Muilisx

Greetings,

I'm new to the forum. I haven't been part of a forum in quite a few months now, and have that itch so decided to join. I bought a 99 S-10 before this past Winter started. It's a 4.3 V6 5-Speed. I paid $2,000 for it. The biggest reason why I bought it is because I needed some form of transportation after my 636 got stolen, and the 2nd reason is because it was a manual. I just love manuals. Any vehicle I own in my name has to be a manual. Sure, I'll drive a automatic but anything I own personally is manual no excuses. Once you go manual you don't go back.

The person I bought it from was my Uncle's electrician for over 10 years. A super nice guy. He did honest work, just a super nice guy. Told me all it needed was an alignment which it clearly needed. Given the history between him and my Uncle I didn't take the truck to a mechanic but I should have because his definition of " only an alignment " and mine are totally different things. I've already dumped at least $2,500 into it. I was told it had a new clutch, rebuilt transmission, etc etc.

Here's a quick list off the top

1) Coolant Temperature Sensor
2) Temperature Sensor
3) Clutch Safety Switch
3) Valve Cover
4) Fuel Tank Hoses
5) Secondary Air Pump
6) Blower Motor
7) Differential
8) Driver's Door Hinges


The truck always throws the P0300 code which is random / multiple cylinder misfires. I was told cylinder 1 has low compression. I just recently put in the Rislone Cylinder Repair stuff you put in with the oil to see if that would help because I really don't feel like rebuilding the cylinder or whatever has to be done for that. Now the misfires aren't bad. I don't feel them ever. The CEL just comes on if I hold a steady speed for a period of time. I don't feel any lack of power or any symptoms of a misfire or low compression which is weird but it is what it is.

2nd gear would slightly grind on the up shift when the engine wasn't at complete operating temps, and would give a nice nasty grind when downshifting into 2nd if you didn't have the RPMs practically at idle. My first thought was the synchro but turned out to be transmission fluid. There was only half a quart in there. Got the level where it needed to be and that went away thank god. However, there is a internal problem with the tranny. I think it's a linkage issue. When you have to step on the brake hard for whatever reason you can feel something in the transmission shift. It's not a motor mount because you feel it in the shifter too and it just has a transmission sound to it. However, I'm not rebuilding the tranny. That would just be a waste with the price I paid and the amount of money already put into it. Anyway, moving on...

Last month or so I drove home from work. Everything was normal driving home. Nothing felt weird at all. Backed into my driveway and went inside the house. 2 hours later or so I had to go somewhere so I went out to the truck to start it and I the clutch pedal just wouldn't move. I mean the thing was just frozen. I immediately pointed my finger at the slave cylinder. Original slave, 200k on the truck it wouldn't surprise me if the slave locked up. Decided to give it a good push and heard a good pop. I probably just blew the seal on the slave. Went under the dash just to make sure I didn't break the rod or anything, and I saw brake fluid coming in from where the rod goes thru the firewall. Definitely the slave....GREEEEEEAAAAAT

I work at AutoZone so a slave for this truck was like $60 or somewhere around there. Not too bad.......but of course.....Chevy just had to put the slave inside the bell housing. Just my damn luck!!! Why would they do that? What kind of design is that? Long story short, had to drop the damn transmission to get to the slave, and you know about slave cylinders...when you do the slave, you usually want to do the master. The clutch had a decent amount of bite left but the pressure plate looked jacked up. Whoever did work in that department prior just put whatever to make it work so needless to say I replaced the clutch too while I was in there with a LUK clutch. Slave, Master, Clutch & Labor ran me about $1,100 which isn't too terrible as clutch jobs alone are usually around there but whatever.

2 weeks ago my power steering I think return hose ( can't remember ) burst.....power steering fluid went EVERYWHERE all over everything drenching my belt. The belt had to be replaced because now the belt was infested in fluid all dried up and it just wouldn't stop squeaking even with dressing all over it multiple times. I drove it for a while with no power steering because I just didn't have the money at that moment. Not sure if I did it but the belt came off a week later and I discovered that the pulley on the power steering pump wobbled, and was broken. Not sure if that happened by running the pump dry or it was already kind of broken but the belt came off because the pulley had play. Ordered the hose, pump, and pulley with my 30% off which all came to like $85 and had it all fixed up for another $200 including a new belt.

A week and a half later my engine oil coolant line broke like 500 miles after a recent oil change, and I pretty much lost all of my oil. Noticed my oil pressure gauge jumping around and a puddle on my driveway. ARE YOU KIDDING ME!!! WTF! Bought the new line for $30 but thanks to chevy again with the location of the line, and the room given the whole damn new PS pump had to come out along with some other things so that repair cost me another $200. All it needed was just an alignment though The belt was actually put on wrong. It's too far over on one side so the whole edge of the belt got chewed. However, I have a 1 year warranty on it so I'll just go swap then out, and have my buddy put it on correctly.

Total that up and you have a decent number. Again, only paid $2,000 for the truck. When you have to pay more in repairs than the truck is worth you usually have a problem on your hands. However, at this point the truck is running well. I just need new tires and that alignment. I happen to like the truck though you know. It's a nice little truck. If only he took better care of it which I do now. I change the oil every 3,000 miles with Pennzoil High Millage but this past change I tried the Mobil Super High Millage but I'll probably go back to Pennzoil next time around. Other than all the things I've done it doesn't need much more. The only other thing it needs is a A/C charge as there's a small leak so it blows warm. It wasn't a concern during the Winter months but now it's starting to get warmer and I'm going to need some cold air. I'm going to buy a bottle of that A/C Pro and charge it myself. That stuff seals too so hopefully if it's only a porous line to where it would work.

Anyway, thought I would share! Happy to be here!