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Back in the days before computer controls, glowing exhaust was an indicator of severely retarded ignition timing.
Yeah, if people keep buying this stuff and not complaining about it, the manufacturers will continue to feed us this sh*t sandwich.
I recall complaining about all the problems my ’07 Silverado had when it was 2 years old, with barely 30k on the clock, over at GM-Trucks.com. I got attacked by people, calling me a “whiner”, because I expected more for $30k. I couldn’t believe what I was reading! Had quite a few internet battles over there. I don’t get attacked anymore – I think after the ’14 -’15 Silverados came out with more problems right out of the gate than any other model in GM’s history, maybe they finally saw the light.
Funny we’re on this topic – my buddy just texted me about a guy at his work that bought a ’15 Silverado. Just got it back from the dealer after the #6 cylinder had bad rings – a whopping 7k miles on the clock!! GM has really hit rock bottom …
Alot of the reason you see older vehicles on the road still is due to guys like Eric, myself, and most of you guys keeping them going. With some vehicles that’s a full-time job, and with others (like my ’86 Grand Marquis), it’s fairly easy to do.
GM has been building total junk (compared to what they used to build) for the past 20 years (longer with certain models). It takes quite a feat to keep them going. My ’89 S10 Blazer I just sold was a good example of that … but that truck was 10x better than the ’00 Jimmy I ended up parting out, due to never ending electrical gremlins in every system on that truck. I ended up taking the ’00 4.3 out of the Jimmy, stripping all the electronic crap off it, slapped an Edelbrock intake and carb on there, and a HEI distributor, and mounted it up in the ’89 S10 Blazer. It suddenly became one of the most reliable cars we owned! If not for the warp-speed body rot, I’d have kept it around.
But back on topic …
Just thinking about how everything from cars to toasters USED to last, it’s hard not to suspect they’re purposefully engineering everything to fail. Just reading some of the comments on Youtube made me remember this. Like 70 year old refrigerators that still run, or, as in the case with my ’86 Grand Marquis, the fact that it’s 30 years old this month, with 230k on the clock, and still has the ORIGINAL OEM fuel pump, power steering pump, starter, and up until last year, injectors. Only reason I replaced the injectors is because I broke the plastic shield off the base of one of them after removing it to clean it. I ended up selling the entire set of 8 on eBay – the guy who bought them for his classic car engine swap said they all tested within spec, except for ONE. That one was only out of spec 3%!
I suspect nothing on the road today will be capable of running in 3 decades, unless totally rewired, or rebuilt.
Just my .02, but from experience I’d stay away from any S-series truck built after ’93 – I base this on the fact that I have to fix my own vehicles, and the ones built after that year model seem to be complete pieces of crap. Mostly ’96 and up.
I have a ’94 S10 that I got for free that I use as a plow truck, and although it idles at 2k, it does what it;s supposed to do. The clutch line & slave cylinder replacement (mainly the line) made me regret accepting the thing. What a dumb design! I have over 150′ of copper/nickel brake line I couldn’t even use, because of the damn fittings on the end – the o-ring & pin retainer … plus the line is half metal half plastic, and gets routed to hell and back behind the engine, beside the starter … TOTAL nightmare. The lower hinges of the tailgate are GONE – rotted away to another dimension.
I used to own a ’00 Jimmy – I could write a book on this colossal toilet! A wheeled toilet! Never chased so many electrical gremlins in my life! I ended up yanking the engine, parting out the truck, and stuffing that engine into my ’89 S10 Blazer with a carb and HEI ignition. It suddenly became the most reliable vehicle I’ve owned.
So, yeah … I don’t recommend anything GM ’96 and up. I’d go so far as to say, you’d be better served with something pre-’96 (OBD-I or carbed) no matter what the brand, especially if you have to work on the thing. I hate troubleshooting OBD-II, so I’m biased. Things don’t have to be that difficult. I was lucky enough to grow up in a time when they weren’t …
On the Ranger – I had a former neighbor that had one with 316k miles on it before he retired it. I did some front end work and u-joints on it for him a couple years back. That was one RELIABLE truck! Think it was a ’93 – not sure. Had a 4 cylinder with the 5-speed manual. He drove that thing everywhere … even for a few years after it looked like it wasn’t going to make it another mile, lol.
I had a ’94 K1500 that was super-reliable too. Sold that one with 266k miles on it. Bought an ’07 Silverado brand new like a dummy. Haven’t even hit 90k on it and it burns oil, I’m on the second set of ball joints (lowers at 38k!), it squeaks and rattles worse than my ’94 K1500 did with 100x the miles, etc etc. Another one I could write a book on …
Anyway, good luck in your search. Hope this helps a bit.
