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Older S-10's
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Comments
The brakes seem a little touchy now. My right front caliper seems to lock up pretty quick. My brake fluid is dirtier than sin even after adding all new fluid in the front half of the master cylinder. In spring, I'm going to completely redo the brakes all around so I only have to live with it for a few more months.
i sold my s-10 today. a guy gave me $2,500 for it. he's going to use it for fishing trips and such, so it's going to be happy in its old age- its definitely used to fishing trips! lol
i am going to give the guy the url here and we can see how long it will run and maybe get another addict to our group here. should be interesting. update- the shimmy in first gear has gone since the tightening of those bolts. the mechanic said if there was a problem at all, it could be a little something off kilter in the tranny. well, apparently there is nothing at all "off kilter" because the shimmy had vanished and it runs like new. i hope its new owner gets another hundred thousand out of her. i will stick around and chat with you guys, even though i dont own it anymore...think of me as a FUTURE older s-10 owner.
I have now put almost 9500 miles on mine since I bought it this past summer. It has 143,9xx miles on it now. Running great since I had the cat converter replaced.
tom
It was the cat. convt. right?
Drive Happy!.............Geo
Thanks again! That puppy is running fine now.
tom
I now have an anifreeze leak, though. It has leaked ever since I had the water pump replaced, so I'll take it back to the boys at the shop down the road who changed the pump for me. I'm sure they will take care of it for me.
tom
I had them put some new brake pads on the front for me while they had the truck. They said the rotors were in real good shape and didn't need to be turned. Also said I caught it just at the right time, because there wasn't much left of the old pads, but they hadn't gotten down to the point that they were scarring the rotor.
tom
It may be downshifing too late, and this would cause your engine to bog down. This could even be a computer problem, since the shifting of the modern day auto trannies is computer controlled.
tom
so its just a adjustment huh? well under the hood is a sticker that says the PCM was repleced already. (powertrain control module). sounds like a frequent problem. maybe itll happen again and i can get a new FX4 or something, under the lemon law...lol yeah right.
I am so happy with that truck! I've had to have a few things taken care of, but they have been things that you could only expect an old truck like that to need. These things included the following:
Front and Rear U-Joints
Heater Fan
Water Pump
Fan Clutch
Catalytic Converter
I bought the truck with tax, license, and all for $2450, and it has probably already paid for itself by keeping those 10K miles from being put on my 2001 Jeep Wrangler Sport.
It runs as smooth as a sewing machine, gets great gas mileage, and it is all a guy could ask for in a work truck.
tom
I'll bet you love to hear stuff like I and others here have posted about our high mileage S-10's being so reliable. I love to hear about people with over 200K on their S-10's. I sure plan on getting all the mileage that I can out of mine.
That was sure a lucky find on your part, getting one with so few miles on it.
Oh, I don't know what to tell you about your wiring harness, but I have heard that the people at www.crutchfield.com are real nice and offer lots of advice. They may even have an adapter that will work.
tom
Yep my mom sold her 87 blazer in may of 2000. She ordered it factory new in 1986. To this day she still talks about it. We see it occasionally. Sold it when it had 135K on it. Never had any problems
91 2wd 4.3L - 157k miles (50k on engine #2)
Right now, I have a set of air adjustable shocks on the rear of the trunk and they were ok for a few years but they leak now and are starting to bother me. I tow a 1700# trailer quite often so I need a set of shocks that can handle a decent load and keep the rear off the ground. I kinda get sick of putting air into the air adjustable shocks so I am looking for a standard heavy duty shock. Any suggestions?
HMMM $58 a tire isnt bad. I live 1.5 hrs away wouldnt be a bad deal and also a friend of mine can get a small discount there
tom
My friend also has a S10, I have good tires, Michelins, and he uses sand bags in the bed.
I only slide around when I want to!
Does your truck have positraction?
As long as I'm here, I will tell you that my little truck has over 146K miles on it now, and I have personally put over 12K on it since I bought it last summer.
Still looking and running great! Love it!
Tom
Only new problem to report is a minor (but frustrating) electrical problem. My dome light went out and I can't seem to get it fixed. I replaced the bulb but that didn't help. Got out the volt meter and no juice getting to the light. The lights at the floor level light up which are on the same circuit as the dome so a fuse isn't the problem.
Oh well, if I get some time I will be tracing the wiring and trying to find an answer.
Tom
trouble free miles ! Hes hauling winter
debris to the dump today !
Yup, Hard working, long lastin, Chevys !
Stay cool dude !...Geo
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Nothing new to report, but my little truck has over 147,000 on it now and is still doing great.
Let's have some posting!
Tom
at 75,000 miles. Had to do tranny work at 180,000 (spun O/D gear) and replaced clutch. Other than the fact that body is showing lots of rust since the original owner lived at Mass. shore, can say this truck has been great. Used it to plow the NY snow and with the 4.3liter and 4 wheel,and it definetly kept upwith the big boys. Kept telling my wife, let's get through this winter, let's hit 200,000 miles etc. but we made both of them and it still goes. Lots of minor things like, a stuck drivers window, broken lock cylinder etc. but this has been a great machine. Since I work construction, I'm not too concerned about its' esthetics just as long it gets me the 60 miles I drive daily to work.
PS. With the oil filter so eaily accessed, oil changes at every 2,000 seems like the least I could do. Other things repaired: heater core, water pump.
These S10s are great little trucks, aren't they. You said you read all the posts, so you know that my '89 is in fantastic condition and I got a killer deal on it last summer.
I absolutely love it and couldn't ask for a better work truck. Hardly ever haul anything, but pickups are sure handy once in a while.
Tom
My little truck rolled over on 148,000 miles the other day. It's still running great, and I just took it on a business trip of close to 200 miles one way.
I haven't checked gas mileage for that trip yet, but the previous tank checked out at 25.3 MPG.
I drove 70 to 75 MPH with the A/C on most of the trip, but I'll bet I still got 27 ot 28 MPG. I will fill up later today and will post the gas mileage.
I think the oil consumption, which was only about one half to three quarters of a quart between changes, has gotten better since I switched to Valvoline Max Life oil.
Catch you guys later.
Tom
P.S. For those who don't know me or know about my truck, I have an '89 S-10 SWB regular cab pickup with the 2.8 V6 and a five speed tranny. I bought it on 7/16/01 when it had 134,502 miles on it.
Tom
Anyway, ever since swapping the engine I've had the following problem(s): 1) the A/C doesn't get nearly as cool as it used to. I don't know if this has anything to do with the shop's requirement to swap the R-12 with enviro-friendlier R-34. 2) with the A/C going, the compressor is constantly (every 2 seconds or so) kicking in an out. I think this is part of the problem with #3. 3) when stopped at a stop light, or even while in park, every so often it feels like someone is running in to me, like a big "miss" in the engine or something. Battery is fine, alternator is fine. I think if the constant on and off switching of the compressor were fixed then all might be well. Maybe I just need to refill the R-34? Any suggestions or advice would be nice. And, if its refillinig the freon, yes I know - don't try this at home.
Thanks,
NT
I haven't been brave enough to try and switch to R-134A yet. Hopefully the old R-12 will hold on for two more years before I dump my truck.
-Rob
I have been told that the system probably needs to be charged, but I have just never gotten around to it. I have heard that it is really expensive to have it filled with the old refridgerant, and that if I have it converted to the new stuff, it will be even more expensive and will not cool as well as it does with the old stuff.
I know it is not good for the A/C to run it low on refridgerant, so I need to get something done before using it all summer.
Tom
neil
Also, does your AC cool as well with the new stuff as it did with the R12?
Thanks
Tom
R-134a costs as little as $3 per 12 ounce can, but even at wholesale levels, R-12 costs as much as $25-40 per pound. Most systems require from 2-6 pounds of freon. If a dealer kept R-12 in your system, but in 30 days you developed a leak and he has to fix it under warranty, guess who pays? He does.....
Chances are, when he did your A/C system, he put new hoses or had the rubber parts of the old hoses replaced, so the rest of the conversion usually consists of a flush, new oil, new O-rings and a few other extras. If your condenser wasn't big enough for R-134a, he wouldn't have done the conversion in the first place.
Most conversions to R-134a these days are virtually invisible to the customer if a quality shop is doing the work. The secret is having a tech who knows how to work and fine tune a system using R-134a for the best performance, having a good fan and a condenser large enough to handle the heat.
Good luck!
Joe
It was a r-12 system. The refrige repair
guy used something called "hot shot".
Its a r-12 substitute ! Cooler works fine !
Not sure of the mfr. tho......geo
ntaylor
If they lied to you once, and it sounds like they are about to pull the ol' bait-and-switch once your truck is in their service bay, why use them?
Find a good independent shop you can BELIEVE! There's enough liars and used car salesmen posing as service writers in this business without giving them more of your money. If you DO go somewhere else, be sure and call the former shop and tell the manager why you took your business somewhere else.
By the way, I just had a leak fixed in my 2000 S-10. It was the O-ring going into the accumulator. If they claim a component is leaking, ask them to check or replace the O-rings first unless they are sure it is a hard part that has failed. O-rings are cheap to replace when compared to hard parts. If you can get into the shop and have the technician show you the leak, notice if his freon detector goes off when he is around a hard part, or if it goes off when it is near a connector. If the connection is leaking, you may only need a new seal or O-ring.
Joe
Duped or just stupid? Right now I feel a little of both. I may regret not converting. If things go wrong w/ the A/C I will probably just let it go. Afterall, its going to be my kids' car in a couple of years, and I'm sure that any wheels, A/C or not, will be more than acceptable to them. (The '62 Buick Special I drove in H.S. had 460 A/C - - 4 windows down and go 60 mph)
My next job is stripping and painting the hood. Anyone recommend a good paint stripper? I plan to do this in my garage on top of plastic/tarp.
Have a good day!
ntaylor
I'd use chemical strip on the hood. Zip Strip or Bix. Messy but you get a real smooth finish to paint over.
Also thanks for the tip on the chemical strip. I definitely wasn't going to sand, but I really didn't have any idea of what stripper to go with. Can you tell me if these are generally available?
(The cracking paint is actually the result of another mediocre warranty job way back when. I am much more impressed with the factory paint and finish jobs I'm seeing nowadays)
ntaylor
My S10 rolled over on 149K on a short business trip yesterday, and I got 27.9 MPG for the trip! I was driving 70 to 75 MPH with the AC on too. I have the 2.8 V6 and a five speed in an '89 S10 SWB two wheel drive pickup.
Gotta love 'em.
Tom