astro/safari van

[ihatemybike]

According to www.Fuelly.com Grumpy has a running avg of 17.8 mpg and an overall avg of 17.5 mpg. But this includes a lot of driving around with overdrive inoperable due to a bad shift solenoid, not to mention the van has had a cylinder 2 misfire the whole time I've had it. Best Grumpy's ever done was 21.1 mpg.
http://www.fuelly.com/driver/ihatemybike

 

[Ozarker]

I'd take 17/18 in town and 20 on the road, beats my F-150!

I just got back from looking at the 04. Had a little oil at the front bottom of the engine (front bearing?) and the tie rod ends were graesy/oil (actially along the whole rod).
I drove it slow and had a rotating noise as if sand paper was on one side of a brak shoe but they are discs, just sounded like, maybe a bearing. Salesman said he thought it was a tire and that they would fix that.

I looked under the radiator and no dripsand very little surface rust appeared, nothing noticable. The rear axel looked solid and no leaks. The front was kinda oily aroung the front boots, not bad. The underneath looked clean overall.

I drove it and steering was tight and responsive, no shimmy and a slight pull to the left (probably the crown of the road I was on). No other nosies other than that right rear rotation noise. Shifted fine as it should. Locked steering to each side and no nosies, clunks or pops. Body had some small scratches, could probably bufff out. Bumper in rear had a small ding and the sliding door looked like it was shot with a BB gun, a small ding. Carpet, seats, glass and all the good were fine. Dash was nice. Full size spare was underneath. Engine cover lower compartment looked like a good spot for the HAM rig.
Rear and sliding doors worked OK. Roof rack was good. Rear air worked fine and front has a good blower on it....wow, cooled down quick. Tires almost new.

All in all, a nice looking ride from any bus stop bench!

And man, these things have the biggest mufflers/Cat converters(?) for a six banger I have ever seen, bigger than my F-150! Lots of room underneath for other stuff, like an air tank/compressor.

I'm concerned about the oil down there.....what about those front seals? Any other ideas? Whadayathink guys? Never spent that much on any vehicle with that kind of miles either....

 

[ihatemybike]

Go back and trace that oil leak best you can. I've never had a leak at the front or rear seals, but the oil cooler lines (from oil filter area to radiator along drivers side of engine) are known to develop leaks where the crimp the hard lines to the soft lines. I could see that getting oil on other stuff too.

 

[Ozarker]

Thanks! do you mean at the connections? I couldn't really tell in the lot crawling under it. I guess they wouldn't mind me cleaning it....it was also on the steering and boots, not bad like a drip, but just not clean either. If that's where it is, is that an easy fix? Good to hear about seals being reliable, thanks again.

I also noticed what I thought were two tubes below the radiator, as if they were return lines for a heater, not sure what they were, but they were low in front behind the bumper....seems like a bad spot and a good reason for armor....

 

[ihatemybike]

The oil cooler lines are comprised of hard lines at both ends with soft lines in the middle. Where they transition between the two types they used crimps to hold them together. With time they start leaking at these crimps. Two ways to fix. Replace the lines or carefully remove the crimps and replace with pipe clamps.

Those two tubes are the power steering cooler, never had a problem with that.

 

[Ozarker]

Great, while I'm not a wrencher, I'm sure I can take care of that....if that's what it is.

That leads me to another question about weak links. All vehicles have something that are a weak link, poor connections, bad sensors or something that was poorly designed.
I have read about the tie rods and weak rear springs on Astros, what else can be replaced with beefier better quality parts. Hopefully this can be addressed in a short list, but what should be done to make an 04 Astro bullet proof for long haul trips?

Additional oil cooler, Tranny cooler, larger radiator/fans, ignition, bigger/better shocks?

If I do this, I'm gonna use it! My biggest fear is my vehicle breaking down with a $2,000 repair 1500 miles from home and taking a taxi to an airport. While I don't fear the unknown, there is no reason to be unprepared or not knowing the risks. If it had 40K miles and a warranty, I'd feel better, but seems with 107K, things will break but there should be plenty of miles left in this one. I bought my 99 F-150 new, I'd plan keeping the next one just as long....

 

[RocKrawler]

All vehicles do have weak links, but some are a nuisance and others are catastrophic in nature. From the research I have done it seems the catastrophic fail on the Astro is the fuel pump. other issues are normal to any vehicle; alternators, water pumps, etc that can happen to any truck at any time. Its more likely that maintenance on a van will be neglected more due to the more difficult servicing of the components - on a pickup or SUV its likely tune ups were done more regularly because do it your self people can access things easier than a van, and people that have to bring things in for service would pay more for labor on difficult to access items, so they might put things off longer and potentially create more issues down the road. I plan on pulling my carpet and installing an access door above the fuel pump in my van for just such an issue. otherwise the sum of its parts is a pretty reliable package or I wouldnt have considered the platform for my needs. My E350 had known issues as well, particularly the CPS, which I replaced just before my cross country move. It performed flawlessly for the 2600 mile trip as expected, towing my daughters fully loaded Ranger the whole way. If you choose a known reliable vehicle it will likely live up to its reputation, and while there are exceptions to every breed, the Astro is a simple and dependable beast.

 

[labbe66]

I have about 10K miles on my Astro and it has been pretty reliable. It now has 140K. As far as mechanical failures I think these are pretty robust vehicles. I would saw the tranny is less reliable than the rest of the mechanicals but most of my experience with this transmission (GM 4L60E) has been in half ton work trucks.

I will say that I have had to do a fair amount of work on interior details. Door handles, radio, slider door rollers, weather stripping, etc. This is an area that I am a little disapointed in the build quality. My other car is a 97 4-runner with 260K that I have never had to replace a switch on so my expectations are high. The interior is very plasticy as well and tends to squeek a lot which can get annoying on long trips.

Aside from that I thing they are good quality vehicles that should do well on road trips.

Oh, on the gas milage, I get around 15-16 mpg. I live in a very hilly area and gain 3000' on my commute home so my number suffer. I also have a 2" lift and aggressive 31" tires which don't help.

I am headed to Baja next week so I will try to pay attention and get some long distance mileage numbers.

 

[ihatemybike]

I have read about the tie rods and weak rear springs on Astros, what else can be replaced with beefier better quality parts.

I've never had a problem with the tie rods or rear springs. These vans can go through idler arms. Only replace with Moog and keep them lubed. The rear springs in the first gen vans (95 and older) were made of fiberglass and could delaminate with age. Not a problem if you stick with newer vans.

Guys that tow on a regular basis swear by aux trans coolers. I've put them on my last three, just because. Also, I shift kit to firm up the shifts will make the clutch plates last longer and make the trans run cooler. (A shift kit and a Corvette servo will make it very easy to break the tires loose on pavement when the trans shifts gears. Not recommended, but sometimes fun.)

From the research I have done it seems the catastrophic fail on the Astro is the fuel pump.
I plan on pulling my carpet and installing an access door above the fuel pump in my van for just such an issue.

Fuel pumps aren't catastrophic.

Seriously, don't cut into your van for a fuel pump. They aren't that hard to replace by dropping the tank. When replaced with a quality ACDelco/Delphi pump and replacing the fuel filter at least every 20k, most people will only ever have to replace the pump once. I personally never had to drop a tank twice and since I learned to lower/raise it with ratchet straps I've negated the hardest part of the job.

 

[Ozarker]

Cut an access hole? LOL. The first car I bought was a 57 VW bug. The starter went out. At 17, I got under there and I was going to fix it. I got the lower bolt out and wrenched on the top bolt, but it kept turning, so I decided that I had striped the bolt. I got a chesel and hammer, got in the back and cut a hole behind the back seat in the deck well under the rear window. After careful cutting with a chesel I pealed the metal up and discovered that the upper bolt went through the housing and had a nut on it!

Live and learn. I won't be doing that agian! I'm not opposed to modifications but if I only change that pump once, I might go the hard way. Just in case, I'm not sure having a hole in the floor above the gas tank would be a good idea.....Poof! LOL

But point taken, it's a shortcut!

As far a MPG goes, I'm learning that it's an opportunity cost with any vehicle preped for off roading and expedition travel. The MPG goes down as the size goes up. So, it becomes which vehicle provides the most room for the given MPG. The Astro gets about 2 or 3 mpg better than my F-150. The Ford is bigger, more comfortable in the drivers seat, carries and towes more, but the interior room is much grater in a van. If I put a camper on the back of the F-150, I know I'd be in single digits for MPG. I would think the Astro will get in and out of tighter spots than an Ext. F150. And after all, I'll be taking the Transalp, that will save plenty of gas.

In town, the drivers license testing folks have pylons set out for the parallel parking test. The tester had some kid testing park ahead of the pylons for some reason. So I pulled up from behind them in the truck and swished that truck in the space, parallel parking in two moves! Pulled back, signaled and took off. Looked in the review mirror and saw a big grin on the Officer's face as I pulled off. (I thought that would give the kid confidence since he was in a honda!) Moral, I can whip that truck in almost anyplace after 12 years of driving it, but the Astro is alot easier, even at Wal Mart!

I'm thinking, after reading a thread on putting a swivel seat on the P. side, tha maybe some smaller buckets up front would be better, I'm an old sports car guy. Some Miata seats might do the trick. As I recall, my safari had little lumbar support and a higher seating position really worked on the legs due to the restriced foot area.....you guys probably don't notice that! I could ask my doctor about some foot pumps used to circulate the blood in hospital patients while bed ridden....LOL!

I'm glad to hear that Astros are so reliable, but surely there are some little tricks to make them better.

And Thanks guys!