Hi, I am new at this site... And first time to own a Chevy truck.. I inherited a 92 C1500 Cheyenne from a friend that is moving out of the country.. I need help, and I should have had someone with me to check it before taking it (ie. a mechanic) but it's free and I wanted to surprise my husband with this truck. Anyways, when driving the darn thing.. It was smoking... and after a few miles it stopped and now it won't start.. I called a tow truck to tow it to my house..The tow truck told me that the engine is blown... My question is:
1. did I do the right thing of taking this truck?
2. And how much would I end up spending to fix the problem?
oh, yeah.. btw, the interior needs some fixing (replacing the front bucket seat)but other than that the exterior is good (just needs a good wash).
Thanks for reading this thread. And hopefully someone out there can help me! thanks again!

 

IMO, chevy's are strong running trucks; you take care of it and it will take care of you. I would get an estimate on how much it might cost to fix and see if you think it would be worth spending the money on it. A new engine would run you at least a few grand I would think. Otherwise, check craislist. You might be able to find a truck on there that just has a bad tranny and do a motor swap for cheaper. You also might get a new bucket seat that way too.

Don't let the age deter you though. We still have my grandpa's old farm truck that's a 76 and it's still running strong. I would at least get it checked out and see what the official problem is though. If the smoking was from little or no oil, then the engine is probably seized...

 

Hi ironwarrior76,

Welcome to the Chevy Forums.

Now that you've made and paid for the mistake of operating on too little information, try to avoid repeating this specific error.

Personally, I'd be unwilling to take a tow truck driver's word as gospel. Before you start shopping for a new engine, verify that the crank won't spin. The engine could have been smoking for any number of reasons,( including a bad PCV valve or leaky valve covers) and with the information you've provided, it could very possibly have had some bad gas or simply an empty gas tank.

Either get the family mechanic or hire a professional to check it out.

 

What information did your friend give you on the truck? How many miles? Was he driving it daily?

If I were giving it away - especially to a friend - I would let them know of any problems before they took it down the road.

Despite all that...and now that you have the truck...just do as therewolf suggested and get a professional to look at it before going any further.

 

I would definitely have someone with half a brain give you advice on what the problem is. Otherwise, you can find 350s on craigslist all the time around here for under $500 and from what I hear they are really not all that bad to swap out. The interior is an easy fix as well. If you can get a good running truck out of it for under $2000 I'd go for it especially if the body is good. These chevy's run forever... especially the 92's