visited the dealership today...not 100% sure on everything

[purduecrew]

Well, took the "new to me" CC in today to have the following looked at:

Thin paint on drivers door and front fender in the body line crease that goes down the center of the door and over the wheel well. Told me that the panels were obviously factory original but paint is only 36/36000, so i was like ok, but i still dont know why i can see the gray primer underneath, thats kind of sad.
http://i26.photobucket.com/albums/c113/ ... 0_1208.jpg


second, pointed out the failing paint on the hood...same thing as paint on fenders...
http://i26.photobucket.com/albums/c113/ ... 0_1211.jpg

third they told me the oil cooler lines are leaking, no surprise really. what kind of price should this cost me to get fixed???

and lastly, went in to have the exhaust system checked under warranty, because I am getting really sad mileage, and the truck is bone stock. It does have new fuel filter, air filter, plugs, wires, cap, rotor, and ran some good system cleaner through it. I also cleaned all the snot out of the TB, and thats about it. They didnt seem to think anything was wrong with the emissions equipment.

any imput on any part of this?? truck is an 03, with 75000 miles

[jeff024]

what kinda mpg are you getting?

[purduecrew]

well i was getting around 14-15 on the interstate, at 75 mph avg, with stock size tires and 3.42's

[barch97]

that doesn't sound terribly out of line with the typical mpg.

[Blaze One]

that 2nd picture you posted , Ihave the exact same thing on my hood of my blazer .
But your milleage seems to be about the norm . maybe a little worse , but no more than 1-2mpg at most .
The 4.3L engines are not known to be the best on gas . Especially if you are comparing them to a Import V6 .

[snocat1]

I thought the paint was coverd for longer than that.

[killian96ss]

they told me the oil cooler lines are leaking, no surprise really. what kind of price should this cost me to get fixed???

Try to determine where the oil cooler lines are leaking. You might just need some new o-rings instead of the cooling lines.

I am getting really sad mileage, and the truck is bone stock.

14-15 mpg is not horrible, but not great either. My average mileage with 3.73 gears and the mods I have listed below is 17-18 mpg. My best was 21 mpg, but that was on a long highway trip with the cruise set at 75 mph. I think a lot of people here assume that CC's with 3.42 gears get better gas mileage. I do not believe this is entirely true. A truck with 3.73 gears will get better city mileage because the lower gear ratio helps get the truck moving easier that a set of 3.42 gears and will use less gas as a result, however 3.42 gears should get better highway mileage because the rpms are lower and will use less gas than 3.73's.

Steve

[bwenny247]

i think the best i ever squeeeezed out was around 18 on the freeway. 75 MPH and 3.42's bone stock.
it all depeneds on hills, drafting, head winds, side winds, tail winds, speed varience, passing etc etc etc

might try a tonneau cover for aerodynamic purposes
i believe the stock numbers where something like 15 MPG city 20 MPG highway

[HenryJ]

...i believe the stock numbers where something like 15 MPG city 20 MPG highway

My window sticker says 15 city 18 highway.
I have been consistently in that range. Worst 14 best 23 , but that was before correcting the speedometer that was off 3 mph as delivered.
With a corrected speedometer my best was just over 20 mpg after making the switch to 33's.

[kermit]

what kills the mileage is acceleration (which is terrible) when the truck goes 'gear hunting'

[purduecrew]

ya thats what ive been hearing on this mileage, it just seems that is goes by as fast as the 69 cutlass that has 120 more cubic inches, and makes twice as much power.... and ya the paint he said was 36/36,000. he said rust through is 100,000 miles.