Looking at a used 4.8 CDS with salsa

[abc_was_here]

So over the last weekend I checked out a 2002 Chevrolet Express 2500 extended van with a 4.8 CDS with salsa.The seller claims he purchased it to clean carpet after his construction jobs. Long story short medical issues happened and the vans been sitting a year and half since purchase. He said it worked when he originally bought it but never actually used it himself. Anyways van has lots of new parts and is pretty straight and runs good with roughly 185k miles.

Machine hours: 5400~

The machine however seems like the blower is completely locked up, you go to turn the machine on and it kicks the clutch and the van just dies. I looked up the cost of that blower and about hit the floor lol is this something that can be rebuilt? I hate to take a gamble but hes selling the setup for basically just the value of the van. If the machine fired up I would have driven it home. The biggest concern is since the shaft wont turn I cant even tell if the pump works or of the heat exchangers leak. If I can get the blower repaired it may be worth taking a gamble on everything else though. Anyone have any suggestions or should I just stay away?

I am a mechanically inclined person and do have a lot of time before I would need this to be a daily functional machine.

 

[Jim Davisson]

If the blower is locked up and the high idle engages you should smell rubber before it sh!ts the bed. The pump is driven off the slave shaft roots blower proprietary to hydramaster i.e. an extra $600 for the same size blower with the extra gear driven shaft to drive the pump. They do this to squeeze more hp/torque from the under hood clutch.

Put a gonzo pipe wrench on the direct drive shaft and bust it loose, spray wd 40 in the lube port and let it eat. Prepare yourself to disassemble and clean the salsa heat exchanger that is killing you.

 

[abc_was_here]

The clutch under the hood looked pretty new, the second I hit the key the van engine shut down. Is there anyway that there's a sensor or something wrong causing it to shut down? Certainly sounds like the clutch is kicking on and shutting the van down though. That's basically as far as I got with it before walking away. Then the more I think about it still might be worth messing with. The biggest issue for me is that its 3 hours one way from me. So if I make the trip I'm just going to pick it up and drive home. Should I be worried that the salsa is also damaged though? or is it also repairable?

 

[Jim Davisson]

Atrophy is likely the enemy here. The lobes of the blower can rust together from lack off use, their clearances are thousandths of an inch. It's an older machine with higher miles, nothing that scares me, but it might a greenhorn. You can get 400k from the chassis and 15k+ from the machine treated right.

There are a couple things that might kill the van when you engage the direct drive, a couple electrical issues and a couple mechanical issues. I've had a $15 key switch fück me... if you are low dough and mechanical this is your huckleberry!

 

[brian3180]

So over the last weekend I checked out a 2002 Chevrolet Express 2500 extended van with a 4.8 CDS with salsa.The seller claims he purchased it to clean carpet after his construction jobs. Long story short medical issues happened and the vans been sitting a year and half since purchase. He said it worked when he originally bought it but never actually used it himself. Anyways van has lots of new parts and is pretty straight and runs good with roughly 185k miles.

Machine hours: 5400~

The machine however seems like the blower is completely locked up, you go to turn the machine on and it kicks the clutch and the van just dies. I looked up the cost of that blower and about hit the floor lol is this something that can be rebuilt? I hate to take a gamble but hes selling the setup for basically just the value of the van. If the machine fired up I would have driven it home. The biggest concern is since the shaft wont turn I cant even tell if the pump works or of the heat exchangers leak. If I can get the blower repaired it may be worth taking a gamble on everything else though. Anyone have any suggestions or should I just stay away?

I am a mechanically inclined person and do have a lot of time before I would need this to be a daily functional machine.

Where are you located? I have a 2002 with 4.6 cds that runs.

 

[abc_was_here]

I’m in Portland, OR.

 

[John Rockwood]

I’m in Portland, OR.

Have you talked to David @ Aramsco (CRS)? He is a great mechanic on truckmounts.

 

[John Rockwood]

.

 

[abc_was_here]

I haven’t, to be honest I’ve never really dealt with CRS. Might have to give them a call.

 

[abc_was_here]

Just spoke with CRS and they gave me a pretty optimistic outlook on the machine. Thanks for the suggestion.

 

[John Rockwood]

Just spoke with CRS and they gave me a pretty optimistic outlook on the machine. Thanks for the suggestion.

They are good people. I've been dealing with them for over 27 years. Not one complaint.

 

[abc_was_here]

Just wanted to give an update, I did purchase the van. Drove it 3 hours home, got to do some cleaning and soaking the blower in liquid wrench penetrating oil. I let it sit a few day before putting a pipe wrench on it and it popped free with very minimal effort. However I’m having the repair the inlet tube to the blower, the front 2” of it is in pretty rusty shape. So I’m going to repair it and weld a new 2” section onto it. Then put it all back together and see if it works as it should. Thanks for the suggestions