Let's go on Safari: 1998 GMC Safari

We picked up this 1998 GMC Safari to replace the wrecked Explorer.

It's in great shape, very clean inside outside and even under! It has 137k miles on it. I talked the seller down to $2600 because it needed a few minor things. I've spent the weekend bringing it up to snuff.

First up was the AC. When I got the van it had a bit of pressure in the system but didn't blow cold. I had never done AC work before, but was hoping I could charge it with some of those blue cans from the parts store. Because the pressure was low the compressor wouldn't kick on, so I tested it by jumping the plug to the pressure switch. That got it turning.

With the engine running and the AC cranked I filled the system with one and a half of the big cans. The van has rear AC, so it takes a lot of juice. It now blows fairly cold. I may top it off again in a few days.

It was a half price weekend at the junkyard so I picked up a bunch of parts and put them on:

Passenger door panel to replace the one with a cracked arm rest, Manual passenger mirror to temporarily replace the broken power mirror, some plastic trim, set of wheels so I can save the snow tires on the van for winter, and a trailer hitch so that the Miata isn't the only car in the fleet that cab tow.

I got all the parts on this evening. The tires on the wheels I got aren't great, so I'm thinking about swapping on the new tires I had just put on the explorer. They are 235/75 15 vs the van's 215/75 15 but according to the internet they should fit.

That's all for now. I'll post some pictures of it down by the river soon.

this sounds great

Nice, looks like a step up from the Exploder to me!

I changed the oil since I had no record of when it was last changed. It's a joy working on taller vehicles. Also thank you to GM for logically locating and orienting the oil filter.

Easiest oil change ever! The old filter was marked 9/2013 so it was probably due.

This thing is super clean, not a speck of rust under there. It does have a mild oil leak though. Eventually I will clean up the engine and try to find it.

Here is what 235 tires look like on them, too silly looking?

bgkast wrote: Here is what 235 tires look like on them, too silly looking?

Nope.

Too awesome looking you mean!

AWD?

2wd. I didn't want the fuel mileage and maintenance penalty of AWD.

My neighbor just told me he knows someone selling a nearly identical AWD one for $1500...Ugh, I don't need more cars! My wife thinks we need matching vans.

I took the van to the local mexi-tire shop (I mean that in the best possible way, this place is great and cheap!) and had them do a 3 way tire swap: explorer tires on the aluminum Safari wheels, snow tires off the aluminum wheels and onto the steel junkyard wheels and junkyard tires onto the explorer wheels.

The van looks sweet on it's new big meats. They clear by about 1/2 inch.

The explorer looks sad all beat up and on tiny junk tires. It's going to Javelin, hopefully he will do something awesome with it.

Sweet jack stands.

In reply to solfly:

Yeah, 2 jacks under the front, one on on the pumpkin. It was particularly unnerving when they started lowering one of the front sides with the back still up in the air.

bgkast wrote: My wife thinks we need matching vans.

whispers Do it.

Theoretically couldnt someone take an AWD astro and make a badass 4x4 tow pig out of it?

Yes.

Add a lift and a transfer case of you want true 4WD. They are rated to tow 5000 lbs with the tow package.

bgkast wrote: Yes. Add a lift and a transfer case of you want true 4WD. They are rated to tow 5000 lbs with the tow package.

I hate vans but thats pretty cool, needs an A-team van paint job though

i had 235's on my 98 and it rubbed while turning and going over a bump.

then i put impala SS 17's on it with slightly taller than stock impala 255-55 tires. that required a little clearancing of the front fender plastic piece behind the wheel and the metal seam behind it to be rolled over, but it was sweet looking.

Update time: the van has been having some issues, but hopefully it's all fixed.

First, the DIY AC recharge I did worked, but only for the front AC system. The van has a rear evaporator too, but it wasn't getting cold. I took it to the neighborhood shop and they found that the rear expansion valve was clogged with metal debris from the compressor dying...guess that explains why it was making a bit of noise. $1200 later we had a brand new AC system...mommas gotta be cold!

I had also noticed that it was having intermittent issues with the charging system. I started a separate thread on here, and thought it was the alternator. The shop tested it, and said it was fine, but I didn't want my wife getting stranded. They gave a fair quote to replace it so I had them do it. It still would intermittently stop charging. I had the battery tested and it was dead, so I replaced it and POR 15ed the battery tray. $250 later and still intermittent no-charge.

I had a feeling it was a wiring problem, but the shop offered to look at it for no charge. They were able to get the charging to cut in and out by wiggling the field wire, then they wiggled it too much and it stopped charging all together. They said they could trace the wire for more $$, but I declined.

I found some wiring diagrams and found the other end of the wire under the dash where it runs to the voltage gauge. It had solid continuity with vigorous wiggling so I figured the problem lied elsewhere. At the alternator end of the wire there was a previous crimp repair. I cut it out and somehow managed to unclip the wire from the back of the alternator. I cleaned and tightened up the plug and replaced the crimp with a proper solder joint. That seems to have done the trick!

Continued...

Ever since we took the van on a 6 hour round trip a month or so ago it would get a really harsh 1-2 shift when the transmission was hot, after 1 hour or more drives. Then last Monday the check engine light came on...Code 1870 - transmission slippage detected. /sad trombone

Some research showed that this isn't uncommon for the 4L60E transmission. A valve that controls torque converter lock-up wears out the bore, the torque converter doesn't lock up properly and the transmission jacks the line pressure way up to try to save it's self, which causes the harsh shift. A rebuilt valve body can fix the issue IF it is caught early enough. I called a few local transmission shops. One said that they would drop the pan and take a look. If they thought the valve body fix would work: $500, if not: $2,200 for a rebuilt transmission. The other shop said they wouldn't even consider trying the valve body and I should drop $2,400 to rebuild the transmission. I didn't like either of these options.

I had my wife drive the van as little as possible through the week and ordered a re-built valve body from this fellow: http://kenpartintransmissionparts.com/4l60e-rebuilt-valve-body/ He was very helpful on the phone too.

Friday after work I drained the transmission and pulled the valve body with. Even though automatic transmissions work by Voodoo magic I was able to swap the valve body and add a hardened seat to the spacer plate by following the provided instructions and these helpful videos: http://youtu.be/6Svl0fDl1qI http://youtu.be/6Svl0fDl1qI

It took quite a bit longer to complete than I expected. Between keeping everything surgically clean under a dirty van, and working upside-down from how you would do this on the bench, it took about 8 hours. I also wasted a bunch of time pulling the transmission filter seal that the internet suggest I just leave in place and re-use...lesson learned. The trick was the right tool for the job: http://www.harborfreight.com/seal-puller-69025.html

We took the van on a long drive out to a wedding yesterday and it shifted great, even after 1.5 hours of freeway driving. When I drained the old fluid it was fairly dark, but not burnt smelling, and there was a bit of fine metal paste on the magnet, but hopefully this will get a few more years out of the transmission. I will probably get the fluid flushed this week to make sure that all of the dirty old stuff is out.

Flushed it again, still shifting great!

The van developed a part throttle miss when cold. Turned out to be a bad cap and rotor. I have also been worried about the fuel pump for awhile, it was making quite a bit of noise. I swapped in a new inline fuel filter this morning and it quieted down. Now time for an oil change.

My sister has one of those as a work truck, and I really dig it whenever I visit her. Great size, rugged, honest.

It's been doing a great job hauling 4 kids around. My wife is about to start watching another during the day, so the back will be nearly full with child seats.

I love oil changes on this thing, 10 minutes from getting out the tool to washing up.

We had one of these in awd that we used to hoon up and down unpaved mountain roads in wyoming, it gave me a weird love for these thing

Awesome! Safari/Astro (AsSafari?) vans have always been my favourite minivans.