WilsonStaff

Hi to all, i am new to Chevrolet Express. I am in the process of buying a 2009 4.3L Express with around 125k miles. Body/rockers are, though not pristine, quite solid. That what's make the buy tempting as most Express/Savana up here (northeast Canada) are rusted to hell. And the price is good, about 3.5k US$

I might add that I don have the van yet, so I cant test anything at all.

Had a pre-purchase inspection done and they returned with this (see below). Id appreciate if you could rank from 1 (easy) to 10 (very hard) and $ to $$$ the repairs needed. I am not mechanic expert but I do my own jobs on my Volvo, from head gasket to AWD systems to brakes and suspension. Here it is :

Airbag light on
I know it can be a lot of things. Is the most possible cause would be the front sensor($$)? Fuse($)? Module($$$$)?

Oil cooler line leak
Your thoughts?

Oil pan leak
That one seems quite easy, according to YouTube videos

Valve cover leak
Again pretty straightforward, according to YouTube videos

Timing chain cover leak
That one ?

Steering rack leak
Seems like a harder one.

Disintegrating driveshaft seal at the rear
That one?

ABS light on
That one ?


Thanks for helping! I have to decide quite rapidly.

mountainmanjoe

warning lights can mean thousands of different things. How can anybody possibly diagnose what's wrong with it over the internet just knowing that a light is on??
Didn't the mechanic who inspected it run a diagnostic scan to see what the lights are actually indicating?

This car has too many problems. Run away.

WilsonStaff

This van has what 90% of Northeast Canada has not: a sound body. Which makes it a good candidate for a rebuild. Ive chosen to buy a less expensive not documented van and use the saved money to rebuild/repair/renew it.

Here in Canada, scan aren't included in a pre-purchase inspection (silly but that's the reality)."Light is on" they said: I can see.... So I made a scan using my Bluedriver Bluetooth who can read ABS/SRS and so on, but..... not on the Express. So I am clueless unless I spend another 150$ on a scan form a garage.

Here is this one: garage quoted me 2.5hrs (300CAN$) to change the rear driveshaft seal, which (according to Youtube videos I've seem) should take no more than an hour. I can do some work: I've rebuild my Volvo T5 head myself among other things.

I am trying to find some knowledgeable help on this forum. The Volvo forum (swedespeed.com) I am subscribing to has been a lot of help. Hope this Chevy Forum will be too.

Question one: what would you do first?

Thanks!

mountainmanjoe

the body looks ready to start bubbling with rust

I would move on and find something in better shape that doesn't have any trouble lights.