100k Mile Service Chevy S-10 ZR2 Pickup 2nd Generation 1994-2004

Hey, friends. It's Len here from one 1A Auto. Today we have a 2nd Generation Chevy S10 ZR2 inside the studio. I wanna go over some of the things I would think about if I was doing 100K service. Let's talk about it.

Now, if we're gonna be talking about the specific service interval for 100,000 miles or every 100,000 miles on these trucks, we would wanna say you're gonna start off by checking the spark plugs. The spark plugs are gonna be Iridium spark plugs and generally those are gonna wear down over time, much slower than the actual other spark plugs that they used to use back in the day, but they still need to be serviced. Theoretically, every 100,000 miles is when you wanna replace these, but typically you'd wanna actually check them before that.

With that said, when you're replacing the Iridium spark plugs, it's always a good idea to make sure you replace your wires at the same time. If you don't replace the wires, well, then there's a possibility that you might have resistance in the wire, or maybe even those wires are just kind of disintegrated over time. If you were to check the wires, you can kind of give them a little squeeze and a little twist and if it seems like everything's still kind of soft, well, then that's usually pretty good. But generally, like I said, you wanna replace the wires at the same time as you're replacing your spark plugs. Your spark plugs are gonna be located on either side of your engine.

At the same time as doing the spark plugs on these trucks, it's also recommended to replace your fuel filter. That's something that you're gonna end up replacing every 100,000 miles. Theoretically, it might be a good idea to do those at the same time as well, especially as the truck gets older in age/8mileage. That's gonna be along the driver's side frame and you're gonna be able to access that, but you wanna make sure you have a nice collection bucket, some hand protection, and, of course, eye protection. Now, I know what you're probably thinking, all these things that I've mentioned so far kind of fall under the lines of doing a tune-up on your truck. Yeah, you're right. It is. So with doing the tune-up on your truck, what you would wanna do is come right to your air filter.

That's gonna be the next thing that we're gonna take a look at. If you were to remove the mounting screws and lift this up, that's where your filter is gonna be. You wanna take a look at it and make sure it's clean and free of all debris. You also wanna make sure that there isn't a mouse or anything living inside the air filter box. It's very possible and very probable that you probably see some acorns in there. If you do, you need to make sure you get all that debris out of there, double-check your air filter to make sure that it doesn't have any little nipping or bite holes inside of it, and, of course, if it's dirty or has an issue, you need to replace it ASAP. Overall, it's just a good idea to do these, approximately every year anyway, but at 100,000 miles, why not give it a look?

Speaking of the air filter, as the air is getting sucked through the air filter and getting cleaned out, it's gonna be getting drawn into the engine. It's gonna have to pass this right here, which is your mass airflow sensor. If the mass airflow sensor is dirty, it's not gonna be able to read the proper amount of air that's getting drawn into your vehicle to get mixed with the fuel, so you're gonna notice low fuel economy. This is gonna be very common, especially in older trucks. So what I would recommend to do would be to remove this from here and you would clean your mass airflow sensor with a specific cleaner. Don't use regular parts cleaner. And don't forget about your PCV valve. That's right over here on your driver's side valve cover. Pull this and give it a little wiggle. If you hear a rattle, usually it's pretty good, but typically you'd replace it every 100,000 miles.

Now, since we're right over here by the air filter housing, why not take a look at our fuse panel. Just go ahead and unscrew this right here, lift this up, and you wanna take a peek. If you see any colors underneath there or if it looks like it's slimy in any way, well then there's a possibility that you either have corrosion or even some type of debris inside here that might cause restriction, which, of course, would be an issue for your electrical components. Also, of course, if you were to see a mouse nest or anything, that's something you're gonna wanna take care of ASAP. Let's go ahead and put this back on here, close it up nice and tight and then we're gonna move our way over to the battery.

You also wanna make sure you check your truck's battery. You can do that simply by using a multimeter, which almost everybody has one of these laying around the house, and you come over and you test your two terminal ends. Typically with your multimeter sets of voltage, you wanna make sure that you have at least 12 volts in there. If you're up at 12.4, you're doing all right. If you're under 12, well, then you either need to service your battery or even replace it. So now let's talk about the fluids under your hood. I'm gonna start off by talking about your cooling. Chevy, recommends it to be serviced/replaced at 150,000 miles. Yeah, the cooling inside there is designed to last an extremely long period of time, but typically over months or even mileage, the coolant's gonna break down inside here. It's always a good idea to make sure that you check and maintain your coolant.

You wanna make sure that it's full to the top and, of course, you wanna make sure you check the freeze point every once in a while. Essentially the freeze point for your coolant should be -32. Even though Chevy doesn't recommend servicing your cooling system till 150,000 miles, it really only makes sense to me to flush it every 100,000 miles, that way there you know you've got good cooling in there. You're also gonna wanna make sure you check your transmission fluid. That's gonna be super important for the shiftability of your truck. If the transmission fluid's brown or even low or anything like that, that's something that you're definitely gonna wanna look into/maybe service. Typically to do that you would drop your transmission pan and then of course, replace the filter while you're in there. Replace all that fluid, put it back up, and what you'd wanna do is make sure that the fluid's full up here. When you service your transmission or even check it, if you need to add a little bit, you're gonna be using Dextron VI transmission fluid. When you're checking your truck's transmission, it's best to do it while your truck's at normal operating temperature. You also wanna make sure that all your wheels and everything's on flat level surface.

Another important aspect of overall maintenance on your truck is gonna be checking your oil. That's something that you're definitely gonna wanna check a lot and it's also something that you're gonna wanna be at least servicing every 3,000 to 5,000 miles, depending on what type of oil you use. To do that, you would just come right over here to the dipstick that says engine oil, you would remove it, wipe it, check the condition of the oil inside there. Make sure it's nice and clean and you definitely don't see any metal. If it looks as though it's dirty, it's something that you're gonna wanna service and if it looks as though it's low, you're gonna wanna obviously add a little bit, if not service the oil.

You're also gonna wanna make sure you check your power steering fluid. That's gonna be located right here under this cover. If you were to give it a little twist, you can pull it right up and it's gonna show you a dipstick. In between the little hatches right there, is gonna be the optimal place for it to be. As you can tell, this one's a little bit low, so, of course, I would wanna add some. And it actually looks like it's very clean, so I'm not necessarily worried about flushing it. But if you found that your system was contaminated or you found some foam inside your power steering, that's definitely something that you'd wanna flush and/or service. Don't forget about your brake fluid. That's gonna be located right off your driver's side firewall here and, of course, it's gonna be dot three inside there.

When you're checking it, you can look through the side. If you were to put a light on the other side, you can see where your level's at... As you can tell, our brake fluids way down near the minimal here, so that's telling us that we either have a brake fluid leak or even our brake pads are low. This might not be the case for you, but if it is, you could check those things and then, of course, if you find everything's fine, come right up here and you can add your fluid. It couldn't hurt to take peek inside there and make sure you can see the condition of the fluid itself. It should be kind of a yellowish color. If it looks like it's brown, it's definitely been in there for way too long, and it really only makes sense to flush the system.

And, of course, one last fluid under the hood, something that's very important would be your washer fluid. We've all been driving down the road and something kicks up and you need to, of course, use those squares with your wipers. If this is empty or low, you might find that you have an issue seeing out that windshield. It's always a good idea to top that off every time you get a chance. Before we get out from under the hood, there's just a few more things that I like to pay attention to 400,000-mile check-over. I would, of course, wanna inspect my serpentine belt. That's the belt that's gonna run across the entire front of your engine and it's gonna go around all the pulleys.

If you find that the backing of your serpentine belt looks like this, well, that's kind of an indication that it's definitely worn, but if you were to take your serpentine belt and give it a little twist, theoretically, if you could see the other side, you wanna check those ribs and you wanna make sure that you don't see any cracks in them. If you see dry rot cracks that go [vocalization], more than six cracks that go within an inch, typically you'd wanna replace that belt. But, generally, if the belt looked like this, just by looking at it as it is, this is something that I would wanna replace. Before I would just go ahead and buy a belt. I would also wanna grab onto it. I'm gonna give it a little tug and I wanna watch that tension or over there on the passenger side. If it looks like it's stuck or even I can't pull on the belt at all because the tensioner doesn't move that tensioner needs to be replaced.

While we're still right here, let's also talk about this fan right here. There's a fan clutch that's located right in there and that kind of activates this band with the heat of the engine. If this is loose in any way, well then more than likely the fan clutch is no good. That would be something that you would wanna service as well. Just something that I like to point out.

Real quick, let's also talk about checking all of your hoses while we're underneath the hood. Generally, there's gonna be a lot of hoses. Typically, there are probably gonna be cooling hoses. And, of course, if you were to come over to the passenger side, you're gonna be able to see your lower coolant hose. On the driver's side, you have your upper coolant hose, which is right next to the actual air filter housing itself and all the way back at the firewall, you might notice these hoses right here. These lead into your heater core. You wanna make sure all these are nice and soft. If they're dry and or cracked or they look like I have a tear or a rub mark, it's something you wanna replace. If you have a coolant leak, that's definitely gonna be an issue and you might have an overheating problem in your truck.

So now let's get out from underneath the hood for a little bit and let's talk about the tires. Firstly, of course, you're gonna wanna check that tire pressure because if your tires are under-inflated, obviously that could be an issue. Come right over here to the valve stem, remove the cover, check the tire pressure. It should be 30 PSI. It doesn't matter what the tire says on the side. Once your tire pressure is set, let's move along to checking your condition overall. Take a look at that tread. That's gonna be one of the most important aspects of the tire itself. You wanna look to see if you see any dry rot in between the treaded area. You also wanna check the depth of the treaded area. And yeah, some people will have one of these nice gauges right here that'll kind of tell you exactly where you're at. Not everybody has them.

So if you needed to, and you're worried, try to figure out what 2 32nds of an inch is. If you find yourself a nice, shiny penny like this, you can measure from the top right there to the top of Lincoln's head. That's approximately 2 32nds, which, in all honesty, that really isn't very much thread. But if you have that, overall, people will tell you that your tires are still fair. Just looking at this tire right here, I can tell you that this is in no good condition. It's definitely something that I would wanna replace, not just because of all the dry rot that's completely going around the entire tire, but also because of the tread itself. It's worn low in a lot of areas and it's higher and other areas. I also noticed the way that it's worn, it's definitely worn more on the inner edge rather than the outer edge. So that's kind of telling me that there could be an issue with the alignment.

With that said, let's look at the front end. So what we're gonna do now is just get a jack underneath that lower control arm. You want it so it's supporting the tire off of the ground, but it's also loading the suspension as if the truck is still on the ground. The next thing that I would do is carefully grab a 12 and 6 like this and I'm gonna carefully shake this like that. If you can feel a whole bunch of movement like this, well then obviously that's an issue. Typically, if you have that type of movement, it might be an upper ball joint, a lower ball joint, or even possibly a wheel bearing. We can grab it like this, give a little wiggle side to side at three and nine. If you find movement in this direction, it could be an inner tie rod, an outer tie rod, potentially a lower ball joint, but it also could be the wheel bearing as well. Speaking of wheel bearings, if you grab the wheel, give it a nice spin, you wanna try to listen. That little bit of scraping noise is just the brakes, they're settling in there. But if you hear [vocalization], like a howling noise or like a grinding noise, then that's more than likely the wheel bearing that's inside there as well.

Let's take a look at the front end. We talked about the tire rod ends and, of course, the ball joints, but we also need to take a look at our sway bar links. That's this area right here. These right here are just rubber and they get dry rotted over time as you can tell along this area. If this continues to get worse, it could potentially fall out of there and then, of course, the sway bar can move around. It might cause a clunking noise and it might also cause poor scaring/stability on the road. You're also gonna have your shock up in the front here. That's something that you, I don't wanna pay attention to. If it looks like it's rusted, it's probably definitely very old and it looks like it has fluid that's running down it, then typically that means that it's no good. When you replace these, you replace it as a pair with the other side at the same time. While you're underneath looking at your front end, it really kind of makes sense to go ahead and grease the front end. There's gonna be a whole bunch of grease fittings on your steering system, but definitely, there's gonna be some on your upper ball joint, lower ball, joint inner and outer tire rods, and then, of course, underneath the shield right here, you'll probably find a few others.

While you're looking underneath your truck, it really only makes sense to see if you see any fluids coming down. If you see any fluids, you need to kind of figure out what's going on. Is it a transmission fluid leak, an oil leak, maybe a differential fluid leak, any of the like. Whatever it happens to be it's something that you're either gonna need to clean and then recheck or even clean and then service. While we're under here, we also wanna make sure we check our differential. All these vehicles are gonna have a rear differential and the check plug's gonna be on the passenger side right on the forward aspect of it. So you would pull this, check the fluid, make sure it looks good. If it needs to be serviced because well, for some reason you haven't been keeping up with it, now's the time to do it.

A lot of these vehicles, especially on the ZR2s, which is what we have are gonna be four-wheel drive, so you're gonna have a transfer case in the center. That's something that you're obviously gonna wanna check the fluid on and make sure it's up-to-date and then, of course, you'll have a front differential in the front. That's gonna be something that you'd also wanna check. Any of these are overdue on their maintenance. It really only makes sense to service them because, well, that's the driveline of your vehicle.

While we're under here, you can typically take a quick look at the brakes. Generally, if you look up along this area, you're gonna be able to kind of see where your pads are at. If it looks as though the pads are worn very thin, it really only makes sense to go ahead and remove the wheel and thoroughly inspect your brakes. You definitely don't wanna have weak or worn low pads. That would obviously be an issue for your braking ability.

Talking about the brakes, you're also gonna have flex hoses. Those are gonna be an areas that tend to pivot or move, so that's something that you wanna be in good condition. Give it a little grab, twist it around and make sure it's not firm or stiff in any way. You also wanna check the couplers, which is the areas where the rubber kind of meets into the actual lines themselves. Make sure they're not rotted away. If either the brake hose or the coupler that's attached to it is rotted or it looks like it could be an issue, that's something that you wanna replace. And, of course, take a peek at all your brake lines. There's gonna be a whole bunch of brake lines because the master cylinder's located at the front of the truck up inside the actual engine department and everything else is located outside of the truck.

So if you see lines that look like this, that's obviously not the worst condition. I've definitely seen worse, but that's something that you'd wanna pay attention to because if I was to grab this and give it a nice jaunts like maybe I caught it on something while I was driving, there's a possibility that this could actually break. So check all of your brake lines and make sure that they're in good condition. You also wanna test the functionality of your e-brake. You wanna make sure that it holds completely. Typically what can happen on these as the trucks get older in mileage is the cables themselves will get rubbed through in some way and then, of course, they'll build up rust and then they might not function properly. If your cable is no good, it could hold up your e-brake, in which case you'd have overheating breaks and, of course, they'll wear out sooner.

You wanna check the entire cable. There's going be one for the right rear, one for the left rear, and then, of course, they're gonna run up along the driver's side frame of the truck as well. For checking your emergency brake shoes, you'd obviously wanna have to remove the wheel, remove your brakes completely, and then at that point you'll be able to see your shoes from the other side. Assuming that your tires are in decent enough condition, it would make sense to go ahead and do a tire rotation, especially if you find that your tires are a little bit fettered. To do the tire rotation on this, what you would wanna do is you'd wanna take your rear tires and bring them straight forward, take those front tires and crisscross them as you make your way to the rear. Once you've done that, go ahead and mount them on there and then torque them to 100-foot-pounds. Don't forget to check your spare tire.

And let's get inside the truck because that's where we're gonna be spending the majority of our time and just make sure everything works from here. Honk the horn, test all your lights. You wanna make sure you have directionals, high beams, brake lights, reverse lights. It might help with a second person. And, of course, you wanna make sure that you check your four-wheel-drive. That's something that you would wanna do on it like a loose gravel road. Why not check those wiper blades?

Okay, friends. So that's pretty much what I've got for you for 100K service on this 2nd Generation Chevy S10 pickup truck. This is the ZR2 model, so it is four-wheel drive, but a lot of the stuff that I showed you is kind of gonna be comparable either if you have two-wheel drive or a four-wheel drive. There's gonna be things that I told you that you should replace such as your coolant, your spark plugs, your wires amongst other things. And then, of course, there's things that you're just gonna wanna kind of keep an eye on. I hope you liked the video. And if you did, smash on a like button for me. It would mean the world. While you're at it, leave me a comment because I always love to hear from you. And, of course, subscribe, ring the bell, that way there, you can be kept up to all of our latest content. Thanks.