry as a bone. No more build up on the valves than a carbureted motor.   

 

Tires. These Bridgestone Duller tires are a 60,000 warranty tire and at this mileage I measure .224" +/- .001 for all four.  Based on a .100" replacement target this set is heading for 85,000 miles of life. They were rotated and balanced as is my custom. Rotation each 5K balance each 10K and check of pressures every outing. 140% of warranty 

 

Brakes, slides etc. check and heading for over 100K+ service life. 

 

Trans cooler modification have been in effect for 3K miles. Eight fill ups. Ambient temperatures for this period have ranged 55 F to 75 F and the trans temperatures warm quickly to their terminal temperatures 130 / 140 F. As high as 155 in town traffic. I rating this one a winner but still under review. 

 

For these eight fills the fuel efficiency has been off the hook.  2700 miles / 96.97 gallons = 27.8 mpg. 337 miles per fill and an average 12.1 gallons per fill.  Label says 26 gallon tank but the only time I got 26 gallons in it was a pump shut off that didn't trip and ran it on the ground. Normal fill is more like 25 gallons. I try not to run below 1/2 tank  thus I have a self imposed 

less than 12.5 gallon fill target. 

 

While the wheels were off made some front strut measurements in lieu of pending spring change. More on that as it develops. 

Edited April 27, 2018 by Grumpy Bear

[Grumpy Bear]

Transmission Thermostat Update

 

Had a three day span of 84/89 F weather with lots of wind, 20/25 mph, gust to 35 mph and low humidity. Direction certainly makes a difference not just in load but in cooling. About 10 F warmer going with the wind that against. 164 F with the wind and 156 against it. 50 mph for most of these exercise as I am always mindful of the part wind plays with mileage. Trip length 100 miles. Distance to peak heat 25 miles. Motor ran 190/192 F and the radiator still has it's blind installed. 27 mpg. Temp did rise to 174 F at one point when stopped idling for about 5 minutes. This is well below the fan trigger temperatures. 

 

None of these temperatures is alarming but I can see where towing and faster speeds could make it a problem depending on your personal threshold temperature trigger you feel becomes an issue. The six cylinder certainly has a generous radiator that has been crippled by some fairly high thermostat regulation temperatures. 

 

Shift quality and timing is about as good as one could hope for. I will continue to monitor this over the summer season. So far this is a winner. Warms her up in the winter. Cools her down in the summer. 

 

There are two parts of the GM logic that baffles me a bit and that is the use of a thermostat with zero leakage. Most after market units bleed about 10% of the fluid through the cooler at all times. It's hard to trip a thermostat that isn't seeing traffic until the transmission body/thermostat body reaches the trigger point. The other is the highly restrictive nature of the valve itself. Even fully open is passes a fraction of the fluid to the cooler. That boys and girls is a head scratcher. Both of these issues are solvable with a Dremel tool and some thought.

 

Last 5 tanks totaled 1726 miles / 60.27 gallons = 28.64 mpg. Pretty much 55 mph now.  

 

 

Edited May 4, 2018 by Grumpy Bear
additional content

[Grumpy Bear]

Testing limits on a Saturday drive in Wisconsin.

 

We had some errands to run in Rockford (Illinois) today and a fresh tank of gas leaving the house 20 miles earlier. I took the opportunity to test this transmission cooling strategy driving the width of Rockford down East River Drive which is under construction and one busy road. Rockford’s street Engineer must be of the opinion that if he stops you often enough and long enough maybe you will either stay, tax revenue, or stop and buy something. Worst light timing in the lower 48 and the roads are trash. Table set I’ll get to it.

 

Nearly an hour of 84 F stop and go city traffic with the air on and two things jumped right out and bit me. The transmission never rose about 175 F and at the end of the hour Pepper was still above 23 mpg for the cross town jaunt. Water temperature was running about 5 F over thermostat set, thus fully open, but the fans never came on. I never lowered their set points after the thermostat swap. Fact is, I’ve never seen or heard the fans in this truck activate except to test the switch in the shop.

 

As the trans cooler is in the cold side tank and the fans never turned on in stopped traffic for up to five minutes means the radiator cooling was net zero. Radiant cooling only on the pump. Told you this was one big efficient radiator.

 

Once on the open road, US 20 it cooled right down to 150 F. In the hill country of western Wisconsin it leveled out at 160 F. Routes 39, 78, 151, 80 and US 20 at the western edge of Wisconsin marked the turning point for the day. Until then it was hills and a west wind of 20/25 mph. US 20 east home saw the mileage run over 30 mpg the entire return leaving the 323 mile round trip using 11.5 gallons and netting 28.1 mpg for the day and bringing a running 2000 mile distance to 28.5 mpg. This brings the 24 point running average above the lifetime average erasing the entire winters drag on the life time average. Running posted limits except on US 151. 55 mph on that stretch of posted 65 mph four lane. I make note as well that about 20 minutes into the return run the wind which had be in our face all day dropped to under five mph. I had been counting on a tail wind to bring it home but looks like I didn’t need it.

 

I love this truck. 

[Grumpy Bear]

Filthy Motorsports. I mentioned something is in the works and the something is a spring swap up front. King builds these OEM replacements with the intention of adding a front lift level which they calculate at about 2" lift. They are build around GM's most popular truck, the CC V8 pretty well optioned. That truck isn't my truck. That truck is nearly a thousand pounds heavier than Pepper which means....it's over sprung. This isn't just a ride quality issue, it's also stance and geometry related. 5/8", that's how far the spring compresses between off her wheels and on the ground. Very near the top of 4+ inches of shock travel and yet it has never topped out or hit the bump stops. Amazing valve work. I have two choices on spring and that process is in the works now. More later. 

 

Removed the winter grill cover. 

 

300 mile jaunt yesterday to Peoria and back to Hoerr Racing. Oil run. This makes the 7th tank and again mid 28 mpg numbers. Return so far on a fresh tank above 29.5 with half a tank used. On the 12th tank since the thermostat delete. Over 4,000 miles and average is running 2 mpg above life time average. There are other factors beside the thermostat. Two of these a seasonal. 

 

1.) Spring Fuel change. 

2.) Warmer weather brought her well off her winter lows and back to life time numbers

3.) Switch from Hydrocracked Group III to a 'real' synthetic, a blend of POA and Esters. 

4.) Thermostat delete, quicker warm up, lower running temperatures. Stability. 

5.) Tires under 7/32"

 

Redline Oil. Been running 5W20 in a motor built for 5W30 based on 'actual' operating temperatures from the cold Jet Performance thermostat. I've experienced zero adverse affects and now over the 62K marker where the horror stories say the bottom falls out and oil usage becomes unbearable I'll be trading down to 0W20 at the next service. Running viscosity at full heat temperatures goes unchanged but during that critical warm up period the 'average' viscosity will be lower. 

 

 

 

Edited May 9, 2018 by Grumpy Bear