1989 Silverado 2500 Pickup - what to look for used

[cadfaeltex]

Been thinking about getting a beater pickup. There's a 1989 Chevy Silverado 2500 pickup on our local lemon lot. It's been repainted and looks in pretty good shape. What would be the specifics to look at?

Also, it's too old to show up on KBB. What would you guess the ballpark value would be?

 

[Kuato]

General to look at would be corrosion in the radiator, check the trans for proper shifting as well as smelling the fluid (burned smell is bad). Check underneath for leaks and check for smoke when running, both at the tailpipe and under the hood.

For Chevy specifics we'll have to wait for a Chevy guy.

Value maybe around 1000 if it's in good shape. We just bought an 85 Dodge 2wd for $450.

 

[bullwinkle]

Watch for leaking freeze-out plugs,especially the 2 that are between the engine and transmission (!), if it's a 350 TBI they're pretty tough engines, hopefully the trans is a Turbo 400?

 

[cchase]

There's realistically very little that goes wrong on these trucks that you won't be able to see - rust and corrosion of body panels mostly. Anything else could be typical of a 22 year old truck but these trucks typically lack any of the "they all do it" problems. The only thing I could possibly think of is checking the front driver's side corner of the intake manifold gasket to see if it's moist there.

If it's 4wd, they eat pitman arms.

 

[Bamboooo]

I have a 93 Chevy P.U. It's a 1500. The good thing about it, is you can still work on it. Like cchase said, the intake manifold gasket leak. I just changed mine. It wasn't hard, but took some time.

 

[Jeepster_nut]

"lemon lot" lol I like that!