# Blew up my suburban today towing the Outback!



## chipb43 (Mar 22, 2004)

We were returning from our weekend camping trip today when our 1997 suburban died. I was pulling a slight incline on the interstate when I noticed a decrease in power. It was feeling rough. I went about another half mile because I was in the left lane and could not get over to get off the road. Before I could do so, I completely loss power and coasted to a stop. I called our RV dealer for someone they knew who could tow both our suburban and the Outback. They showed up about an hour later. I had already had the wife and kids picked up by my brother. It only cost me $75 to get towed 20 miles. That was the good news. I had him take the suburban to the Goodyear shop where we usually get our vehicles worked on. They called about an hour ago to tell me that the engine appears to be locked up or seized as he put it. I am not much of a mechanic but I know that this is not going to be good. He also said that the oil level was a quart overfilled. I am not sure why he told me this unless he thought this was a possible cause. The interesting part to this is that they changed the oil 5 days ago! I have no idea what to do. Does anyone know if overfilling by a quart could have possibly caused this problem? Am I looking at engine replacement? The guy at Goodyear said that he would have another mechanic that would look at it tomorrow. Thanks for any advice.


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## Y-Guy (Jan 30, 2004)

Yikes! I'm not sure about the overfill, thought I imagine that could cause a problem. Keep your receipts and get a signed statement from the shop about the problem, you might get the place that did the oil change if they were the cause. Last time I was around a vehicle with a frozen engine it had to be rebuilt.







Sorry to hear about the problems you ran into, those are never fun. Hope all works out for you though and keep us appraised as to what you find out.


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## fixjet (Jan 19, 2004)

It's hard to believe one quart overfill is not going to kill your engine to a point where is won't run. I would be suspect thought of why it was overserviced. If that simple task was messed up, what else could they have overlooked or messed up also. How many on the engine?


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## kjp1969 (Apr 25, 2004)

Sorry to hear the news- that's always a bad way to end a vacation.

The overfilling might be related to a blown head gasket, if that's what happened. When the head gasket lets go, coolant sometimes fills the crankcase and floats the oil level up (oil is heavier than water, remember) and makes it look like the oil level is higher than it is. Regardless, overfilling the oil would not cause your engine to blow. Not that this will make you feel any better. . . If you're curious, look to the level of the coolant. If it's low, well there you go.

Before you go pricing rebuilds or new trucks, look into used engines- often you can get a warranteed used motor for $1000 or less. It usually the cheapest way to get your truck driveable again.

Good luck, and let us know what happens! (you'll always get a sympathetic ear on this forum)

Kevin P.


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## NDJollyMon (Aug 22, 2003)

Yea...simpathetic ears here. Hopefully it will all work out for you.

And, heck, if you want to join me in the new CHEVY SUX CLUB, you can be member #2!


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## jgerni (Nov 10, 2003)

Hi chipb43

Sorry to hear about your misfortune. This is one reason why I do my own maintenance but I can imagine that one quart over would cause your engine to lockup. The Chevy 5.7L 350 is pretty bullet proof from what I understand and the tranny most of the time goes before the engine. Usually, a little to much oil might cause damage to your catalytic converter not the engine. I would consider a remanufactured engine. How many miles did you have on it?

Knock on wood I have had very few issues with our Suburban and it has 88K on it.

By the way I live close by in the Lynchburg area.

Good luck!


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## GlenninTexas (Aug 11, 2004)

Could possibly be caused by the oil filter blowing out. The extra oils that should be in the filter would cause the oil level to rise, but the real damage would be from the filter being sucked up into the engine. Dodge has a tech bulletin on using oil filters that don't meet specifications (read anything not Mopar).

By the way if it was a head gasket failutre and coolant got into the oil it would be easy to recognize as it would look like milk mixed in with yuor oil.


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## chipb43 (Mar 22, 2004)

The Suburban has just over 100k miles. I called Goodyear this am to find out if the other mechanic had looked at it yet. They hadn't and I left my cell phone number. I anticipate bad news later today. I am assuming they are smart enough to look at some of the things you guys have mentioned. This is my wifes day to day vehicle and she takes it down there for routine maintenance and really trusts these guys, so we will see. We were looking at trading this vehicle in this summer for something newer and stronger, I guess we waited too long.

Thanks for all the info,

Chip


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## denali_3 (Mar 18, 2004)

My sister in law owns a 97 Tahoe with 135,000 miles on it when something like this happened. She had used the same type of tire/vehicle maintenance center for years also. A friend of hers recommended having the oil tested to make sure no one dumped anything in her engine. Turns out a disgruntled former employee placed the pickup tubes for the overhead oil pumps in a 55 gallon drum of recycled oil. Not saying this is what happened in your case, just passing on another story.


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## chipb43 (Mar 22, 2004)

The Goodyear shop called today and said that they are not sure exactly what is broken. They can't get the crankshaft to turn at all. They want to replace the engine $4300, including labor. This is a new engine. I still owe a bunch of money on this vehicle and it was not worth the payoff before it blew up. Even with a new engine I don't think I would keep it. I just couldn't trust it to pull the Outback any more. My plan is to talk to a shop about rebuilding what I have left or putting in a remanufactured engine so that I can get it running so that I can trade it in. This is the best plan I have, any suggestions?

Oh, and since I am going to have to get another vehicle, I have already checked out the Avalanche. I am really liking this vehicle. I plan on reading through some other posts to see who else has one and pulls a 21RS. Of course going from 2 rows to 1 for back seat passengers will be tough to sell the wife on. She likes the room of a large suv.


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## Y-Guy (Jan 30, 2004)

Chip I'm sorry to hear about the Burb, hopefully you won't come out to far on it in the end. I have a Av, will be up for sale soon. Over all I like it, and with your size camper its probably an ideal setup. With my 28' though the soft rear end has been a bit much for it. I towed a 23' with it and it was a great setup, I wouldn't hesitate to recommend it with the right size camper.


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## hatcityhosehauler (Feb 13, 2004)

> Even with a new engine I don't think I would keep it. I just couldn't trust it to pull the Outback any more.


If you have a new or reman engine, I don't know what your worries would be. Is there anyway to get another opinion as to the cause of the engine failure, other then the shop that serviced it a few weeks ago? I don't think I could trust getting an impartial opinion from them. Especially if they told you initially it was because there was too much oil in the crankcase. If they were the last ones to put oil in, I definately wouldn't want them putting an engine in.

As for the Avalanche, I too have one, and it is nice... I share Y-Guys feeling of the soft rear, but it you have a 1500 'burb now, you are already dealing with that. The Av is basically a suburban with a pickup box, and a lot of plastic hanging off it. The 5.3 is not a bad engine, but I find it lacking in the power department sometimes while towing, especially in mountainous terrain. I don't think your 21RS will present a problem.

To get the big block 8.1 L engine, you have to get the 2500 series Av, which also gives you leaf springs in the rear, LT tires, and a factory tranny cooler and temp gauge. It also gives you 8-10 mpg around town, and I think 12 on the highway....none of that towing.

Either way, good luck with the engine repairs, and hope you get back on the Outback trail ASAP.

Tim


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## kjp1969 (Apr 25, 2004)

> They can't get the crankshaft to turn at all.


Either rings or bearings, either way, you're looking at a new or machined block and crank. It sounds oil or heat related, either way you may not want to rebuild that block without a thorough going-over by a good machine shop.



> My plan is to talk to a shop about rebuilding what I have left or putting in a remanufactured engine so that I can get it running so that I can trade it in. This is the best plan I have, any suggestions?


Uh, yeah: warranteed used motor from a wrecked truck. People do this all the time. You should be on the road again for less than $2000, labor included. Sure it's a "used" motor, but your truck is used too. It's a perfect match!

Kevin P.


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## chipb43 (Mar 22, 2004)

I just informed Goodyear that I was getting the sub towed over to another shop for them to look at. I spoke to the guy this morning and found out he is a guy I used to go to school with. He comes highly recommended. I am glad I decided to do this. At the Goodyear shop this morning, I was talking to the manager and he made the comment that he didn't know that it died while I was pulling a camper!







Sheesh! Great communication around there. Anyway, he commented that since it happened that way that maybe the tranny locked up.


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## JimWilson (Feb 24, 2004)

If the tranny had "locked up" your truck would have stopped cold, it wouldn't have slowly lost power and died. And I *very* seriously doubt an extra quart of oil would have seized an engine. Raised oil pressure perhaps, but not caused it to seize.


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## fixjet (Jan 19, 2004)

Sounds like a second opinion is a great Idea. They should know by now what happened to the engine. A brand new GM Crate engine for that truck is $1800 so keep that in mind. That $4000 plus price sounds high to me. With a new or rebuilt engine you should be fine. I have no problems with mine and I'm a little heavier than you "21". It would be nice to have more power, but doesn't everyone say that. I settle for reduced power when towing verses the MPG of a big block when not towing. It's my trade off, but I live with it. I can't justify driving around town with a 7.4 or a 8.1 while taking the kids to school or going out for milk. Maybe I need two trucks!!


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## chipb43 (Mar 22, 2004)

Well, I need a new engine. Garage seems to think it is the main bearing and it is locked up pretty tight. Same engine quoted as goodyear, new GM Goodwrench 350. They will do it for around $3000 installed which is a lot less than Goodyear. They said they could locate a used engine but that will probably run me around $2000 installed. I feel I should go with the new engine and at least I have a warranty.


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## rennerbee (Jul 25, 2004)

Sorry to hear about the engine. Did they ever determine what the cause was?


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## missouricamper (Jun 28, 2004)

I know it isn't much consolation, but even $3000 isn't a lot compared to new truck payments (5 years?, taxes, insurance, etc). Besides, if you buy a big heavy duty truck, you'll want a bigger camper.... trust me, we know this to be the truth!

That new engine may be your cheaper than you think!


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## chipb43 (Mar 22, 2004)

Called mechanic yesterday and there was someone coming by to look at the Suburban to see if they might be interested in buying it as is. I put a pretty hefty price on it even though it needs the engine, mainly for the fact that I still owe too much on it. The plan is to start putting in the new engine if this person is not interested.


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## chipb43 (Mar 22, 2004)

I got the Suburban back a couple of days ago. Total costs $3500. New Goodwrench Long Block 350 installed. New water pump, hoses, plugs...She seems to be running pretty good except for the fact that I have an oil leak. 2 puddles since I got it back. Dropped it off this morning to have them look at it. Planning some fall camping trips already.


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## kjp1969 (Apr 25, 2004)

Did they ever find out what happened?

Kevin P.


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