GMC Running Rough?

[Deleted]

Ok I have a '95 GMC, 300K Miles, 350c.i.

Lately when I first start it the Oil Pressure holds High and it runs rough until it warms up then runs just fine. Any ideas?

Rockpile

[Deleted]

AT 300,000 miles, I'd let that old girl take as much time as she needs to warm up Rockpile. Won't cost you nothing but a little time at that, but if you force the issue by revving it up it could cost you a rod bearing or some such disaster. Ask me how I know. I was lucky I had an S10 4x4 to sell off and pay for that new GM crate motor plus all the fixings.

That old motor loved non ethanol gas though, and seemed to run better when I put a tank through.

[Deleted]

Well this morning it run just fine. So it is one of those things.

Rockpile

[blufford]

I think that the gas formulations change when the weather gets warmer. Maybe you still have some winter gas in her.

[hermitjohn]

I doubt it has anything to do with oil pressure. Most likely one of the sensors doing something odd, like IAC. Or you have small air leak. Or...

IF you can live with it, dont worry, be happy, its a brave new world out there. Just wait until govt tries to force everybody to own a self driving car. What a nightmare keeping one of those running right. Thats pretty much going to mean only the rich can afford to drive a car.

[Deleted]

I get phone calls all the time like this. Gee....Give me some more information.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZFQFf_Vb0Hw

[fretless]

Mar 18, 2016 18:17:05 GMT hermitjohn said:

 Just wait until govt tries to force everybody to own a self driving car. What a nightmare keeping one of those running right. Thats pretty much going to mean only the rich can afford to drive a car.

Ain't happening! When self-driving cars are mandatory, I'll give up my license and go back to walking. This micro-managing government is getting to be too much! Smacks of the big C, and I don't mean cancer! Sorry for ranting, I'll get off my soapbox now, lol.

[hermitjohn]

Mar 20, 2016 14:26:39 GMT fretless said:

Mar 18, 2016 18:17:05 GMT hermitjohn said:

 Just wait until govt tries to force everybody to own a self driving car. What a nightmare keeping one of those running right. Thats pretty much going to mean only the rich can afford to drive a car.

Ain't happening! When self-driving cars are mandatory, I'll give up my license and go back to walking. This micro-managing government is getting to be too much! Smacks of the big C, and I don't mean cancer! Sorry for ranting, I'll get off my soapbox now, lol.

Better get your walking shoes now ahead of big demand coming soon.  Heard on news govt and car companies already agreed that within 5 years all cars will have automated braking.  Claim it will prevent lot fender benders.  Also means the end of what few models still theoretically offer a manual transmission.  though I dare you now to find a manual transmission car on a dealers lot, maybe the tiniest low end models.

And they wont have to mandate self driving cars, when they become available, insurance on manually driven cars will skyrocket to where you cant afford it.  Course by that time nobody will actually own a car, you will just perpetually lease them from the car manufacturers.  Easy monthly payments forever....  They will do all maintenance and replace them as they are considered outdated.

[fretless]

They do that and I'm headin' south of the border. Einstein said back in the '40s that a society dependent on technology is a society in decline. Sorry 'bout hijacking the thread, folks! Carry on!

[Deleted]

Mar 20, 2016 15:56:27 GMT hermitjohn said:

Mar 20, 2016 14:26:39 GMT fretless said:

Ain't happening! When self-driving cars are mandatory, I'll give up my license and go back to walking. This micro-managing government is getting to be too much! Smacks of the big C, and I don't mean cancer! Sorry for ranting, I'll get off my soapbox now, lol.

Course by that time nobody will actually own a car, you will just perpetually lease them from the car manufacturers.  Easy monthly payments forever....  They will do all maintenance and replace them as they are considered outdated.

You know on paper people will just think we are conspiracy theorists if we agree to statements such as yours but it IS true! Just a couple of days ago when my husband's work buddies were discussing car woes, one of them mentioned how on his Subaru something that needs to be changed often (I can't remember exactly what it is, but I think it might be the oil filter maybe?) has actually been engineered to be housed INSIDE the engine so almost everyone HAS to take it to a Subaru dealership to get that done every time. They did it on purpose to increase reliance on mechanics, dealership mechanics at that, and it works. Who would want to tamper with their engine, people are scared or unwilling to even change their own oil these days. We were one of those people until we realized all we needed was to remove a single lug nut and let the oil drip into the oil pan. Then take said pan over to auto zone who nicely disposes of it for free. But tactics like forcing reliance on government or car dealerships are in place and do work. Our Toyota that we just got comes with a warranty called "Toyota auto care" or something like that provided only on new models (so ours didn't come with it) but it says it will cover x, y,  and z. There's a contract you can sign where for $100 they will cover "all your oil changes for a year" well then it says you only need to do it once every 6 months which is twice a year. Oil changes these days (since we've always done them at the shops) only cost $20, so two a year would equate $40. I could be wrong on the math, but if I'm not they just banked $60 of your dollars away for no reason whatsoever, that's one of just the many many examples of how reliance on a dealership costs, and yet it works. People are too busy trying to make more money to afford things they don't need, so everything is neatly piled into its own category. The maid will handle the cleaning, McDonald's will handle the cooking, Toyota will handle the oil changes and other repairs, etc etc. Okay now I'm ranting lol. My whole point is, I'm learning one baby step at a time, what self reliance CAN mean in the long and short run.

[Deleted]

On an unrelated note before I got distracted by the replies, when I initially read the OP's post about a vehicle functioning into the 300k mileage window, my mouth dropped open. Is this a rare occurence on these threads or common when a vehicle is maintained? For us, we've gone through 4 vehicles in our last five years, on our fifth now and none have lasted more than 150k which is less than half the life of the OP's vehicle

[Deleted]

Hey Rach - in my experience if you keep a vehicle well maintained, use quality parts and don't thrash the thing you can expect to get a decent amount of mileage out of it. We had an old Ford Telstar that we ran up a huge mileage on but because we bought it off the original owner who was a mechanic by trade, and it was regularly maintained by our local garage while we had it, it was still a great, dependable car when we sold it. Diesels, in particular, are brilliant in that regard - but generally more expensive to repair when things do go wrong. There's always a push to get the latest and greatest, and I reckon people are often led to believe that cars only last a certain length of time. So go figure how classic cars are still around and run beautifully. It's because they're cared for.

The problem I see is that with technology changing so fast it's becoming harder and harder to get parts for older vehicles - also the garages/workshops are more geared up to handle later model cars - so as time goes by and the old-time mechanics drop off, so too does the knowledge of older models. The experience is then more likely to be with the car enthusiasts.

Congrats on the RAV4 - nice!

Oh, and no, I don't think you're being conspiracy theorist - your previous post about vehicle dealer tactics struck a chord with me.

[Deleted]

That's a good point about classic and other older cars still being around, it's due to the care and work put into them obviously. Great point! Makes sense about the mechanics too.

[hermitjohn]

Mar 27, 2016 3:43:48 GMT @rachelmcmurtrie said:

On an unrelated note before I got distracted by the replies, when I initially read the OP's post about a vehicle functioning into the 300k mileage window, my mouth dropped open. Is this a rare occurence on these threads or common when a vehicle is maintained? For us, we've gone through 4 vehicles in our last five years, on our fifth now and none have lasted more than 150k which is less than half the life of the OP's vehicle :o

Once upon a time, a long time ago... I was needing a car.  It was a low population very rural area up north, so not lot really cheap drivable cars on market at any particular time.  Anyway there were three cars that had some interest.  An old 4cyl mustang with an automatic, a dodge Omni, and a rusty green Volvo with 200k miles on the clock.  Couldnt get hold of the Mustang person plus I really didnt want an automatic.  The Omni was really horrible to drive.  You would thought it had a non-turbo diesel in it way it accelerated not to mention half car gone from rust.  Then the green Volvo.  I was surprised, the thing actually drove pretty well.  But 200k miles??  Back then buying a car with 200k would be considered a sign of insanity.   Plus I had no experience with a Volvo.  Pretty exotic for rural area like that.  But I handed over my $200.  That turned out one of most reliable cars i've ever owned.  Even moved cross country with it.  Though the Michigan rust finally caught up with it and it started flexing in middle after it met up with the really rough back roads here in Ozarks.  Also cops really noticed it because of its extreme northern rust.  So parked it though still ran fine at like 260k miles.  Lets see I replaced brakes once, one ball joint, and timing belt.  Probably couple tires too, but that was it.  And despite it having non-computer Bosch CIS fuel injection` was spartan engine compartment and very easy to work on.  Nothing like claustrophobic engine compartments in today's cars.

Anyway, its not uncommon in modern era for quite few cars to hit 200k to 300k.  My ex after our divorce, her old Datsun bit dust (she didnt add oil and I was no longer around to do it for her) so her parents helped her buy a new Nissan pickup.  She still has it and its got 240k miles, even has an automatic.  The automatic holding up that long is more impressive than the engine IMHO.

Now I just recently bought a Ranger with 180k with OHV 4.0L.  Only reason I bought the truck was because besides not having any rust,  the engine was clean, started easily.  I couldnt drive it before buying cause clutch was out.  But my instincts were correct, its a good engine though I have been tracking down little drivability gremlins, the fuel pressure regulator being the last one.  Anyway reading on web and the 4.0L if taken care of, has no problem 200k to 250k.  People even said usually what ends the vehicles life is usually not the engine wearing out, its the transmission.  Junkyards are full of these engines in good shape.  One guy with a manual transmission Explorer even claimed to have close to 500k miles on one without a rebuild. 

So no, 300k not that rare anymore on an engine.  Still not super common, but not rare.  200k is very common, just look at cheap used cars on Craigslist.  Lot of 200k cars though many have expensive transmission problems.  I think still rare for an automatic transmission to go much over 200k.

[Deleted]

My 95 GMC was fast approaching the quarter million mile mark when my lead foot took that good probability off the table. The transmission now has 251,000 miles on it and so far, has shown no slipping or sign of metal in its oil...but, I haven't pulled the tractor / trailer in a couple of years. So that's the next big test for it, a 40 miles pull over hills and two lane country roads with 3200 lbs. in tow. But I would rather buy a new transmission than even go shopping for a new 4X4 at today's prices.