Hi,
I test drove a 2001 Silverado 2500 HD 2WD from a private seller yesterday. The truck ran great. Supposedly it had been relatively unused for a year. This was used for a roofing business. The majority of the truck is in good condition. A dent here, a scratch there, 205K miles and the only place that the rust is bad is under the door frames, but it did not appear to be structural.

I have two questions. 1 - at the end of the test drive, the low coolant light came on and when we got back to his place, the reservoir was a little low, but not bad like I would think if the coolant light was on - maybe down 1/2"... Do you think I should be concerned that there may be a coolant leak into the block because of a bad seal? He said that they never had a problem with the truck.
2nd question - the brakes worked great... until you were almost stopped... then they would grab and it felt like the ABS kicked in and it pulled a little to the right. When I say almost... I am talking under 5 mph - like the last 3 seconds before you stopped. It only did it in forward - I tried to duplicate it in reverse, but it would not do it. Any ideas?


Thanks
Ken

 

I would obviously look for water in the oil or in the transmission. These engines are known to have water pump leak issues. It's an easy job though. BUT if it leaked out that much on your short test ride and the owner said he never had an issue with it I would definitely have some reservations about it. Although possible, I highly doubt it just started leaking. If your in love with the truck I would have a mechanic check it.

ABS - does the ABS light come on and turn back off with the key? If it pulls to one side than you may have a caliper freezing up, brake line collapsed or getting soft, or another issue.

Again - have it checked. No reason to buy someone elses issues.

 

I have a 2001 1500HD, and had an issue early on with the low coolant light coming on, but it wasn't low at all. It was fixed under warranty, and I can't recall what the problem was.
There was a recall (if I remember correctly) on the ABS sensor issue, with ABS kicking in at low speeds. All they did was clean and adjust the sensors for the fix.

 

Thanks for the input.

As for the ABS, there is no light that kicks on. It just acted like it was doing an additional power assisted stop. And I highly doubt that this would be covered under warranty now, the truck has over 200K miles on it!!

I had looked at the oil and tranny fluids before I started it - looking for dirty/burnt and both were negative. I also didn't see any evidence of foreign fluids with them.

I am going to continue to think about it. Also have a 97 with lower mileage that I am going to look at hopefully today. It's not a HD, but it is 4x4. Will see!

Thanks again for the input.
Ken

 

If no light ever comes on then the owner must have removed the bulb to mask an ABS issue. You should surprise him/her and show up with a scanner and a cooling system pressure tester and see if he allows you to do some diagnostic before buying. If they are on the up and up than there shouldn't be a problem. I know when I sold my 1500HD the guy showed up in full mechanic gear with a bag of tools, creeper, flashlights, etc and spent about 3 hours crawling all over the truck. I wasn't hiding anything so I let him do his thing - he ended up driving it home that day.

 

For the ABS recall, it never caused the ABS light to come on, it was just that the sensors were getting fouled and kicking on the ABS at low speeds. If it was a recall, you should still be able to get that done (if it hasn't been done already). Maybe ask a stealership about it to see if the specific year/model truck was covered.

 

I just wanted to let you know about the ABS recall. I called a dealer, gave him the VIN and they said that it did not pertain to the vehicle.

Guess I have to decide if I am in the mood for inheriting problems. Or just low ball the guy knowing that I am going to have to put $$ into fixing a problem that he should have taken care of.

 

Ask him why he removed the ABS bulb. Personally I would look elsewhere. A guy that would do that is NOT the guy I want to buy a vehicle from.