whiteboy's resurrection

[THEEwhiteboy]

Ok guys first off I have to say i love the information on these forums as I've been lurking the past three weeks solving problems on my new to me 01 Astro AWD. I'm a Chevy guy and my 98 Silverado 350 has either blew a head or intake gasket and I happened upon a coworkers van for $400 bucks that sat for a year.

Now it's time to get to the good part. The actual resurrection. He told me I needed a battery and lo and behold the old silverado coughed up one for me. I went over after work and tossed a battery in then pulled the rental car around to give it a good charge while I gave it a quick once over. Oil was a quart low but looked good, tranny was low but I was aware it had a slight leak. Everything else looked good running wise but the thing looked like a work van that put in 12 hour days everyday.

I turned the key over and click with an audible strain from the starter and I cursed loud enough to echo in the bare interior. I HAD to get this van home tonight so I laid into the starter hoping it wouldn't burn up all the while sucking enough power from the rental to pop dashboard warning lights and make the headlights flicker. The Albino rhino shuttered then woke up as my wife started screaming at me because of the warnings in the rental and I became ecstatic till I seen the smoke pouring out the exhaust. I test drove it about a quarter mile to put gas in it as it was almost empty which was nice.

After filling her up with fresh gas she smoothed on out some and stopped smoking which made me happy and I took the Albino rhino home. The first week I ran the codes and fixed oxygen sensor, cleaned up the front wheel speed sensors, strapped for cash I opted for leak stops in tranny with 1 bottle of lucas and 2 bars leaks which slowed it to a trickle. Also checked tire pressure etc.

The next two weeks I drove her to work totaling at least 1200 miles. No oil usage, tranny fluid is at about a 1/16th quart a day, coolant which was pretty and green at initial startup was slowly disappearing when I parked each night with nothing noticeable underneath. I'm now throwing torque converter solenoid open with a misfire in cylinder 2 that leads to rough idle, and finally the abs/brake light randomly comes on with no discernable pattern.

Ive adjusted brake switch which made my cruise work but did not help tcc solenoid. I also visually inspected all wiring to and from tranny and tomorrow draining and replacing solenoid while adding generic oreillys atf/redguard. Plan on greasing all wheel bearings and fittings plus checking rearend and transfer case oil. Aside from expected slight loss of power, rough idle, and no "highway" gear i love her and she's doing decent. I bought the Albino rhino as a temporary replacement for my truck as I do the topend but I'm smitten but also in need of advice.

If my proposed repars do not work on tcc what could it be? I've come to terms with blown gasket but plan on riding as is till I can get my truck rolling in a few weeks but is it possible that the coolant leak and misfire are seperate issues? I will be posting pics tomorrow as I go for a full 10 hours of tinkering.

[THEEwhiteboy]

I couldn't get any pics due to frustration... Put her up on blocks and rotated the tires, cleaned up brakes and loosened them up more. I greased all the fittings good and glad I did because each side took almost a whole tube. Once the tranny cooled down enough to touch I dropped the pan and found the leaks...
The entire front right corner bolts were finger tight if that. I wish i could turn back time though because I opted out of the torque converter clutch solenoid due to my small budget. I'm going to take the engine coolant temp sensor back as i realized my van has one sensor and my gauge works perfect although I found the back side of intake gasket slightly weeping coolant. I broke the heater hose relay on the waterpump hose and either need a cheap fix or spend 40 bucks on that.
All this and the van still runs great aside from the torque converter clutch solenoid still popping an open code PO740 and a slightly rough idle and general need of a tuneup. Looks like I'm going to be running another week without the torque converter.

[WimpTech]

Welcome, sounds like you're off to a great start. Wish I could help with the torque converter, above my pay grade. I can tell you only use delco auto trak2 with no additives in that tcase or the gods will punish you.
Rule of thumb...use only gm/ Delco sensors, after market cause too many issues. Also, plain copper core Delco plugs and anyone's 7mm plug wires work great and are cheap. Delco cap n rotor are preferred but not always required .

Good luck

[THEEwhiteboy]

Yea i went to check t-case oil and I don't think that the threads on fill plug had anything on them and its froze.. I stripped the plug. Just woke up stiff as all get out from yesterdays work. About to get some pictures for you guys and gals.

[THEEwhiteboy]

Does anyone think that the jb plasti weld will work on that heater relay nipple ir with the heat be too much.

[THEEwhiteboy]

Oh yea Dr.Pepper is my mechanical fuel lol. Anyone around raleigh nc if you need any help or tools tinkering all I need to come help is a 12 pack of dr pepper.

[markmitch]

I found that the only glue that actually works on plastic is gorilla glue super glue jell. but hive it 24 hours to fully harden then clean off remaining foam after it dries. get some pb blaster and spray the area that is stuck let it sit overnight too.
in the future do not use those stop leak it clogs things in whatever its used in. its a bandaid fix. And welcome to the forum.

[THEEwhiteboy]

Thanks. Yea the stopleak was a bandaid until i realized it was just the pan leaking then i kicked myself. I justgot the heater valve as I didn't want to risk another 600 mile week with the glued plastic failing.

[THEEwhiteboy]

With a $100 a week budget im limited so any do it yourself advice is welcome. I need to get this van stable so I can redo top end on my silverado then put some real work in the astro.

[AstroWill]

Does anyone think that the jb plasti weld will work on that heater relay nipple ir with the heat be too much.

Nope, don't bother trying to fix that, just replace it, or bypass it.

[THEEwhiteboy]

Yea i just went ahead and replaced it. Would have hated to get stranded because i wanted to be cheap.

[AstroWill]

Yea i just went ahead and replaced it. Would have hated to get stranded because i wanted to be cheap.

Excellent!

[THEEwhiteboy]

Ok since payday is tomorrow and I can't wait to get to wrenching on the albino rhino I want to go over plans for this weekend. I plan on finally changing the tcc solenoid and installing a drain for the tranny. Sadly if this fixes my cel then I plan on tune up then on to wife's 99 saturn wagon that she locked up the engine on this past week..... She told me she knew how and was checking the oil. After that its the complete top end in my 98 silverado then back to the astro.

[THEEwhiteboy]

Welp got the pan down. Now I'm researching how to remove the shift solenoid out of my way. Gonna get some pics with everything open. Might not get anymore unless I can talk my son into getting off the pc and taking a few.

[THEEwhiteboy]

The tcc solenoid replacement fixed my problem. I did't get any pictures as I didn't want to touch my phone covered in transmission blood as my sons call it. I was going to add lube guard but didnt considering all the additives ive added the past month. The tranny shifts like a brand new one at 300806 miles. After I finish cooking my family famous ribs on the grill I'm going to tackle the intermittent abs light by soldering the connections that crack and cleaning the ground.

I swear after fixing the tranny the engine has smoothed out on idle. Ive been cleaning grounds as I find them while working on it so I'm sure that has helped. I also added some much needed air to the air shocks on the back and now she drives awesome. Any opinions on the air shocks? Id liketo keep them when i eventually get to a lift. Tune up to start tomorrow. Another question for you guys for now. Should i chang coil and dist cap now or while I'm changing intake gasket at a later date.

[kennysmoke]

The tcc solenoid replacement fixed my problem. I did't get any pictures as I didn't want to touch my phone covered in transmission blood as my sons call it. I was going to add lube guard but didnt considering all the additives ive added the past month. The tranny shifts like a brand new one at 300806 miles. After I finish cooking my family famous ribs on the grill I'm going to tackle the intermittent abs light by soldering the connections that crack and cleaning the ground.

I swear after fixing the tranny the engine has smoothed out on idle. Ive been cleaning grounds as I find them while working on it so I'm sure that has helped. I also added some much needed air to the air shocks on the back and now she drives awesome. Any opinions on the air shocks? Id liketo keep them when i eventually get to a lift. Tune up to start tomorrow. Another question for you guys for now. Should i chang coil and dist cap now or while I'm changing intake gasket at a later date.

If you have the cash it's not a bad idea to change them out... I've had multiple cap and coil related issues on 4 of the 5 Astro / Safari's I've owned in the last 24 years.

[kennysmoke]

Looks like a pretty solid van for $400...

[THEEwhiteboy]

Aside from needing an intake gasket and replacing worn parts which if you do your research on astros you know about then I came out good. Being a chevy guy makes it even better. I loved the old school work van and I didn't think the astro would live up. Ive been smitten so bad that I'm putting my 98 silverado on the backburner.

[THEEwhiteboy]

We do alot of over night catfishin and campin and this vehicle fits that niche cheaply.

[THEEwhiteboy]

Ha! Had these laying around for my silverado and they fit the v-6 too. Now i just need wires and cap. Debating changing the plugs for now so I can check existing plugs.