Ok, so I just got my first tahoe. It's a 2002 z71 lifted hoe. I'm in love with it. But I am having some major issues.




I got it last night, and I drove it home almost an hour. It drove.. Ok..




The exhaust is kinda rigged up. It is completely cut right behind the cats. And you can smell it.


Here's my issue... When I went to start it this morning it was pouring out smoke. Then after it sits it stops, but every single time you press the gas it shoots out white smoke. So I was thinking head gasket? So I went and bought some blue devil sealant, and flushes my radiator and did everything correct and I believe I wasted my $$. It's still smoking bad.


Also I took off my air intake. My throttle body had a puddle of oil in it. Wtf


Here's some side notes. The guy told me it has a brand new transmission. But didn't have paperwork..

When I put the vehicle in park, on the dash it tells me it's in reverse. Another WTF.


I'm scared to drive it. I don't want it to blow up.


Also it idles funny. It goes really high and then really low, and I can really hear the AC kicking on and off.

 

If it's not a head problem, could it be my transmission modulator vaccum valve?

 

The trans issue is easy. Adjust the neutral safety switch on the side of the trans. As for the engine, borrow a cooling system pressure tester, that will tell you if you have a leak.

 

you can/should test the cooling system for leaks, I'd also run a compression test on the engine as well.

I don't know how/where you bought it, but I'd be contacting the seller...

How many miles are on this?

in PA that exhaust would never pass inspection. White smoke out the exhaust usually means you're sucking coolant into the combustion chamber... and that's not a good thing. did you check the coolant level? is it going down? Does it smell 'sweet'? like antifreeze?

Most of those 'fixes in a can' are bull. If you have a hole in the system, no goo in a can is going to fix it properly...

A garage told my brother nothing was wrong w/his jeep, although it was loosing coolant and over heating bad, they 'couldn't find a leak'. I asked him a dozen times to take it somewhere else, as although I like to work on cars, if you've ever worked on a friend's or family members, you know that suddenly if you change the oil/brakes, and the radio stops working... it's YOUR fault... so I don't work on anyone's but mine any more.

Anyway, eventually he was sitting in traffic on a 90 degree day and BOOM. engine explodes... towed it to my place and with a simple compression gauge... lost compression on one or two of the cylinders. (it was several years ago). tore the head off (inline 6 is fun), and had a hole through the piston.

Moral of the story: get a good mechanic BEFORE you lose an engine.

We scrapped the car. Which was sad because the body was in great shape... but to source and install an engine for an owner who knew wouldn't do their own oil change... just not worth the $ to save it.

Another shame because I love the classic Cherokee.

 

Where can I get a compression tester? Can I rent one somewhere?

 

Sounds like you've got multiple major issues. Did you have a mechanic check it out before buying? $100 is cheap insurance.

You can buy a screw-in compression tester for ~$30.

 

Omg. I went to take apart intake manifold and as soo as I took my pcv valve out of the throttle body a lot of coolant and water started pouring out. So then I took the top off the overflow tank and literally watched all my coolant come out of the pcv hose thing. All of it. Wtf does this mean?!?!?!

 

And I stripped one of the 3 throttle body screws and now I can't get it off..

 

So i took off my intake manifold finally... And omg. Wtf is all in my manifold. Inch layer of mud and sludge and whatever the hell else this is. Is this why I'm smoking? How did this happen?

 

More photos


Someone please help. Is this my problem? It's an inch deep in whatever the hell this is.