kyleag89 Posted January 21, 2011 Share Posted January 21, 2011 I will be looking for a Tahoe around 95-99 soon and was wondering if anyone here knew what to look for when buying used? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JACKED88 Posted January 21, 2011 Share Posted January 21, 2011 I will be looking for a Tahoe around 95-99 soon and was wondering if anyone here knew what to look for when buying used? TBI sucks!!! You want a 96 and up TPI. Other than that their good trucks. As with buying anything used, check all the usual things like if it'll pass emission test, exhaust smoke at cold start up, trans operation, trans fluid color and smell, oil leaks, exhaust system, front suspension/under carriage, brakes, check the brake peddle for excessive wear .......... you know the drill. We own a 95 with over 250K miles on it. The only major repair its ever needed was the trans having to be rebuilt at 170K. Only recently I rebuild the front suspension and steering components. Best advise ...... Be patient. You can find clean well maintained reasonably low mileage trucks if YOUR PATIENT. And ...... buy from an original owner who has or at least knows its maintenance history. Whenever you buy a used vehicle from an owner, have them drive the first few miles of the test drive giving you the opportunity to you focus all your attention on the vehicle. In doing so you should get a feel for how he/she drives the vehicle your looking to buy. Hope this helps. Good luck with it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
glundblad Posted January 21, 2011 Share Posted January 21, 2011 I have two of them but not the year you are looking at. One is a 2002 and the other is a 2003. Both have been very reliable with no mechanical issues and each have about 100k on them. I wrecked one with about 6000 miles on it. They are tanks. A lady pulled out in front of me. Her car was messed up pretty good and leaked fluid all over the road and needed to be towed. While mine was damaged, I drove on to work. Both of mine are Z71's which seemed to have a different suspension than the others I looked it. They were able to glide over our rough dirt road pretty well. Tahoes can tow quite a bit too. My only complaint on the later model ones is the paint on one of mine (the 2002) didnt seem to have enough paint on the door seams. Rust started there fairly quickly. I had them repainted so that was the end of it. The 2003 didnt have that problem. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kyleag89 Posted January 21, 2011 Author Share Posted January 21, 2011 Thanks for the input guys. Just found this one.. looks good I think I will go check it out. http://williamsport.craigslist.org/cto/2168256295.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robfg67 Posted January 22, 2011 Share Posted January 22, 2011 Give me the LAST 8 of the VIN and I will get you the build sheet & a list of all service/warranty work performed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
86FUBAR Posted January 22, 2011 Share Posted January 22, 2011 The TBI engines aint that bad , wile they may not be as powerfull as the later SFI (96and up) engines they are verry reliable and super simple to work on and take easier to performance addons IMHO . As for the 96+ engines they are verry good engines aswell but have some issues . For instance they use a funny spring loaded fuel injector called a "poppet" that is fired by fuel pressure and they are pron to clogging and ultimate failure , luckily GM figured this out eventually and came out with a nice replacement unit that replaces the junk poppets with real electronically fired injectors that turn it in to a MPFI setup and it only runs about $500 bucks and is a direct bolt in. Another bad idea was the plastic distributor that over time the ears that the dizzy cap bolts to would break off leaving you to have to replace a otherwise good distributor but fortunately the aftermarket kicked in and came out with some better stuff like the billet unit from DUI that isn't much more than a junk replacement and IIRC you need a scanner to even be able to set the timing correctly. Also alot of people make the mistake of calling all the "center bolt" valve cover engines a "Vortec" when infact only the 96 and up are true Vortec engines . If it were me I would opt for a 95 or earlier TBI truck , slap on some stock vortec heads ( there less than $700 bucks new ) drop on a GMPP or Edelbrock intake designed to fit the vortec heads , a bored out TBI with bigger injectors (or drop on a stock unit off a bigblock) , dual exhaust , a new PROM chip and Beat the hell out of it . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kyleag89 Posted January 22, 2011 Author Share Posted January 22, 2011 I'm looking for the best stock set-up. I am trying to find a decent DD that will do 60 miles a day with little problems. Right now the 94 XJ has this duty and hasn't broken yet. "Knock on wood" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JACKED88 Posted January 24, 2011 Share Posted January 24, 2011 Thanks for the input guys. Just found this one.. looks good I think I will go check it out. http://williamsport.craigslist.org/cto/2168256295.html Looks good for its age. 180K miles might sound kinda high but on a truck thats 15 years old, 12K a year isn't really that bad. In fact, I'd venture to say it was driven easily. If everything on that truck checks out and it runs and drives good ..... I wouldn't hesitate to make an offer to buy it. However, having 180K miles does raise concerns on how much life is left in the transmission. Having had one rebuilt, I know E4L60 transmissions don't come cheap. In a shop you can expect to dish out close to $2000 bucks for a rebuild and new converter. Luckily my ins. co. picked up the tab. (less my deductible) All I'm saying is to check it thoroughly. If you know a trustworthy shop, take it to um and have um go over the whole truck. Good luck with it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kyleag89 Posted January 25, 2011 Author Share Posted January 25, 2011 Thanks, yeah I won't be looking at that one seeing as how its already sold. I am a pretty good mechanic and know of all the usual things to check, but I don't know too much about the tahoes. I was looking for information such as problems they had in particular and better years to look for. You guys have given me some very good info on the fuel systems which I will take into account. I agree with you Jacked88, I have had TBI set-ups on my Camaros and I think they rob unnecessary power. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JACKED88 Posted January 25, 2011 Share Posted January 25, 2011 Thanks, yeah I won't be looking at that one seeing as how its already sold. I am a pretty good mechanic and know of all the usual things to check, but I don't know too much about the tahoes. I was looking for information such as problems they had in particular and better years to look for. You guys have given me some very good info on the fuel systems which I will take into account. I agree with you Jacked88, I have had TBI set-ups on my Camaros and I think they rob unnecessary power.Yeah, there's no doubt the mili-port runs better than the TBI. Good know you understood my saying they suck was referring to their performance. The TBI isn't a bad system it just doesn't compared performance wise to a muli-port system. I agree with what 86FUBAR said about the little "poppet" injectors being prone to clogging. Been there, done that. The reason for that is carbon and or varnish building up on the ends. I've also encountered leaking problems. Here a link to a pretty good article on that injection system. http://www.underhoodservice.com/Article ... nosis.aspx Pay no mind their talking about a 4.3 engine as the 5.7 uses the same system. It just has two more poppet injectors. Don't let any of this discourage you from buying a Yukon or Tahoe. None of the problems stated above are hard to fix. As for that article saying you have to replace the whole system if any part of it fails is not true. I've replaced leaking individual poppets with ones I removed from a junkyard engine. And yes, they are available from your local auto parts store for about $65 bucks a pc. If worst comes to worst, you can replace the entire injection system with an upgraded version that uses individual electronic mini injectors for about $300 bucks. http://www.oreillyauto.com/site/c/detai ... &ppt=C0024 The only other problem I've encountered with this system was having to replace is the fuel pressure regulator. (the round thing shown in that O'Reilly link) I think it was $50 bucks. Too bad that 96 is sold. Oh well, there's plenty out there. You'll find another one. BYW, looking at craigslist vehicles you'll pretty much have to throw patients out the window. Anything on there thats worth a crap and priced right usually sells really fast. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kyleag89 Posted January 25, 2011 Author Share Posted January 25, 2011 Seeing as how the injectors are prone to clogging wouldn't running some sea foam through the fuel clean them up as long as there not leaking? I would much rather have the performance seeing as how its not too big a deal to replace crappy injectors if need be. I actually replaced all 6 injectors on my MJ with ones pulled off a very low mile XJ in the JY. I will be checking CL frequently and I will jump on the right deal when I see one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JACKED88 Posted January 25, 2011 Share Posted January 25, 2011 Seeing as how the injectors are prone to clogging wouldn't running some sea foam through the fuel clean them up as long as there not leaking? I would much rather have the performance seeing as how its not too big a deal to replace crappy injectors if need be. I actually replaced all 6 injectors on my MJ with ones pulled off a very low mile XJ in the JY. I will be checking CL frequently and I will jump on the right deal when I see one. No guarantees but running a little sea foam through one surely wouldn't hurt anything. Replacing injectors/poppets is a little more work than on a 4.0 but I don't think its anything you couldn't handle. Other than a few parts that have to be moved out of the way, the plenum itself only has 10 bolts holding it down. Once removed the injectors/poppets and their lines are in plane sight. Pc of cake. Worst part about the whole thing is having top climb up in the engine compartment to reach everything. Tip of the day ....... whenever your working under the hood of a truck and have access to compressed air, let the air out of the front tires. It makes reaching stuff a whole lot easier. :thumbsup: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kyleag89 Posted January 25, 2011 Author Share Posted January 25, 2011 Sounds like a good idea letting the air out of the tires. I am young and agile I usually just climb right in there and uncomfortably sit on something. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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