Chevy Astro/GMC Safari

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daves87rs

daves87rs

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Okay, give me the low down on these vans (or owners chrip in)
Looking at a cheap inbetween van until we decide what our next car/truck. While I do know a bit about these vans (My mom has a 99 Astro/know of 5 friends who have Stro's/Safaris), but I want more info!


Yes, I know they are crude. but they are tanks, and the 4.3 just will never die. Also remember the spider issue, and know the engine is a PITA to work on. (good time to learn though). Looking for a rust free (hopefully) 2001-2005, with possible AWD.(though I've heard of issues with these) Most I've looking at are around 80-120k. Planning on some upgrade on one. Good chance that it could stick around as a cargo van after that. Prices are not bad (3000-6000)Simple and dependable is what I am looking for. Your thoughts?
 
You pretty much have the low down. The RWD version is awful in the snow, and they changed from the 4L60 to the 4L65 in 2003-2004 that seemed to have a higher than usual failure rate (this could also be related to them being overloaded). Also there is a vacuum leak or a vacuum control module that causes the blend doors to malfunction and blow all of the air out of the defrost ducts.

Other than that, they are solid as far as I know.
 
Originally Posted By: dave1251
Fuel pump failing is another issue. But other than that it is a pretty dependable van.


I think the fuel pump are killed rather than dying. I see a lot of drivers running the tank down past E before refilling, and those are always the ones replacing fuel pumps.

We had a fleet of S-10s at one company, and the only one to have a fuel pump fail was the driver that had run out of fuel a couple times. I still can't figure that one out, all of the drivers were given fuel cards!
 
The Astro/Safari vans are near and dear to my heart. I worked at the Baltimore plant that built them until it closed and I moved to Texas. I started on the line building them while going to college in the late 80's and finally made it into management in the early 90's.

Darn good vehicle for it's intended use. Here is a trivia fact for you - the van, when designed in the 1980's for the 1984 launch was projected to be 70/30 cargo to passenger use. This is why it is more truck-like. By 1998 the ratio was actually more like 70/30 passenger to cargo use. These are trucks and are often compared to car-vans which is an unfair comparison.
 
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Originally Posted By: GMBoy
The Astro/Safari vans are near and dear to my heart. I worked at the Baltimore plant that built them until it closed and I moved to Texas. I started on the line building them while going to college in the late 80's and finally made it into management in the early 90's.

Darn good vehicle for it's intended use. Here is a trivia fact for you - the van, when designed in the 1980's for the 1984 launch was projected to be 70/30 cargo to passenger use. This is why it is more truck-like. By 1998 the ratio was actually more like 70/30 passenger to cargo use. These are trucks and are often compared to car-vans which is an unfair comparison.


True..The seating up front is odd, but I find the seats pretty cozy. I always wondered why they called these minivans in the first place. I thought that was what the "dustbuster" vans were for. This van also seems to be huge with the dog show people too...
 
WE HAD ONE AN 88 4.3 TBI V6 3.42 POSI THIS VAN WAS A POS WE BOUGHT FROM OUR NEIGBOR IN 95 HE HAD ENGINE AND TRANNY REBUILT AT 62000 MILES WELL 6 MONTHS LATER WE HAD TRANNY FAIL REAR END AXLE SEALS BALL JOINTS IDLER ARM THING SMOKED AT START UP STARTER ALTERNATOR ALL THIS ON A WELL MAINTAINED VAN WE JUST GOT SICK OF IT TRADED IT IN 96 HAVE A 90 GMC S15 JIMMY SAME POWERTRAIN 165000 MILES TOTALLY NEGLECTED BUT STILL RUNNING GO FIGURE I TOOK VERY GOOD CARE OF THE SAFARI DID NOT MATTER THOUGH
 
Originally Posted By: jc1990
WE HAD ONE AN 88 4.3 TBI V6 3.42 POSI THIS VAN WAS A POS WE BOUGHT FROM OUR NEIGBOR IN 95 HE HAD ENGINE AND TRANNY REBUILT AT 62000 MILES WELL 6 MONTHS LATER WE HAD TRANNY FAIL REAR END AXLE SEALS BALL JOINTS IDLER ARM THING SMOKED AT START UP STARTER ALTERNATOR ALL THIS ON A WELL MAINTAINED VAN WE JUST GOT SICK OF IT TRADED IT IN 96 HAVE A 90 GMC S15 JIMMY SAME POWERTRAIN 165000 MILES TOTALLY NEGLECTED BUT STILL RUNNING GO FIGURE I TOOK VERY GOOD CARE OF THE SAFARI DID NOT MATTER THOUGH


Friday car maybe?
 
I'm looking at vans also, and most of the Safari's and astro's seem to have 150k+ miles, and many over 200k. Not what I'm looking for, but it seems they last a long time. I see a lot of siennas of the same vintage with 150k miles but not too many over 200k. FWIW
 
Originally Posted By: jc1990
WE HAD ONE AN 88 4.3 TBI V6 3.42 POSI THIS VAN WAS A POS WE BOUGHT FROM OUR NEIGBOR IN 95 HE HAD ENGINE AND TRANNY REBUILT AT 62000 MILES WELL 6 MONTHS LATER WE HAD TRANNY FAIL REAR END AXLE SEALS BALL JOINTS IDLER ARM THING SMOKED AT START UP STARTER ALTERNATOR ALL THIS ON A WELL MAINTAINED VAN WE JUST GOT SICK OF IT TRADED IT IN 96 HAVE A 90 GMC S15 JIMMY SAME POWERTRAIN 165000 MILES TOTALLY NEGLECTED BUT STILL RUNNING GO FIGURE I TOOK VERY GOOD CARE OF THE SAFARI DID NOT MATTER THOUGH



Sounds like whoever rebuilt the engine and tranny is to blame here. And if the orig drivetrain BOTH engine and tranny needed rebuilt so soon I say the original owner's DID NOT maintain it well. There are many more of these vans holding up past 100,150,200k than not.

And lay off the CAPS!
 
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We have run a few of the Astro/Safari's to death, they hold up pretty well.

Nevr had a problem with any 4L65E trans, they seemed to address the 4l60E's problems in it well.

And C'mon, NOBODY needs a rebuild at 60k miles unless something is really funky in Denmark!
 
My stepfather used one for a service van (plumbing) for a long time. It was a good van. I don't know why he didn't get another. I guess he likes his 5speed 3.0 Rangers better.
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It had a manual transmission. The shifter is in a weird place but once you get used to it, it works just fine.

The only problem with it was the steering. The idler arms (2 of them!) wore out real early. Moog replacements lasted as long as the rest of the van did.
 
A surveying place I worked for had one. We beat the tar out of that van, and it took it without a whimper. It was comfy enough, even if it was a pig on gas. A great vehicle to sprawl out in after a day of hard work.
 
I had a '97 for a while, it was fairly loaded (rear A/C, dutch doors/hatch rear combo), unfortunately it ALWAYS slipped in reverse, and drank gas in the city (lucky to get 10-11 MPG). It was reliable-but if you ever have to put an engine in one-look out, the body (allegedly) has to come off to do it. They also didn't have a lot of towing capacity, and had weak monoleaf rear springs, it just wasn't big enough to do what I wanted it to do. I have heard of several TBI 4.3 Astro/Safaris that made it over 300K with no major engine trouble (pre-Dexcool).
 
Originally Posted By: bullwinkle
It was reliable-but if you ever have to put an engine in one-look out, the body (allegedly) has to come off to do it.



The body doesn't have to come off. The front sub-frame just comes down with the engine in it. Put the van on a lift and undo a few body bolts and down comes everything. Actually pretty easy. I've seen it done at the factory several times.
 
We owned two of these, a short wheel base '87 which was replaced by a long wheel base '95 version with all the goodies. The '87 developed a problem with the front engine accessory bracket late in its life which resulted in many thrown belts and broken/thrown accessory drive belts.

The only problem with the '95 was with the electronic EGR valve. This thing was always getting stuck slightly open with carbon deposits which required removing/cleaning/reinstalling the valve. I got so I could do this in under 20 minutes on a hot engine! Someone designed a replacement gasket for this valve which sandwiched a fine SS wire mesh screen between two standard paper gaskets. A fantastic solution with a $20 price tag.
 
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I have a 94 with 200K+ miles on it.

Love the van - engine and tranny still in excellent condition, no leaks, oil burn or smoke - and it sees almost severe duty use only - lots of boat towing.

intake manifold gasket is the only "major" repair so far, plus the usual starter, water pump, alternator, etc - but that you would expect of most vehicles at that mileage.

Will need u-joints soon, but again, considering how it is used, that is no surprise.

Fuel economy is not stellar, and it is fairly hard on tires and brakes.

Based on what I hear from others with the AWD model, I would probably stay away from it.
 
My parents bought one new in 1990, what a POS. Problem after problem with that thing. They donated it in 2000 lol, I cant believe they kept it that long.
 
Ford made the perfected version of this vehicle.
They called it the Aerostar.
I'm now going to put on my flame-proof underwear.
 
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