1996 Suburban 454 Never Ending Issues

I love hearing a sucess story. Too many threads tell all about a problem and never tell if the problem got fixed or the truck got set on fire outside the junkyard gate! Thanks for laying out the steps and for inspiring all of us to complete "the rest of the story".

I understand your predicament. I am going to put a 502 in mine, until I have all the parts I have to keep my 454 going. I started out replacing the FP regulator and power steering pump. Having own several of these trucks I decided to do some preventive maintenance. So far I have the following to do:
1. Fuel pump
2. Fuel filter
3. FP regulator
4. New plastic injector rail
5. 8 new Bosch 4 hole injectors
6. Map sensor
7. Water pump
8. Radiator with dual electric fans
9. Cap and rotor
10. Crankshaft sensor
11. Plugs
12. Thermostat
13. Oil cooler lines
14. Power steering pump
15. Clean up screwed up electrical

I have attached a couple of pics of what damage the previous owner did with stop leak and JB weld. All for the sake to keep her going for a couple of more months.
But would not trade this beast for a new truck, I guess I am a sucker that way.

I'm a little embarrassed to share this, but decided to because there is a very good lesson here. On December 8th I posted about the crack on my hydroboost unit that happened because someone couldn't tighten a nut properly.


Lesson #1: Inspect the brake system (at least a good visual) when you buy a used vehicle. Lesson #2: Fix brake issues immediately! When I found that loose nut I tightened it up first, then checked the left nut and I barely turned it when the crack became obvious. I immediately stopped and thought that that bolt was holding enough and that with the right side tight it would be OK until I replaced the hydroboost. Since then I have towed a truck on a car trailer, a shed on a car trailer, a 2 horse trailer full of wood, and a 7x14 enclosed trailer with the hydroboost like that. Fast forward to this morning, I installed new tires all the way around.

I hop in, start it, and put my foot on the brake to shift it into reverse and this happens.


Broke both ears off of the hydroboost, and broke the right ear off of the master cylinder. Oh and by the way, all that towing was back and forth over mountain passes. Seriously, if any of you are having brake issues and are debating whether you can get by as it is or not, DO NOT DO IT!! I got dang lucky it happened at the shop, it very well could have killed me if it happened on one of the passes. IT IS NOT WORTH IT!

I do have a question for you guys, I found a hydroboost and master cylinder off of a 1994 K2500 with a 6.5 diesel. Everything looks like it should work but I noticed the hydroboost out of my suburban (top) has a line coming off of the return going into an extra port via banjo bolt. Does anyone know what purpose this serves?

Thanks for sharing. I know it sucks to post your failures up here because I’ve done so myself. No one wants to talk about how their family ended up in jeapordy because of a stupid mistake. Hopefully, by sharing some of our fails we can convince people not to follow our mistakes.

It’s a hard choice to make when you buy an older used vehicle. For a lot of people they didn’t want to buy a newer rig and spend that kind of money on a monthly payment, but then you’re left with the downside of having to make necessary repairs to said vehicle. If you’re like me you have a family, a mortgage, and bills to pay so forking out money left and right for truck parts isn’t high on the priority list. But I hope people will heed your warning.

As for the booster I would highly recommend you call a GM dealer and ask about compatibility. You don’t want to put yourself right back in the situation you were in because the new booster was missing a feature that your suburban had to have...

Well my suburban decided it was time to act up again. I went to start it last night, turned the ignition and nothing. Not even a "click". Swapped starter relay, nothing. Pulled the relay out and jumped the terminals and the starter turned over. Checked the fuses in the engine compartment, all good. Sometime in the next few days I'll look at a wiring diagram and diagnose it.

Ah yes that sounds like the ignition switch. Mine did the same thing except I was on a 4 lane highway pulling 10K in the left lane when it died on me. The stereo still worked but nothing ignition related would turn over. Common according to the shop I had do the repair.

I didn't realize how many people who lived in my area were assholes until that day...lol

I had the ignition switch in my Alero go out last May. Cost me a head gasket, well... more like the car because I decided it wasn't worth fixing. The engine would run but no instrument cluster and no cooling fans (I learned afterwards). The instrument cluster on the suburban doesn't even dim when I turn the switch.

RedChevy44 said:

The instrument cluster on the suburban doesn't even dim when I turn the switch.

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That's what makes me think is the ignition switch. My starter would turn over if I jumped the relay circuits, but other than that she was dead.

Do your gauges move when you turn the key?

Update: I have replaced the battery and the starter and so far everything is good. The starter that was on it looks to be original, with 190K on it it is probably tired. I think I may try to rebuild it and keep it for a spare. Are the BBC and the SBC starters compatible with each other?

RedChevy44 said:

Update: I have replaced the battery and the starter and so far everything is good. The starter that was on it looks to be original, with 190K on it it is probably tired. I think I may try to rebuild it and keep it for a spare. Are the BBC and the SBC starters compatible with each other?

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Glad to hear you have it fixed. Its always a big win there. I don't think I'd bother rebuilding a starter though, unless it was as simple as replacing a solenoid or the plunger and contacts.

The starters for the Vortec 5.7 and 7.4 appear to be interchangeable according to some quick looking on Rock Auto.