Knock, knock, knock

[ssybert]

Ok... Since I purchased this truck it's been nothing but an absolute nightmare. I wish I'd never purchased a Chevy diesel, and becuase of all these problems, it's a good chance I never will again.

After putting 6,000mi on the truck this is what I've had to do since having it delivered to me from Floria (ebay purchase, "mint, perfect, etc.." yeah, right)


6 tires mounted and balanced

front end alignment

front left hub(required truck to be towed)

front rigth hub(was able to limp it to service station)

brake fluid is leaking into PS so I'm guessing a couple hundred more this weekend on a Master cyninder or a Hydro booster

8 Glow plugs... put in 60g's took out 11g's. 3 were bad.

air filter (absolute filthy disaster)

fuel filter (the color of wet cardboard. probably NEVER changed

Exhaust problems... needed to replace the 3" straight pipe and do some handy work underneith... Still not done.

turbo NOT making any boost. Still diagnosing.. installing guages, etc. to properly diagnose.

Truck has NO power at all. Can barely pull itself up a hill. Fuel injectors?

Replaced the Fuel injector pump (warrantee, THANK GOD)

truck is in the shop less than 1000mi later for what is presumed (by dealer) to be ANOTHER BAD FI PUMP!!! WTF?!!?

And finally... when idling.. I can hear an erratic knocking. It changes in volume and is random. sounds like a dadada...da.da...da.da...DADADADA..da.da...da...da ...da......da.adadada...
The engine is idling smoothly and the engine is relatively still but if you go back to the exhaust pipe, you can hear a steady PA.. PA.. PA.. PA.. PA.. PA.. sounds like a gasser would if it were misfiring.

i'd like to get the knocking straighted out and maybe the power problem. After this, I think I MIGHT hang on to it but, one more than and thats it. I've never had this kind of bad luck with a vehicle. What kind of previous neglect do you need to give to a vehicle to cause this many problems??!

Oh, and getting under the truck, it looks like the transmission has been recently replaced too. Fluid is FRESH and there are zipties above the tranny holding somthing up indicating to me it's been replaced or atleast out once.

[morgan]

Sounds like you should have checked it out more before you bought it. How are tires the fault of the engine? Was it a wreck recovery, or a flood-loss? Carfax have anything on it?

[ssybert]

i really couldn't check it. You need to put a degree of "trust" in the seller when it comes to ebay. The seller had only 13 feedbacks, but all were possitives for very expensive vehicles. description stated the truck had been "gone through" buy their diesel mechanics and "as expected, passed with flying colors!!" if ANYONE looked at this truck, they'd KNOW there was something SERIOUSLY wrong in MANY places. It had 95K on it.. 4Door quad cab dually. I picked it up for 11,600 and after weeks of battling to get my title, I also managed to get the dealer to reimburse me $750.00 for undisclosed damages.. which doesn't even come close but i'm luck I got something, right?

Carfax showed NOTHING. The car I SOLD WAS A SALVAGE and CarFax DIDN'T SHOW IT!! THEY EVEN GURANTEED A CLEAN TITLE!!!!

[DieselDavy]

ssybert,
I wouldn't jump to conclusions here as far as the knock goes. There are many acc. and their brackets that can cause all kinds of knocking sounds. Also, injector lines touching places they were not supposed to can cause problems. Most of the problems you listed weren't the diesels or Chevy's fault. Once you get the exhaust put back together, have a trusted friend, someone who knows something about trucks/diesels help you take a look/listen. Inspect every bolt and bracket you can find and make sure all bolts are there and all are tightened to spec. You are lucky that you have all the brain trust here on the page to help you through this! Now, after having said all that remember, buyer be ware!...Keep the faith. We'll help you through this!
Dave

[JTodd]

I purchased my Sub through eBay also. Although I don't have any problems with the truck, I do recall that eBay does have a type of insurance for gross misrepresentation, which sounds like what happened. I don't know if this will help much, as I don't recall the amount, but it maybe good information to know for future eBay buyers.

[DmaxMaverick]

ssybert

You don't offer much info on the vehicle, other than the problems. If I missed it in another post, sorry. It helps if you include your truck info in your sig. and include it in your opening post.

It doesn't sound to me like you are having many problems at all. What you have is probably only a coulple issues, causing everything. You can't include "normal maintenance items" in the whole. You would likely have those issues with any vehicle, of any make or model.

If your pump is bad, it could be causing much of the issues. If you are getting no boost, it won't have the power to get out of its own way, let alone pull a hill. Loss of boost is simple and inexpensive to repair. It can be of only a couple causes.

The majority of the issues you complain of are regular maintenance items:
Air filter, fuel filter, glow plugs, tires, wheel bearings....Owner's responsibility, not the fault of the truck or GM. You would have had the same issues with any vehicle bought from the seller under similar circumstances, regardless of make/model. Blame that on the seller/previous owner and no one else.

The hydroboost issue, well....
I read about it on your reply to another post. Not sure what is really going on there, but by design, should not be possible. The two systems, master cylinder and hydroboost, are not connected in any way by a fluid path. There is a mechanical linkage and a common weep hole between them, but if they are installed correctly, cannot exhange fluids. Once again, a maintenance problem. Sounds like someone either installed them incorrectly, or it has been serviced with the wrong fluids. The hydroboost unit is installed in the same respect to the master cylinder as the old vacuum booster systems. Only difference is the source of the boost power. If you are getting brake boosting (normal pedal feel, good braking), unless you have external leakage, the problem is probably not the booster. May not even be the master cylinder. It is possible (although I don't see how) that a couple lines have been crossed. The systems require their own fluid types. DOT 3 brake fluid in the reservoir on top of the master cylinder, and power stearing fluid or ATF in the power stearing reservoir, mounted to the engine. Good luck with that one.

The knock. Could be caused by an injector, or bad injector pump/FSD. Since you are hearing it in the exhaust, likely a fueling issue. Are there any DTC's present? There should be. This could help a lot.

The 3" straight pipe exhaust....
Did you install it or was it on when you bought the truck. Either way, GM didn't sell any with a 3" straight pipe. Well, if you don't like that one, it's on you or the seller.

Transmission?? I don't understand the complaint there. A new, or well serviced tranny is nothing to complain about. If it is new, you probably lucked out there. If someone went through the trouble of "zip tying" the harnesses, they probably did the rest right. I could be wrong, and the trann is ready to explode, too.

Bottom line:
Although I think GM is at fault for poor design issues in many areas, don't blame them for things out of their control. A vehicle is only as good as its maintenance. Poor maintenance = poor vehicle. Sorry if I sound like I'm repeating myself. Must be a reason....

On the lighter side....If you do end up with major engine or fuel injection problems, both are still under warranty. 120K on the injector pump/FSD, and 100K on the engine. The engine warranty includes ANY internal, or integral part of it, except what can be concidered "normal maintenance items".

We are here to help. Sounds to me like your truck could be straightened out easier than most. You'll get lots of opinions, or some hardcore technical advice, depending on what questions you ask. Work the problem, and we'll be here for you.

Cheers

[EscaladeDiesel]

Its sad to see that you had a bad experience, but seriously those things not mentioned by the seller are the SELLERS failures, not the machine's. Its possibly the seller you shouldn't have purchased from, NOT the Suburban you shouldn't have purchased. Maybe the dealer will sell you an extended warranty, many can sell without having the vehicle inspected, especially since he said he had already been inspected. As far as any factory engine warranty, I doubt you have any left, unless you purchased one that was put into service later than May 1999, as the 100,000 engine warranty is only 5 years long. Good luck to you though, after you make all the adjustments and fine tune things you'll have a great vehicle.

[patrick m.]

"No boost from turbo at all", if you have been driving it this way, and loading the engine, that is not good. Loose boost under a pull, and watch the "EGT" climb, and i mean well past the "safe" maximum.
When my truck had a crack vac tube to the wastegate actuator and boost fell off, the EGT guage would climb as fast as my speedo would fall.
couple that with a noise in the eng and a "rythmic" puff sound from the exhaust, and id say you've burned a piston (or a valve).
i would get the boost problem repaired, and check the engines compression.

and about this hub problem, did the shop that repaired the left hub not check the right side? or did they make a mistake? Either way, they dropped the ball on you on that deal, i would have a talk with them about that.

On the bright side, once you get all of the maintenence caught up on this truck, and all the damaged caused by the lack thereof, this will be a distant memory ;) and enjoy the rig.

[Polar Diesel]

ya, what they said!!