Need advice on high mileage '95 S10

[Lobo'74]

I am over on the '67 - '72 board usually. I have a '67 C10 with an LT1 clone for the powerplant as my toy/household hauler. My son's high mileage AWD Forester just died (totaled when a bumper went through his grill) and he wants a short term replacement. Something that will get him to work now and be a fairly reliable ride for about two years, then he will get a new(er) 4X4. He wants a truck, and has really grown to appreciate 4WD.

We found a '95 S10 extended cab 4X4, 4.3L V6, manual, with a new clutch and 187,000 miles at a local dealer for $2800. I am somewhat concerned over the high miles, but my DD is a '95 Toyota Solara with 186,000 on it. Just not sure how well the S10's hold up.

We drive over to the dealer tomorrow AM to look at it. My local auto repair shop has said to get it up to temperature ("get it hot") and then listen for a rattle in the lower portion of the engine. They said the rattle would indicate a worn crank shaft and that an engine replacement would run $3500 or more, installed.

Anything else to look for/listen for? Any advice on S10's and durability? Any ideas on cost to rebuild the engine if it does wear out in the next couple of years?

Thanks for any ideas.

[Lobo'74]

Found a typo in my post. My DD is a '99 Toyota Solara, NOT a '95. They weren't even made in '95.

[BarryB]

These lil S10's are pretty hard to beat. My sis had a S10 blazer 4.3L v6 it had over 200K when they traded it. thats been 5-6 years ago. still today we see the same blazer running around town at times. gotta be over 300k by now. never did much to it either other than typical maintenance water pump, brakes and such.

[tinydb84]

I have a 97 Sonoma as my daily. Has 160,000 on it. So far all I have had to fix was the cooling system, though it was an AZ truck in its past life.
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[hopped up]

i had a 98 s10 with 220,00 miles ans the truck ran perfectly, and passed smog with no problem. i wrecked it or id still be driving it
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[gchemist]

Look for typical engine oil leaks. The FI system is two generations older. The FI spider over time may cause trouble. It's not a roller cam motor as far as I know. Roller cam motors run better and typically last longer than flat tapped cammed motors. Check the oil. Dealer may have changed it but it's work a look. The new clutch is good. A replacement and labor are something not to worry about for a few years.

My 4.3 has 210,000+ miles on it. I just put on another 1000+ miles with a long road trip. I didn't even sweat it. It pulled 75 MPH like nothing. I've done plenty of work on my 4.3. Easy to work on and reliable.

[95 S_Trucker]

Since its a 5 speed, I would assume its tbi. I hade a 95 I sold with 196k on. That was a great little truck. Just normal maintenance items
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[BigDan3131]

My 91 S10 has 233K miles on it and still runs and drives great. I've only used Mobil 1 since it was given to me as payment for a paint job when it had 187K miles on it. I just replaced the Cat and did an Accel tuneup on it. I'm getting about 21 mpg on long trips with the cruise control and a/c blasting.

[BlackedOut67shorty]

To my knoledge the 4.3 liters were all roller motors. I have a 1993 s10 cpi and it runs like an ox, replaced the spider and it runs good. And yours is a 95. Thats the second gen for the cpi. tbi was not a really an option after 94. 93-94 was obd 1 and 95 to 96 was obd 2 but im not sure if obd 2 lasted that long or longer. However the 4.3 is a very durable motor. just listen for any clanking or valvetrain noise

[95 S_Trucker]

Tbi was standard until 96 and CPI was an option. Obd2 didnt come out until 96 but the 16 pin dlc made an appearance in some 95s. And the 4.3 was not always a roller motor. Some great info on the 4.3 can be found here:

http://www.s10forum.com/forum/f107/t...3-info-131868/
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[BlackedOut67shorty]

Originally Posted by 95 S_Trucker

Tbi was standard until 96 and CPI was an option. Obd2 didnt come out until 96 but the 16 pin dlc made an appearance in some 95s. And the 4.3 was not always a roller motor. Some great info on the 4.3 can be found here:

http://www.s10forum.com/forum/f107/t...3-info-131868/
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Oooo i love the info thank you for correcting me lol. Guess i can do alot more research on the older 4.3 liters

[gmachinz]

The main issue with those years S-10's are the dreaded spider injector assembly. They have poppet valves that are prone to collecting debris that causes them to stick open which means a drop in fuel presssure with engine off-fuel draining into cylinders-hard to start in the morning ie. And, since they don't fully close if debris is causing them to stick, you will get multiple cylinder mis-fire codes all the time.

GM has a service bulletin kit for replacing the OEM style poppet valve injector with a revised one that has eliminates the sticking problem-the part number for kit eludes me at the moment but a search for "GM vortec spider injector replacemnt kit" or similar should yield the part numbers-and they are available for both the 4.3 and the 5.7 motors. These are not the same as buying a parts store spider injector-with that you're still getting a poppet valve design but now it comes from China, Taiwan, etc.

Check GM's service bulletin online for the replacement injector kit-last time I boiught one is was about $320 if memory serves me right.