Did you recently take on (or consider) a loan of 84 months or longer on a car purchase?
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+12VDC
Brake light switch (to activate trailer brakes)
Back up light switch (to keep trailer brakes off when backing)
Output wire to trailer brakes
Return (ground)
I assume that the wire called stop/turn lamps goes to the brake light switch, but why you would want it connected to the turn signals also escapes me.
The one that says trailer connector I assume is the output to the trailer brakes so it would go to the trailer connector for that purpose. Remember that the trailer brakes are not applied fully when you press the brake pedal but are applied gradually over a set time period, since the trailer brakes would lock up if applied fully. The time period and the braking force are usually adjustable on most controllers so you can tailor it for the weight of the trailer your towing.
Many also have a button on the front that will fully apply the trailer brakes when pushed. This is for emergency or test only. I used to test the trailer brakes by just getting the trailer moving very slowly and then pressing the button. When my head hit the steering wheel I knew the brakes were working (just kidding about the steering wheel).
They all buy it from the same pipeline, the same refinery. The ONLY difference is the "additives" they dump in the truck before they fill up and deliver it.
I once heard a guy say he would never buy ARCO gas because they water it down... Water, eh? If I had a truck that would run on water, I'd be a zillionaire. Unfortunatly, my Envoy still runs on plain old 'watered down' ARCO regular.
Gas is a commodity people. It should be government regulated, like electricity. It's not like you have a choice in whether you buy it or not. The price is all supply side economics, because the demand is constant. Ever notice how it goes up in price real fast when there is 'speculation' that there *could* be a shortage, but when the shortage never happens, does the price go back down? Do we get a refund? No. We just eat it and the oil companies get even fatter.
Vote with your dollar. Buy the cheapest gas you can. Put those idiots with their Techron, Superite, Whateveron crap out of business.
</end soap box mode>
I am amazed he took so much time with me but he did. He went to his computer and stared search electrical schematics. Could not find exactly what he was looking for but gave me a recommendation based on his best guess and general knowledge.
Now that I am done, I think he was correct. As the Hot and Grnd were clearly ided on the Chevy harness, that left only two wires to get right. He recommended I use the darker of the 2 blue TB wires as the brake circuit. It was a gauge equal to the hot lead and much heavier than the light blue unused wire.
He then popped my hood and opened the fuse box to make sure that the aux brake fuse was in place. It was.
He also showed me where to connect the red hot lead available under the hood to keep 12V flowing to the trailer for powering 12V accessories while in transit ie propane/12V refrigerator.
BTW: For those interested, on the TB brake circuit: Orange is hot, black is grnd, darker blue is brakes, light blue is for the stop light
regards,
Les Akins
I always hear a one or two engine knocks when I restart the engine when it's hot. Sounds like an uncontrolled detonation in a cylinder or two just as it starts and I release the key. A friend says his TB his does that too. In fact he's the one that first pointed it out to me . He had that checked at the dealer - "normal for this model" is what he was told. It's very consistant. I don't like the sound of it either.
First Drive: 2004 GMC Envoy XUV - The Sky's the Limit
Talk about it in 2004 Envoy XUV.
Steve, Host
Does the noise happen when the gages reset? Some people including my friend with a TB have had the inst cluster get noisy after 20K mi or so. Also there's an interlock solenoid inside the steering column that keeps you from turning the key to OFF and removing it unless the shift is in PARK. You normally shouldn't notice it. Maybe your noise has something to do with that.
I just read through an article about the new Shell stuff. It said it could add 125 miles per year to a vehicle driven 12500 miles per year.
That equates to a 1% increase in gas mileage.
1% is way too small to try and verify.
If I average 18mpg, that'd take it to 18.18.
and do not forget the most important thing.... control your right foot on the gas pedal. if that is the foot you use.
Any comments would be appreciated.
Allen
GAM
Yes to both. Call your Dealers parts dept. and price the bottom cushion seat cover and also bring it to an upholstery shop to get an estimate. The cover from the Dealer will be a few hundred dollars. Have your VIN# handy when you call the Dealer. You can also ask the Dealer(Service Dept.)if they have a local upholstery shop that they deal with.
The 270hp I6 is the best feature. This engine keeps pulling at all rpm ranges. And it is almost as smooth as the engine on my BMW 330i. Even at the top of Colorado's Monarch Pass 11000', (13000' density altitde due to warm temps,) there was power to spare going up the steep grades. Driving through CO and UT in warm weather/high altitde (density altitudes around 8000') the highway milage is around 23mpg doing 70mph. Down in Dallas at low altitude, I get around 20 mpg on the highway, 18 in the city.
The Load Leveling Air Suspension is a must have! It makes the vehicle "tight" when road manuevering. Without it (such as on the Trailblazer) there is too much body lean. Best of all, it absorbs punishing dirt roads and rough trails.
The 4x4 system works great as well. It is a real 4x4 system with low gearing, which works better than the all wheel drive systems of other vehicles. It pulled me through a deep rutted muddy double track on top of Grand Mesa, 10600.' The "Auto" function worked wonders in our last ice storm. I left all the other cars behind me, including AWD [non-permissible content removed] SUVs, when the light turned green. And the ABS brakes worked well on ice also.
My only wish is that the Envoy had another inch or two of clearance. I bottomed out (barely) on a double track trail in Moab, UT.
And no, I am not a GM salesman or employee.....just a happy mountain biking adventurer.
Better yet how about a system that allows you to lower or raise the truck depending on driving conditions???
IMHO best features are ride (I recommend ECAS), Bose, auto climate control, power, and handling. After more than a year of ownership and 21K miles it looks inside and out like it was just driven out of the show room. Leather isn't worn a bit, but I treat it monthly.
In the one Wisconsin winter I've driven it, its been unstoppable and extremely sure footed. Only broke the tires loose once, but I drive conservatively when conditions are poor.
Happy Motoring
Chris
1. The inline 6 of the TB has less low end but much more top-end power than the V-8 Mercury.
2. The TB has a marginally smoother ride.
3. TB has more wind noise on highway but much less tire and engine howl.
4. Mountaineer has slightly more cargo space but TB has more front and rear passenger space.
5. Mercury lacks low range; TB has 2, AWD, and full-time high and low 4WD.
Conclusion: TB has an overall more solid feel and imho looks much better also. I feel like we made the right choice. In 5000 miles we have only had to get a faulty A/C switch replaced(hopefully no more A/C problems like I have read here about).
Great forum.
Adam
You can go a lot more than 5K with the 4.2L. It's 10K max under normal driving conditions. I drive it hard, so I change it around 6-7K.
First, financing a warranty into your loan is a very bad idea for the reason that one of our friends has experienced. If the company fails, you own a warranty that is worthless. Compound that by the fact that you may be paying $10 to $20 more a month in your car payment, and writing the monthly car payment check can make your blood boil. This is why many states have banned financing warranties and insurance policies when enacting predatory lending legislation.
My personal opinion is don't buy extended warranties. Instead, self insure. Think about it and do the math. 1). If you keep you car four years, you are spending a minimum of $250 every year to extend the warranty on your car for 65,000 miles. 2). Looking at it differently, you are spending more like $400 a year for the last 2.5 years to extend your warranty 65,000 miles. 3). And the insurance company holds your money for 1.5 years until your original warranty expires. Even if you wait a year or more to buy the extended warranty, 1 and 2 still apply.
Or, you could just bank that money and save it for the odd major repair bill. I have owned cars for 24 years, and I have never written a check for a repair on a car in excess of $1,000. The tops for me was $800 for brakes on all four wheels, including rotors and drums, on a 4x4. And that was normal maintenance considering the truck had 80,000 miles on it at the time. I have never lost an engine or transmission. It is called maintenance, and if you don't do it, you should. Maintenance is cheaper than repair bills AND warranties.
Exit soapbox.
"Engine oil has a major impact upon the camshaft actuation system's responsiveness. Oil temperature, viscosity, and quality can slow and/or inhibit the phaser's ability to reach a desired phase angle."
This is from the troubleshooting section in the service manual concerning malfunction of the exhaust cam phaser system.
mdey if you were near D-FW I could loan you a spare coil for testing. I just bought a spare ignition coil off eBay for test purposes just in case something happens like you describe. email me for details. Those are about $80 ea. list, $45 best discounted new price I have found.
bobn737....good story
cparise1...don't you think the leather looks better worn in and a bit wrinkled like a leather jacket?
One feature I never use is those two small compartments to the left and right of the rear cargo hold. Does anyone know how to put hinges on them to make them more functional and easy to use?
I have a old (Bell) X and Y band radar detector which I never use but works very well(don't speed to much and never lead the pack at high speeds). We got rid of photo radar (they called it a big money grab and unconstitutional). Our cops use lasers. A lone cop on the side of the road with a 50 ft extent ion cord to his cruiser in the bushes. If you can see a Laser or photo radar they can see you..and by then its pay up time.
Where are we at with remote detection devices for tell-tale laser signals? My old x and k band was good for several KM.
Well... Just wanted to pass along to everyone my critiques of the extended model Trailblazer LT. I was asked to come along with my family from Michigan to Omaha Nebraska for a family reunion this weekend (primarily to drive one of the SUV's).
My aunt and myself are both triplet owners for the second time around. She just bought a new Chevy Trailblazer LT XL (to replace her shorter model 02 LTZ) last month. Additionally, I bought my Envoy SLT XL V-8 last month as well. We decided to take her Trailblazer along with my father's 02 Yukon Denali to make the trip. After driving 700+ miles, I wanted to share some of my critiques (both good and bad) about the experience.
With both vehicles complete loaded with luggage and passengers, we set out on our journey without any problems (initially). With me leading the way (b/c of my radar detector), we cruised along running a steady 75 mph. The ride was wonderful.. at 3am, we were essentially king of the road! We ran into a couple of speeders along the way, therefore my dad decided to increase speed to keep up with them! Well.. this is where we encountered our first dilemma. Once I hit the gas and got her up to about 85 mph, it sounded like we were loosing a luggage rack on top of the vehicle. The sound had been increasing with speed. So, I phoned my dad and asked him to slow down to take a look as I drove past. He IMMEDIATELY yelled for us to PULL OVER! Turns out the rear high-mount stop light housing (held on by double-stick tape and a few screws) had begun to dismantle and was two seconds away from blowing off completely! At this point, all of the bolts (with the exception of one) had broken off the deflector unit and looks to be unrepairable. To say the least, we had to break off the last piece and cut the wire to get the piece to come completely off the vehicle.
We continued our journey motoring along at a fairly good rate of speed. During most of the trip (not resetting the DIC), we averaged about 17.2 mpg fully loaded with luggage and passengers. No one complained at all about seat comfort, and the family kids were very comfortable watching DVD's in the rear.
During the trip, I noticed that the 6 Cylinder engine seems to bog down quite a bit with a full load of passengers. Even through the hills of Nebraska, I had to kick her out of cruise control because when making even the slightest inclines, the engine would become taxed and downshift into a higher gear causing the RPM's to surge. During a pit stop, I asked my father about the performance of his Denali (considering that he had more weight and adult passengers riding) and he mentioned that there was plenty of power on tap. I kinda figured that he had no issues at all because he could easily blow by us in a heartbeat while I had to floor the TB to keep up with him. I was amazed because truthfully, the Trail Blazer had a hard time keeping up with other vehicles on the road that were attempting to run 75 - 85 mph? Now, I do think that as a former owner of the non-extended models, I felt that the 6 cylinder ran fairly well, but I guess teh extra weight makes a huge difference?
As I am still in Omaha today, I made a quick journey out to the mall (alone) in the SUV and with the A/C running, the engine still feels mighty sluggish? At a stop light, I can floor the throttle and it lazily pulls away from the light? I do know that she does have the 3.42 rear end in her Trail Blazer, I have the 3.73 and the V-8 in my Envoy.
Additionally, I think that for those who are stuck between deciding whether or not to get a TB or Envoy, the ECAS (air suspension) makes a huge difference! In addition to my aunts TB, we passed several along the way that were not sitting level, showing that the weight of the passengers and/or luggage made a difference in the vehicles ride height. I could immediately spot an Envoy or Bravada with the ECAS on the road because it did not "sag" in the rear. Once, we passed a guy with an Envoy XL pulling a trailer and loaded with passengers and the Envoy appeared to be very level. Same applies to my father's Denali, it stayed level at all times. Just food for thought for those who may tow items.
Lastly, the TB's BF Good Rich tires are awesome! I wish that I could add them to my Envoy! The vehicle is not as smooth riding as my Envoy, but the BF Good Rich tires handle a LOT better than the Micheln Cross Terrain tires.
At any rate, I guess we will make our next journey with my Envoy XL V-8 to compare the difference between the two in terms of overall performance on the XL models. But.. from my initial impressions, the 6 cylinder may be perfect for the regular length models, but i think that the added V-8 power definitely helps the XL models in terms of improving overall performance. All of this for a price of course, while I averaged 17.2 mpg, my father average 14 mpg to keep all of that power on tap!
Just my initial impressions, love both vehicles but I honestly cannot wait to get home to drive my Envoy!
Thanks!
IExplore2000
PS: Does anyone have anything to report concerning long trips in their V-8 models? Would be interested to hear your thoughts!
Big premium over the Goodriches and want to make sure they are worth it.
It depends on exactly what it will look like at the time, but it looks like its going to be a very graceful transition from new looking to a worn in appearance. I will be happy with the leather jacket look and feel too. So for me, it looks like getting the leather interior was a good choice. My wife still prefers cloth no matter what.
Happy Motoring,
Chris
Thanks in advance,
Todd