My '97 Sierra has 238,000 miles and...

tommybilt · May 9, 2005

I am wondering what stuff I should look for that might fail or break. I do not want to be left stranded on the road anytime soon.

MS3DALE · May 9, 2005

Well,I hate to say it but at this mileage anything can break! Believe me it happens with my '88 Corsica with over 227,000 miles on it!

You check this....that breaks,you check that...this breaks,see where I'm going here?

I would change out all the filters (fuel,air,oil,trans.,PCV valve) and fluilds (oil,trans,frt.& rr.diff,transfer case,brake,coolant) and also change the belts and hoses (thermostat too!),this would be a good start

You never know when a fuel pump is just going to die sometimes or when a water pump might start to leak or when a starter just isn't going to start!

You just have to fix some things as they break.

tommybilt · May 9, 2005

Well,I hate to say it but at this mileage anything can break! Believe me it happens with my '88 Corsica with over 227,000 miles on it!
You check this....that breaks,you check that...this breaks,see where I'm going here?

I would change out all the filters (fuel,air,oil,trans.,PCV valve) and fluilds (oil,trans,frt.& rr.diff,transfer case,brake,coolant) and also change the belts and hoses (thermostat too!),this would be a good start

You never know when a fuel pump is just going to die sometimes or when a water pump might start to leak or when a starter just isn't going to start!

You just have to fix some things as they break.

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I was afraid of that. Thanks for the reply.

MS3DALE · May 9, 2005

One other thing,If its a 305 or 350 those are famous for the intake leaking on the back side.

mmmikkke · May 9, 2005

One other thing,If its a 305 or 350 those are famous for the intake leaking on the back side.

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I second that! I had a 95 K3500 which started fizzing coolant at the back side of the intake manifold. Truck had 100K miles on it at that point.

Had the dealer replace the IM gasket, problem fixed.

Plus, had developed a strange 1 qt per 1000 miles oil consumption problem right around the same time. After the IM gasket replacement, no more abnormal oil consumption! I can't figure out why, but facts are facts. After the fix, the truck was back to 1 qt every 5000 miles, like it had been for most of its life.

willieboy · May 10, 2005

It is funny you all say that about the 305/350. Back in '96 my'89 caprice did that, and the mechanic just thought it was so strange that the manifold was not warped, corroded (this comment sent me packing) etc... They wanted to charge me 500 bucks for a new manifold and gasket. Needless to say, $90.00 (oil change, coolant flush, and gasket set) and time, I did it myself.

That was my how I popped my cherry on major car repair. The only tricky things was remembering to torque down in the correct order, and retiming the beast. Oh yeah, and replacing the heater valve(they don't even use these anymore) that broke in the process.