Chevy & GMC Vans

I uncovered this f*cking nightmare:







#-o

97CargoCrawler wrote:I uncovered this f*cking nightmare:







#-o

what made you open it up?

if i may advise, change the thermostat to 165, head gaskets no longer blow.

Overheating, coolant loss, running like shit and a milky lookin' dipstick! All bad news. No smoke out the tailpipe so I'm hoping its not a head gasket...though I know once you overheat bad enough good ones go bad. I overheated pretty good more than once before I parked it.

Time for a V8 swap!

got my H3 wheels mounted up...yee haa!

I cursed at it for hours.

97CargoCrawler wrote:I uncovered this f*cking nightmare:







#-o

Looks like it could just be intake gaskets. A victim of DEX-COOL anti freeze I'm sure.

Anyone who still has that Orange crap in their cooling system is flirting with disaster!

Problem is if it was run for any time with the coolant in the oil (which it looks like it has) I would drop the pan and inspect the bearings.

Got one of the Big Three upgrade done.

ABS strikes again.

I'm going home from work, and the driver in front of me abruptly decides to brake at an intersection. I slam on my brakes but it's too late. The road is wet, ABS kicks in, and I roll right into him. Enough to rock his SUV but not move it. Damage is very minor. I lost some paint off my bumper valence, but I checked underneath and the metal isn't deformed. The paint I lost got mashed onto his metal bumper, but again, no deformation. I'm going to pay for the repair claim out of my pocket. He mentioned he used to work for auto insurance, so I hope he doesn't take me for a ride.

So far ABS has been more of a bain than a help, and I'm seriously considering yanking the fuse permanently. It just seems way too sensitive. I wish it could be turned down. What are your experiences with it? Is anybody happy with their ABS?

1Gary wrote:Got one of the Big Three upgrade done.

I'm gonna Rule 6B you on that one, Gary. I just want to see what it looks like.

Spent $260 on: 31 quarts of oil, 3 quarts of engine flush, 4 oil filters, cap and rotor, engine belt, distributor gasket and 2 gallons of coolant. Also received my JET DST programmer for adjusting my shift points and all around tweaking....that is if my van ever runs again.

I also cleaned the intake and installed new valve cover gaskets. Still a long way to go before I can start the engine and see if she's gonna recover.

timelessbeing wrote:ABS strikes again.

I'm going home from work, and the driver in front of me abruptly decides to brake at an intersection. I slam on my brakes but it's too late. The road is wet, ABS kicks in, and I roll right into him. Enough to rock his SUV but not move it. Damage is very minor. I lost some paint off my bumper valence, but I checked underneath and the metal isn't deformed. The paint I lost got mashed onto his metal bumper, but again, no deformation. I'm going to pay for the repair claim out of my pocket. He mentioned he used to work for auto insurance, so I hope he doesn't take me for a ride.

So far ABS has been more of a bain than a help, and I'm seriously considering yanking the fuse permanently. It just seems way too sensitive. I wish it could be turned down. What are your experiences with it? Is anybody happy with their ABS?

I despise the ABS on these vans for that exact reason. A couple weeks ago I was getting on an entrance ramp to the highway in light rain. about 5 vehicles ahead, an explorer fishtailed into the guardrail. everyone hit their brakes. When I hit mine, the van began to slide alot (I was only doing about 10 or 15 mph). I realized it wasn't going to stop in time. I cranked the wheel all the way to the right, let off the brakes, blipped the gas pedal and held on. I missed the vehicle in front by an inch at the most and ended up wiping out across the triangle shaped island at the beginning of the ramp (pretty much drifted across it back into traffic.) Thankfully there was only one vehicle remotely close to me on the road I drifted onto, and they came to a stop in a hurry (Imagine driving along and seeing a conversion van wipe out and head straight towards you). thankfully no damage occurred to my van.
I have to say though that even without ABS, you're pretty much screwed if its raining. these vans just dont stop well in inclement weather, especially in an emergency situation.

One of these days I need to perform a braking experiment, because I'm convinced that my ABS sometimes increases stopping distance. Even the insurance claim agent said some systems work great on dry pavement, but they're terrible in anything but perfect weather. And lets not forget the deadly results when the sensor wheel becomes, heaven forbid, rusty.

Kev,I want to post a two part answer to the ABS situation.I do think pulling the fuse helps a ton.With the brake upgrade we all have talked about the vans stopping power on my 1994 LT is out standing.And I am saying that knowing the rear brakes need service.But,while putting spark plugs in the driver's wheel well,I looked at the rotor on that side.What I found is the over size pads have done a fair job wearing down the new stock rotor within a yr.Also the aftermarket rotors applied to Astro's did not get a good review from members here either.So along with service to the rear brakes,I am going to replace the rotors and pads again.So it works,but at a cost.

I pulled the grille off and started trying to figure out how I should cut and weld the custom one that I'm trying to build.

Btw, my ABS doesn't seem to work at all. If I slam on the brakes the wheels lock. I wanted to fix that, but after reading what I just read I don't think I will.