Hey guys: I am a newbie to this forum. I have been a Ford man for the last 13 years, when I traded my 95 Z71 for a 97 F150. My news for all is I am coming back, as my GM family is glad to see my return, but I need your help. I am looking for a truck, and I need a crash course in what to be careful of. My 04 F150 has spark plug issues, injector issues and now, a burnt up engine. For these reasons I am returning to GM and need your help in steering away from known problems or issues in the GM truck family. Any help will be appreciated: Thanks in advance.

 

Hey man sorry to hear about your 13 year run with a Ford. Sounds like my first marriage. I had some spark issue with her too.

I had a 95 Chevy 3/4 ton with a 350 engine, standard transmission, short bed, extended cab,& athrottle body. I really liked this truck but hated the standard transmission. It would pull pretty much anything you wanted to pull. I had this truck for 4 years & drove it about 50,000 miles in that time & I only hada fewproblems out of it. The coil went out on me after I had it for 2 years & the water pump went out soon after that. I had to replace the alternator afterhaving it for 3 years. The only other problemthat I had was gas mileage but it was good for a 3/4 ton somewherebetween 12 & 15 mpg. It had 125,000 miles on it when I bought it & I sold it around 175,000 miles. I felt it had another 50,000 on it.

Now I have a 97 Silverado 1500 & I got it with 99,000 miles on it. It has a 350 Vortec engine, automatic transmission, fuel injected, short bed, & it's an extended cab. I love this truck too.The first problem I had with it is the alternator went out right after I got it so I replaced that along with a new battery. Then the fuel pump went out at 110,000. I've had it for 2.5 years & only have 115,000 on it now. Recently I had a busted fitting where the heater hose goes into the intake & it is made out of some cheap plastic. When you go to take it out it will break at the base & you are left with the plastic threads in your intake. What I did was I took a chisel & carefully busted the plastic threads & used a pick to clear the threads in the intake. I then replaced it with a new one & have no leaks. That one had me worried that I was going to have to remove the intake & take it to a machine shop but I said screw that & began to chisel away. It took about 30 minutes to get it all out of there. The steering speed sensor was out on it when I bought it & I have read that from 97 & newer that this problem is common. It's an easy fix & if you do it yourself it will only cost you $40.00.I have yet to replace it but will be doing it soon. Other than that I haven't had any other problems.

 

Sorry to hear about the marriage. For me I was a GM man, as my wife’s family from years ago. I had an 81 Buick, and traded for an 87 ¾ ton. When the water pump went and was quoted $300 and change to repair it I decided it was time to trade up. I bumped up to a 93 standard cab 1500 Silverardo. Nice truck and when I felt the front bounced a bit so dealer installed new shocks for me. I think it was my 93 that had the ticking noise in the column, maybe the 95, as I had in 2 years time, bump again up to an extended cab Z71. I found the truck a tank to drive, 10 to 11.5 miles to the gallon consistently, the XT I believe tires hummed and when there was a ¼ inch of snow on the ground I had to use 4 wheel drive. When the console broke lid and the bottom of the seat frame cracked it was depressing but the door handle broke off in my hand one day and I started thinking it was time to go. I actual passed a Ford dealer and this 97 F150 winked at me as I drove by. The next day I brought her home. Best truck I had ever owned. Had to replace the connector for the brake light at the bottom end of the column and that was it. I had 86,000 before I touched the brakes and mileage was 14 and better. Charge the air conditionally once, and the truck looked like new. I regret the day when I felt I needed something new so at 101,000 I traded up to the 04 Lariat after 8 ½ years. After the first year and all the info I found about the plugs breaking off in the heads, rough idle and torque convertor rough engage, I now have a dead motor and the warrantee I thought I had isn’t worth the paper it’s written on. When I posted this thread I was looking for similar issues on the Chevy’s. I have not had much response although I find it hard that nobody has any complaints.