GRIZZ’s Chevy S10 - Random Rambling NEXT ROADTRIP 27/10/23

Intake manifold coolant leak is a common issue and usually if the heater core is plugged it's from people adding stop leak..............

Decent little trucks biggest issue around here with any 20 year old vehicle is rust/rot from salt on the roads in the winter.
So you need to see some frame pictures and bottom of the floor pictures.

Where is this truck located?

That one has a modified air box for the K&N filter(let the sht storm begin) over oiled filters take out Mass air flow sensors.

Some are in love with the aftermarket K&N filter stuff that really does not do a lot to improve power or fuel economy but they have to washed in soap and water dried and reoiled, if too much oil is used it passes through and contaminantes the mass air flow sensor causing it read lower air flow and in turn the ECM cuts the fuel back.........
They are ok if not over oiled and you have the time to wash and dry it completely at service time.
If the truck is already there there probably not much salt damage as I don't think that is a necessary evil there?

The S10 has a lot of cheap curse word that's easy and cheap to fix. If you're used to Camry reliability, you'll be annoyed. If you don't mind working on stuff a bit, you'll be fine. You may or may not mind the missing airbag. Mileage for a 4.3 is around 15 miles / u.s. gallon city, 20 on the freeway.

List of stuff I repaired on an earlier (same body though) 150,000 mi S10 in the late 30,000 miles of its life:
AC Compressor leak. Steering shaft flex disc. (4WD) balljoints and a-arm bushings, Alternator, 4WD switch (Yours is 2WD, I know,) front brakes, blower motor relay, blower motor, fuses, radiator, hoses, water pump, linear EGR valve, fuel pump, intake manifold gaskets, O2 sensor, spare tire hanger. Yours should be a lot less trouble than that, but low mile high age cars aren't always as trouble-free as their mileage would seem. Enjoy it; they're a handy vehicle. A dry paper air filter that's oversized and kept dry and oil-free would be my preference.

I Grizz, I follow some of your posts on GJ. It has an aftermarket wheel, aftermarket dash appliqué, wheels and the K&N. Could mean the owner enjoyed it and kept good care of it. Interior looks pretty good for a 20 year old vehicle.

I am not sure about the 4.3L engines but the 2.2L do not have a MAF only air intake temp and manifold absolute pressure (MAP). So nothing that can be hurt by an over oiled air filter. Regardless i would go back to a stock filter as i don't believe in the K&N ones having any benefit.

Interior plastic parts are not well made and the sun and heat make them brittle. The seat back adjusting levers often break as do 3rd door handles. The windshield defrost vents crack on their own and break (rattle around alot too which is really annoying). Heating/A/C vent grills also break.

Cab corners can rot out. Not sure how they'd be on that S10 that's probably only seen rain.

I had the ZR5 version (crew cab 4wd etc). It wore out the rear brake rotors before it wore out the rear pads, front pads & front rotors.
In the 12 months after the warranty expired, it went through:
Water pump
Fuel Pump
Oil pump
Two shift solenoids
Rear rotors
Two radiators
Intake gaskets
Doodad on the drivers door window so it stayed closed all the time
Battery
Both catalytic converters
Drivers seat adjuster thingie



& a headlight bulb.


It developed a loud knock around the time I ran out of patience & I basically sold it for scrap.



It was my first GM product, it will also be my last.

The biggest issue with those trucks was abuse, esp those powered by the 4.3/4L60. New they were dirt cheap, many owners were new to truck ownership/capability/toughness, and the 4.3 had pretty good power for the day. IOW, lots of owners drove with heavy feet on curse word roads and generally didn’t care. The 2.2/NV3500 trucks OTOH were pretty slow and consequently didn’t get abused nearly as much. Given the OP, I would check for leaks, be suspicious of the trans as I would any automatic, and look closely at the front end for worn out ball joints and steering links. If you’re in a salty area I would also thoroughly check the bottom flange of the frame’s boxed center with a hammer for rot. Stateside there are MANY with perfect bodies and garbage frames rotten inside-out. Beyond that those trucks are bulletproof and dirt cheap to maintain/repair/upgrade.


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I have the successor to the Chevy "dime" (the nickname for the S-10/Sonoma GMC) which is the 355 series truck (2004-2012 models), and I drove a S-10 extended cab at work. I liked the truck, I thought it was a decent truck for the $ as they were not too-expensive, and they seemed durable. I think you will enjoy the truck. Just pay attention to its service needs, and I expect you will enjoy durability, utility, and pride of ownership.

My Colorado/Canyon 355-series crew-cab is a great truck, and they built a 5.3 L V8 for it, a common swap-out is the 6.1 L GM V8 of the same engine family. Get a software package for the stock inline-5 cyl truck, and the optional 3.7 L DOHC inline-5 cyl Atlas aluminum engine with a 3.73 rear end will do an honest 125 mph. Otherwise it's electronically-limited to 97 mph.

As you probably know, the Chevy "dime" has a large following, they are used for bagging the suspension, and other custom work and owners are happy to discuss their work.

I like the silver paint and the mags, and the rigid topper. Your truck is looking' good as it is. As others said, don't over-oil the K&N filter!

congrats
Ive been an S10 owner for many years still have my 01 xcab,which I bought new,it has around 100K on the clock.
door hinge bushings can be added to the list of parts.We have 8 in our family of every flavor 3 dr ,3 dr xtreme 2 dr blazer 4 dr blazer 2 wd,4wd all are v6 models.Ive been running a K&N on my 01 for about 15 yrs.So far no probs,its all in the details of how you clean and prep.

Oh and the X cab driveshafts......get the needle grease gun attachment and grease as soon as you can. the cardan joints dry up and give you fits

I was uphappy to find out that there was a plastic front cover in some model years of the 4.3L around Y2K. A poor choice of places to save money imo even if its just a cover. I had a leak due to crack but the biggest problem was sealing up the 3 way joint with the oil pan. I got it done with a new front cover but there's a significant amount of grey RTV helping it out after blasting it with a few cans of brake cleaner.

I believe a design change eventually got it back to an aluminum front cover for the rest of its life but I didn't pursue that avenue.

I think you'll like the S10 and I hope it's trouble free. Compared to the older trucks like your Blazer, they are very car-like and civilized.

Wifey (then girlfriend) bought a really beat up '99 extended cab (also 4.3L/4L60E) right before she moved in with me. It chewed up a lifter and pushrod for some reason... I plunked a new one down the bore, changed the oil, and kept going. It occasionally showed low oil pressure at hot idle after that, but ran fine.

We both liked it but between reliability questions around why it ate a lifter, the fact that the A/C had quit, and the fact that she was driving a LOT while her mother was fighting cancer; we bought her a Civic Hybrid to get around in. Then we came across a clean low mileage '87 full size Chevy for a good price and sold the S10 cheap.

My parents each had an S-10 based vehicle too... Dad had a '98 Blazer from new, it had well over 200k miles with very little trouble by the time it was sold. Mom had a '00 S10 with the 4 cylinder and 5-speed, didn't have a lot of trouble out of that one either.

I think all three did have the sagging driver's door... they just wear through those bushings in no time.