The Automotive Thread

2004 Chevy Silverado 4x4 457k miles

Oil pressure dropped, with warning light. I thought it might be just the oil pressure sending unit. (I had replaced it once about 200k miles ago) I took it to a shop. They reported the sending unit was bad, and also the oil pump was shot. They cleaned sludge from the oil pan, cleaned it well, replaced the oil pump and sending unit. The shop is 2 hours from me, btw. I picked it up after hours last night and when I started the truck, it was just below 40 psi. (normal middle of the gauge) On the drive home, the pressure dropped to 20 psi while I was driving, and it drops to almost zero at idle speed. The oil looks clean and normal level on the dipstick. There is no loss in performance in the motor, and it's not ticking or making unusual noise.

Is there a third thing that may have needed to be repaired that wasn't? Or, is it possible the new sending unit just got refouled after all the cleaning and sludge shaking loose? So, simply changing the unit would fix that?

I have the special socket for it and have done it before, so it's easy enough to start there. And, it's a 2 hour drive back to the shop, so I'm not interested in taking it there.

 

Rush, I think your engine might be ready for that great garage in the sky.

 

There is an O ring that goes on the end of the pick-up tube that is a real bitch. If they didn't set it correctly, that could be your issue. Quite a bit of info about it on the Googles

 

X2 on the o-ring, after doing a bunch at the dealer if you don’t get it just right you’ll cut or damage it.

oil pressure will be fine when cold because the oil will be thicker and help seal the cut, your pressure will be normal and then as the oil heats up the seal gets bypassed causing a pressure drop.

That’s my bet.

Also with your mileage it may be time to start looking at putting in a new crate engine or a quality used one, with that model year good used units are pretty reasonable.

 

Nevah!

lol, I am moving on. I bought a new vehicle, but I need this truck running to sell it off.

This is the O-ring and pick-up tube of the oil pump? Or, the seal on the oil pressure sending unit?

 

O-ring on the pick-up tube. They're available in several different colors which differentiate the sizes. Seems like each mechanic swears by a certain size.

 

I'm liquidating a bunch of shit to put a down payment on a house (fuck and/or ugh).

I've got a 1979 Chevy Corvette L-82, with about 111k on it, 4-speed manual, grey with red leather interior that needs to go. Problem is it's sat since 2007. It'll need a full and I mean full restoration. The body is in good shape, but that's about all. Tires are dry rotted, so I assume some of the engine hoses/tubes are as well. It's been in a covered garage since '07, and had the fluids drained.

I got it in 2002 for $6500, drove it full time for about 2 years, and maybe put 20k miles on it in 5 years. Fun car, not ragged out, and I never got it above 80 mph. T-tops, power everything. It had issues, most of which fell into the $150 and a weekend worth of cursing range, like power window motors, or replacing the power steering. Only major thing I didn't do was re-charge the AC freon because it just wasn't worth it.

Per Chevy, they didn't make a ton of them (about 11k), so it's not uber-rare, but it's not uncommon either.

What's it worth? How do I price something like this?

Are there better places to sell this than your Ebay/Craigslist/FB Marketplace?

 

Bringatrailer. Since, you know, the buyer will need to bring a trailer. It might be a good spot to compare values with comps, too. Where is the car?

Edit: BaT is actually probably not an appropriate place to list it. Apparently bring a trailer doesn't mean what I think it means, not much junk on that site

 

I'm not really up on C3 values, but the 4 speed will help immensely. The 111K is low for the age, but not for a Corvette and the biggest problem with the year is that there are a ton of low mileage (Like under 100 miles) '78 Anniversary 'vettes out there. I also don't think that the '78-'82 model have caught on with the collector market yet.

What I would suggest is spending a few hours doing a battery, tune up, replace the radiator hoses, fuel filter, and some fresh gas and at least get it running. There's plenty of cars that were running when they were parked. The biggest caveat to a prospective buyer is going to be usually someone quit driving a car for a reason. It may be as simple as you didn't have the time to drive it and the years just passed by, or it could be a hugely expensive needed repair came up. They don't know and are going to pay accordingly.

Also, if the paint is in decent shape, wax it. I guarantee if you don't get it running and shined up you'll be inundated with people offering $500 who will get it running and shined up and turn a quick profit.

Good luck. I hate selling vehicles and all the associated bullshit you have to put up with from prospective buyers.

 

That's why I asked him where the car was. Close enough and I was going to be one of those people. I probably wouldn't sell it though, I'm middle-aged and the time for me to buy an impractical car is nigh.

 

That is the perfect time for a car like that. When you can afford it.

 

Try the classified sections of LS1tech.com and some Corvette boards (I can't name any; Corvettes aren't my thing. In the GM high performance world, there are the Corvette guys... And everyone else.).

The 4-speed should increase the value significantly; I don't think I've EVER seen a C3 'Vette with three pedals.

 

Agree to disagree

 

Just saying, @downndirty , I'd drive to SC for a $500 corvette. You don't have to do a thing to it.

 

So, I listed it for $3300 on FB marketplace. Every redneck in 120 miles has messaged me, I had to check I didn't list the car as "deer pussy mountain dew white claw yee haw."

I did the math based on I paid $7500 back in '02. I am selling it because I can't do the work. The work, on the cheap would be $4k. Plus taxes, tag, etc. it'd be about $7500. To get it in perfect condition would be a lot more than $4k, and the top end of the market I've seen is like $15k. The low end is $9k. So, if someone can do the majority of the work themselves, and isn't afraid of old cars' whackiness, I feel like there's room there.

I had one dude offer me $4500, so that might work out.

Weirdly, the dude who sold it to me wants it as well.

 

You listed it for $3300, and somebody offered you $4500?

My listings *never* work like that.

 

Mine usually work like this:

List for $3300....offered $300 and act like they're doing me a favor

 

Hey, I believe I'm more than 120 miles from you.

Someone has taken what they learned in math and twisted it.

I've heard of people going higher than list price on houses in a hot market, but never an old not-so-rare car.

I get silly offers on my old 1988 Chevy k2500 all the time and can't figure out why. It has a seat out of a 2005 silverado, for comfort. One third of it is bright red, while the rest is original silver and burgundy, from my SIL letting it roll down a hill into the woods. Put used front fenders, hood and grill on it. And all that paint is scratched to pieces. It has the cab corners cut out to stop the typical rust pattern these old trucks develop. But people want it. I keep it because I trust it to be dependable, I know it's maintenance history and it's my kid's favorite truck. I've never even considered selling it, so they aren't going above list price.

 

So, for the dude who offered $4500, he was from about 4 hours away. The trick is he jumps to the front of the line, makes a big deal about renting a trailer and driving up (sunk costs), then arrives and finds some flaw that didn't show up in pics and guilt trips you down to original asking price or lower. It's a tactic, and I told him: do all the negotiating you need to do before you get on the road, and I'll take pics/videos of anything you'd consider a dealbreaker. Once you're here, it's $4500, the paperwork and you're back on the road, or a hearty "go fuck yourself and get off my lawn." He bowed out.

I ended up selling it to the guy who sold it to me back in 02 for asking price. I basically paid $3500 to put 23,000 miles on the car in 3 years, and have it sit in a garage for 15 years. Meh.

I'm glad my sister has her garage back, and if I had the chuckles for it, I'd throw it all in GME stock. My biggest fear was someone buying the car, finding some mechanical nightmare that I was unaware of and losing their ass on it. Since the guy I bought it from got it, I am not worried about that as much.

I'm hopeful he can put some fluids and a battery in it, clean the shit out of it, get the engine to run and sell it to the $4500 guy as a pretty fair price in need of just paint and interior. That assumes the engine just needs a deep tune up, and with my luck if I attempted that, I'd be $1500 into a rebuild by the end of the week, with no end in sight.

I might by one more gas-powered vehicle, and another gas-powered bike, then it's hybrid or electric from now on. And the new Corvettes are so....so pretty.....