We got son 95 2 door Tahoe LT for his first car. I have been driving it around little since he only has his learner's permit. I was wondering what are the normal readings for this vehicle ---all the gauges, incliuding the tach? I would like to watch them and see how they should be running so that I can pass the info along to son who SHOULD be learning to watch gauges, IMHO! I had a 99 Suburban once and the volt meter was a LITTLE on the low side all of a sudden. Guess what? Bad battery cable ends! So I want to be able to know what is normal. BTW, the Tahoe just turned 100,000 miles last week. Any suggestions of stuff to do for it? When i had the oil changed last I had them put the Castrol High Mileage oil in.

 

Fuel: Most teens will keep this near empty due to limited funds.
Volt: 13V-14V has been my experience with most GMs
Temp: 180-190
Oil: around 40 psi
Tach: depends on position of right foot, speed, and which gear tranny is in
Speedo: for most teens, this will be about warp 1

100,000 checks: brake pads and rotors, front & rear differential oil check/change, same for transfer case and tranny (incl filter), all external lites

If it's using oil, I've had good luck with a product called Restore.

 

Is it worrisome if the oil pressure runs higher than 40psi? I think it runs between 40 and 80.
It hasn't been using any oil--I just put the high mileage stuff in to try and "be nice" to it! It is a pretty good car and son likes it since he was able to trade our friend the wheels and tires for some bigger, beefier ones-all he had to do was rub salt marks off the his new wheels. He spent a while in the garage with a can of Mother's polish! The big tires rub slightly everyonce in a while. The tire place said just a little cutting would fix that. He tries to be careful not to crank it so it rubs though.
One thing I am going to have to get checked is that the "Max/recirculate" button for the AC does not light and does not seem to work. I have it pushed in but when running the AC, the fan runs like its in the MAX mode (fast) sometimes and then will suddenly go back to normal. There is a clicky sound (switch?) from under the drivers area of the dash and the vent thing down by the floor under to glove box makes the sound like it is opening and shutting-alot. So I am wondering it I go to an AC shop or and electrical shop?
ETA: I just read my post and I must learn some better terminology instead of "clicky sound" and "vent thing". If it was a sewing machine, I could tell you exactly what the part was!

 

Shark hit all the important points and one that could be very important about the fuel take being empty most of the time.
I have heard that running the tank near empty can be really hard on the fuel pump as the fuel helps keep the pump cool.
I had a 95 Yukon 4x4 for a while with high miles and it ran well, the clicking could be the vent opening and closing as you say but I'm not sure if that motor or vacuum controlled, if its opening and closing at random it could be a vaccum leak a motor usally works or it doesn't.

 

Oil pressure on these vehicles isn't high unless it maxes out the gauge.

Running the vehicle low on fuel is ok, but if it starts to sputter (Turning sharply with about a half gallon of gas), you are burning up your fuel pump. (Trust me, I know...lol).

 

When the A/C is switched to Recirc, the outside air source is cut off and the interior air is recirculated. While the sound level will increase, the fan speed doesn't change, you can just hear the intake side of the system. The "clicky" thing is probably the door in the plenum opening/shutting.

Before he cuts the plastic inner fender (if that's where it's rubbing), he should try to reshape it using a heat gun. That's worked for a lot of folks that have put bigger, wider tire/wheels on.

Wouldn't worry too much about the oil pressure as long as it doesn't go low. The gauges are typically that accurate anyway. More of an indicator than a gauge.

 

Thanks all for your posts. We try not to let the gas tank get to 3/4s since I hear if you let it get low, all the sediment and "stuff" that lives near the bottom of the tank will get sucked into places where you don't want it!
73Shark-as far as the AC goes, there are 2 seperate sounds. One is the opening and shutting of what you called the plenum--at least I think because it sounds like something opening and shutting with maybe some air pressure? The other sound is a definate "click" that has no ryhme or reason as to when it makes its noise. It could be 2 clicks and then several seconds to a minute goes by and then one click then 2 seconds another click. Crazy. I am thinking there is a definate change in the velocity of the fan sometimes too. Could it be the switch on the dash is bad and ittund itself from high to medium?I am just wondering who to take it to first-an AC place or an electrician. Or???

 

I'd find a good mechanic that can handle both areas. Ask around and I'm sure you'll get some recommendations.