at home engine replacement

[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.






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[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.