What's new
CK5
Register an account today to become a member! Once signed in, you'll be able to participate on this site by adding your own topics and posts, as well as connect with other members.

New Guy Needs Buying Advice

MassMan

MassMan

1/2 ton status
Joined
Sep 20, 2010
Posts
164
Reaction score
0
Location
Massachusetts
Let me begin by saying thank you to everyone here. i've spent the last few months researching K5's, and this forum has been invaluable. also, sorry for the long post.

My name is Neil, and i am dying to get a K5 to replace my daily driver (6 mile commute :waytogo:). i've read everything about them online, i've test driven many examples, and have haggled with sellers on craigslist all summer :rolleyes:. as of this afternoon, i find myself in need of your wise advice.

i've been looking into an 85 blazer on craigslist for the past few weeks. it's by far the most rust-free example i've seen up here in MA, and it runs and drives great. with a crate 350 (not the LS1 as advertised) with a th350 and np208. 35" tires, aluminum wheels, 4" lift, new exhaust, etc. the interior's great, it has the rear seat, and has a custom rear bumper and front bumper off a tow truck (with the push pads and winch mount). i can't post a link until i've got five posts under my belt, so bear with me until then...

what he doesn't mention in the posting is that none of the electrical works. no lights, radio, windows, fans (honda electric duals) or anything else. luckilly, it's carbed and starts and runs fine, so i know it isn't the charging/ignition/battery. also, there's a leak of transmission fluid near the front of the tranny, which i'm guessing is a bad seal.

my question, after all this typing, is this: he's willing to go down as far as $1200, but is this worth it? i'm currently a junior Electrical Engineering major, and i'm very confident i can fix or rewire the truck's electrical myself. the rest, however, is going to cost me big time. i got a quote for $800 to replace the front tranny seal, and the mechanic said it could easily clear $1k if the leak is a sign or bigger issues. does this sound right? and if so, would this truck be worth my time and effort?

thanks for bearing with me on such a long post. i really respect you guys' opinion and don't feel quite right going ahead with this without your blessing. :bow:
 
The quote on the tranny seal replacement sounds quite high to me! I just replaced my tranny on my 85 k5, dropped tranny in my backyard with handtools and floor jack with block of wood (still had to let air out of front tires to reach)1.5 hours to remove. Took a little longer going back in with the help of my 16yo boy it took about 3 hours seal was $5.00 at local parts store plus $20 in fluid. Most shops are around $70 to $80 an hour labor and they use air tools and tranny jacks! You figure it up sounds really high to me! $500 is more what I would be thinking as a reasonable price!
Myself the wiring is what scares me , never been to good with that part! But with your knowledge I wouldnt let that stop you from the purchase if it is as clean as you say it is! I would check the vin#s before buying it though sounds to me like somebody swapped the body on it and never finished wiring it back up!
Still at $1200 for a clean K5 that runs and drives with a little work on your own part sounds like a decent deal to me! Do the tranny seal yourself and save a ton of cash and learn something new in the process, it's not that hard just time consuming! Good luck and let us know what happens.
 
no, it's not a body swap, and the electrical isn't missing. the seller says he bought it three months ago and it worked great, but as soon as he it a pothole all the electrical lost power. he says that it sometimes it comes back on when driving it around the field, though i wasn't lucky enough to witness that.
 
The wireing proplem sounds like it`s got a bad ground,most likely the ground wires that atach to the fender or rad suport near the batery.My truck did that, might be worth a try. Good luck!
 
Hey, neighbor, post a couple more times and get us a link. I did a quick c-list search but didn't find what you decribed.
 
My experience with electrical problems is that they are a major pain. Almost everything else on a vehicle has some sort of tell-tale signs as to what is going wrong, such as a leak or a noise or a smell.

Electricity is invisible and silent, and therefore nearly impossible to troubleshoot easily.

My first instinct is that this could be an easy fix. As mentioned, you probably have a bad ground from the body to the frame, or something like that. However, considering all the mods on the truck, there is a fair chance it's something else.

When the seller tells you it worked before, or works when it hits a bump, what he is really saying is "I bought the truck like this, spent two months trying to fix it, and even I cannot figure it out."

Also remember that if you buy it, you either have to fix it on the spot or trailer it home. Until you fix it, you cannot legally drive it without any lights etc. You may have to spend 10 minutes to add a ground strap, or you may find that the wire harness under the dash is melted and you have to replace the entire harness. As a result, you should price this as "worst case scenario" which - to me - means you have to replace the ENTIRE harness.

There are a lot of things I will do on a truck, but that's not one of them...

Considering it's far from stock, I'd say at best it's worth $800 or $1000 or so.

Personally, I'd stay away from it. Keep searching Craigslist until you find on in your price range that mostly works. It may take a while, but then you won't make the mistake I made. I bought a Blazer last year and foolishly overlooked some issues, and did not fully inspect it. Now I have a truck with so much rust rot that I cannot pass inspection, the head gasket is shot, the tranny died, the tires are horrid, and there were a variety of issues. I spent $900 on the truck and another $900 on parts and now it's dead. I'm buying another truck as soon as I find one that isn't a basket case, so that $1800 is mostly down the drain.

Oh yeah, if it's been for sale for a few weeks that should tell you something. Why hasn't someone else jumped on this?

If you're really crazy, offer him $800 as is, or tell him to fix the electrical and you'll pay more. I would not t buy it otherwise.
 
For me it would really be dependent on how many miles this engine has on it. The electrical is easy really not much to wire here since you have a carbed engine. For the tranny I would just look for a junker or a reman. The price quote for the seal repaire seems extremly high,look around.
 
What year is the truck? If you are studying to be an electrical engineer than the wiring should be no problem, truck wiring is super simple comparatively speaking.

800 for a seal change on a turbo 350?! No way. You can get a rebuilt turbo 350 on ebay for 600 bucks. Its pretty easy to change.

What it really boils down to is do you like the truck, is it the color you want etc. If its not then wait, if it is then go for it.
 
I don't think the one you're describing is worth $1200 but we'll wait for the link.

You may be better off finding a Texas, Arizona, New Mexico etc. truck and driving it back. Rust free rigs don't demand high prices down there like they do in the rust belt. Also, the 80's trucks are burdened with emissions stuff, especially the "computer" controlled carb. Personally, I would find one that is a little newer and has TBI fuel injection. More power, better economy, super reliable.

As for the lift and tire stuff, you need to know what differential gears it has and what the lift is (is it replacement springs? a body lift? blocks? etc).
 
ok..so i should assume the worst and hope for the best. i'm looking into doing the trans myself, but for worst-case pricing i guess $800 will cover a full replacement. the engine is a crate 350, no emissions or computer junk, and (thank god) no fuel injection. the more i learn about electronic control systems, the more i fear for my safety in a modern car.

...anyway, i will have to tow it regardless of it's road-worthiness, so that isn't much of a problem, and i'm planning on working on it for a month or two before switching over the reg+insurance and whatnot.
 
Call me a jerk or something but if someones craigslist add is full of misspellings and he doesn't even know what type of motor it is, I tend to take this as my knowledge is superior to his which means I will always offer a low ball figure. Like 800. Around here that rig would fetch about a grand maybe a bit less.

Although Chris (38377k5) brings up a good point if you like these trucks and want one as a daily driver, it might be best to look for a completely stock one in Texas or AZ or somewhere such as that.

The tbi fuel injection on these trucks is bone simple and awesome.
 
It's a tough call. It's got some pros/cons for that price.

You have to ask yourself, what do you want to do with this truck? Is it daily driver (dd) or dd and off road use or mostly off road? How much work do you want to get into before driving it? How much can you do yourself?

So far, to me, the couple initial repairs it needs are simple. The trans seal can be done in the driveway. And a bit of wiring diagnosis will get the lights working again. If everything else is in decent shape and it's what you are looking for then go for it. Otherwise move on.

If you want one that runs, drives, solid body, and clean inside be prepared to spend more money. ex: mine didn't run and when I did get it running it didn't drive and the interior was a wet, moldy, smelly mess. But the body was solid. Dented, dinged, and scratched, but solid, which was all I cared about. It cost me $800 plus another $100 or so in gas to drive up to Maine and tow it home. It was cheap but exactly what I wanted. So either buy one cheap and be prepared to repair (like the one you found) or spend more for something clean and ready to go.
 
blazinzuk said:
Call me a jerk or something but if someones craigslist add is full of misspellings and he doesn't even know what type of motor it is, I tend to take this as my knowledge is superior to his which means I will always offer a low ball figure. Like 800. Around here that rig would fetch about a grand maybe a bit less.

Although Chris (38377k5) brings up a good point if you like these trucks and want one as a daily driver, it might be best to look for a completely stock one in Texas or AZ or somewhere such as that.

The tbi fuel injection on these trucks is bone simple and awesome.
Click to expand...
im with htose guys,it doesnt look like something i would want to involve myself in.its not really in that great of shape for the price and headaches.the guy dont even know what he has there.i can see where the cut up the rear already for tire clearnace.you can get a painless wiring kit for a few hundred dollars.but it seems like a lot more work than its worth. id pass and look for soemthing that is in running shape and repair the body if it has some rust than to take on something that you may have to gut out and start over with to make it driveable
 
well, it sure looks like a 50/50 split on whether to buy it or not, but there seems to be a general opinion that it's not worth $1200. i agree, and have offered him $1k, but he refuses to go below $1200, believing that it's worth more in parts alone.

chulisohombre, could you explain the "gut and start over" part? can the electrical be that bad? the interior's all original except for the carpet.

i think i'll stick with my offer of $1k, and tell him it stands until winter. if he can't sell it, he might come crawling back to me...
 
@496truck: i'm feeling the same about the body of this truck: it might be trimmed a bit, but it's solid, and around here that's 90% of the effort saved.

i guess i'm still feeling uneasy about the transmission repair. i've never dealt with a transmission before, so i'm not even sure what the process involves. anyone willing to enlighten me on the seal replacement process? preferably the "For Dummies" version?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Latest Posts

Top Bottom