2008 Trailblazer SS

[Maverick]

I've been using Battery Minders since my bro Willy recommended them. He uses them on airplane and other batteries that sit for long periods of time. I thinki I have four of them. Had them on my lawn tractor, boat battery, trolling motor battery and Maverick. Willy believes he gets double the life from batteries on the Minder. I believe they work.

[oldvettedad]

Earlier this year Auto Restorer magazine did a 2 part story on battery maintainers. They tested the battery minder's desulfating ability. It clearly worked. They also used it to bring back a dead battery. I guess if a battery goes dead due to sulfation this could be a great device. I wish i had seen this years ago. I have 5 battery tenders and one autometer float charger. They are all good, but batteryminder coukd extend the life of all these batterys.
I also now use a DSR, Don Schumacher Electric, (yes the racing Schumacher) quick charger. Coompletely electronic, settings for Gel, AGM or lead acid batterys, and 3 modes 2 amp, 8 amp 10 amp. it goes to float when fully charged. Works good, shows percent charge as well as volts.

[wxo]

We had a nice 70 degree day today in Raleigh and Maverick and I spent the morning getting his car tuned. After that I decided this would be a good time to work on Smoke. The electric fans I installed a while back work well, but they were too loud for my taste. They are made by Spal and draw a heck of a lot of air.


I decided to try an alternative that I learned about on the TBSS forums, so I watched Craigslist until I found a set of 4th gen Camaro Z28 fans. I got this set for $50. It didn't take much fabricating to get them to fit since I used the brackets from the Spal fans. In addition, the harness from the Spal fan install made this a plug-N-play situation. I'm really pleased with the change in the sound. The only thing left is to test them to see if they can handle the heat of the North Carolina summer.

[oldvettedad]

Looks good. Just for my info, what is the diameter of both the Spal and Z28 fans? Do you know how much CFM each pulls? And how many amps do they draw? Finally, pullers or pushers?

[wxo]

The Spal fans are 12". The LS1 fans are 11". They are mounted behind the radiator and pull air in from the outside. I don't know the current draw, but they both dim the headlights momentarily when they come on. They are connected into the Trailblazer's ECM wiring so that they are computer controlled just like from the factory. One fan comes on at about 195 degrees and the other should come on at about 210 degrees. The second fan also comes on when the AC is turned on. I don't know the CFM ratings of the fans.
Here's a video of the Spal fans in operation. The noise level in the video is realistic.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JnaKCl20vI4[/youtube]

[oldvettedad]

Boy, they have a distinctive whine! Thanks for the info.

[wxo]

A day after I swapped e-fan assemblies, the Engine Check light lit up. The code was P0420. A possible catalytic converter problem. So on Sunday night, I took Smoke down to the night drop-off at Sir Walter Chevrolet knowing that the cat is warranted for 80K miles (Smoke has 52K). I also noted on the trouble ticket that I've been seeing "service stabilitrak" lights from time to time. The messages go away after the truck is turned off and restarted.
I got my truck back today and they replaced the catalytic and one O2 sensor that they mangled trying to remove it. Here's what the catalytic converter looks like on this truck:



No wonder they sell for over $900!!
This makes me wonder if there was some restriction in the exhaust as a result of the faulty converter(s). I don't notice any difference in power by my seat-of-the-pants dyno.

The "Service Stabilitrak" is another interesting part of this scenario. When I first asked about it, the service adviser said there wasn't much they could do unless they could see the failure. But I had read somewhere on the forums that some of the guys got the problem fixed with a "software fix" to the truck. So I researched it and found the TSB I was looking for. It fit my symptoms exactly so I told the service adviser about it and that I would like to have the upgrade applied to Smoke. He was agreeable to that but when I got the truck back, the updates to the EBCM (Electronic Braking Control Module) cost me $55. I guess that wasn't too bad considering all the costs they ate with the converter replacement. I feel like I got a good deal.

[oldvettedad]

My experience is anytime you can walk out of the dealer's service department with a bill less than $200 it is a WIN!

[wxo]

I know this might not be too exciting to the rest of you, but any changes you make to your ride that eliminates an annoyance is always a good thing. Well Smoke came from the factory with a "hood prop" rod. What a PITA it was! I recently discovered a kit from Redline that eliminates the prop with two gas struts. Now after lifting just a few inches, the hood goes up by itself. Now Ms. Randi can check the oil for me.

[Maverick]

I like it. Been thinking about some for the Maverick but am concerned they might be in the way when working under the hood. Yours are well back out of the way.

[wxo]

I got some more garage time in today. We had a beautiful 60 degree afternoon so I decided to start working on my cold air intake installation. For those not familiar with the TBSS, it has a WSW fluid tank that holds over 2 gallons of fluid and is molded to serve as the mounting base for the air cleaner (cylindrical K&N style). The tank is so large and takes up so much room that it must be removed in order to make enough space for the cold air plumbing that takes in air from below the bumper on the passenger side. The solution is to replace the large tank with one that holds somewhere around 1/2 gallon and relocate it out of the path of the inlet ducting. As usual, I thought it would take an hour, maybe 2 at most. After about 4 hours, I finally had the new tank installed and working. I had to remove the old tank (not in my plan) and make up a temporary fastening system for the OEM air cleaner and ducting. It's kinda Rube Goldberg, but it should hold up until I get the rest of the kit in place. From a performance point of view, I just eliminated about 16 pounds (2 gallons of water) from Smoke's total weight (about 4500 lbs). Smoke should run like a rabbit against the Maverick now.

[wxo]

We have had some really nice days this week and I've gotten some work done on Smoke. I started yesterday afternoon on the Cold Air kit. Maverick came over and we succeeded in getting the 4 1/4 inch hole cut for the tubing. Between the two of us, we didn't have a big enough metal-cutting holesaw so I finished the job with my el-cheapo air hacksaw from Harbor Freight. It worked great.



Then I mocked up the tubing to check the fit. It was OK but needed a lot of tweaking to fit really well.



Fast forward to today and I finished the job. I'm really pleased with how it fits. I took it out for a spin and it runs well without throwing codes (which is what I expected). I can't tell any difference by my seat-of-the-pants dyno but I believe the MAF table will need some tweaking to get the most out of it.



Notice the black quart-sized tank on the right. That's the replacement for the huge OEM WSW tank.

[Basement Paul]

That's badass!

How does it sound?

-BP

[wxo]

I didn't notice any difference in sound. It's like a sewer pipe from the air filter to the throttle body. I can almost stick my fist in it.
It's a four inch system that uses the stock MAF sensor, so it necks down slightly to accommodate the MAF. Should I decide to escalate in the HP wars with a cam or other goodies, it would be rather easy to slip in a bigger MAF. I sure would like to get the tune tweaked and get out to the track while it's still cold. Thirteens? Maybe??

[TireSmoker]

I think Rookie hit 13s with very minimal mods to his. I remember him just edging me when I made my best-run 14.09 in my black GTP.

-Dave