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So this page is dedicated to the story of my 1994 GMC Jimmy. I acquired this, the first SUV I've ever owned in my 8 years of driving with a license from my dad. He gave it to me because he wasn't doing anything with it, and I kept bugging him asking him how much he wanted for it. I saw its potential as an off road capable vehicle that I could beat the crap out of and take to places like the Silver Lake Dunes. Oh yeah, I also have been driving it to work. It gets much better fuel economy than my 1994 Ford F-150 Lightning.
The pictures at the top of the page and below are of the Jimmy, still at my parents' house, before any modifications, destruction, and mayhem. I am glad Phill took these pictures, because I want a reference point for when this thing is all frankensteined up.
When I acquired it, I had already diagnosed why it was parked. The alternator had frozen up and in the process, killed the battery as well. I tossed in ($100.00, cha-ching!) an alternator from Autozone, and we could then jump start it. Later that night, we got a battery, because with the headlights on and the engine running, the engine would suddenly quit and everything was dark because the battery was dead. Also, the digital instrument panel went haywire with the unstable electricity provided by the alternator not backed up by the smooth DC of a battery. Check out the odometer reading! it flashed between that and "Error."
Today, we took it to the sand dunes at Silver lake state park for some dune and puddle action. We took stills and video. The video needs editing and will be posted sooner or later. I did put one video up at myspace.com.
So we got it out on the dunes...
I had to take it through some puddles!
Then these guys came by looking for a tow strap and someone to pull them out of some soft sand. Phill went over to help them out while I put on the snorkel Phill and I made for the truck.
So here is the explanation of the removable snorkel we made. This was what I was talking about with the Frankensteining of things. Note the hole in the fender where the tube comes out!
I'm starting to get brave after the snorkel is put on.
After the snorkel is installed, theoretically water can't get sucked into the intake unless it comes in at the roof. If too much water gets sucked in from there, I think I have to worry more about drowning than keeping the engine running.
The Jimmy is in there somewhere, I swear!
this is the same puddle as the last pic, I just went in slowly to show how deep it was for my truck.
I was throwing a good bit of water and mud around!
After a while, I think water got into the distributor, and I could barely keep it running. I couldn't go up hills at all because I had at least one cylinder misfiring. I was trying to figure out the problem, and Phill was doing donuts around me with his truck. He then went up a nearby hill to get a picture.
All in all, it was a fun day, even though the Jimmy seemed as if it wasn't going to make it home on it's own. We left, and it was running crappy for about 15 more minutes after I made it out of the dunes... It still runs like a champ!