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Advice

Dunedain15

Dunedain15

Active Member
Messages
141
Reaction score
26
Location
Lebanon, PA
1996 K1500 Suburban

I'm going to check this out at some point in the very near future. My old one was a '98 2500. This is a '96 1500. Anything I should look for in particular that might be different from what my '98 was? Manual 4x4 actuator is the most obvious difference, but I wanted your wisdom on what else to check out. Thanks for your thoughts.
 
Looks nice and I love the barn doors outback!

The 1500 will have intake plugging and oil sooting EGR. A Vin F intake and 'chip' may be in your future. It will help the "smoke" snap tests - unless they put LD diesels on the rollers and measure NOx.

Stone Cold startup make sure there is no cooling system pressure and see how fast the hoses get hard. Checking for head gasket/cracks leaking into cooling system. Pop off oil fill cap and see how bad blowby is. Both cold and hot. Steady 'some' is ok. Run away from cracked piston/bad hole one of 8 puffing.

Front end: Upper and lower ball joints, arm bushings, and everything else is likely worn out, engine mounts...

Pull trans dipstick, look, smell, and feel for grit.

Looks like it has 8 lug (not 6) - so light duty 3/4 ton setup.

PMD will need the usual DB2 relocation kit... :finger: To the trash can!
 
Didn't see the link (links should be automatically highlighted).
I was thinking 6 lug. It has 8, but probably a SF axle?
For the money jump on it. Seems like a good deal and you can still negrociate the price.
 
WarWagon said:
Looks nice and I love the barn doors outback!
Click to expand...
Yeah, I like the functionality of the barn doors. I prefer the look of the tailgate, though. I like being able to lift just the glass on the tailgate setup as well.

WarWagon said:
The 1500 will have intake plugging and oil sooting EGR. A Vin F intake and 'chip' may be in your future. It will help the "smoke" snap tests - unless they put LD diesels on the rollers and measure NOx.
Click to expand...
Diesels are emissions exempt in PA. Would this still make it illegal to remove the EGR crap?

WarWagon said:
Stone Cold startup make sure there is no cooling system pressure and see how fast the hoses get hard.
Click to expand...
They should get hard slowly or quickly?

WarWagon said:
PMD will need the usual DB2 relocation kit... :finger: To the trash can!
Click to expand...
First, to the bumper; then to the trashcan.

Thanks for the input.
 
Burning oil said:
Didn't see the link (links should be automatically highlighted).
I was thinking 6 lug. It has 8, but probably a SF axle?
For the money jump on it. Seems like a good deal and you can still negrociate the price.
Click to expand...
The link doesn't show up as blue text? Interesting.

I'll be trading in the '01 gas Burb, so that'll help out too. The axles will be 3.42 or 3.73, right? Is semi-floating significantly worse? This won't be a towing machine, it'll be a people mover.
 
SF is fine. If you were towing heavy then FF is better.

Im on TTS dark so maybe links don't highlight?
 
Dunedain15 said:
Diesels are emissions exempt in PA. Would this still make it illegal to remove the EGR crap?
Click to expand...

I don't exactly do the speed limit in places where the speed of traffic is way over it either. Illegal, yes. Question is who is going to care... Less EGR soot grinding and plugging your engine up makes you care for sure. Visible emissions like smoke you want to keep to a minimum as this is what EPA and the public goes nuts over.
 
ALL 6.5L BURBS were F engines, NO EGR to worry about. ALL 6.5 BURBS were 8 lugs, no 6 lug 6.5L BURBS were built from the factory. The differences between a 1500 and 2500 BURB is frame thickness, rear leaf springs, gear ratios, and the 1500's used the 9.5" semi float rear axle VS the 10.5" 14 bolt full floating axle the 2500 diesel BURBS all got. Same engines, same trans, same transfer case, same 9.25" front axle, same front brakes(rear brakes are easily upgradeable), except for just a few differences they are the same. The one thing that jumped at me from the pics is it has most likely had some body work done as it has a gasser bumper on it. Check the front frame for signs of repair just to be safe.
 
Thanks to everybody. Right now, I'm gonna pass on it, but I'm gonna keep my eye on it and mull it over.

The oil had no grit whatsoever. It smelled like oil and showed no signs of coolant. It didn't hiss when I put the dipstick on the hot coolant cap either. The underside of the oil cap was clean as well.

There is some blowby, but it's a steady puff; not just one cylinder. I got some videos of the dipstick and oil fill neck. I'll post 'em if I decide to take the next step and want them evaluated. It didn't seem like much to me, though.

There's a slow oil leak that looks like it's coming from the oil cooler or oil cooler lines. There's a coating of oil under the engine all the way back to the front differential.

The rust underneath seems like it's all surface stuff. There's definitely rust on the bottom driver's side rear door, and the rear bumper is rusted through just left of the license plate.

It pulls to the left when braking hard, and it shimmies when braking as well. Pulls a very little to the right when driving.

Started right up first try and runs strong. Get's up and goes when I ask it to. At 60 MPH it was at 1600 RPM, so I'm guessing it's got 3.42's in it. 4x4 was easy to engage and disengage, and it definitely worked. It'll need at least 2 tires within a year.

Like I said, as of now, I'm going to let it sit. I don't have money to burn, and there's just enough wrong with it that I can see a money pit. I appreciate everybody's input, and I'll let you know as my search progresses. You guys rock.
 
Frankly anything this age and miles is a money pit. Even new they weren't exactly flawless. Figure spending $2K in parts on any used vehicle.
 
Good call of passing on it given limited funds and unlisted 'features' per the test drive (none of them surprised me though). This one looks salvageable, but it is going to need more work than its resale value is worth. Am with Ferm as it looks like it was in a front-ender as the grille does not match either.

By the way, it is a 9 person configuration versus the seller's statement of 8.

Tell the seller it is worth $1,500 to you as you actually know what a diesel Burb in *good* shape should look like.

From there, plan on a multi-year rehab if the seller calls you back in a month or so. . .
 
He seems like a nice guy. He just doesn't know anything about the 6.5. He didn't know about the PMD or what blowby was. He even asked me to confirm whether it was a 6.5 or 6.2.

I noticed the bumper before I went, but I didn't notice the grill. What's different about it?
 
My bad on the grill as a chromed grill on a 96 looks like it was OE (I thought OE was painted like the GMC version). Am still leery about why the bumper was replaced. Maybe it was rusted-out like the rear, maybe not . . .

Also, not a big thing, I know that the 99 LT trim came with a CD player but do not know whether this was part of the package in 96.

If you want to 'play-ball' a bit with the seller, take another look at the Burb and make *absolute* certain that the A/C system is good. Rear hard lines and the control valve are NLA. I had to have a set of hard lines fabricated a couple years ago for ~$1K.

Still stand by the $1,500 worth though; $2K tops. Am with WW about planning on $2K in fix-its right off the lot (not to mention the other gambles). Blue Book is showing ~$3,400 for something in good condition. This one looks like it has good bones for more life, but needs work to come up to the Blue Book price.
 
Good luck trying to get him down to $1500. Down here by me ones needing MAJOR work are going for $1500-2500. Complete good condition ones are fetching $5000-9000 down here.
 
Yeah, I'm finding the same thing. I think I'd rather hold out for something I can put my family in right off the bat.

I like the write-up on this one. Is this anybody here, or is there anybody nearby who would be willing to check it out? It's 4.5 hours away from me. I see the spots on the front of the hood, and I'm thinking the sea air and winters might have taken a toll.
 
Too few pictures to tell the deal with the NY one. Probably sporting the standard leather-seat-tear that most sellers like to crop-out of the picture thinking that the buyer will never notice when they come look at it . . .

Actually, I'd rather get a run-out Burb with good stock like the PA one so that I know the repair history (as-in, I fixed it) rather than guess, or have to worry about things like the previous mechanic knew how to time the DS4.
 
I understand that. If I had a garage of my own,I'd be all about that. Unfortunately, I'm always going to a buddy's garage when repairs come up. Also, this is the wife's daily driver, and, with 4 kids, it absolutely has to be reliable.
 
Okay, so let's say, hypothetically, I were going to go the route of getting a less expensive one and putting work into it:

Thoughts on this one? 1990 V1500

I know I'll need a third row seat. I have sourced a '92 third row seat, but '92 was the switch to the GM400. Will a '92 seat fit in a '90?

I know it doesn't have rear A/C. This is a must for my family. Is it possible to add it?
 
I had a friend with a ford van that someone did an add on rear air to it. They put in a couple tee inline and used a combo evaporater/blower unit. I'm not sure what else is needed. It worked ok, but not as strong as a factory one.
If you can't do the ac yourself, Call a local shop about an estimate so you know what your up against.

No turbo on that burb means $ for you, but I wouldn't own another n/a diesel without throwing on a turbo. People say a turbo will lower mpg, mine got better and so did another here. I'm sure mine wor have been even better if I didn't get stuck with GM tiny turbo. I still haven't increased my exhaust size, that should help too.

So plan on adding ATT or something and a 4" exhaust later for more drive ability.

Idk how good a deal that rig is for your area, it's not bad here- but I would talk him down some.

No clue on the seat or rust...
 
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