GMT800 Talk, chime in

[shakenfake]

Just to remind everyone on this site that I do own a truck and I'm not a poser lol

[SarahsGMC]

Red is now 100% rust free after about 10 grand in body work, and my little 04 work rig has been through hell and still runnin strong all over the state 

[Chuck Penrose]

Hi all,  Is this forum still active? 

 

Here is my question.  Probably asked a thousand times.

 

I sold my 2010 Silverado LTZ, got a good bunch of money for it.  Only used infrequently.

 

Looking to replace with a less expensive option.  Found a 1999 GMC new body style that has 213K on it.  Seems to run drive fine.  Owner has spend a lot of money on it.

 

BUT

 

Still has original 5.3 and original 4L60.  Trans is working fine.  Engine runs fine but uses about a quart every 3000.

 

Owner is asking high retail for it right now. 8K

 

1.  how long can these 5.3's run without a real rebuild?  seems to be taken care of, oil changes and such.

2. I knw about the valve cover fixes and the oil pump fixes.  Would a reseal and new gaskets be the ticket?  Or is 200K right there where things go wrong and a rebuild makes sense.

3. I am assuming the 4L60 will need work.

4. needs tires and brakes

 

this truck has 

1. rebuilt front suspension

2. junk yard transfer

3. good body and paint

4. nice Denali replacement interior

5.  lot of small stuff replaced

6. electrics all seem to work

7. rear diff and axles have been rebuilt to some degree.

 

 

So, buy or not and for what price for that high milage?

 

All thoughts are appreciated.

 

[shakenfake]

@Chuck Penrose

1. Probably 300-400k miles with good maintenance. My 5.3 ran like a top at 220k

2. I am not sure of the oil pump and valve cover fixes you speak of. I know there is a redesigned valve cover for oil consumption which came out later but that wasn't even marketed for 99s I don't think. You can try it. Oil pump is probably fine.

3. 4L60 will only need work if it was ever drove rough or slipping. Sometimes they last.

 

 

No I wouldn't buy that for 8k. Hell I would probably only buy it for 3 or 4 grand. It's a 220k mile truck. The 5.3s can last forever with good maintenance but it's still a 23 year old truck with 220k miles.

[KARNUT]

Cylinder deactivation engine I wouldn’t go near it. I just realized it’s a 99. It’s still high in my opinion. These days who knows, it depends on what’s out there.

Edited June 23, 2022 by KARNUT

[davester]

Pretty sure no GMT800's had cylinder deactivation.  That didn't start until some of the GMT900's...

[KARNUT]

2 hours ago, davester said:

Pretty sure no GMT800's had cylinder deactivation.  That didn't start until some of the GMT900's...

That’s why I said I didn’t realize it was a 99. Cylinder deactivation started around 06-07.

[davester]

4 hours ago, KARNUT said:

That’s why I said I didn’t realize it was a 99. Cylinder deactivation started around 06-07.

It's on '07.5 or newer...

[Marc Ohmann]

My turn. I have two. An '03 Yukon 5.3L flex NP246 with 190k on it and an '06 Sierra 5.3L NP246 with 220k. We've owned both since around 30k miles and they have both been incredible trucks. I've replaced front hubs in both and both are rusting in the usual spots and beginning to look their age. The Sierra is winning the race in returning to dust though. I replaced all fluids in the Sierra at 180k and feel terrible that I haven't in the Yukon yet. 

 

In the Sierra, I replaced the oil pump pickup o-ring, cleaned the new style PCV valve cover, replaced pitman arm, bank 2 sensor 1, oil pressure sending unit, and many pads/rotors -- not bad for that many miles. It needs rust repair on the driver's side crossmember at the lower control arm and exhaust manifold bolts replaced. It'll likely be getting plugs/wires and new power steering pump soon as well. 

 

The Yukon has also been a minimal maintenance truck. I replaced the alternator, drivers seat heater, blower control module, AC tensioner, encoder ring, many pads/rotors, and cleaned the driver's side chassis ground. Before winter I'll have to rebuild the NP246. Pretty sure it got tore up when the encoder ring started randomly locking her in 4HI and 4LO. Now it just becomes a game to see if I can get 400k out of them. We get -40F temps up here and both have no problem starting all winter and they sleep outside. Love these trucks. Just wish they weren't rusting out. 

[Cartoon3798]

I got into the GMT800 platform from a friend who was really into Ford superduties.  He had a 7.3 diesel Excursion and convinced me it was the best SUV on a truck platform.  I bought a 7.3 Excursion with 300k miles on it O_O, and it constantly had issues, most of them I had no idea how to fix since I had never worked on a Diesel (let alone the 7.3 which has a weird engine design).  So after thousands of dollars into repairs and many more on the horizon I sold the Excursion and bought a 2003 Suburban Z71 with a 5.3L.

 

I've owned the Suburban for over a year now and I love it.  I haven't done much work to it (although my first trip out of town the radiator blew up on me), and the work I have done has been cheaper than the Excursion.  I also love that there are so many parts out there for these vehicles.  I went to the junkyard recently and looked through a ton of Escalades, Yukons, Tahoes, Suburbans, etc; It was nice to have so many options.

 

The OP mentioned wanting to get into a Diesel.  I would love to see someone get a 2500 suburban and drop a 6.6 Duramax in it.  I assume it wouldn't be too difficult since the Silverados have the 6.6s and the engine size is the same.

[davester]

Google "duraburb".  It can be done, but it's not as easy as it seems.

[SC Tiger]

On 11/5/2012 at 8:59 PM, scooby5121 said:

I do not remember ,but 05-06 disels may have a very bad injector problem running in the 6,000.00 price range. Check out other older forum on the years in this site to be exact on which years the duramax was bad.

just want to save you an expensive repair .

scooby

 

 

Is that the leaking injector thing?  I think Bosch made a replacement that is better, but they still leak eventually.  Saw a Youtube video on it - went down that rabbithole a few days ago.

 

Basically, the Duramax is overall a pretty good engine (regardless of which one) and the 6.0 and 6.4L Powerstrokes are complete pieces of sh....

 

On 8/3/2022 at 3:14 PM, Cartoon3798 said:

I got into the GMT800 platform from a friend who was really into Ford superduties.  He had a 7.3 diesel Excursion and convinced me it was the best SUV on a truck platform.  I bought a 7.3 Excursion with 300k miles on it O_O, and it constantly had issues, most of them I had no idea how to fix since I had never worked on a Diesel (let alone the 7.3 which has a weird engine design).  So after thousands of dollars into repairs and many more on the horizon I sold the Excursion and bought a 2003 Suburban Z71 with a 5.3L.

 

I've owned the Suburban for over a year now and I love it.  I haven't done much work to it (although my first trip out of town the radiator blew up on me), and the work I have done has been cheaper than the Excursion.  I also love that there are so many parts out there for these vehicles.  I went to the junkyard recently and looked through a ton of Escalades, Yukons, Tahoes, Suburbans, etc; It was nice to have so many options.

 

The OP mentioned wanting to get into a Diesel.  I would love to see someone get a 2500 suburban and drop a 6.6 Duramax in it.  I assume it wouldn't be too difficult since the Silverados have the 6.6s and the engine size is the same.

Could be tricker than you think.  I believe the Suburbans are on a different frame, so there might be missing mounting points for stuff.  Just a guess though.

 

I need to go to the junkyard with a shopping list for my 2000 Silverado.