Advice: Looking at a supercharged 2001 Tahoe

SouthPawCO · February 10, 2019

I am going to look at a 2001 Chevy Tahoe tomorrow that I think I can pickup for a pretty decent deal. He originally had it posted for $4500 and has been reducing the price slowly. I've been talking to him the last couple of days and I think I can pick it up around $3000 +/-. It's has a Magunson MP112 supercharger installed, all leather, 200K miles, and the body looks to be in excellent shape. The interior seems to be in fair condition, with some minor wear and tear. He said recently it threw a check engine light for a random misfire on cylinder number six at idle. He did a tune up on it thinking it was bad plugs/wires but it still is present. I talked to my buddy about it and he think's since it is only at idle, it's probably a lazy injector which I agree. It hasn't been for sale that long but I think the way he has it listed, it is hard to find so that's probably why someone hasn't picked it up yet. I found it by accident honestly lol.

Does this sound like a pretty decent deal if everything checks out? Also, is there an easy way to test the injector? I can bring a code reader from work but he seems like a pretty honest guy. The mileage doesn't really scare me if it has been maintained well. Hell my 2005 Silverado 1500 has 219K on the clock and I drive it everyday and wouldn't hesitate to take it anywhere. He also just had new tires put on which tells me he was planning on keeping it at least for a little while otherwise he wouldn't have wasted the funds for that. For me that is kind of a tell tale sign if it's a decent rig if someone is willing to spend the coin on some new skins for it. Reason for sale is supposedly to free up some cash. Let me know your thoughts, I'd sure appreciate it.

Mikebtte · February 10, 2019

Sounds like a good deal, supercharger and LS for 3k don't sound bad, even if you use it as a parts truck or keep it as it is and drive it. Miss fire can very, coil failed possibly. They have a 100K service life. May take a scan tool with to look it over. Post more details and photos.

SouthPawCO · February 10, 2019

Kind of what I was thinking. My plan is to pull the headers and supercharger off to put in my ‘03 Hoe since I like it more and have been fixing it up. I’d sell my truck and be sitting pretty if it works out.

RMR · February 10, 2019

Anecdotally, when I put an Edelbrock 2.3 on my 2012 Tahoe. No issues for the first couple years. After I sold it too my father, it would randomly throw the same code. He moved to South Dakota and also has to use the more ethanol heavy fuel. Not sure that tripped it, but it was fine in Colorado and started basically after he got there. My tuner said in HP he could turn down the sensitivity and it would stop. Said it was not uncommon especially on 10lbs of boost. It never ran off or bad or did anything once tripped. Just the annoying light. My experience with the issue.

intheburbs · February 10, 2019

Pay particular attention to the transmission, and how it shifts and if there's any slippage. The 4L60 is pretty close to its max horsepower and torque when mated to the 5.3. Adding a supercharger only makes it worse.

SouthPawCO · February 10, 2019

39 minutes ago, RMR said:

Anecdotally, when I put an Edelbrock 2.3 on my 2012 Tahoe. No issues for the first couple years. After I sold it too my father, it would randomly throw the same code. He moved to South Dakota and also has to use the more ethanol heavy fuel. Not sure that tripped it, but it was fine in Colorado and started basically after he got there. My tuner said in HP he could turn down the sensitivity and it would stop. Said it was not uncommon especially on 10lbs of boost. It never ran off or bad or did anything once tripped. Just the annoying light. My experience with the issue.

Good information, thank you. As easy and cheap as it is to change the injector, I might just throw one in. The only scary part about it is if it will pass emissions with a misfire code. Colorado has been cracking down on stuff like that.

I’ll definitely make sure the trans is good. I think the 4L60 will hold about 400hp without serious abuse but as cheap as they are around here ($300 used) I could pick one up and toss a shift kit in it pretty cheap. I have my fingers crossed it is what he says it is and I can finally start my fast Tahoe build.

SouthPawCO · February 11, 2019

So I checked it out and it was right in line with what I thought it would be. The body is in excellent shape with really no damage at all. The interior is on the better side of fair with minor issues here and there but everything works, including the seat warmers. Either the front diff, tcase or half shafts are shot. When you put it in 4x4, it binds pretty almost bringing itself to a complete stop. When I had my '05 Silverado back in 2008, it did the same thing but I never had issues with it other than it making noise.

It pulls like a freight train on the highway and sounds really good. The check engine light was on for the misfire but it never ran rough on me but he said it does do it at random. Steering/suspension felt tight and trans felt good. I talked him down to $3k so I think I am going to pull the trigger.