Lots of questions about my broken 99 Tahoe. If someone is PATIENT and willing to answer and explain things to me I would be very thankful ------ Season Michele' Conroe, Texas

DavidH25 is exceptional, will explain everything. tenspeed is on top of the game Tom is always right, I'm here to help where I can...so go ahead, you've a very capable and knowledgeable bunch of guys listenin'

OK here goes ....Ok I got this truck and I LOVE it. With that said it has issues and I have no idea where to begin, but I'm gonna try. I bought it KNOWING it needed the oil pump replaced and the guy had already bought it so the new one came with the truck just not on it. My ex husband had a buddy come put it on and it does not seem to have changed anything. HERE'S WHAT IT DOES: It has this rattle sound and when I get to a red light the oil pressure drops to zero and the truck will die if I don't keep my foot on the accelerator and the other foot on the brake. Um ok I guess we'll start here ........

So Michele', you have around 180,000 miles on your Tahoe?

Season is my first name :) and it has 159some odd miles

maybe one of the engine gurus can pick up the ball here, not quite certain what drives the oil pump, is it a spur gear a twisty helical gear, perhaps this is where the problem lies with such high mileage...how do you test for something like that?

Since the new pump didn't do anything, maybe it wasn't bad. It could be a slow engine speed combined with worn rod bushings that are causing the flickering oil light.-- I don't know what the rattle could be. You can take the serpentine belt off for a short time to see if it's internal. -- The truck dieing at a stop could be caused by a vacuum leak from a cracked hose. An older Texas truck is going to have some cracked hoses.

Thanks tenspeed I have read about the vacuum thing on a few other questions so I guess I just need to find someone as nice and knowledgeable as you that lives close enough to Conroe to come check it out for me (someone that's not a total perv or creeper). I REALLY want to LEARN how to work on my truck. OK well, thanks again!! :)

Hey tenspeed, how about your Navy buddies?, the ones that you served with, bet you've got a friend in Texas, I do but they always go to a mechanic~

My Navy buddies? They're all total pervs and creepers. They could teach classes on the subject.

I could have it towed to a mechanic, but that isn't gonna teach me anything lol I want to LEARN how to work on my truck :) Oh, and thanks for the heads-up on the Navy buddies lol

you kinda need a bit of mechanical perception skill, thought for a minute all motors turned counter-clockwise, but I was wrong a few don't. so much for assumptions am guilty of them all the time, but I pick the gravel out of my face and get goin' again~ the four stroke gasoline engine has been with us for a hundred years and in that time they have evolved very little. for example compression ratios are a deep contreversy, or Octane 87, 91, 93 these guys will talk your arm off about the subject, can provide you with instructional U-tube videos that will explain most of the mysteries if you'd like~

Thanxx but I don't wanna try youtube cuz ima need someone here so I don't do nothin dumb lol

I would be concerned with the rattle. What did your ex and his buddy think it was?

first the ex knows less about it than i do lol....and the buddy was.. well um i guess he knew what he was doin...but was lazy

but i was told it looked and sounds like the crankshaft needs to be ? turned ? not sure if that was the word they used

it sounds like worn rod ends, low oil pressure is a sure sign of that. take it to a shop and have them test drive it so they know what to do.

well ive told a few people to be lookin for a 350 vortec that i can just have dropped in it cuz i cant find anyone to come teach me and im gettin antsy

Sounds like it could me main bearings, too. Either way, either an engine rebuild or replacement engine is in the works I'm afraid. As an aside, to look for a vacuum leak, you start the engine, and take an unlit propane blow torch, turned on low. Run the nozzle of the torch around all the vacuum lines and gaskets. If the engine revs higher you have found a leak, as the vacuum sucks the propane in and it burns off in the engine.

I recommend Jasper remanufactured engines, cheaper than new, reconstructed from new components, guaranteed for 100,000 and painted a unique green color...perhaps you've seen Jasper engines...they are always in service~

if you plan on having this truck for more and more years to come, it might be better to drop in a new 350. its a nice chink of money, but itll be better and more reliable than putting another used engine, which could have the same issue down the road.

yeaah im sure ima have to get a new one, but i just moved the truck and thought i'd tell ya what it sounds like to me....parked and just running it sounds good to me deep mean rumble sound, no tap or rattle or knock or nothing. rev it hard and fast to 2 or more rpm it has a rattle sound, rev it slow to the same rpm and it does not make the sound. and at an easy steady increase it wont do it but if you smash on it then the rattle is there then goes away

oh and i am for sure its leaking power steering juice

well there you go. your first opportunity. run the engine and see where the leak is coming from. it it's a "banjo" fitting simply tighten it. if it's where the rubber meets the steel replace the line~ have at it, hoss~

there are 'crate' engines that require a lot of assembly work, and eBay junkers that run, New, if you can afford it, but still recommend Jasper, talk to anyone and you'll see these are the best~ here are some testimonials>>>http://www.batauto.com/Forums/index.php?topic=9851.0

First things first. Take it to a reputable mechanic for diagnosis. There is only so much we can do over the net. Let us know what the mechanic says, and then we can give better advice.