chaosdsm

Today is maintenance day, & today's maintenance is: Air Filter change & Oil change which I always do at the same time.. I'll eventually get a K&N air filter (in time for next change), but for now, I just picked up an STP since no one around here carries the correct K&N air filter. The Castrol Edge extended mileage was only $3 more than Mobile 1, & I've always had good luck with Castrol, so that's what I'm using. Also picked up a nice new torque wrench which will stay in the car as a lug wrench!!!



Anyway, I noticed a few things as I was starting to take the shroud off to get to the air cleaner.

First, the shroud was only held on at one of the 3 points. Seems odd, but whatever. After reading the Hayes manual, & checking out a couple vid's on youtube, I decided to skip a couple steps & do things a little different. I disconnected the air intake at the shroud instead of at the fender, & the other hose at the shroud as well so I wouldn't have to remove the hose from the PCV valve. Of course that was only after trying for several minutes to remove it from the PCV valve only to end up splitting it Fortunately, the split is only about 1/8" long & doesn't go past the clamp point, so not a must fix now thing.



Must Fix??? OR can they wait???

The rear gromets on the housing look fine, it just appears that the left side wasn't pushed down. You can tell by the difference in dust coverage on both studs that it's probably been loose at least as long as I've had the car.


But the front gromet is was on the stud instead of attached to the housing, & fell apart when I tried to remove it.


How quickly should I worry about replacing this? It's been riding with just one point held down at least since I've owned it. But I think this may have contributed to this next thing....

Fresh air intake hose is broken in several spots. I'll just tape it up for now, but is it supposed to be made out of felt??? Will a decent tape job suffice, or do I need a new one as soon as I can afford it??? It seems kind of flimsy.




It's split at the fender as well

Oh well, gonna go finish what I can & check back when done.

donbrew

That is not a PCV valve. It is an elbow. It should not leak! Why did you want to disconnect it?

Tape the intake hose up, I used metallic duct tape (not duck tape). It is best to pull it out of the fender leave it attached to the filter housing.

I don't know what you are calling a "shroud".

The grommets that hold the air filter housing down attach to the housing (3 of them) the other leg has a rubber bumper, it just rides on the valve cover.

I think that if you can find it the Mobil1 Extended Life is more expensive. The important thing is DEXOS certification on the bottle.

I'll move this to the "maintenance" forum, since this is not a service problem.

chaosdsm

That's what the directions in the Haynes manual AND the owners manual say. "page 6-26 Owners manual" 1. Disconnect the MAF sensor, PCV hose, & both ducts.

shroud = cover or in this case the top of the air filter housing.

I know... only 1 was actually pushed onto the stud that the grommets seat onto, & a 2nd was dry rotted & not even attached to the filter housing as per my description & photos.

Not last night, it was $25.99 (sale price) at wallyworld, the Castrol was $28.62. It does have the Dexos & GM6094M standards printed on the bottle.

Considering how flimsy this hose is, wouldn't it be better to disconnect at the filter housing so you're not flopping it around & breaking it??? IMO, it's even easier than pulling it from the fender.

I also found a small hole in the filter housing on the intake side, roughly 1/8" diameter oval, not a big deal as it can be easily patched.


Well, oil should be drained by now, so back at it!

Silverfox

I think that if you can find it the Mobil1 Extended Life is more expensive. The important thing is DEXOS certification on the bottle.


Don,

I have been told by several GM people that Dexos is only required for the 2011 HHR's and in fact they still recommend the standard 5/30 mineral oil for 2006-2010 models.

I use Mobil Super Premium 5/30 in my 2010 and Mobil Super Synthetic 5/30 Dexos approved in my 2011.

I personally do not use life extended oil as I prefer to change fluids and filters more often unless most all mileage is hiway driving.

I have had 2 GM service departments improperly remove and replace the Air Filter and in the process I developed bad vibration noises. Found out in one case they bent the upper support bracket and the other case they damaged and left out a couple of the bumpers. Just plain non observant and careless.

SF

donbrew

Not if the factory installed hose clamp is still on it. The way it is supposed to fit you can't get to the screw head. If you just grab the rubber neck and compress it, it comes out of the fender fairly easily.

I have no idea why they would want to disconnect the PCV hose, I always disconnect the air tube from the filter, not the throttle body. That way I don't worry about dropping stuff into the TB.

I was emphasizing "Extended Life", Mobil1 has an Extended Life also (about $3 a qt more). I think they claim 12,000 miles on the can. That's good the Oil Life Monitor goes about 12,000 miles, coincidence?

Don't use "high mileage" oil! It is bad for good seals and bad for catalytic converters if you have bad seals.

donbrew

GM put out a TSB upgrading the recommendation of DEXOS to all vehicles at about the same time they developed the specification. It really doesn't matter since almost all syn and semi-syn are indeed DEXOS.

They also retroed ALL Automatic Transmissions to the synthetic DexVI via a TSB. Or, at least, the modern ones.

If you go to a good parts store and ask "what oil?" they will find a note "see TSB xxxxx", most don't bother reading that.

http://www.revbase.com/BBBMotor/TSb/...dPdf?id=177600
For those afraid of links:
"GM dexos
1™ Engine Oil
Specification
Important:
General Motors dexos
1™ engine oil specification replaces the previous G
eneral
Motors specifications GM6094M, GM4718M and GM-LL-A-
025 for most GM gasoline engines.The
oil specified for use in GM passenger cars and truc
ks, PRIOR to the 2011 model year remains
acceptable for those previous vehicles. However, de
xos
1™ is backward compatible and can be
used in those older vehicles. "

Oldblue

Bushings And the wooley worm part numbers are in here


https://www.chevyhhr.net/forums/comm...-part-i-48833/

Silverfox

Specification
Important:
General Motors dexos
1™ engine oil specification replaces the previous G
eneral
Motors specifications GM6094M, GM4718M and GM-LL-A-
025 for most GM gasoline engines.The
oil specified for use in GM passenger cars and truc
ks, PRIOR to the 2011 model year remains
acceptable for those previous vehicles. However, de
xos
1™ is backward compatible and can be
used in those older vehicles. "

__________________
That's interesting.
I guess the change info to Dexos 1 specs has not gotten to all their dealers yet.
One of the main problems with the Original Dexos was the effects on engine seals in 2010 and earlier models.

Also I just came from Orielly's auto parts to pick up a battery strap and took a quick look at the Mobil 1 and Mobil Super Synthetic.
They only have the Dexos label on the 5/30 and 5/20 oil. Not on the 0/40, 0/20, 10/30
Too much confusion.
SF

chaosdsm

The factory clamp has a notch in it that aligns the clamp bolt backwards, but still easily accessible. I'm easily able to loosen/tighten it with a 1/4" socket & my fingers.



The Castrol is supposedly good for 15,000 miles, & I stay away from "high mileage" oil.

Also going to get rid of the stock intake hose, & replace with this:

Semi-rigid Flexible Aluminum Duct with a Spectre 90deg elbow; strong, light weight, won't fall apart, & it's shiny Oh & it cost less than $30!

RJ_RS_SS_350

I've been googling this and I can't find any information. Can you point me to something, SF?