This is long.
Read it. All of it. You will be glad you did.
Brian's right with "troublesome" statement. I was having tons of trouble with my Ty when I first got it. Hood shaking, shaking when braking, rear suspension bottoming out, exhaust rattling, yadda yadda yadda. Ends up the previous owner neglected to tell me it was a stolen recovery and wrecked at least 3 times. This coupled with an owner that tended to mangle things and exercise poor judgement(like putting in a used fuel pump and kinking the output line). In all honesty some people do not need to work on their own trucks.
This kind of stuff can make ownership a pitiful experience.
Something I've found though. The transmission for example. It worked fine under normal use(no overrun braking though). But if I floored it, it would slip. So I just took it easy on it for about 3 years. When I disassembled the tranny, the 3-4 clutches were to the metal but......it would work fine under normal use. These trucks are dependable believe it or not if they are used like a normal vehicle. If you are the type of person that runs it up to 110mph on a daily basis and boost launches at every stoplight, then do not be mad when something breaks and call it a piece of junk. Know what I mean?
If you are not mechanically inclined, have a local mechanic that you trust look at it for you. If you know someone on the BB that is local to one have them look at it for you. If someone tells you that it is a nice truck but they haven't seen it in months DON'T GO ON THAT. Get a RECENT looksee.
My situation for example, many people had seen the truck at the Woodward Dream Cruise that year and vouched that it was a good truck. Well, in between the time of the Woodward cruise and the time I bought it, it had been stolen, wrecked 3 times and used to tow and actually haul firewood. Yep that's right, he actually laid the seats down and friggen hauled firewood in the back of a Typhoon. He didn't think it was important because "it had been repaired at the dealer. So I knew it was done right."......suuuuure.
Two big things to look for on the outside.
Does the paint match? If at all possible, look at the truck when it is CLEAN under flouresent lighting. Flouros are very unforgiving and will show every little flaw(like where a shop has attempted to blend clear from a repair).
If it is just a fender or hood, no big deal, but if it is a whole side(like mine was), look at another truck.
2nd, look under the seats for broken chunks of safety glass. If it has been wrecked or broken into recently, there will be pieces of it here and there. The stuff gets down into everything. Look at the writing in the bottom corners of the glass. For example the rear windows of a Ty. Make sure they have the same manufacturer. If not, a window has been knocked out or it has been wrecked. :wink:
Mechanically. Check fluid levels and see if the check engine light stays on.
Look at the ABS module and see if it is plugged in. If not, something is wrong with it. Look to see if the front prop shaft is in it. They are about $500 to replace if it isn't there. Look at front CV joint boots and make sure they aren't torn in two.
Smoking on startup that quickly subsides is normal for the most part. Leaking valve seals. GM should've used viton with the turbo application but rubber was soooo much cheaper :roll:
Look at the inside edges of the tires. When I bought my Sy and my Ty, both had worn the inside edges of the tires to the cables. Almost every shop you go to will try to use regular s-10 4x4 specs to align them because that is all that is in the computer. Sytys have their OWN specs. If they are done using the s-10 specs, the inside edges of the tires will wear.
A ticking sound high up from the injectors is normal(a mechanic will be able to use a stethascope and tell you if it is coming from the fuel rail). A clunking sound from the side of the block down by the turbo or the sterring shaft is NOT. Go look at another truck.
Some states do not require mileage updates if the same owner owns the truck. My carfax for example came up clean. Nothing was on there about the theft recovery or anything but....Michigan is a car manufacture friendly state and thus info like this is usually not reported. :evil:
Hope this helps you out.
Anything I can do to keep bad stuff from happening to others.
George Blake
93 Ty with almost EVERYTHING replaced or rebuilt. :roll:
