Just bought an 87 with 59K... think I know why it has so few miles on it.

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Old77

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to help you out here's the pic you tried to post :waytogo: She looks good!! Once you get the bugs worked out I think you'll love her :)
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austinado16

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The Smithsonian just called. They'd like their Suburban back!

Man that thing is nice. I hope you don't do any mods to it at all. It's perfect as-is.
 

89Suburban

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Beautiful Burb. Very rare for our area, you should be proud. :)
 

HotRodPC

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The Smithsonian just called. They'd like their Suburban back!

Man that thing is nice. I hope you don't do any mods to it at all. It's perfect as-is.

No doubt. I sure wouldn't be to upset about some little mechanical issue. You more than made up for that in the OEM cosmetic condition.

Beautiful Burb. Very rare for our area, you should be proud. :)


I'm thinking that one has been parked and garaged in the winters for being that clean and lacking body cancer in PA.


Have you gotten the fuel issue resolved yet? I thought I had posted a couple suggestions in this thread. Never know, I may have and then fell asleep at the computer again and not hit Submit Reply. :shrug:
 

TheBlue'Burban

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No doubt. I sure wouldn't be to upset about some little mechanical issue. You more than made up for that in the OEM cosmetic condition.




I'm thinking that one has been parked and garaged in the winters for being that clean and lacking body cancer in PA.


Have you gotten the fuel issue resolved yet? I thought I had posted a couple suggestions in this thread. Never know, I may have and then fell asleep at the computer again and not hit Submit Reply. :shrug:


Thanks again for the replies, guys. I have been working a lot so I haven't had a whole lot of time to respond, though I have been trolling the forum. I had taken it back to the dealer a second time for him to have his mechanic replace the fuel pump. A second time he got it back saying it was simply out of gas. Filled it up to the top and ran it 200 miles with no engine trouble.

I was driving home from work when I felt the rear get a little shakey... thought I could feel something coming out of line or something. Figured i should take a slower back road the rest of the way home, and five miles further down the road.... BLAM! Whap! Whap! Whap! Tread flying everywhere in my rear view. I got it pulled off the to side and took a look, the rear passenger tire had shed it's tread but was still holding air. Apparently, 20 year old dry rotted tires and highway speeds don't make good friends (Lesson learned :emotions34:) I did take the time while waiting for the flatbed to crawl under and PB Blast every moving part and bolt I could see.

Put all four new tires on it, and though my wallet was hurting a bit, I felt better about driving it again. Took it to work in the morning, grinning that my new highway treads would help a *bit* with gas mileage, the grease-up I gave it should help with any squeaking I had heard before, and filling the tank up seemed to reset the gauge that had given me the first two false alarms.

I started pulling off at my exit for the jobsite, and it started sputtering on me. I coaxed her across the overpass and into a truck stop... and then she died out. I could keep it sputtering and running while feathering the gas... but it would die as soon as I put it into gear. My first thought.... fuel pump.

So I called AAA for the second time in as many days, and had it towed BACK to the shop it had come from the day before (a rather confusing conversation for the dispatcher, to say the least.) I called the dealer back to let him know that it WAS in fact the fuel pump that he had already agreed to replace twice now, and he called me back saying... get this...
"My guy says he won't do it now because we have messed around with it twice now, and it has just been out of gas. You did buy it "as is." I would do it myself, but I'm too old to crawl on the ground and do it, so I was thinking of how I could cut a hole and get it from the top...) This is the point in which I hung up on him. **** you sheisty used car guy and your run-around tactics and mechanics who slap stickers on stuff that haven't had a proper go-through.... you aren't cutting a hole in my rust free truck. Once again **** you, I said in my head.

Whatever, I did buy it as is... and somehow I got 200 miles out of it up till this point... so another $560 for an entire fuel pump assembly installed... and it's running fine again.
 

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Well, fingers crossed, I bet the problem is now resolved.
Check with Your states laws. In Montana there is a " Lemon Law " clause on every vehicle sold { I believe by the dealers only but, not real sure about private sales } and a 30 day period of getting the repairs resolved or Your money back.
You have it fixed now, so if there is a Lemon Law clause in Your state, it now would be a " Small Claims Court " battle, no attourneys involved, You talk to Your Justice of the peace judge, they give You the paper work and a booklet of the guide lines and what is expected of You, fill out the papers and the J.P. takes it from there. Your day in court will be heard, along with theirs, J.P. then rules who is wrong or right and, I`d think in this case, You would get Your money back for the fuel pump and installation fees plus, any fees it takes to get the dealer into the court.
If they dont pay up, You then have the right to file lein on " ANY THING " of greater value that He owns, seems once that happens, they payup real quick, pissed off but quick. LOL
 

89Suburban

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You could have given the fuel tank a wack to get it going again. That trick worked for me for about two weeks. Gave me plenty of warning that it was going out. I actually do plan to cut an access hole for the pump. I have the measurements to do it, and I have a section of matching floor pan to make a cover that will bolt down over it. I also have a fuel pump that is a year or to old sitting on the shelf as a replacement when mine decides to go.

What tires did you get for it?

Also did the blown tread do any damage to the body?
 

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Yea, 89s, my mechanic gave it a whack to get it going enough to drive it back to the dealer after it wouldnt start for him. It then gave me a week or so of decent driving... which I'm sure the dealer and his mechanic were counting on... send me happily down the road long enough that they could figure out how to pawn it off on me... fuggers.

Went with P235/75/R15 Hancooks with Highway Tread. Was hoping to go with some wide white walls on her, but function over form for the time being. Hancooks were cheapest and most readily available, so that's the route I took. Might use these as backups if I end up going with some Cragars or some other rim down the road.... that remains to be seen.

The blown tread did do a bit of damage, but nothing major. The inner fender well has a small panel on the passenger side at the bottom to protect from kicked up rocks and such... that got ripped off and folded up into the fenderwell. i wiggled it loose like a tooth to get it the rest of the way off and tossed it in the back (didn't want it coming loose and blowing my new tire. I have a welder friend I will get to grind the edge clean and put it back at some point... for now I just want to make sure it stays in the forward upright position.

I do feel bad that I don't have a garage for it... might have to get some HUGE army surplus tarp for the winter...

Did you come for GM Nationals, 89? Heard there was mostly newer car stuff, so All Truck Nats in August might be our gig.
 

89Suburban

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Bucket and I were trying to get there and the one dude from CT could not make it so I suggested we just wait until fall. I really don't want to run Silvy long distance in the high heat. When we do it I will let you know when I'll be coming by. It would be cool to meet up for an hour and talk Burbs and get a pic of ours together. I have a ton of **** I stripped out of my '89 Burb so if you need anything just make a list. Not sure if Bucket wants to run that far out. I was figuring Somerset, PA was a half way point for the both of us. We'll see.
 

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So... latest update on Blue Betty. Since the first 5 minutes that I owned it, I knew that it needed a heater core. Turned the A/C on to test it out, and coolant spewed out from under the dash, under the carpet, and out the passenger door.

I took it right back to the dealer, who said he would fix it for me, just give him a couple days to clear up the shop. Then all the fuel filter run around happened, and he kept saying he would get it taken care of for me, just make sure it's running good first, then we could deal with the heater core.

I stopped in last week, he said, OK, bring it in Saturday, I will take care of it. Well, as fate would have it, we had a family emergency and I couldn't drop it off, so I stopped in today to find out when I could bring it by.

Wouldn't you know that sheisty ******' ************ went and RETIRED.... wasn't even there on Saturday. Strung me along on his word until he could get out of doing it. ******.

Sorry for the swears, but as you can tell, I'm a bit pissed. I stopped in at least once a week to keep him to it, and he kept putting me off. That's what I get for trusting shady grandpa-like friendly, apologetic used car guys.

So I talked to to owner, who was there today, he said as a "favor" he would give me the number of his shop, and called them to give them a heads up about my call... told them to give me $100 off of their $60 an hour (his cost) labor... which might end up being a 6 hour ordeal.

Thinking of doing it myself at some point... to avoid this ******** again. I have been running the vent fan and rolling the windows down... the only major issue is I am afraid to run defrost, and I am usually going to work early in the foggy morning...

Bottom line... I'm super pissed that this guy strung me along and then peaced-out... but, live and learn I guess.
 

89Suburban

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That sucks, and that is a real bitch to replace. Just take your time and soak the firewall fasteners and start working them loose. You can pull the heater hose and just loop it or use a piece of pipe to bypass it for now.
 

HotRodPC

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So... latest update on Blue Betty. Since the first 5 minutes that I owned it, I knew that it needed a heater core. Turned the A/C on to test it out, and coolant spewed out from under the dash, under the carpet, and out the passenger door.

I took it right back to the dealer, who said he would fix it for me, just give him a couple days to clear up the shop. Then all the fuel filter run around happened, and he kept saying he would get it taken care of for me, just make sure it's running good first, then we could deal with the heater core.

I stopped in last week, he said, OK, bring it in Saturday, I will take care of it. Well, as fate would have it, we had a family emergency and I couldn't drop it off, so I stopped in today to find out when I could bring it by.

Wouldn't you know that sheisty ******' ************ went and RETIRED.... wasn't even there on Saturday. Strung me along on his word until he could get out of doing it. ******.

Sorry for the swears, but as you can tell, I'm a bit pissed. I stopped in at least once a week to keep him to it, and he kept putting me off. That's what I get for trusting shady grandpa-like friendly, apologetic used car guys.

So I talked to to owner, who was there today, he said as a "favor" he would give me the number of his shop, and called them to give them a heads up about my call... told them to give me $100 off of their $60 an hour (his cost) labor... which might end up being a 6 hour ordeal.

Thinking of doing it myself at some point... to avoid this ******** again. I have been running the vent fan and rolling the windows down... the only major issue is I am afraid to run defrost, and I am usually going to work early in the foggy morning...

Bottom line... I'm super pissed that this guy strung me along and then peaced-out... but, live and learn I guess.

There's a place in hell for ******** like that. Those are the kind of people I find out where they live and sometimes things mysteriously happen that make their life a PITA for a little while. You'd be surprized what a kid will do for $10-$20 like "ACCIDENTLY" spill a bottle of Round-UP in someone's nicely manicured lawn. Or a little paint stripper in a squirt gun and go for a little walk when noone is looking, nonchalantly be spraying a little "water" on a vehicle as you're walking by unnoticed.

Yeah, as 89S suggested, for now bypass the heater core and get your AC going then you've got a couple months til you need the heat. He's not lying, replacing the heater core it freakin PITA. Not near as hard for little guys, but for big guys lke 89S and myself it's not an easy task. It can be done though. Just time consuming. I'd plan on doing it sometime this fall when it's cooler outside.
 

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The owner of the dealership suggested trying a can/bottle of leak stop for $20... I might do that, but at the rate this stuff was spewing out, I can almost guarantee that isn't going to do it. My brother-in-law has lent me his 99 Cougar for the time being (while I was shopping around looking for my new vehicle, which turned out to be the Burb.) and he also said I could use his barn as a garage to get it figured out, but it's a 20 minute drive and with working as much as I do, I'm not sure when I will get the time to mess with it.

I'm currently going through my call log on my cell phone, I think I got a call from the salesman's personal cell... though I can't be sure. I'm sure he won't answer anyhow. Fuggin' Fugger.

A plus? I am 138 lbs., after lunch.... and I'm pretty sure I was a Circus Contortionist in a past life. (Comes in handy as a plumber, crawling under sink cabinets, and into ceilings, and such...)
 

HotRodPC

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NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO. I would highly suggest AGAINST the $20 stop leak. If it's that bad that is was gushing coolant out under the carpet and out the passenger door, this one is past repair. Save your $20. Most of those stop leak fixes are gimmicks. If you've got a pin hole, a $2-$3 tube of Aluma Seal will work just fine. Bars leak will clog a bigger leak, but it will also clog your whole cooling system or at least cut down it's cooling capacity. In the event you have a pretty good leak and need to make it 40 -100 miles to get on home, then I'd go for the Bars Leak, but then I'd plan on a new radiator or getting my current one repaired and rodded out to get all the Bars Leak out of it.

JMO, hopefully others will give their .02 before you waste your money. 89S also had bought that $40 head gasket repair stuff. It did work for a few months surprisingly, so again, maybe to make it home when your some distance from the house, or a patch job to sell a vehicle or buy some time for better financial days, but I wouldn't spend $40 on that crap either.
 

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This is S.L. Awareness month, to keep Burbs off of StopmLeak.
 

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