Astro van ease of maintenance?

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I want to buy another car when I graduate, but I want to keep my CR-V, mainly because 1) It's my first car and has too many memories tied to it and 2) I've put almost $6K into it in parts so if I sold it it would be a loss.

I still plan to lease a Regal TourX as I have mentioned in previous posts, but I also want to get a cheap beater vehicle to move my competition sound system equipment into, something to have solely for an audio build platform, so I can have the cargo space in my CR-V back and keep it as a backup vehicle.

I was thinking of an Astro / Safari van, I've seen tons of neat audio builds done with them, and they're fairly plentiful and cheap, around $1,500 a pop on CarGurus.

Can anyone tell me what I'd be getting myself into with trying to own and maintain one, or problems to look for or expect in one?

I can tell from pictures their engine bays are fairly cramped but I'm no stranger to that, since owning the CR-V, I don't think I've ever worked on my car and *not* drawn blood at some point.
 
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Like all vans they are a bit of a challenge to work on, but the vehicle is very reliable and parts are relatively cheap.

Excellent choice IMO...
 
Originally Posted by SteveSRT8
Like all vans they are a bit of a challenge to work on, but the vehicle is very reliable and parts are relatively cheap.

Excellent choice IMO...

I was looking at the AstroSafari forums and I saw a lot of good things about them.
 
I had one, if the Joplin tornado had not got it I will still be driving i. It is not hard to remove the engine cover, then access is pretty good. I did not even need raps to change the oil. There are like 14 grease zerks in the front suspension. Most do not get greased, so they wear, check it and catch up on maintenance. If you take care of it 500K miles is common. In 250K I never needed to replace a suspension part other than shocks. It uses normal shocks so cheap and easy. One radiator, one set front pads, one intake cleaning.due to bad gas, and one fuel pump. All were pretty easy Check for fuel in the harness connector on the intake, pass if you find any. Some of these had defective injectors that leaked fuel on the electrical side, the connector seals were so good it could full the harness and ECM with fuel. Basically totaled then. Rare but happens.

Rod
 
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Considering how cramped the engine bay looks in pics, hearing that is a bit of a relief.

Thanks
 
Do you need van just to haul stuff around? It may be hard to find a used one that wasn't abused, especially in the rust belt.
 
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I just want a van solely for an audio build platform to work with. My subwoofer box for my 15s in my CR-V takes up literally the whole trunk. Anytime I haul anything it has to go on my passenger floorboard or on the back seats. The speaker box weighs enough it took 3 of us to lift it and slide it into my trunk. My spare tire is laying on my back seat floorboard in case I do need it at some point lol. I effectively turned a family car into a 2-seater...

If I get an Astro / Safari I would move all my audio gear into it and restore the CR-V pretty much to stock condition.

For example, here's DJ Billy-E's "Orion Astro"
[Linked Image from i.ytimg.com]
 
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I have memories of changing sparkplugs in my parents... that I'd like to forget.

I suppose it's not that bad, all vehicles can be a challenge to work on.

I want to say, on my parents, the 4.3 didn't make 100k before it suddenly started drinking oil--overnight it seemed. Then again, it was an '87 and it hauled around a family of six and their travel trailer. Hard life I guess. A TBI 4.3 isn't much of a powerhouse, I believe the later Vortecs made more power but have poppet valves (?) that have their own issues. The 700R4 is hit or miss; I want to say the early generations had a problem with the goveneror getting hung up and it would wind out in first gear (ours didn't do that but a friend in college had one that did). All generations of that trans are hit or miss, but luckily they are cheap to get. Axle seals went out, and eventually the pinion bearing went, but that rearend was well past 250k when the bearing got loose.

Not a lot of space in the footwells, it's a bit cramped for the front passengers. Steering column can get loose if people grab the wheel to climb in (we managed to loosen it doing that, the mechanic who fixed it said not to do that). Parts store idler arms don't last long I guess, seemed like at the end it was a yearly replacement item. Ours had a broken driver's door handle, on the outside, for years--not sure how it managed to hold on, but it did.

The later models can have 3 doors on the rear, a liftgate and two smaller ones? I know ours didn't have that and the doors did interfere with rear vision. Still, it worked ok. I've read good things about the AWD models, but, the transfer case is bit rare I guess, not used elsewhere. Our RWD could get stuck quite easily but we managed (throw some weight in the rear).

I'd say it'd probably be hard to get one in good shape.
 
I ran 250K with the 4.3, and it never used oil. Your folks was some kind of anomaly. Most all of them go 400K minimum with proper maintenance.

Changing plugs is quite easy, with the cover off they are out in the open. If you do not want to remove the cover, most of them change easier from under the van. I did it 3 times while I had mine, it is easier and faster to remove the cover. Besides in 250 K pulg wires and a cap rotor are a good idea and the cover has to be off for that.
 
3 vehicles ? Are you single ? You ever add up what 3 vehicles are going to cost per year ? Considering you can not drive but 1 at a time ?

Insurance
Registration
Replacement parts ( tires , belts , hoses , batteries , brakes , fluids , filters , wiper blades , etc. )
 
Originally Posted by WyrTwister
3 vehicles ? Are you single ? You ever add up what 3 vehicles are going to cost per year ? Considering you can not drive but 1 at a time ?

Insurance
Registration
Replacement parts ( tires , belts , hoses , batteries , brakes , fluids , filters , wiper blades , etc. )


Jeez dad....

He's young and into competition audio so what's another car?? Keeping a car for the memories or keeping it just because you've put money into are both losing propositions and he's got both going on with the CR-V. We've all done dumb things when it comes to cars I bet.
 
price competition audio gear. He can easily have over 20K in equipment if he builds a lot of it himself.

He could have some expensive hobby like motorcycles or boats. ( I have both .
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)

Obviously he has some income and something he enjoys.

Rod
 
My subs (American Bass XFL 15s) were only $100 each because I got them used from a guy on Marketplace. The box I built myself out of MDF and my amplifier (Orion HCCA 3.5K) I got at a flea market for like $80 IIRC. Guy thought it was blown but just had bad fuses.

The most expensive thing in my entire setup was the alternator actually, at $379. Bangin' on a budget!

My box is tuned down to 28hz and I hit around 120dB. Not too bad.
 
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120 db is not competitive 180 or maybe 190 now is. That takes thousands of watts and multiple subs. Big $$$$$. I agree a great sounding system does not need to cost much.

Rod
 
Most comp builds I've seen at local shows here are around 150-170dB. 120 is still a lot for the average person, I don't go to shows often with my car, it's more for my own personal enjoyment.

I've set off car alarms and rattled off interior trim pieces with what I have now, I need to cut a larger port on my box, I currently have 2 6" PVC aero ports but I'm gonna step them up to 8" sometime.
 
Couple thoughts:

-Check the older Astro conversion vans; If you're lucky, some may be cheaper than a trades-person van and in better shape.
-cheaper alternative to the Buick (ahem Germany made Opel Estate) TourX: VW Golf AllTrack. It may be less rare and probably the same internal space. AWD and just a bit taller.

Other wagons alternatives (not all new):
-2008-2015 Mazda5
-2012-2017 Prius v (the wagon)
-Ford C-Max
 
Have owned two a 88 and still drive a 03 both bought new. 88 had constant front end parts wearing out from turning radius to tight and steering column tilt mechanism getting very loose and failing. 03 problem with the abs module had to resolder circuit board ( u tube videos) , electric door lock actuators replaced them and ac compressor in 215k. Astros like all vans can't get in a hurry working on them.
 
Not bad. Installed a 350 in one years ago, easiest engine swap ever and maintaining it was not much different from the 4.3 it replaced.
 
Varies greatly depending on the year! Condition is everything, The later 6 lug vans have better brakes but have unit/hub front wheel bearings.

The front 4 spark plugs are easily done through the wheel wells with the frontend jacked up & a long extension.
 
Originally Posted by cwilliamsws6
My subs (American Bass XFL 15s) were only $100 each because I got them used from a guy on Marketplace. The box I built myself out of MDF and my amplifier (Orion HCCA 3.5K) I got at a flea market for like $80 IIRC. Guy thought it was blown but just had bad fuses.

The most expensive thing in my entire setup was the alternator actually, at $379. Bangin' on a budget!

My box is tuned down to 28hz and I hit around 120dB. Not too bad.


When I was in college, I competed nationally in MECA. I took 3rd at World Finals, losing to a trailered CRX. I drove across the country listing to music the whole way! I ran a single 15 and an Orion 2500d on 30 amps of fusing. On the Termlab I would do 148+db on music, and could burp 151.xx DB @ 40hz. I used an Aeroport box that was wicked loud.

I was on a team that was sponsered by kicker and Kinetic Batteries, although I never ran kicker stuff as it wasn't loud. Kicker wire and fusing hardware is top notch!

[Linked Image]

[Linked Image]
 
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