at home engine replacement

[Squirrelsmith]

So I have been waiting for a nice low miles ride to come my way but I'm starting to think it might be more realistic to buy a high miles rig on the cheap and just plan to replace the engine fairly quickly, possibly transmission too. Did I mention I have never worked on cars before? But... I am a prototype machinist at a mechanical engineering company so I believe that gives me an advantage. I really want to be that guy that knows about and works on his car.. not another clueless millennial with a hybrid that only knows how to push the start button.

I guess my question is who has done it and how did it play out for you?

 

[swathdiver]

Well Kevan, how bout you find a truck first and then determine what needs fixin' first? You're going to need basic tools, specialized tools, a place to work on it, a place to keep all the parts organized, another car to make runs to the store and machine shop and a shop manual at minimum.

So what have you been looking at since that last one?

 

[Squirrelsmith]

I have all the above except of course specialized tools and the manual. I have been searching online several times a day for a clean one in my general area. seems one or two a day pop up on craigslist, usually high miles. really my only must haves are I want a straight body, decent paint, tailgate and I would really like the gray leather interior. I'm willing to take on all other problems over time. It's got to run too... if it doesn't my wife will not be impressed haha

 

[Doubeleive]

a short block from a local autoshop or autoparts is going to bring more satisfaction.....

 

[pistnbroke88]

Altho I admire your courage and overall tenacity towards doing a manly man task and breaking the dreaded millennial mold (being 29 myself) as a machinist surely you have not overlooked the giant logistics challenge that goes into a swap i.e. Tools, time so on. But let me sum up your sentence you want a truck with low miles but are now willing to buy a high miles truck and if needs be swap the powertrain. Your telling me you cant find anything with low miles? what is your idea of low miles? Also some high mileage trucks run as good as low mileage trucks its all about maintenance would you rather have a truck with 200K that has been pampered or one that has had an 18yo heavy footed kid but has 60K.
_rebuilding an engine, however, is a religious experience.

 

[swathdiver]

I have built more than a few engines over the years and it is a great sense of accomplishment. Have not done an LS yet, my specialty was V6 Buicks.

 

[Squirrelsmith]

i have no plans of re building anything. just pull out dead engine and replace with 300+ hp crate engine.

 

[RED TAHOE LS]

Your line of work has no correlation with what your thought process is, as the old saying goes, FORGET ABOUT IT.
I in no way want to discourage you, but it's a big task.

David g...........

 

[99tahoecolorado]

i have no plans of re building anything. just pull out dead engine and replace with 300+ hp crate engine.

Is this even real? You want a running Tahoe, but want to replace the engine just so you can learn how to work on a vehicle?

Find one you like & buy it. Learn how to give it a tune up, & start fixing all the little things 20 year old Tahoes have. Watch YouTube videos, do research, read forums.. This will get you in touch with your truck.

 

[mals]

...some high mileage trucks run as good as low mileage trucks its all about maintenance would you rather have a truck with 200K that has been pampered or one that has had an 18yo heavy footed kid but has 60K.

Is this even real? You want a running Tahoe, but want to replace the engine just so you can learn how to work on a vehicle?

Find one you like & buy it. Learn how to give it a tune up, & start fixing all the little things 20 year old Tahoes have. Watch YouTube videos, do research, read forums.. This will get you in touch with your truck.

I agree with both of the points. I purchased my Yukon with 156K and no maintenance history. It had its issues that I could see when I bought it. Over the next year I tackled those repairs one at a time in order of safety, scheduled maintenance, and then performance. Most of those were accomplished with the help of this forum and the endless supply of how-to videos for our various GMT platforms. I know that one day I will likely have to rebuild/replace my engine and/or transmission, but the skills (and toolbox) I developed working on general repairs and maintenance up to that point will be ready when that day comes. Look for one that you like with a good body and decent interior, and all the mechanical issues regardless of mileage can be addressed over time.

 

[Squirrelsmith]

Is this even real? You want a running Tahoe, but want to replace the engine just so you can learn how to work on a vehicle?

Find one you like & buy it. Learn how to give it a tune up, & start fixing all the little things 20 year old Tahoes have. Watch YouTube videos, do research, read forums.. This will get you in touch with your truck.

Not exactly. I want a running tahoe, im only finding high miles ones, i expect to replace the engine at some point. Maybe sooner than later.

 

[Squirrelsmith]

Here is some information that will make my though seem more sensible.

I have a 04 grand cherokee sitting in my driveway with a blown engine. This has me thinking about engine replacement. Problem with that jeep is those 4.7 engine are garbage, bad design, nobody likes them, the jeep isnt worth crap, not worth putting a new engine in it. The original one only made it 136k for christ sakes. I threw every dollar at it that it ever needed.
So i think to myself what old suv would have been worth fixing, worth putting money into? That brings me here. Obs tahoe 350 small block.

 

[willxfs]

I have a 98 2door 4wd. Bought it from my brother in law back in 2005. He had it since new. It had 125k on the clock when I bought it. At 225K miles I had the transmission replaced because of a terrible 1-2 upshift. Almost 3k dollars. Looking back I should have tried to overhaul the TCC valve in the valve body. Maybe get a few more miles out of it. 4 years later (only 37k miles on the new tranny) I loose reverse, second and fourth. Stripped collar on the reaction sunshell. This time I pull the transfer case and tranny myself and have a local shop replace the sunshell. While the tranny is out I pull the engine too, it has 262K miles and burns 2 quarts of oil in 3K miles. What the hell. Had a shop rebuild the engine and I put it all back together (a smarter move would have been to buy a goodwrench longbock from jegs for 2K). The whole project took a while but is very doable. I did it in my back yard in the gravel. A concrete slab to work on would have been nice. A lift would have been heavenly. Buying a 20 year old truck, you will likely be replacing a ton of front end parts and a few broken interior parts here and there. All of this isn't rocket science. Just a fair amount of hard work for a do-it-your-selfer. Get a manual and consult the internet when you get stuck. I like older rigs so I say go for it. All that being said, its important to think about the financial side of things. If you do like I did and replace the entire drive train and front end suspension, you will have alot of money in a rig with a book value of maybe 3k. Financially, maybe not the smartest move but what the hell. I get a ton of satisfaction of working on my old trucks.

 

[bottomline2000]

I've done both engine and transmission swaps on my truck in my garage. My neighbors saw it go in on a wrecker and I drove it out lol. I've seen a lot of ambitious threads start and never come to fruition so I'll limit my response. It can be done, to me the GMT800 is very DIY friendly. I'm mechanically inclined, but I don't work with my hands for a living. The info is out there, but u have to develop a plan and then execute it. I drove my truck to work today and it's everything to say I built it myself.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-T377A using Tapatalk

 

[east302]

Where are you located?

Expand your search, rent a car and make it a road trip.

Don’t settle, in other words, because as soon as you settle on a heap the perfect one will pop up for sale.






Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Squirrelsmith]

I have a 98 2door 4wd. Bought it from my brother in law back in 2005. He had it since new. It had 125k on the clock when I bought it. At 225K miles I had the transmission replaced because of a terrible 1-2 upshift. Almost 3k dollars. Looking back I should have tried to overhaul the TCC valve in the valve body. Maybe get a few more miles out of it. 4 years later (only 37k miles on the new tranny) I loose reverse, second and fourth. Stripped collar on the reaction sunshell. This time I pull the transfer case and tranny myself and have a local shop replace the sunshell. While the tranny is out I pull the engine too, it has 262K miles and burns 2 quarts of oil in 3K miles. What the hell. Had a shop rebuild the engine and I put it all back together (a smarter move would have been to buy a goodwrench longbock from jegs for 2K). The whole project took a while but is very doable. I did it in my back yard in the gravel. A concrete slab to work on would have been nice. A lift would have been heavenly. Buying a 20 year old truck, you will likely be replacing a ton of front end parts and a few broken interior parts here and there. All of this isn't rocket science. Just a fair amount of hard work for a do-it-your-selfer. Get a manual and consult the internet when you get stuck. I like older rigs so I say go for it. All that being said, its important to think about the financial side of things. If you do like I did and replace the entire drive train and front end suspension, you will have alot of money in a rig with a book value of maybe 3k. Financially, maybe not the smartest move but what the hell. I get a ton of satisfaction of working on my old trucks.

you lose money on a car one way or another, your choice how you want to do it. Buy a 2008 tahoe for example with 100k miles for $17k in 10 years it will be worth the same as a obs. either way you lose. it's all about what makes you happy while your losing it haha

 

[Squirrelsmith]

Where are you located?

Expand your search, rent a car and make it a road trip.

Don’t settle, in other words, because as soon as you settle on a heap the perfect one will pop up for sale.






Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

i'm in seattle. There is a really nice example just north of the boarder. The terms of my loan keep me in state though

 

[willxfs]

I guess my point about the financial side of things was that if you put a bunch of money in a truck and get in a wreck, the insurance company will likely only compensate you for the book value. I'm no expert though. Just something to think about... Its a risk that many of us that like these old rigs are taking. Myself included.

 

[Squirrelsmith]

I guess my point about the financial side of things was that if you put a bunch of money in a truck and get in a wreck, the insurance company will likely only compensate you for the book value. I'm no expert though. Just something to think about... Its a risk that many of us that like these old rigs are taking. Myself included.

good point i had not considered that. it's all a trap to get you making payments on a expensive rapidly depreciating car. then in a few years they get you to do it all over again. i got sucked into that once but i'm not doing it again!

 

[mikeseay]

good point i had not considered that. it's all a trap to get you making payments on a expensive rapidly depreciating car. then in a few years they get you to do it all over again. i got sucked into that once but i'm not doing it again!

Buy a decent Tahoe or Yukon that you can drive for a little while, then buy a house next door or across the street from a mechanic (single or with a badgering wife) that likes beer and the rest is simple.