Astro Owner

[JungleJim]

I have an '89 Astro so, I'll be checking in here too!

[CharlesW]

Jim:
Evidently we are the only two Astro owners here, and you may not be by now.
I have a 1988 that we purchased new and now have 158,000 miles on. We are looking for a new, (used), van and were wondering what the track record has been for the AWD Astro's. Anyone have 1st hand information???

Charles

[olds88]

i havent heard any thing too bad about them, but keep your old astro and drop a 350 in it!! all you need to do is change the pcm prom and get a throttle body injection small block out of a full size chevy truck i saw a built one at the track pullen high 12s

my mom has owned sevral astros but sorry no awd ones

[CharlesW]

The parts manager at the Chevy dealer where I buy parts has told me about an Astro with a V-8 in it. Sounds like a fun conversion. One of my worries is the rust that has to be showing up one of these days. Right now, there isn't any showing, but in salt laden Iowa winters, it has to be coming. The old truck still runs and looks good, though. Right now, I have about decided to keep it until it quits. New is out of the question and used in good shape is either high priced or beat to crap.

Charles

[olds88]

sounds like the michigan winters cars cannot last 7 years around heer with out rust forming

[Dan]

I have a 1990 Astro 2wd with a bad motor (knocking from the bottom of the engine and losing compression). I am buying a rebuilt 4.3 liter engine and looking for tips from anyone who has replaced one of these engines. Also I need a service manual for it, not a Haynes but the Helms manual that the dealer uses. Since it will take months to get this from Helms, I wonder if anyone knows where I can get one?

[safariawd]

Checking out this site just in case the board goes down... see some familiar names here already. Looks like a good alternate to the minivan spot.

[88AstroMan]

The VMag forum has been invaluable to me, but it seems unstable OCCASIONALLY, I'd hate to see us all forumless. So I'll check here dailey.

Glenn

[unbeatable]

Hello, just wondering (as you all seem to be Astro owners) if anyone has made any mod's to their powertrains for more power, and if so, what's worked out the best?

[Mystmach]

I drive a 1988 Chevy Astro with the 4.3 and fuel injection. The van is mighty old and has had it's share of problems, most of them were easily decipherable and quick to fix. but this problem has me stumped.

The other day, I pulled over to a gas station and turned the van off. I noticed at the time that my battery light (The one that signals when the alternator isn't running,) was on while I was driving, but didn't give it a second thought. I returned to the van within a couple of minutes and when I turned the key, nothing happened. I thought perhaps my alternator went out and the battery was just sapped, so I had a friend try to jump my battery. After repeated attempts at trying to fire the vehicle I noticed from my gauges and the amount of light in the cab that the battery was perfectly charged.

So my next culprit was the starter. I climbed under the vehicle to see what was going on down there. When my friend attempted to start the vehicle I heard a "ticking" sound coming from the starter. The starter itself is only a few months old so I had a hard time believing that there was a problem with that. Then, after a second or two of the ticking, the van started right up.

So, I started to drive it home. Suddenly the vehicle when it hit a certain point in it's powerband, would start to sputter and die out. I quickly pulled over and by the time I came to a complete stop, the van was idling normally. It did this the entire way home, and the only way I could do it moderately safely was to leave the transmission in "1"

The only culprits I can think of are something in the timing or the CPU. Does anyone have any ideas? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

Rudy

[kkeiser]

We have an AWD 1996 Astro, bought it with 65000 miles on it now has 135000.

We think this is the perfect vehicle for our needs. We tow a pop up and utility trailer quite often. It has plenty of power and traction, I have only put it sideways on ice while trying.

We have had little problems with the van. New frontend parts a year back set us back $1500, tires, brakes, tune-up.

If it had less electrical problems I would have to say we LOVE it.

Right now my wife wishes she had manual windows and interior lights that work.

[catch9]

Reply to Mysmatch

I once had a bad battery. I bought a new battery yet still had starting problems. Being the shade tree mechanic I am I then replaced the other normal items - alternator, wires, etc.

Finally out of desperation I took it in - the guy insisted on checking the new battery and found it to be dead.

Apparently, occasionally if a cell is loose in a battery, you can hit a bump while driving, cell shorts out, you park, battery drains down to nothing, you jump start, drive, hit a bump, plate moves back into place, battery takes a charge again.

Doubt that is your issue but thought I would throw this in just in case.

[Deadcarny]

problems with AWD astros? my front Prop shaft went out on me. I removed it and have had no driveline problems with the 'custom 2WD' version...LOL.