By accessing this website, you acknowledge that Edmunds and its third party business partners may use cookies, pixels, and similar technologies to collect information about you and your interactions with the website as described in our
Privacy Statement, and you agree that your use of the website is subject to our
Visitor Agreement.
Comments
After 7,000 trouble-free miles on my used Dodge (20k total), I have to take it to the shop next week. The difference is, this visit is only for a routine transmission flush-n-fill instead of an overhaul of a major system like the Chevy required every 3-5k! I just hope the dealership can handle this task without messing up the truck!
--TomC
Thanks
The service department told me the steering speed sensor is located in the steering column near the steering gearbox. I believe they said you had to disconnect the column to fix it. I never verified this information.
From reading various auto forums, it would appear as though a number of people are having this problem. I'm surprised GM has not come out with a fix for it. The service manager told me GM did away with the variable boost steering in the new ('99 and up) truck design. Having personally experienced problems with it, I can understand why!
There was a post on the Chevy newsgroup a few weeks ago that recommended pulling the fuse for the variable effort steering (I don't remember the fuse number) to eliminate the jerking. I don't have the truck or the service manuals anymore, so I can't verify this would successfully disable the system or whether or not it would impact any other systems. At any rate, disabling the system would render the steering permanently soft.
Good luck with your truck.
TomC
Isn't Ohm's law where the technician goes to jail if the problem isn't fixed correctly the first time?
Rich
-powerisfun
I don't seem to remember Ohm's law being applied to service departments in my Circuits Analysis class. Could that be:
Value = Initial_Excitement * Reliability
In my experience, that would be about right--since the reliability was very low (<1x10e-3), it led me to consider the truck to be not a good value for the money.
I miss the 350 engine's almost limitless power, the seamless integration of the engine and transmission, and the fairly decent fuel economy. However, I can live without the regular service department visits and chronic steering problems. I thought buying a truck in its ninth model year would distance me from "first model year" problems.
To those of you having no problems with your trucks, I wish you continued success. My experience with GM vehicles seems to indicate you either get a really good one or a really bad one. It's definitely no fun to have an expensive vehicle that allegedly can't be fixed.
--TomC
-powerisfun
Thanks.
-powerisfun
-powerisfun
The rims are 16x7, 6 lug and only have 13,500 miles on them. Never taken off road. They're in great condition! They'll fit Pickups, Suburbans, Yukons, Tahoes, and Vans.
The selling price is $250 (or best offer) for the set of 4 and I'll pay half of the shipping (shipping will probably be about $30 based on my experience). They come complete with valve-stems and center caps.
If you're looking to replace those standard rims with something classy and sporty looking, this is a great bargain.
If you're interested please contact me at
catntim@cybermesa.com .
-powerisfun
The passenger door on 3-doors does need to be slammed a little harder than usual because there is some flex there. Watch as you slam next time. You'll see what I mean, the 3rd door flexes inward a bit. I don't know about the seat thing, but other than that, your truck sounds normal to me.
-powerisfun
Is there a loss of power? Is there a heavy smoke coming out of the exhaust? Is there a loss of fuel economy (i.e. are you getting ~17 mpg or better on the highway?)? If the answer to all those questions is "no", and GM says one quart per 3000 miles is normal, I'm not sure what the problem is. Keep in mind that these are not the engines of yesteryear. They're more efficient, more powerful, more reliable, and longer lasting.
Maybe your going by a rule that doesn't apply anymore.
-powerisfun
I currently get 18-19.5 mpg. My mileage goes up in the summer time to 20-21.2 mpg. Keep in mind, though, that I'm at high altitude (7000 ft) and with today's computer controlled motors that actually helps efficiency (less air makes the computer back off the fuel flow rate), plus there is less wind resistance at high altitude. I pay for that in loss of power compared to the same truck at low altitude, which is a bummer, but it's still a pretty mean engine. I also have a hard tonneau cover which helps with wind resistance.
Still I'm guessing that the tonneau and the altitude are only buying me 2-3 mpg at best and maybe not even that.
Here are some things that I would check before declaring there is a problem (you probably know most, if not all of these but it's still worth checking):
Are you heavy on the gas pedal?
(high speed and jack-rabbit starts will kill
mileage)
Is a large amount of your driving in the city or
otherwise stop-and-go driving?
Does your truck idle a lot?
(do you warm it up before driving away? Or
go thru drive-thrus a lot?)
Are your tires filled up to at least 35 psi?
(I have mine at 40 psi when hot. Max is 44)
Is your air filter clean?
How is your front-end alignment?
Have you tried different brands of gas?
(Texaco always seems to give me about 0.5-1 mpg
better than others)
Have you tried increasing your octane?
(If your engine doesn't like the octane, the
computer may be backing off your timing to
prevent detonation. That will kill mileage.
Keep in mind that these engines have a 9.4:1
compression ratio which is fairly high for
87 octane. Even though the manual says 87
is okay, try 89 or higher).
This is a long shot, but have you tried synthetic
oil? After a 5000 mile break-in, I switched to
Mobil 1 and my mileage went up, but it may have
been because the truck was broken in.
Since you asked, my normal miles between fill-ups is almost always around 450 miles. My best mileage was 21.24 mpg and I went 496.4 miles on that one tank (the tank has 25 gallon capacity and I used 23.371 gallons that time). I was amazed! If after checking all the above things you can't get at least 17 mpg on the highway (at 65-70 mph), you might have a problem. Good luck and keep me updated.
-powerisfun
-powerisfun
Anyway, are you actually measuring your mileage by dividing the miles by the gallons required to fill up or just going by the guage and your tank capacity? I had to ask that because there was someone else that was going by that rather than an actual measurement. These guages can be pretty wrong (My coolant temp guage is way low...it says my normal warmed up operating temp is 160. It should be ~195.). They also don't appear to operate linearly. My gas guage goes from full to half in 300 miles, but then only 150 miles from half to empty.
Assuming you're measuring correctly, one other consideration is are you in a smog-conscious city?
I ask that because cities like LA use gas that is oxygenated more than others and they have less energy per gallon. People have claimed that it gives them rotten mileage especially in the winter? Ask other people how their gas mileage is in your area. If someone's Chevy Cavalier is only getting 23 mpg on the highway (should be 30+), then that's a good indicator that that is the culprit.
If everything there checks out (and assuming your tires are at pressure and your alignment is correct), I can't think of any reason why you shouldn't be getting the same mileage as me (plus or minus 1 or 2 mpg). Can you take out one of the spark plugs to see if it looks normal? If it's all black with carbon or oil, you have a problem which is reparable. Check that, if it's okay, have your dealer do a read-out on the engine. Maybe your oxygen sensor or your mass-air-flow sensor is bad or even your engine-knock sensor or some other sensor that I don't know about. One other obvious thing to check is to see if you have a gas leak somewhere (it may just be when the engine is running). If everything checks out and the dealer says it's normal, then I don't blame you for wanting to sell it or trade it. With that kind of mileage you could be driving a supercharged 454. And since it already has 12000 miles on it, it's probably not going to improve any further on its own. Before giving up on it, though, definitely have it checked. Good luck!
-powerisfun
Anyway, I drive fairly conservatively most of the time. I pretty much follow the speed limit or go up to 5 mph over. I do lay on the pedal at least once per trip going up the hills into Los Alamos. I don't floor it, but the rpms go up to about 3000...enough to make the engine roar. Then on the way back, I do the same thing up the hill onto SR-30. I just do that because I think it's good for an engine to open up a bit especially when the rest of the trip is just cruising at 1800 rpm the whole time...It's also pretty fun!
Sorry to hear that your experience hasn't been the same as mine. I love my truck and I'm hoping to keep it for 10+ years. Did you take it to the dealer to have it checked? If you really do like the truck like you say, it might be worth it. It could be something as simple as a replacing a sensor and you could be getting 19 mpg. I don't think the oil thing is that big of a problem, but it's up to you. Well, good luck in selling it if that's what you decide.
-powerisfun
I have driven my first thousand at 4500 feet (Reno) in a fairly even mix of city/highway driving. Highway speed creeps up to 80 often ‘cause it does it so easily. I don’t do the jackrabbit thing. So far, I just enjoy the heck out of driving it. It actually feels much more stable on I80 up to Truckee and back (done that twice) than my Sable did.
Point I got about 16 on the first tank and 14 since. I figure that the first tank was being a little scared of it. The past few tanks, I have gotten comfortable and drive a little faster. I am looking forward to seeing what a trip to Beserkely (UCBerkely) next weekend will do to mileage. Going to watch the daughter compete on the UCLA Gymnastics Team. Go Bruins!!
Oh yeah. The truck is an extended cab, short bed, and it is Blue.
Let me know. Thanks.
http://mars.acnet.wnec.edu/~ehaffner/did.htm
They found that the tonneau cover decreased the drag by 11.8% while removing the tailgate actually increased the drag by 3.5%. The reason is due to turbulence in the bed behind the cab.
I got my tonneau cover from JCWhitney for $425 (regularly $499 but with 15% discount catalog). It's a black flush-mount type by Covercraft. It looks great on my white truck. Very strong (It locks too, but you need to lock the tailgate separately. Not a big deal, I have a Pop-lock on the tailgate). I've seen them advertised for even cheaper too in truck magazines since I bought mine. The ones that cost $800+ are the over the rail type that match the color of the truck. I personally think the low profile ones look much better.
You can also get the canvas ones that you can get for ~$100-150 and would have the same benefit. There's also the type with canvas on rails that opens up just like a solid one for about $200-300. In my case, I wanted to be able to have a little bit of security to be able to lock stuff in the bed. You can't do that with any of the canvas ones that I know of.
To test to see if it's going to be worth your money, you could fashion a quick cover by fastening sheets of plywood or some other flat material over your bed. Drive around for a tank or two and see if it helps. Glad to see that you're truck got 15 mpg. That's a good sign. Using 15 mpg as a baseline, if a tonneau cover improves that by 2-3 mpg, you'll save $165-$232
per year (assuming 15000 miles per year and $1.39 for gas). At that rate, a canvas tonneau will pay for itself in about one year and a solid one would pay for itself in about 2-3 years. However, that's all dependent on if it gets you 2-3 mpg which we don't know for sure.
-powerisfun
P.S. A good website to check out tonneau prices is http://www.calconcepts.com
They have some of the best prices I've seen
First of all, thanks for all the useful info. Couple of questions, first: Is it easy to remove incase I want to load up my ATV or a fridge or washer/dryer etc...??? second: Is the kind like you have under or inside the rails? Because I have bed rails and caps, so I need to know if that affects it. I know I can't use those ones that go over the rails like you say, because then I'll have to get rid of my rails, and besides, I don't like those. Does your's have the little cylinders that let it go up like a hatchback? Will I have to tear up my bedliner to install it? Let me know. Thanks again--chevyck1
____________________ _
____________________| <-------tonneau cover
________
inner lip-------> | | | <--- out side bed
| | looking at
| | truck from
rear
So if you have about 1/2 inch of clearance outside of the inner edge of your bed, you should have no problem. Yes, mine has the cylinders that tilt it up. It's a nice feature. You should also check out the Fold-a-cover. That allows one person removal and you can drive with it folded up part way so that you can carry tall items. I think if I had to do it over, I'd go with that one. I think it has the same type of clearance needs as mine.
Concerning your bed liner, as long as the inner lip of the bed is exposed, you're okay. The hardware mounts to that inner lip.
-powerisfun
-powerisfun
Bob
adjustment as well. Maybe it's just the nature of the beast. If you find out about it, let me know.
Thanks.
-powerisfun.
On a side note, my truck didn't come with an owners manual, so maybe you could answer this for me. On the radio, every time I change the station, or turn the radio on for the first time it goes back to the rock setting. Is there a way to "turn it off" so to speak so it will stay at the setting I give it??? Anyway, good to meet you, look forward to talking in the future...
Bob
Then step on the brake and try again, etc. Just a thought.
Good luck,
-powerisfun
-powerisfun
--TomC
P.S. I am planning on getting underneath it tomorrow to see if it has any oil leaks, that way they won't try and say it's fine, and wipe up the oil from where it's leaking, incase it is cuz remember my oil problem?
Good luck!
--TomC