Agreed, not sure I agree with your googlefoo. The problem with overtorqueing the intake manifold was that it distorted the plastic intake gasket and started you down the road of dexcool contamination and coolant leaks.
Just doesn't make sence. It bolts to the head. The head bolts to the block. If you tighten the head bolts too much perhaps but the intake bolts have absolutely no connection to the block.
couldnt find that tsb # on any official sites. Im not sure what to make of that. the later models do have a couple of real long and thin bolts but I just cant see them being enough to distort the main bearing saddles or even being that long. it really doesnt make sense but without an exploded view diagram to look at or an engine apart, I dunno man. seems suspicious lol
I drove a ‘91 Astro (glide) in my late teens. For whatever reason, we put a glass pack on it, removed the bench seats and put a love seat in the back, sideways. Field parties, off-roading, and smashing garbage cans were its talents. It never really had any mechanical issues, save for the driver-side window motor failing and a “friend” kicked off the passenger-side mirror (at a field party). Nope, you couldn’t kill that thing. Some fat cunt bitch whore driving an old K Car did that for me; got t-boned in a school zone and had to say goodbye to the ‘ol war wagon. I miss the van.
I bought an old worn out one with 200000 miles to last me one winter when I was 19, ended up driving it for 10 years and put another 250000 miles on it.
Very good info all. Thanks. Sounds like a contender. For clarification, the 95-2005 are a no go or just not as good as the first gen? Thanks M
There's a 2003 GMC Safari with 91k original miles very very close to me. I am so tempted just because these vans can do just about anything. Are the 03 GMC versions ones to look out for? This thing is cleeeaaannn!
Haha, damn! Didnt notice the autocorrect! I got lucky with this one being in great shape. Got it from the 2nd owner that was a church pastor. AC quit working so he tossed it for cheap! Besides the nasty carpet, everything inside worked and is in perfect shape. Could use a headliner but fuck that task! One of the worst task so far was to replace the steel brake line going to the rear axle, had to drop the tank and bend the tube 20 times. Rear drum brakes are kind of shitty, have to stay on top of them to keep em adjusted.
Dang Ghetto, That van looks really nice. I was expecting a free candy van for some reason, however knowing you paint that thought should not have entered my mind. Interior looks nice too. I presume the wood inside was something you did too, looks good?
I forgot to mention I had one of those, last van I had before buying my Transit Connect. I paid $2700 which in my opinion was too much but I needed something to drive while my E350 was being worked on. I believe it was an 03. Not much of a fan . Started throwing codes 2 months after I bought it.
Yeah man, ive done everything. Its our rollen hotel room. Hang an AC unit in the driverside window and relax! If MA extends the Twins Cup to 2019, im thinking to upgrade into the Transit medium roof.
the '03 -'05s went to rear disc brakes and larger 6 lug wheels. finding an early one in decent condition will be more difficult and they dont have some of the more modern stuff, thats one of the reasons they are more reliable but I wouldnt rule out the newer ones. there has been four versions of fuel injection on these and the second one was the most problematic but not terrible. I 'think' that was '94 to '98 but those can be updated. one thing about the early ones is they had fiberglass mono-leafs instead of steel leaf springs, I dont know the cut off year for those but they can be updated easily enough. the mono-leafs are much lighter but they dont carry weight as well as the steel leafs. the first year ('85) was carbureted but those are all but gone now. If I were looking for one and not having had any prior experience with them, I would probably be looking at '00 and up and just replace the FI 'spider' and lower intake manifold gasket right away to avoid having to do it later. and the usual stuff, flush coolant, bleed brakes, replace all fluids etc. heres a nice one: https://atlanta.craigslist.org/nat/cto/d/1987-custom-astro-van-street/6622820417.html it has been for sale for a year now and started at $6700. I talked to the guy and the graphics are vinyl so they will come off but its a rare, full on cargo (no extra windows) and has some nice mods. there is lots of them out there
God help you if you have to do a u turn, you'll end up doing a 75 point turn. We used to have a couple of them at work, hated every single mile I drove in those things. They rattled and vibrated worse then just about anything I've ever driven and you couldn't do a damn U turn.
That’s because you were doing it wrong. It’s a rear-wheel drive van ... you were supposed to use the gas pedal for u-turns.
Not sure what you were driving, but I used a couple of mine a courier vehicles in Chicago. I had no problems doing u-turns, which I did quite often.