Buying a rare SUV is a gamble when you haven’t seen it in person. Buying one with smoke coming from the exhaust is an even bigger risk. Yet Alex, the man behind the YouTube channel Legit Street Cars, was thrilled when his latest purchase rolled off a trailer in Illinois.
He had paid about $21,000, including delivery, for a 1993 GMC Typhoon in Forest Green Metallic. It showed around 51,000 miles, but it had sat for years. The last owner had warned him that the engine ran rough and sometimes blew smoke.
The color was the big draw: Alex said only 292 Typhoons came in this green-and-gray combination, the same look he said Clint Eastwood once drove. After years of wanting one, he had finally found his favorite version.
Still, his garage gave him reason to worry. The engine in his black Typhoon had locked up, and his GMC Syclone needed a new one, too. Another bad turbocharged V6 would make this dream purchase a costly mistake.
A Shaky Start
The Typhoon started without a knock, which was a relief. Then the hood began to shake. The engine missed at idle, the brakes grabbed hard, and an ABS light glowed on the dash. Alex eased it into the shop to find out what was wrong.
There was plenty to like once he looked around. The leather seats were in great shape, and an old car phone was still tucked inside. Under the SUV, he found a clean frame with little rust. The engine trouble, though, wasn’t going away on its own.
He checked the fuel pressure and tested the injectors, but neither test gave him a clear answer.
Then he reached for the spark plugs.
One Bad Plug
Getting them out was a fight. A steering part blocked his tools, and Alex accidentally cracked one plug. While working on the next one, he spotted a crack that was already there.
That tiny break mattered because it could let the spark escape and cause the engine to miss. Alex checked inside the cylinders with a camera, then tested how well they held pressure. The results looked good, easing his fear of a ruined engine.
Fresh plugs helped, but the Typhoon still shook, and Alex guessed it was running about 50% better. To finish the job, he had to dig deeper.
More Than A Plug
Soon the top of the engine was apart. Alex cleaned the injectors and found rust inside the distributor, which sends spark to the plugs. Old seals were falling apart, and one coolant pipe had holes hidden under its worn surface.
He replaced bad parts, sealed the intake, and fixed a small exhaust leak. After putting it all back together, the engine ran far more smoothly. A warning light then sent him back under the hood: one new sensor was the wrong type. Once he fixed that, the light went out.
Back Behind The Wheel
On the road, the Typhoon finally felt like the one Alex had hoped to buy. The turbo engine pulled hard, the rough miss was gone, and the brakes felt better after some use. The ride was still soft and bouncy, so he added new shocks to his list.
At a gas station, he added 7.5 gallons even though the gauge had shown a nearly full tank. That would need a look later. For now, he was more interested in keeping this rare green SUV as close to stock as possible. Once he fixed its engine, his black Typhoon might become the faster project.
Back at the shop, Alex checked the green Typhoon again. It was running well, with no leaks, and he planned to keep driving it while the weather held.