Newbie and what should I be looking for?

[GeorgeB]

Good afternoon all. A Brit newbie here who's just moved to the Phillipines after 5 years in Malaysia.

To keep things short, I'm looking at buying my first US vehicle, a Tahoe, after noticing them here. This, after many, many years of Land/Range Rover ownership.

I quite enjoy spannering (with an LR, you've got to, and over the years I've tackled most things) and as I live near the office - and my local bar, I don't need a daily yet, so I can spend a bit of time on an older one getting it reliable for that inevitable road trip around the Phils. I do love a good road trip :waytogo:

Anyway, I'm going to look at a 1997, 5.7, 4x4 on Saturday morning and what I'm looking for are pointers as to the bad bits that are Tahoe specific? It's not silly money, so I don't mind spending later, but would rather know the weak points now, before I hand over my hard earned cash for a dog. What can I live with, and what should make me walk away? My understanding is that parts supply isn't bad here.

Any tips or advice would be very welcome and I look forward to smoking around with a nice Chevy small block in front of me!

Thanks in advance,

George.

 

[Tex99Tahoe]

Welcome to the forum, GeorgeB. Hope that `97 is a good one.

I'm not heavily experienced with these, still learning about my `99, but one thing I've noticed is that these things normally run so reliably that owners slide into 'negligance' land, fluids get low/old, or never changed. There was a comment that Chevy neglected to include diff fluid change intervals in the owner's manuals, leading to diff problems like I had.

There's a lot of posts here about intake manifold problems, causing spurious codes to be stored. An OBD 2 scanner would be a prudent buy, lots of wary folks will do a scan before purchase.

Good luck...

 

[GeorgeB]

Thanks for the response Tex.

Yes, I've had a quick trawl through some posts and noticed the inlet manifold issue. Unfortunately, I haven't got a code reader yet, so just have to be extra careful.

On your other point, in Malaysia I'm used to a "Zero maintenance" attitude so if I find something that has had two oil changes in its life, it'll be two more than there! The dealers shop I took my truck to for service were amazed I'd dutifully turn up every 7,000kms, even though It was under warranty. “No-one else ever bother. They say it new, no need service†was the response!!

I know the old Rover V8 in the Range Rover gets badly gunked up with poor oil changes and leads to excessive cam wear. Is the small block a bit less prone to this?

I'll also keep an ear out for nasty diff noises.

Thanks again.

 

[Tex99Tahoe]

I've always known the SBC to be a very robust, durable design, worked on a few, built a modded 327 years ago. The only weaknesses I've come across were the accessories, things external to the engine, early valve covers, negligence, and some early computer foibles. After `90, I'm clueless...

 

[20Tahoe12LT]

:welcome:

 

[samotahoe]

I would definitely invest in a scanner. Every obd2 car I buy I take that scanner with me. best thing to do is when you plug it in, your looking for any hard codes. pending codes (codes the computer sees but isn't sure if its a problem yet so the CEL isn't on). and last but not least you need to check the readiness monitors. reason why I check these is if someone cleared the CEL or disconnected the battery recently then they might be hiding something that would effect me later on when the light does turn on. I learned this with a Tahoe I bought that ended up having an evap code that took me a month and about $250 to figure out. everything has monitors, Catalyst, evap, o2 sensors and even if equipped egr. when you check it should say ready or not ready.

 

[GeorgeB]

Ah, yes. A scanner. Funny you should mention that.

This is proving more difficult than it should! As I'm waiting for my company transfer documents to come through, I can't open a Manila bank account. So I can't order online as my card billing address is still Malaysia and delivery address is Philippines. Frustrating.

I may just put the search on hold until I get the issue resolved and a scanner delivered.

Thanks.

 

[Tex99Tahoe]

Maybe you could borrow one, or inform the seller that you'll take the truck to a shop for a pre-purchace inspection, or drag along a reluctant mechanic...

 

[samotahoe]

^

 

[GeorgeB]

May as well confess. Went to see the Tahoe and it really didn't light my candle sooo, I've bought a Range Rover. Well, I am British after all!

Sorry guys eace: and thanks for your help.