| Author | Message | ||
     Wolfridgerider |
Just got one of these to haul the bike to and from the track. My father-in-law passed away a few months ago and my mother-in-law doesn't drive. She was/is kind enough to pass it on to my wife and I for our trips to the track. My question is, What do I need to look for? What goes wrong with a Chevy van? I have never owned a Chevy so I don't know what common problems they have. I believe its a '94 and it has about 122,000 miles on it.  | ||
| Deadduck |
just the typical problems, alternator, hoses and tires....keep the oil fresh and she'll pretty much run forever | ||
| Buellfighter |
Had one I used hauling my motocrosser to the races. Had it set up for camping, tools race parts, partying  , etc etc. Only had an alternator go out. Man that van was fun. | ||
| No_rice |
its a chevy, nothing will ever go wrong with it. now if it was a ford... well... im not sure what WOULDNT go wrong with it... lol. seriously though, its probably a 350 V8 which are almost indestructable. the weak point will be the transmission. probably a 700r4 4speed auto. they do NOT like to tow alot of weight. the fluid passage ways were to small and restricted the flow which burnt up the trans. usually it was caused by trying to tow something to heavy or up and down the hills in overdrive and it constantly shifting. put it in drive and go and you should be able to avoid that for the most part though. change the fluid and filter, and put a good trans cooler on it. not sure if that would have had one built in at the factory. unless it manages to have a 350 or 400 turbo in it, then those trans are almost indestructable too. | ||
| Etennuly |
I have had a few of them back in the day. The valve covers will leak, the front crank seal will leak, the rear transmission seal will leak, the rear axle seals will leak, you will need to repack the front wheel bearings and replace the U-joints if they are the non grease-able type. Replace all of the fan belts if it hasn't been done. Check all vacuum hoses and fuel lines for cracking. Only one ever stopped on the trail(twice in three years). Gas tank vent to charcoal cannister plugged up. When it quit on Interstate 81 at the Big Walker tunnel I loosened the gas cap to a big woosh noise, and made it about five more miles before the diaphragm in the fuel pump died. Hitched a ride to get a fuel pump at a NAPA twenty miles away. Second time fan belts left me. All of them. I 75, five miles from the nearest exit. I did a McGiver thing with a piece of rope to get the water pump to turn. Made the next exit in time for a closing Chevrolet dealer to sell me three belts. Never clean out the van, you never know when a three foot piece of boat anchor rope will come in handy! Carry a complement of tools. Except for the drivers foot well being shared with the engine they are a very comfortable ride. I did over a hundred thousand in that last one and it had a hundred forty on it when I got it. | ||
| Citified |
my 9s fit in my moms astro van if I removed the mirrors! | ||
| U4euh |
+1 on everything No_Rice said, to a T! The only other thing I would do is, IF it is a TBI model, go ahead and replace the intake fuel pump and strainer. Every 94-98 model Chevy truck I have owned, the fuel pump went out between 130-150,000 miles. | ||
| Tom_b |
good tips on the trans. Just good regular maintenance will get a lot of miles. had a 95 that had 260,000 miles and still ran when sold it | ||
| Cataract2 |
Hey! It's the bang bus!!! The shaggin wagon. | ||
| Wolfridgerider |
Yeah BABY!! YEAH!! | ||
| Jimidan |
I still have my G20 built in 1982, which I bought in '87. I have rebuilt the body twice, exchanged the motor to a 350 4-bolt main (cost $1200 delivered), had the T350 tranny rebuilt 3 times and then replaced once with a factory refurbished one in Daytona during Bike Week (blew the pump), and fallen in love in it 6 times. If my van is rockin'...don't come knockin'. I have pulled a 21' cuddy cabin boat all over the East in it and never had a lick of trouble. I have hauled 5 kayakers and gear (kayaks stacked on top) all over Canada, and the Southeast for years. You never have to worry about bears when you are in this truck...there is real metal in it (6,000 lbs empty). The van has very little rust on it still, and drives like new except for a little play in the steering wheel. I could probably take that out of it if I wanted to, but it isn't worth the trouble, as with $4 a gallon gas (for now...projected to be $7 by winter), it isn't going to be driven much for here on out. She gets about 12 in town and 15 on the road...you do the math. | ||
| Wolfridgerider |
I have never seen rust on a oil dipstick.... until tonight.... The oil pressure is so high, its off the scale. I pulled the dipstick and its covered in rust. After several reps of the old in, out and wipe. I could finally see the oil level.... it looks like it may have a extra quart or two in there. Oil change is on the VERY short list. | ||
| Teddagreek |
Needs a bumper sticker...  | ||
| Danger_dave |
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| Ulywife |
Wolf, if it has the same motor as my 94 Suburban, it will run for a good long while providing you take care of it and keep up with maintenance. My truck has 189,000 miles and I'm planning for 300,000...think I'll make it? | ||
| Wolfridgerider |
think I'll make it? You'll make it! Carlos may need to push it with the Uly, But you'll make it! | ||
| Jimidan |
Nice ride Danger Dave. Mine has over 300,000...I am not sure how many as I drove it with the speedo broken for 3 years. | ||
| Sarodude |
I had an Astro a number of years back. It was a 1988 1/2 passenger 1/2 cargo sorta thing. It had seats for 5 - but this bare, rubber floor dealie instead of carpet. Oh, and it was one of very few Astros built with a 5 speed manual. It was my race vehicle. My music vehicle. It was also the center of a number of interesting road trip stories. Vans are awesome. Someone just needs to figure out that what we need is a revival of the VW van - small, cheap, and SIMPLE, please. I don't mean the current VW making a van and calling it a MicroBus. I mean someone REALLY spiritually carrying on where VW stopped. -Saro | ||
| Thumper74 |
Wolf... we could paint it like the A-team van... Finding a pair of mag wheels shouldn't be too hard. Or... The Mystery Machine! | ||
| Wolfridgerider |
I was thinking about a coat-o-paint but it has a good bit of rust.... It may end up camo or flat black.... | ||
| Etennuly |
My eldest son had been driving for about two years when he and his neighborhood buddies thought their Ranger, S10, and Nissan pick ups with the coffee can mufflers were "motorhead machines". After a few months of their bla-bla-bla I couldn't take it any more. Since I had built a stock 400 sb that had been in my van for a couple of years, it became the tool to teach them what real motorheading was about. First was headers and side pipes, then a Crane hyd 485-310 cam with roller rockers, torquer intake, and a Holly 780. With the turbo 400, 3.08 gear, 7.5" wide radials on chrome rims, it wasn't exactly drag strip material, but in 1994 it was faster than a new stock Mustang GT 5 spd. in the eighth mile. I ran several passes at the Lakeland Drag strip and beat Chevelle's and Mustangs all but once. A guy had a new turbo Mustang. They all took issue with my 3/4 ton van with the narrow tires smoking them. They really didn't like it when I opened the side door and showed them my large heavy tool box, passenger seating, golf clubs, beach chairs and umbrella, etc. It was only half way through second gear across the line. Vans can be fun if you let them.  | ||
| Wolfridgerider |
33 gal. gas tank = $116.00 to fill up! OUCH!! SO.... how do I tighten up the steering? | ||
| Etennuly |
On what would be the top or upper front of the steering box there is a nut and a screw head in the middle of that nut. Back the nut off, turn the screw in, tighten the nut. Do not go in until it stops, that will be too tight. I found it is best to turn it in in half then quarter turn increments testing the free play each time. Then check and grease your tie rod ends, ball joints, control arm bushings and wheel bearings. Don't get your hands dirty!  | ||
| Damnut |
Ya need to get one of these........  | ||
| No_rice |
lol, thats funny, but its not the first time i've seen stuff like that. heck somewhere there is a pic of one of the new style beetles with a 4x4 atv parked on the roof sitting at an intersection. no roof rack or anything like that. it just looks like they drive it right on and off! i think i have the pic at home. | ||
| Gjwinaus |
That could not be good for structural integrity and imagine how horribly you would die in any sort of accident | ||
| Wolfridgerider |
Steering is good to go! NOW! how about the tranny. I was at a red light with my foot on the brake...... and then bump. I thought I got rear ended then it happened again and again..... Its like the whole thing surges forward just a tad... Whats up with that? | ||
| Ratbuell |
For the Honda pictured above? It's truly amazing what you can do with a sawzall, a few beverages, and boredom... My buddies and I have reduced parts car bodies to trash-can sized pieces in the space of about two cases of beer.... Pat's trash guys LOOOVE him... The trans in the van is probably starting to go. I'd do a service - don't flush it, just drain, filter, pan gasket and refill. See if the fluid is a nice mary kay pink, or if it's browning. The bumping is probably partial blockages in the valve body that build up, then pop free, then build up.... www.summitracing.com and www.jegs.com - either or both should have performance valve bodies and / or shift kits for the trans. Get a "towing" kit if they have one. They're pretty easy to ID by the pan shape IIRC...but I'm a Mopar guy, what do I know? Gotta second the "fast silly vehicle" stuff though. The "shaggin wagon" in college was my 72 Satellite 7 passenger. Factory 318/904, but I swapped that for a built 360 Magnum (right around 400hp) and a 727 with reverse-manual valve body and a floor mounted Hurst. Factory 8-3/4" suregrip stayed put, with 3.23 gears. Not only did we drive it to Key West and back four times (one trip back to Boyd's Campground from Duval Street had seventeen of us in the car, but that's another story for another time), but I'd drag race it every weekend just for grins. It carried its own support tools and slicks, and on pump gas right off the street (i.e. hot engine) it'd rip off 1.8 60' times and 13.40 ETs at over 110. Still have some of the timeslips around here somewhere.... Oh, and since it was a 7 passenger instead of a 9 passenger, the huge well under the trunk where the rear seat would have been was filled, half with a subwoofer and amp, and half with a waterproof "beverage transport"...all covered by the trunk "floor", a factory carpeted piece of 3/4" plywood on a piano hinge. Still got that car. Eventually I'll finish the "restification". Time and money...but my dream is either a fresh procharged smallblock, or a Viper V10 and six speed. Or for someone to sign me up for Overhaulin', LOL. Oh, and the van? Don't paint it. Just line-X the thing. Best thing I ever did to my Wrangler, and I'm considering it for our M35A2 Deuce-and-a-half... | ||
| Sgthigg |
+1 with no rice. Those years the chevrolete 305 and 350 vortec motors are really really good engines. In my opinion on some of the best years they made motors. I had a 96 1500 with the 305 vortec. 100000 miles and a alternator that is. Always changed the oil. If its bee well keps you could probaly get around 250k on the odometer as long as you treat it right. | ||
| Ghost_rider33 |
I have a 96 gmc pickup. It does the surge thing. I noticed that everytime it surges forward, the RPMs increase a little bit. The RPMs change even when it's not in gear. I believe it is an 02 sensor changing the idle mixture. Just my .02 |
