94 6.5L Blazer, what's it worth?

First post since 2013. How have you been getting along without me?

In 2014 I came across a deal on a 94 Blazer 4x4 not running. It has been sitting in my yard untouched ever since. Rats chewed up some wiring and vacuum lines. It is missing some things but I'm not sure what. I have never tried to turn it over with the starter, so I have no idea how healthy it is. It can't be too healthy or it would not have been parked. I'm debating whether to sell it as is or spend possibly months and big $ working on it. It is a rare combination - Wiki says only 4/10s of 1 percent were ordered with the diesel. I have seen them go for over $20k on ebay, or at least they did 3-4 years ago.

So what to do? This weekend I'm going to pull the oil plug and hope there's no water or chunks. Then hook up a battery and spin it. If it has compression then I keep going. I'm just worried about getting all the solenoids and relays and crap hooked back up right. My question is what do you guys think it's worth. 216k miles, paint is typical mid-90s flaking-off white, interior is complete but dry rotting. First year of the electronic Stanadyne injection, OBD1. With this many miles, it is past due for an injection pump and injectors, at the least.

Value:
As is
Barely running and driving
Running and driving well, still needing paint/interior

Scott

10 years is a lifetime for a vehicle that doesn't move. Actually, a death-time. Don't get me wrong. I LOVE the older trucks, but without constant attention to details and proper care and storage, they deteriorate very quickly, and often permanently. As much as I would like to restore my 1985, it isn't going to happen. That's a tough one for me to take. 600K+ miles, it's lived a long and productive life, but it isn't coming back. I owned it since new, so here it sits.

As-is or barely running, donate it and take the tax write-off. Donate to a kids hospital or veterans, if you do, please.

It won't be running and driving well, before you spend more than it's worth. I'm not sure I would even try, as-is. If you see evidence of rats/rodents, it's done. Short of a complete wire harness and every piece of soft material they can reach, and what you can't see, you're just as likely to set it on fire when you put power to it. Been there. Done that. In my driveway, 20' from my house. They will have been in the HVAC ducts, and if there is ANY evidence they've been in the cabin, that will double your efforts and expenses. Most parts you will need you will get from someone else's wreck that's been sitting for who knows how long, if you find them, at all.

Like any similar resto job, the end product will cost far more than what it will be worth. If you want a similar Blazer, spend whatever you might have on a restore job on a working vehicle w/o all the baggage. You'll be money ahead, and minus the headaches. If there's someone else, whose doing something similar (paying for a vehicle that will be worth 1/3 the investment), and needs your parts, get what you can out of it, and be happy as it's hauled away.

....Or, entertain the romance of a resto, and throw in your wallet, as well as a chunk of your retirement savings.

If the body is rust free then everything else can be replaced reasonably...
If you do it slowly
If you are in a rush then the costs can spiral to very expensive quickly.
Up here parking a rig for 10 years does nothing to them,unless you get some rodent damage.
Being in Arizona you have a dry climate as well, so i would not write it off.
Wiring and vacuum hoses are cheap items to replace if you do it yourself.Lots of information as to where the hoses go and wiring is easy with a solder gun and heat shrink to do it properly.
My brother has a 86 Chev 1/2 ton pickup he bought new. 400K KMS + on it . It sat for over 10 years,he rolled his truck and got a broken neck out of the deal.He needed a st of wheels so i put a good battery in his truck checked the fluids and hit the key. After a bit of cranking it fired on the old gas and never looked back. Aired up the tires and had to change one which would not hold air. He drove it for a bout a year and half before he bought another truck and parked the 86 again.
I would not give up on a truck i bought new unless there were rust holes through it

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Originally Posted by scottm

First post since 2013. How have you been getting along without me?

In 2014 I came across a deal on a 94 Blazer 4x4 not running. It has been sitting in my yard untouched ever since. Rats chewed up some wiring and vacuum lines. It is missing some things but I'm not sure what. I have never tried to turn it over with the starter, so I have no idea how healthy it is. It can't be too healthy or it would not have been parked. I'm debating whether to sell it as is or spend possibly months and big $ working on it. It is a rare combination - Wiki says only 4/10s of 1 percent were ordered with the diesel. I have seen them go for over $20k on ebay, or at least they did 3-4 years ago.

So what to do? This weekend I'm going to pull the oil plug and hope there's no water or chunks. Then hook up a battery and spin it. If it has compression then I keep going. I'm just worried about getting all the solenoids and relays and crap hooked back up right. My question is what do you guys think it's worth. 216k miles, paint is typical mid-90s flaking-off white, interior is complete but dry rotting. First year of the electronic Stanadyne injection, OBD1. With this many miles, it is past due for an injection pump and injectors, at the least.

Value:
As is
Barely running and driving
Running and driving well, still needing paint/interior

Scott

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As is - $500 to $1500
Barely running and driving - $1500 to $2500
Running and driving well, still needing paint/interior - $4500 to $6500

As a 2 door owner myself, I've watched the market as well. It's coming back down fast. For a while, I couldn't find ANY 2 doors for sale (gas or diesel) for a reasonable price in my area. Now I see a bunch of 2 doors for sale, ranging in price from $1500 to $15,000. They key to the higher priced models is flawless paint and interiors. Even the hard to find diesels don't fetch much more unless the body and interior are immaculate.

Sorry, but I don't think you can make money on this deal. If you want to fix it up for the heck of it, then by all means go for it. You will not be able to fix it up and make a profit... of that I'm sure.

Casey

My daughter's 6.5TD Blazer sat in the garage for more than 11 years before we finished the engine rebuild, made other repairs, then made it drive-able. No rodents, no sun/weather and no road de-icer made the vehicle a rust-free time capsule. What they're worth depends on many factors. If stock, pristine and not modified, it'll be worth a lot, but most nowadays are not pristine. The thread for our 1994 Blazer has info about values.
https://www.thedieselpageforums.com/...Blazer-Project

Thanks everyone. The rats didn't get into the interior and they didn't totally destroy the wiring. Just some wires that were out of split-loom and the small plastic vacuum tubing. There is a bracket with 3 solenoids on top of the manifold in the 5-7 cyl area that are chewed up a bit. I think my plan now is to verify it will crank and generate compression, then clean up the engine bay and interior. I live in Scottsdale. The Barret jackson crowd shows up around new years, and about then ads on craigslist and whatnot for collectible cars explodes. I'll put ads on CL and marketplace after Christmas and see what happens.

Since I just posted about my 95 Suburban 2500 6.5 and my transmission problems/project, I find myself in a position in which there is the potential for selling-off in frustration at some point. So, I've been wondering the same thing as you; what's it worth? In my case, the reason why I still have it is, it's still one of the most enjoyable vehicles to be on the road with that I've ever driven. It's rust-free, starts and runs instantly, after being stored for months, is quiet, smooth and tracks beautifully, solo, or towing. And, that diesel torque! It's worlds ahead of our son's 07 gasser Burb, and that car is a joy to drive, tooIf I had it to do over, I'd take John Kennedy's advice and carry on with the electronic pump. Just too many issues with transmission control.
So, I'm another guy with that same question; what's it worth, considering that a prospective buyer will understand that the car is great, except that it'll have a tranny problem to sort out. BTW, it also has the gray primer showing in places, has the inevitable cracked leather on the driver's seat, has a dent in the left-rear quarter panel, from an encounter with a stump, while deer hunting up in Oregon, some 18 years ago. And, there are one-off DYI wiring and relay jobs on lift pump, glow plugs, etc, etc.

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Originally Posted by DickWells

Since I just posted about my 95 Suburban 2500 6.5 and my transmission problems/project, I find myself in a position in which there is the potential for selling-off in frustration at some point. So, I've been wondering the same thing as you; what's it worth? In my case, the reason why I still have it is, it's still one of the most enjoyable vehicles to be on the road with that I've ever driven. It's rust-free, starts and runs instantly, after being stored for months, is quiet, smooth and tracks beautifully, solo, or towing. And, that diesel torque! It's worlds ahead of our son's 07 gasser Burb, and that car is a joy to drive, tooIf I had it to do over, I'd take John Kennedy's advice and carry on with the electronic pump. Just too many issues with transmission control.
So, I'm another guy with that same question; what's it worth, considering that a prospective buyer will understand that the car is great, except that it'll have a tranny problem to sort out. BTW, it also has the gray primer showing in places, has the inevitable cracked leather on the driver's seat, has a dent in the left-rear quarter panel, from an encounter with a stump, while deer hunting up in Oregon, some 18 years ago. And, there are one-off DYI wiring and relay jobs on lift pump, glow plugs, etc, etc.

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Post some pics... ;) VT is a long way from MT, but you never know...

Hi, John. I'm sorry that I posted on SCOTTM's thread, actually. Wasn't thinking about edging in there. Hope he will forgive me. If you want to move my comments, please feel free.
I haven't been on here very much, so it's not surprising that you apparently forgot that we're in Taylor, AZ, since Aug 2021. And, I'm not really prepared to give up on the old Suburban, yet. I'm gonna get the tranny back in, soon, I hope, and the new HGM shift controller was in the mail, today, so that'll get thoroughly tested, before I make any decisions about moving away from the Burb. If the trans functions well and the controller turns out to be reliable, I'll be thrilled and plan on running the thing for as long as I'm driving. Gonna be 85 in ~5 weeks! I'm still able to swing a 10 lb sledge and a pick, out there on Dry Gulch hill, so that I can clear the rocks with the Miata, and that's keeping me pretty fit for my age.

Whoops!!! I just noticed! I meant, Hi, Jim, on my last post. Sorry.

Hey don't worry about posting on my thread, the more the merrier. So far all I have done is pull the drain plug and let out a quart of liquid tar. No water and no chunks. I'm going to turn it by hand first in case it might have rusted in valves. Here's a few pics.

Someone had unplugged the pmd and loosened the clamps on the turbo boot. So I assume it quit running for the usual injector pump related issues, rather than a catastrophic engine failure. 186k and no water in the oil. How bad could it be? I figure potentially really bad. You know the heads are junk, turbo is shot and the crank is already past it's design life. BMI (Bostic) has properly reman'd production engines for $5,990 or optimizers for $7,990, ouch. I would guess this 94 block is capable of a worthy rebuild, along with a scat crank, ATI damper and GEP heads from Bostic, would still easily add up to $5k.

It is probably not bad...
get a new or know good PDM and an extension harness
change the oil if you can turn it over
get some fresh diesel in the system
check the glow plugs, get them operational.While you have them out you could turn it over till you have fuel misting out of the glow plug holes
Find the block heater, plug it in and after an hour try to start it

Some good news today. I took out the glow plugs and spun it with the starter. It spins free and even developed oil pressure! I pulled the fuel filter and it's full of what looks and smells like diesel fuel. Do I dare try putting the new pdm on and trying to start it?

I put the glow plugs back in and hooked up a new pmd. It cranked over super slow. I put two batteries in it but I'm not sure of their health. I took the starter out, and there is no way any Chevy should be that difficult. I was afraid a new starter might be $500, but it looks like they are around $110 on ebay.

You need two good known battery's
If one is bad you will get a slow crank
They should be matched and tested to make sure they are good health or you are wasting your time.

IIRC 6.5 requires 100 rpm cranking for the computer to tell the injection system its happy and let it have fuel. It can sound like its cranking fast enough but two GOOD batteries are required. I had mine refuse to start once and tow truck came and jumped it but still wouldn't start. Put two new batteries in it and fired right off.

I have had similar issues with batteries and diesels...
Had a new set of batteries in my tow truck, one went bad after about 3 months and it would not start even with a jump.
Had me scratching my head for a bit till i load tested them and found the bad battery, changed it with a tested good battery and it fired right up.
The bad battery will drag the good one down to it's level and you will be fighting to try and start your rig.

Good news! The starter was bad, a brush bracket had broken off. I'm not sure but it might be the original. So I put in a new lifetime autozone starter and bought a new Optima red top. The second battery is known good, which is why I suspected the starter all along. Spent some time soldering new terminals on the batt cables to give it every advantage. It cranked over fast and strong with the bump switch.

It has a new Pmd plugged in. I didn't test if the glow plugs were working, but it was 75F out. So I hit the key. It almost started! There is one cylinder that was popping every time, and a second one would pop occasionally. I put the batts on the charger to top them off over night. Tomorrow I will crack the injector fittings and test the glow circuit. Any other ideas?

Personally i would pull as many glow plugs as possiable
Verify that they are working and that the glow plug system is working
I wouldn't bother loosening injector lines. With glow plugs removed crank the engine till you see fuel misting out of the glow plug holes, crank 30 seconds let the starter cool a minuet and repete
reinstall the glow plugs and fire it up

Before you trash the old starter take it to a rebuilder or do it yourself. Put it on the shelf. Every Lifetime starter or alternator Ive ever had failed. When you get tired of replacing them drag out your old starter and put it in.

I had the glow plugs out and spun it last weekend. Today I opened the filter housing valve and ran the pump. And I opened the bowl drain valve and ran it a couple times, made a big puddle on the ground. Is there a purge valve to open on the injection pump?


The glow plugs are working. I plugged in the block heater and warmed it up. I unscrewed 6 of the 8 injector lines, as I couldn't get to the ones under the turbo. I cranked it and had fuel flowing at each one. Hit the key and it ran for 3 seconds! But then it died and wouldn't start again. Cranking just leads to the occasional cylinder firing but no starting, same as yesterday.


Running out of ideas here. Could the fuel be bad? It still smells like diesel. Maybe I need to check compression?

The fuel is good, if it doesn't smell like something else. #2 can be contaminated, but does't spoil, like gasoline. I've used 50+ year old fuel that sat in tractors in fields with no issues. As long as it's clean, it's good. Actually, any fuel you find that's been around a few decades is probably much better than the crap they're pumping these days. I wouldn't use it in the later models with all the smog crap, but I'd burn it through any of mine.

It's still airlocked. Loosening the injector line nuts only pushes fuel, and won't pop the injectors. Sometimes it works, but not often in the extreme. Take the above advice. Remove the glow plugs you can, and spin the engine until you get fuel mist from most or all of the holes. The IP is self-purging, and has no manual method. An airlock condition is the cushion of air in the lines, which prevents high pressure from popping the injectors. You can wear out a starter and some batteries just cranking away with no resistance. It will eventually work, but you may cause more damage than help. The volume of fuel at each injection event is very small. High pressure makes the air bubbles small enough to just pass through the system.

I want to check compression before putting much more into it. Does anyone make a fitting that goes in the glow plug hole? And what will happen if I squirt a little motor oil in the gp holes to lube up the rings? Will it run on that oil?

To do a compression test you need to remove all glowplus
And you need a diesel specific compression tester which probably will have the proper fitting.
Personally i would get it running first seeing it sat so long.
To really get an idea on the health of the engine it should be a running engine.
Bring it up to operating temp, test the cylinders dry then add the oil and retest.
With the glow plugs out it will not run, with them in it`s a good chance it could run on the oil as that is what a diesel is designed to run on.

Harbor Freight has a Diesel compression test kit for not much $$. It should have the GP hole adapter. Check the description for compatible engines. I think they had more than one option, last I looked.

To be accurate and consistent, a compression test must be done on a warm/hot engine, with all the GP's removed. Charge the batteries to full, if running didn't do it. Disconnect the ESS (Engine Stop Solenoid) on top of the IP during the test (stops fuel flow). Crank exactly 6 puffs (compression cycles) and record the value. DO NOT "wet" test a Diesel engine. When you put it back together and start it, it will burn off all the oil very quickly, and can cause overspeed. There is no requirement or published specified result of a wet test.

I ordered a diesel compression tester kit from ebay, should be here soon. I just got this book from the fine folks at the diesel page. Looks great and I'm going to read every word:

The 6.2L/6.5L Diesel Troubleshooting & Repair Guide

What do you guys think of the Leroy Diesel cylinder heads? They are half as much as the BMI heads.

Leroy Diesel

Not arriving here on a boat will cost you double.

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Originally Posted by scottm

What do you guys think of the Leroy Diesel cylinder heads? They are half as much as the BMI heads.

Leroy Diesel

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I've heard generally good things about the Promaxx heads. I almost pulled the trigger and used them on my last engine build, but finally found a pair of good OEM GM heads.

The Promaxx heads are imported, but seem to be of good quality. The GEP heads are made in the USA, but double the cost.

Casey

I know I will regret it, like every baby boomer who sold a 69 Camaro for $2k, but it's sold. Got $5,000 for it and I kept the new red top batteries. Someone in Louisiana bought it and had it trucked back there. It will make someone a great resto project.

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Originally Posted by scottm

I know I will regret it, like every baby boomer who sold a 69 Camaro for $2k...

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Many times over the years I've asked myself almost the same question, but then, I ask myself, "how much would it have me cost to keep that ratty old '58 Corvette for 55 years?" Inevitably, the answer is "at least as much as it would cost to buy a better one today."

It's moot, though, because the car was stolen in 1968.

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Originally Posted by JohnC

Many times over the years I've asked myself almost the same question, but then, I ask myself, "how much would it have me cost to keep that ratty old '58 Corvette for 55 years?" Inevitably, the answer is "at least as much as it would cost to buy a better one today."

It's moot, though, because the car was stolen in 1968.

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I'm hearing a lot of stupid talk about upcoming legislation from CA and other places that includes a "cost per mile" vehicle tax, linked through either the vehicle comms or your smart phone. Makes me think about a nicely restored/modified/custom car/truck that didn't originally come from the factory with comms, and/or use a faraday pouch for my phone (or ditch the phone altogether). That '58 Vette is looking good again...;) Gummit doesn't need any more money for mouse studies... or dei propaganda in Nepal.

Haha!

Our state legislator is toying with the idea of getting rid of safety inspections...

Funny story. Last year I paid a shop $180 to fail to diagnose a strange clunk in the front end of my little Mercedes SUV. A month later I paid the same shop $80 for state inspection and they found it...