1994 Chevy K1500

[arco777]

I am and will always be a Ford guy, and I am very happy with my Explorer. But this deal was too good to pass up and there's an empty spot in the driveway.

A free 1994 Silverado 1500 4WD, Club Cab. 260K miles but overall in real good shape and comes with lots of free stuff. 5 speed with new clutch and other parts, 400cid, exhaust, etc. The guy got pulled over for having no insurance, no registration, no IM, and the car sits on base with a dead battery (bad stereo wiring) and the key's location unknown. Says he'd like to keep and store the truck but can't with no registration, and he's deploying in a couple weeks, so it's mine. My plan is to get up early tomorrow, try to get a key made at the Chevy dealer, grab the truck and drive it home with a friend following in my Explorer. I have some plates sitting around with current stickers on them and the truck's title in my name (no reg because of no IM).

So, I need some advice.

-I have only owned Ford pickups. They never gave me any problems. What do I need to watch for on these models?
-I believe the wheels are 6 bolt, what is the stock tire size? The ones on it are shot. Didn't some of these trucks have 5 bolt? A bit confused here.
-Stock 350 block/pistons/rods replaced with a rebuilt "70's" 400 about 1000 miles ago. The previous owner thinks there is rod knock. However, it started 250 miles into the break-in and was exactly the same thing the original one was doing before replacement. Given that it doesn't burn oil or blow smoke, and the old top end is still in use, think it's just a lifter or something? I am told Chevy heads are very easy to work on and it might be a good first time head disassembly for me. More info on the "knock" when/if I get back home with it tomorrow.
-Oil gauge doesn't work. How do I troubleshoot this?
-Pictures and more questions to come for sure...

I'm not really sure what I want to do with the truck. At this point, maybe drive it around a little for fun and then sell it. Any advice is appreciated.

 

[james t]

Ive owned several TBI-era chevys. Honestly they are great trucks and super easy to work on and diagnose.

Watch for items

1- Fuel pumps are junk

2- Tilt steering column will get wobbly and need complex teardown to get to 3 bolts deep inside column that need locktite/retorque

2- Ignition control module. If the truck ever randomly dies, and wont restart until its cooled off a bit, it will be the ICM. Cheap $20 part right under the distributer cap

3- Idler arm- any slack in the steering is usually a worn idler arm... for whatever reason this wears out faster than the tie rod ends

4- 4x4 engine oil filter... when you change the oil you will curse God with 10w30 running down your sleeve into your armpit

5- 4x4 actuator- if you shift it into 4x4 and the indicator doesnt light up its the actuator... screws into the front diff like an 02 sensor... can easily be replaced with a cresent wrench in 2 minutes



4x4's were 6 lug, 2x4's were 5 lug. Also, there was a weird light duty 3/4 ton 2x4 that was 6 lug

If its a lifter it will "tick" and not "knock". A knock means imminent death, especially on a stock SBC. A tick is no big deal, try running a quart of ATF in it for 10-20 miles then change the oil.

Oil gauge will be the sending unit, right above the oil filter, cheap part

 

[arco777]

Thanks!

Got a set of keys from Chevy, ignition one didn't work but door key did and the old keys were on the seat so all good. Drove it home with no problems. I can't hear anything like a knock or even a tick. There is a small exhaust leak but that is probably due to a lack of header gaskets. Overall it runs very well. Everything on the truck works for the most part.

Steering is kinda sloppy. I will look up what exactly the idler arm is and check it out.

The 4x4 actuator you mentioned was probably bad and is held in lock with some rubber tubing or something; basically acts like a normal manual case with manual hubs in a locked position. It's on the list of fixes, but the battery drain because of bad stereo wiring is first.

Motor needs a fan. Temp rises slowly at an idle and I see steam from under the hood on occasion, but given what previous owner said I am going to first find and stop all the leaks in the cooling system that I can. Or I could dump in some BARS.

Right now I need a break. It has been too long since I had a 5 speed :

 

[james t]

If you have any problems with it come back to this thread and i will try to help. Like i said they are great trucks and really easy to work on.

 

[Willard]

My dad has a 1990 5-speed, it's been a decent truck, we've beat on it pretty hard.

Like james t said, fuel pumps are junk, we've had so many fuel delivery problems with this thing it's not even funny. Other than that it's been alright, we had some problems with the starter/battery too, but that's expected on an old truck.

The one bad problem we had was three times now the harmonic balancer/crank pulley has fallen off the front of the motor. What happened, the pulley bolt got loose, then slowly hammered the key out of the key way. So it now has no key way, we just put it in without the little key and tighten the crap out of the bolt and hope it doesn't fall off again. The only real fix would be a new crankshaft.

That was most likely due to the rebuild the previous owner gave it however, we think he didn't do something right.

 

[james t]

The one bad problem we had was three times now the harmonic balancer/crank pulley has fallen off the front of the motor. What happened, the pulley bolt got loose, then slowly hammered the key out of the key way. So it now has no key way, we just put it in without the little key and tighten the crap out of the bolt and hope it doesn't fall off again. The only real fix would be a new crankshaft.

If it does it again, try some Red Loctite on the bolt and tighten the crap out of it.