1996 Yukon reliability?

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Keegan Hufham

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I'm in need of a winter beater. When I was growing up my dad had a dark blue 2 door Yukon that I absolutely loved. I have freed up some money and decided to go looking for a Yukon to drive around during the winter. I found one locally with 170k miles, no rust, damaged paint, no ac, and the power door locks don't work because of the viper system they had on it. Now he was asking $2k but I think I can get it for $1400.

I know thats cheap for a truck but I don't want to get 50 miles down the road and it blown the transmission and I'm out the money I just spent on the truck.

When I drove it it didn't lerch forward when going from park to drive, it seemed to shift smooth too. He said he just replaced the shift cable, spark plugs, and fuel pump. The only issues that I noticed was the gas guage. When at idle it gave an accurate reading but when I gassed it the needle would drop almost to empty and then return back when I let off the throttle, it didn't seemed starved for gas or anything though.

I'm not a Yukon guy, I know a lot about jeeps but nothing about these trucks. Could anyone give me advice? I plan on doing maintainance myself but if an engine or transmission blew I don't have the skill or know how to replace one. Any advice would help!
 

drakon543

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in these trucks when you start creeping around 1/4 tank the gauge likes to float around. no issue it just does. the only 3 things i would be concerned about is 170k on the engine trans. if the transmission was taken care of your good into the 200ks. the engine could need an intake gasket if it hasnt been done yet. last issue is the viper alarm system. assuming there is an issue with it or he lost the remote judging by your comment.
 
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Keegan Hufham

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in these trucks when you start creeping around 1/4 tank the gauge likes to float around. no issue it just does. the only 3 things i would be concerned about is 170k on the engine trans. if the transmission was taken care of your good into the 200ks. the engine could need an intake gasket if it hasnt been done yet. last issue is the viper alarm system. assuming there is an issue with it or he lost the remote judging by your comment.
It seems like it has been taken care of. It's been in their family for 10 years, uncle is a certified mechanic that has helped them do all of the work. The only way I know to test the transmission is going from park to drive and reverse with your foot lightly on the break and see if it jumps. It passed that test and when I drove it it seemed to shift pretty smooth. It had the viper alarm but they lost the key fob so they had the system unplugged so that you could just use the key to unlock the door and do the rest of the doors manually. He wanted $2k but it seems that I have got him down to $1600.
 

drakon543

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the viper alarm may be an issue down the road. if you can get to the viper box and get the numbers off it you can probably get a new fob. another test for the transmission is to stop on a slight incline and let off the brake while its in drive. it should be able to atleast try to hold you in place. if it rolls back like its in neutral its worn. however if its shifting smoothly and doesn't have any lurching feeling or hesitation while shifting for only occasional driving you could probably still get a couple of years out of it. also check the color and smell of the fluid. there are a few other issues with a high mileage 5.7 vortec but they are minor repairs.
 

Shibbershabber

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Hope it worked out ... guess we’ll never know.

For the sake of other noobs searching ...

My best and worst vehicles were both 1994 OBS rigs.

Worst was a K1500 Suburban, beautiful, low miles... didn’t run well at all but I knew I could fix it. Made a low ball offer and took it home. I agonized over it for a year, spent untold amounts of money on it, even puckered up and took it to the local dealer, who also couldn’t fix it right. A nightmare beyond nightmares. I ended up selling it at a huge loss.

Best?
1994 K2500 pickup. Got it for a premium from the 2nd owner with 200k on it... 10yrs of service history written on nicotine stained index cards, interior covered in dog hair.... even after a professional detailing still smells of dog on hot days... the exterior paint is peeling showing the familiar grey primer everywhere, except where previous owner rattle canned over it ...complete with runs and overspray...

This thing has never let me down and keeps kicking ass every day with nothing more than regular maintenance and simple repairs that any 25yr old truck might need..... work that even a novice can complete as these trucks are about as cheap and easy as it gets to work on.


That Suburban almost cursed GM in my eyes.... but now I have the 94 pickup, a 99 Yukon and an 02 Tahoe


It all comes down to how it was cared for and what fools might have worked on it in the past. More or less I’ve found that a truck that runs good can be kept running good with reg maintenance and maybe hit the forum for the tougher issues.
If you buy it not running right, it’s 100x harder to get it going right again because you don’t know how it went down and what others might have done to it trying to fix before giving up and selling it...
 

GMW468

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I think that you tend to really only hear from complainers.

I bought a 94 K1500 brand new as a leftover in 95 when I got out of the Marines. I'm a car guy and I'm **** about maintaining my vehicles. Today that truck I still in my possession. I've passed it down to my teenage kids who use it daily. It has 201K miles and still runs like new. I did rebuild the trans at 175K but since it took 22 years to crap out, I can live with that.

Routine maintenance is critical. I changed my oil every 3000 miles with Valvoline oil and a Wix filter. I changed trans fluid, and filter every 50K. I did air and fuel filters annually. I fully expect the truck to run for another 100K.

If the truck was mechanic owned or maintained, I'd trust it more than some hacked up POS owned by a douche.
 

Squirrelsmith

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No such thing as a reliable beater. Not for certain anyway. You just never know when things are this old. But if you have 2k to spend you just gotta work with what you got, if you believe that a certified mechanic has been taking care of it and you feel like these are honest people then its as good of bet as any. I'd go for it! A 2 door is very desireable so even if it craps out you can probably still get a good amount of your money back out of it
 
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