[westell]

I had a hose assy replaced due to failure. No big deal. Part got here from oz in 5 days; good food chain.

Changed the oil this weekend and found the hose they replaced. Under the radiator running along frame, you'll find two hoses.

Even when in the clamp that secures the hose, the hose directly touches the frame as it goes up on the passenger side. It rubs, vibrates, fails, and then you lose your a/c charge.

Then, I see this piece of glued on rubber sleeve on the hose assy that is supposed to be the protector at that place where the hose goes from horizontal to vertical on passenger side. The problem or defect is that it's manufcatured about two inches too high and doesn't meet the frame where it should and that's why they fail. For about five cents you can save some trouble.

Oh, changed over from Mobil1 to RoyalPurple

 

[Xman]

westell

I couldn't directly see this. Do you have to take the skid shield off to see it?

I'm changing over to Royal Purple this weekend - bow to stern - 5W30/Syncromax/85W140. I've used Mobile 1 in my prior LS1 and Vortec5300 but am concerned Mobil is cutting corners with their new marketing blitz and have too many product lines. I was going to do Amsoil but they never compare themselves to RP, and while trying to sort out the issues with what fluid to use in the differential and tranny - just decided to go RP throughout - engineered to not use friction modifiers and tranny oil gets good marks from others. Decided to use K&N filters because they have such good flow-rates, as much as 2x your everyday filters.

I'll try and remember to take some pictures of this hose when I do the oil this weekend.

 

[Xman]

westell - my a/c hose that runs along the radiator is not touching metal and the extra foam piece that you said was 2-inches out of place is protecting if from chaffing with two fluid lines just forward of the compressor. You might check out some other GTOs and see if your line was routed incorrectly to begin with.

 

[Subdriver]

I was going to do Amsoil but they never compare themselves to RP...

Xman,
AMSOIL has started to do just that. I'm hoping to see a motor oil comparision with Royal Purple in it soon.

AMSOIL just reformulated its motorcycle line and submitted the oil to an independent lab for testing against several top motorcycle oils, including Royal Purple:
Motorcycle Oil Comparison
:cheers

 

[Groucho]

It would be nice to have the luxury of changing my oil every 3000miles, but with my commute that would mean an oil change every 2-1/2 weeks. Not gonna happen, obviously. I'm running Mobil 1 and changing ~6-7k miles...but even that is getting kind of cost prohibitive. I think I'm going to start changing my own oil again and switching to Amsoil XL 5W-30 and Amsoil filters...

I'd like to know how the engine is holding up, however, and so an oil analysis every 30k miles or so might not be a bad idea.

BTW how often should tranny & diff fluid get changed? My commute (mostly high speed from sea level, over a 4500' mountain, then down into slow traffic) is probably fairly tough on these...

 

[Subdriver]

BTW how often should tranny & diff fluid get changed? My commute (mostly high speed from sea level, over a 4500' mountain, then down into slow traffic) is probably fairly tough on these...

Groucho,
This is a tough one and I've seen it debated many different ways. AMSOIL recently reformulated its best gear lube. In reading about this reformulation, it seems the industry is coming to believe the most severe gear lube application is high performance cars like our vice long haul trucking. Seems diffs in street cars, particularly ones like ours, see pretty extreme conditions: high heat intake from the exhaust running right by them, low airflow (hence no cooling), small fluid volume, high RPM, etc. AMSOIL rates this new gear lube, which is designed for this severe application, for 50,000 miles in severe duty, which I feel is reaasonable for our cars. Personally I fail a little conservative on this and change my diff fluids at 30k (my Vette I change it every 8 track days or so).
AMSOIL Severe Gear Extreme Pressure Synthetic 75w140

Tranny fluid is a similar thought. AMSOIL rates its ATF for triple the manufacturers rating which again is slightly outside my own comfort margin. I change my tranny fluid also at 30k. I've reached 30k on my F350, but not my wife's Trailblazer yet. Again, my Vette gets tranny fluid changes every 8 track days or so.
AMSOIL ATF

Given how many miles you put on your car, you might consider this oil from AMSOIL which meets the manufacturers specs, is warrantied by AMSOIL, and rated for 35k or one year. I'd suggest you start slowly and change the oil at 12,500 miles which is what AMSOIL rates their filters for. That's double what you are getting now, but still fairly conservative given what the oil is rated for. Once you are comfortable, particularly if you do some used oil analysis, you will probably be able to comfortably extend that further.
AMSOIL Series 2000 0w30
:cheers