Mine is a 1999 C2500 Suburban not a pick-up and is the only GMT400 I have ever driven so I can't make comparisons. What I can say is that I appreciate what modernity it has and though I'm probably tempting fate here - the additional electronics haven't caused me any grief.
The two things that spring to mind that plague Vortecs are the injector/spider set-up and the inlet manifold gasket. The injectors aren't a concern for me (as I run on LPG (propane)) but they do get slated on the forum. The inlet manifold gasket I had to replace on mine after only 45,000 miles. Any sign of leaked coolant around the manifold usually points to it failing and as pretty nasty things can happen if it fails internally (coolant in sump or worse, a cylinder filled with coolant and hydraulic lock on attempted start up causing a bent conrod) best not neglected.
Mine took a bit of sorting just to get things working right (nothing major though) and the truck is the better for it. At 23 years old that's to be expected and on that point you are going in with your eyes open. Happy hunting!
The two things that spring to mind that plague Vortecs are the injector/spider set-up and the inlet manifold gasket. The injectors aren't a concern for me (as I run on LPG (propane)) but they do get slated on the forum. The inlet manifold gasket I had to replace on mine after only 45,000 miles. Any sign of leaked coolant around the manifold usually points to it failing and as pretty nasty things can happen if it fails internally (coolant in sump or worse, a cylinder filled with coolant and hydraulic lock on attempted start up causing a bent conrod) best not neglected.
Mine took a bit of sorting just to get things working right (nothing major though) and the truck is the better for it. At 23 years old that's to be expected and on that point you are going in with your eyes open. Happy hunting!