Long story short: 98 K1500, Z71, 5.7L, 117K. I bought it 01/05 - looked good/ran good with no signs of problems or deferred maintenance.
Within 6 months, the tranny went out. Then the truck begins to have a weird problem in that it misses and loses power while under a significant load. I replaced plugs, wires, dist cap, rotor, use gasoline treatment. No luck. I took it to a professional. He said they could only find one problem - the fuel system wasn't delivering enough pressure. I installed a new fuel pump. No luck.
So, I say screw it and put it up for sale. Suddenly the darn thing begins to run great, but it's my 3rd vehicle so I still want to sell it. I have no luck with interested buyers for over 2 months - it sits a significant portion of this time. Then all of a sudden my phone begins to ring off the hook. Sweet! I set a showing with a guy. On my way to meet him (yesterday), the truck begins to massively cut out, I notice I am fogging the neighborhood, and the temp gauge is pegged.
There are massive amounts of anti-freeze in the oil. I figure its a blown head gasket. I call around to local mechanics and 1 out of 3 refuses to work on it citing a larger immenient problem that the motor will lock up within 3 months. But, I need to cut my losses and move on.
The real question: Is it worth replacing the head gaskets, should I sell as is, or should I look to replace the entire engine.
Please advise. Thanks in advance.
Cheers,
sivadnar