Pending some hopefully quick reviews from you guys, I'm going to be getting this tomorrow - http://www.kompactkarkorner.com/lyn...3-GMC-Typhoon-Turbo-AWD/658/1GDCT18Z2P0810054
My first time looking at this truck was three nights ago at about 1:30am after I'd gotten off work at Boeing in Everett, WA. Doors just happen to be unlocked, but the battery was deader than a doornail. Gave the thing a full walk around, looks good other than some minor flaws (more to come later in this post) and seemed to be in really great shape interior wise. Found the registration from a previous owner (username 'phoonTy' and here is his for sale ad - http://www.syty.net/forums/showthread.php?t=63689&highlight=#0054 ), I snapped off some pics and called it a night.
I googled around and called John and we spoke on the phone briefly about the truck. Mind you, I haven't driven it yet. Anyways, tells me used it as a daily driver for a while in Oregon and highlights what he knows. He was told the transmission had been repaced once (no known reason I can recall) and that him and a buddy had painted it in his friends garage, which the vehicle is now a Cadillac White Pearl...other than some minor overspray and a pinkynail sized rockchip on the hood, it looked great the night before when I had seen it. He told me he installed the boost gauge and I think he mentioned if he did the battery relocation and air filter. I go back to the dealership after I spoke to him, they jump the truck and get it running, but anytime letting off the idle, it'd die. I did pay attention to when they first started it to watch for smoke, and thankfully there is no smoke. After a few attempts at just keeping it running, and noticing it sputtered when it's really cold, I decided to call it a day and headed into work since I'm on second shift.
They call me back the next day, said they checked out the battery and alternator and everything is fine, it's fully charged and ready to drive. I'm not sure who installed this Hurst shifter, but it's the most annoying thing ever and I've yet to figure it out, if it's permanent as a part of the transmission or if I can simply swap the stock shift lever back in, which just happens to be sitting by the spare tire in the rear cargo area.
I finally drive it, it doesn't have the cold stumbling it had before, so we go for a drive. I noticed that the front end is quite loose, especially under power. Granted it got over 170k on it, but from reading threads on here, supposedly it's been lowered and has new shocks all around. I'm going to have to dig deeper. The truck absolutely SLAMS into first shift, but all gears after that seem to be smooth as butter. Power feels good, I can hear the blowoff valve through what I'm guessing is the intake because I can't see an external wastegate. We drive it around city roads for about 10 min, then I hop onto the highway. I'm guessing this is around 2nd gear, but merging onto the highway I could have sworn I heard pinging. Knowing this came from a dealership, it may just be that they're idiots and put in regular instead of premium, but nevertheless I hope maybe you guys can chime in. Windows are slow to roll up and down while running down the highway, but they work...I'm guessing they just need to be cleaned and lubed. Brakes seem to work fine, power comes on very gradually and then goes, and stupidly I never paid attenton to how many lbs of boost it's running, but it does sit around -20 at idle. Idles smoothly as well.
So far, my biggest concerns are the mileage and what that may mean in regards to additional maintenance (I had a 90 S10 Blazer w/ a 4.3 and it ran strong until 288k), I know these engines are strong (minus rods from what I've read) but being turbo'd is a different beast in regards to lifetime. I have no clue as to the conditons of the drivelines, but I've read they can be prone to breaking.
It looks like username 'Turbotoyz' put on about 7/8ths of the mileage and has done some extensive (and well appreciated if they're still installed!!) mods - http://www.syty.net/forums/showthread.php?t=93152&highlight=#0054 From what I can see visually, the intercooler lines have been replaced w/ heater hose, the intercooler might be aftermarket since it's just bare metal on top (I thought they had fins, logos, etc), the battery relocation for the intake tube, it's got an alarm (haven't verified if it works yet) and the tires look to be in great shape. Electronically everything seems to work, ie front and rear wipers, A/C (condesation on the lines, I never turned it on inside the truck, but the heater definately works!) windows and mirrors work, leather is in great shape
At this point I'm really leaning towards making the purchase, but I'm just looking for something to push me over the edge and know this has great potential. At the moment the only downsides physically are the rock chip mentioned above, overspray (easy fixes), the left rear bodypanel is factory white (haven't looked for under damage), the door panel has some broken plastic near the latch area, drivers seat can rock back and forth, the plastic trim piece on the side of the passenger seat is broken, there is a red LED (not sure what it's for) at the top of the door panel nearest the side mirror...there is another LED on the dash above the headlight switch.
It's a lot to read...but what do you guys think?
My first time looking at this truck was three nights ago at about 1:30am after I'd gotten off work at Boeing in Everett, WA. Doors just happen to be unlocked, but the battery was deader than a doornail. Gave the thing a full walk around, looks good other than some minor flaws (more to come later in this post) and seemed to be in really great shape interior wise. Found the registration from a previous owner (username 'phoonTy' and here is his for sale ad - http://www.syty.net/forums/showthread.php?t=63689&highlight=#0054 ), I snapped off some pics and called it a night.
I googled around and called John and we spoke on the phone briefly about the truck. Mind you, I haven't driven it yet. Anyways, tells me used it as a daily driver for a while in Oregon and highlights what he knows. He was told the transmission had been repaced once (no known reason I can recall) and that him and a buddy had painted it in his friends garage, which the vehicle is now a Cadillac White Pearl...other than some minor overspray and a pinkynail sized rockchip on the hood, it looked great the night before when I had seen it. He told me he installed the boost gauge and I think he mentioned if he did the battery relocation and air filter. I go back to the dealership after I spoke to him, they jump the truck and get it running, but anytime letting off the idle, it'd die. I did pay attention to when they first started it to watch for smoke, and thankfully there is no smoke. After a few attempts at just keeping it running, and noticing it sputtered when it's really cold, I decided to call it a day and headed into work since I'm on second shift.
They call me back the next day, said they checked out the battery and alternator and everything is fine, it's fully charged and ready to drive. I'm not sure who installed this Hurst shifter, but it's the most annoying thing ever and I've yet to figure it out, if it's permanent as a part of the transmission or if I can simply swap the stock shift lever back in, which just happens to be sitting by the spare tire in the rear cargo area.
I finally drive it, it doesn't have the cold stumbling it had before, so we go for a drive. I noticed that the front end is quite loose, especially under power. Granted it got over 170k on it, but from reading threads on here, supposedly it's been lowered and has new shocks all around. I'm going to have to dig deeper. The truck absolutely SLAMS into first shift, but all gears after that seem to be smooth as butter. Power feels good, I can hear the blowoff valve through what I'm guessing is the intake because I can't see an external wastegate. We drive it around city roads for about 10 min, then I hop onto the highway. I'm guessing this is around 2nd gear, but merging onto the highway I could have sworn I heard pinging. Knowing this came from a dealership, it may just be that they're idiots and put in regular instead of premium, but nevertheless I hope maybe you guys can chime in. Windows are slow to roll up and down while running down the highway, but they work...I'm guessing they just need to be cleaned and lubed. Brakes seem to work fine, power comes on very gradually and then goes, and stupidly I never paid attenton to how many lbs of boost it's running, but it does sit around -20 at idle. Idles smoothly as well.
So far, my biggest concerns are the mileage and what that may mean in regards to additional maintenance (I had a 90 S10 Blazer w/ a 4.3 and it ran strong until 288k), I know these engines are strong (minus rods from what I've read) but being turbo'd is a different beast in regards to lifetime. I have no clue as to the conditons of the drivelines, but I've read they can be prone to breaking.
It looks like username 'Turbotoyz' put on about 7/8ths of the mileage and has done some extensive (and well appreciated if they're still installed!!) mods - http://www.syty.net/forums/showthread.php?t=93152&highlight=#0054 From what I can see visually, the intercooler lines have been replaced w/ heater hose, the intercooler might be aftermarket since it's just bare metal on top (I thought they had fins, logos, etc), the battery relocation for the intake tube, it's got an alarm (haven't verified if it works yet) and the tires look to be in great shape. Electronically everything seems to work, ie front and rear wipers, A/C (condesation on the lines, I never turned it on inside the truck, but the heater definately works!) windows and mirrors work, leather is in great shape
At this point I'm really leaning towards making the purchase, but I'm just looking for something to push me over the edge and know this has great potential. At the moment the only downsides physically are the rock chip mentioned above, overspray (easy fixes), the left rear bodypanel is factory white (haven't looked for under damage), the door panel has some broken plastic near the latch area, drivers seat can rock back and forth, the plastic trim piece on the side of the passenger seat is broken, there is a red LED (not sure what it's for) at the top of the door panel nearest the side mirror...there is another LED on the dash above the headlight switch.
It's a lot to read...but what do you guys think?
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