bought a tow-yard auction truck ('07 SIlverado) the other day so been getting it ready to roll.
-battery dead: replaced (and the stereo starts playing mexican music as soon as it got power 🙄)
-checked oil: black gold, sludge on the dipstick, and a quart low! (but no milkshake)
-radiator: over flow empty , poured a gallon in (sucked it all down)
-20" front tires: off the rim so got used pull-offs at Discount Tire (got 4 excellent tires for $20/ea with 9/32 left, $175 out the door with mount/balance! those tires are $190 each!)
started it up....no CEL or nothing. OBD code reader has 4 codes (3 ABS, 1 BCM)
update:
cleaned out all the trash in the truck, found about $2 in pennies and dimes, some new headlight bulbs in packaging....Bonus!...found the blue title from the 3rd owner who never registered it. so the impound yard was sending tow paperwork to the 2nd owner and his lien company, who had already signed off on it, all the time 😁
even came with a small fishing kayak in the back, which I should be able to sell for about $75
looked up all the RPO codes after getting home....came with 20" wheels, towing, 5.3, 4L60e, 3.73 rear positraction limited slip, auto climate, rear seat stereo in console
got the tires mounted, poured another gallon of coolant in, it sucked it down.....ooooookay, poured 1/2-gal of water in and it stops sucking it down. start engine to circulate, it sucks it down, I pour the rest of the water in...sucks it down, then part of another gallon to top off the overflow because now I know I have a leak in the overflow at the least as I can see it dripping underneath. grab another gallon of water for the 8 miles home. my buddy drives it home with me watching the rear view mirror and talking to him on the phone all the way. get a half mile from the house and the temp starts going north of 210 just as we top a steep hill into my 'hood. I noticed "smoke" coming from the front drivers wheel that last halfmile, told him to get it parked in my driveway and shut it off. we make it, pop the hood, and can see where antifreeze is leaking out of the radiator and getting that whole front corner wet, and I can hear it boiling and popping in the upper radiator hose. I think the only reason we made it home that easy was because the outside temp was 44.
so now I think I know why the truck was abandoned by the owner at the apartment complex they towed it from. looks like a new radiator, overflow tank, hoses, and coolant . with that and tires, my total cost so far is <$4400
get it fixed, get it registered and titled and charged sales tax by the DMV. but since the tow yard are good guys they don't fill in the auction price and let buyers do it. I think it's worth.....$500? sounds good to me!
the good: got a solid truck as a spare driver that even after I clean it up, fix stuff and use it, I can probably double my money. trucks are gold here in Texas
the bad: gotta fix stuff, possibly some bad front ball joints
