Repair-It

Good news! The Ranger passed safety and emissions at Tire Pros. There also was no mystery bulb replacement. While I was picking it up, I saw them performing a ball joint lube job on a GMT-800 GMC Yukon. I like seeing that because front end lube is the kind of a thing a shop can easily say they did, save 10 minutes and charge the customer anyway. But onto the main post content:

Here's a little historical comparison of all of the emissions test results I have for the Ranger.

2/22/10 @ 74,139 miles
HC 0.39 / 3.88 GPM
CO 0.56 / 59.97 GPM
NOx 0.46 / 4.09 GPM

2/17/12 @ 87,402 miles
HC 0.25 / 3.88 GPM
CO 1.23 / 59.97 GPM
NOx 0.82 / 4.09 GPM

2/15/14 @ 87,852 miles
HC 0.42 / 3.88 GPM
CO 3.01 / 59.97 GPM
NOx 0.69 / 4.09 GPM

CO got a lot worse. May not have been fully warmed up. But it went from 0.9% of the limit in 2010 to 5% of the limit in 2014.

Actually I was about to post my Caprice's results and limits but annoying, because my Caprice couldn't dyno test the previous few times, the idle results are based on PPM for HC and % for CO. But I do have the limits for the last dyno test it ran in 2009.

HC limit: 2.25 GPM
CO limit: 23.74 GPM
NOx limit: 3.25 GPM

I don't know how granular the standards get but I can compare a 91 Ranger w/ 2.3L 4 cylinder to a 93 Caprice w/ V8.

Truck HC limit: 1.72x higher
Truck CO limit: 2.53x higher
Truck NOx limit: 1.26x higher

I can also make a comparison to the last time it ran on the dyno, at least, in 2009.
HC 1.71 / 2.25 GPM
CO 13.91 / 23.74 GPM
NOx 1.39 / 3.25 GPM

So there you go. The Ranger has higher limits than my Caprice but is significantly cleaner. Hooray?

The GMT800 was the final GMT series with grease fittings on the ball joints.

400 miles in 2 years! I thought I was failing to use the Elise enough!

Bob wrote:The GMT800 was the final GMT series with grease fittings on the ball joints.

I wonder if a GMT-900 owner has ever been charged for a chassis lube then.

Generally, chassis lubes are part of an oil change, if required. Dealers usually have fixed rates for these depending on the amount of oil required. Not having to lube chassis joints just saves the technician time since he usually gets 0.3 or so for the job regardless of what he has to do, including the "vehicle inspection report" or "courtesy check" that comes with it. The bill probably says LOF, includes filter, up to X quarts of oil, 25-point safety check, and chassis lube (if required).

Maybe at the dealer routine maintenance is taken more seriously.

Jiffy Lube, for example, is notorious.

Here's some videos.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v5cmvhvteNw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MsLKNdebB6Q
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SfUJfNljvD8

kevm14 wrote:Maybe at the dealer routine maintenance is taken more seriously.

Only if they want to sell you other stuff. Which they do. So, yes.