(Submitted by Joshua Ziegler)
Being fifteen years old and nearly ready to get my license, I was exploring all the different cars I could get. I had my heart set on a 90’s style K1500 Silverado and set out to find one. But when my parents presented me with me first car, a 1997 Chevrolet Blazer, that dream came to an end, to be replaced by a nightmare.
The Blazer wasn’t exactly what I wanted, but it was still a Chevy truck. The little truck only cost around $500, but needed a new transmission, since it would not shift into third. Maybe if you were going downhill it would shift, but that was rare at best. Driving the Blazer to the transmission shop, it was backfiring and stalling. After the transmission work and a major tune up, it was actually running pretty well.
My Blazer was a fully loaded LT with four wheel drive and a beautiful black paint job. The truck had features like power locks, windows, and seats, and tan leather interior, an electronic transfer case, and other goodies. For 1997, all LT Blazers featured body colored trim pieces, making mine look rather sleek. Aside from a few paint chips and fading rub strips on the bumper, my truck was perfect. No damage, no rust, and no paint issues.
That rather large 4.3 V6 growled along, swiftly moving the Blazer through the roughest roads. That engine has some power, but sucked gas. My gas mileage was often no better than the Blazer’s full size counterparts. The suspension setup was pretty standard for an SUV: solid rear axle with leaf springs out back and a IFS setup with coil springs up front. The Blazer actually rode along quite smoothly, but handling was iffy due to a lot of play in the steering and excessive body roll.
I quickly fell in love with my Blazer, but was soon met with some painful issues. First, one of my mirrors was ripped off at a car wash. That was fixed when I took the car in for new tires and brakes. Next, the hood latch broke, something I learned to deal with and never fixed. The sway bar on the front suspension broke two times in three months. Then seven months after getting the car, the fuel pump went out. This was a surprise, as the previous owner had just replaced the pump before the tranny went out.
After fixing the fuel pump, I brought the truck home. When I went to leave an hour later to take the truck out for a spin, it wouldn’t start. Back to the storage shed for another few weeks. The cause now was a wiring issue that prevented the car from starting in any gear other than neutral. Upon fixing that and trying to start it, smoke started coming out from under the hood. The ignition switch was fried.
After those hiccups, everything was well except for when a little water got into the distributor cap. But then after twelve months of ownership the car was up for an inspection again. The truck failed for ball joints, exhaust, and the center stop lamp. The exhaust had a leak in it and the center stop lamp has shorted out. After fixing all those things everything was running fine until the fuel pump went out again.
The “new” transmission started showing warning signs of failure after the inspection. The little truck started having issues going into gear. I thought nothing of it at the time. The radio shorted out and the next day the starter went too. This was all within fourteen months of ownership and only 110,000 miles on the car, with less than 10,000 on the transmission.
The transmission finally gave out one night while driving home when it wouldn’t go into gear. It finally did but wouldn’t shift out of first. The transmission had just been one month out of warranty. My time with Blazer had come to an end after fourteen months. The car was sold for $500 meaning it was nothing but a massive loss. I carted around in my parents’ 1998 Ford Taurus for a while and was given the opportunity to buy, but passed it up for my next COAL.
Lots of these in NZ ex JDM they seem to sell for either nothing or good money maybe you just highlighted why some are so cheap, dark blue seems the most common colour.
That’s crazy! Who in their right mind would give their son something with so many issues that’ll leave you stranded by the side of the road? However little, or how much you pay for the vehicle, it should not have that many issues. Before you buy a used car you should’ve had someone check it out, make sure the damn thing is safe to drive on the road.
I doubt an inspection would have revealed any of the problems that were encountered.
Probably not, but I would’ve thought that had the original owner taken better care of the vehicle, the current owner wouldn’t have had to fix the problems during his time with the car. Indeed it would’ve cost money to maintain a vehicle, but so what? I would think it’d be better than just letting the car go to pot.
My neighbor had one of these.
My favorite was the loud whirring noise the 4.3 produces at any speed.
It isn’t the engine that makes that noise it is the fan and often a new fan clutch will quiet it down at least at higher rpm.
Yeah, it is the fan, it was almost insanely loud spinning up when it was cold. The author’s Blazer experience was totally different than mine. Mine was a totally solid vehicle. A headlight, a battery, a trim piece, and a starter that died and was replaced under warranty were it’s only issues in the 4 years I had it. A friend drove it for well over a decade, with little issues other than the two times it was stolen and trashed, until it was so rusted a light rain would make it undrivable. When it went to the scapyard in 2010 with almost 500K miles on it, it was running with the original 4.3 motor, and it’s third trans. The only vehicle I’ve had that was better, or even close, was my 1982 full sized K5 Blazer. That thing was just plain great.
It sounds like a deeper cause of the problems were the shop(s) chosen to do the repairs and not an intrinsic problem with the vehicle.
A quality aftermarket fuel pump will out last the OE ones that did often fail around 100K. It sounds like they installed a “white box” pump of dubious origin. The trans shop obviously did not do a good job with the rebuild since even with serious abuse it should last more than a year, they also could be the root cause of the neutral safety switch issue and even possibly the starter as those units often last longer than that. The sway bar issues also sound like they were caused by sub par replacement parts.
While the Blazer got a new body the front suspension kept the same basic design as used in the S10 Blazer and downsized Eldo/Toro/Riveria which used torsion bars not coil springs.
Yeah, this seems pretty bad, even for a known era of less-than-stellar vehicles.
Yep, my error. and the torsion bars were not the most reliable.
Speaking as a former GM service guy, you make good points, Eric. The top quality aftermarket replacement parts were the way to go on these units. We’d always find suppliers with lifetime warranties and install these. Trans rebuilds are a horrible scam half the time. We did our own but if you can’t and don’t know the right people, just buy an OEM.
These cars were very sensitive to low fuel levels as the pumps ran hot. The fuel was used to cool it and anything less than a quarter tank fried it. That said, white box specials are junk. Go for the good stuff.
These were not well built or designed vehicles. They were emblematic of GM’s cost cutting of the 1990’s. There were many flaws with them, inducing the ignition switch. In fact, every single GM Service Advisor knew the key/locks on the cars were defective when I worked there a decade ago. The Blazer also had a weak front end and an archaic electrical system that often just didn’t work. The front end was completely overloaded for the weight of the vehicle and they used gas like a 5.7 litre.
Exactly my thoughts Eric, sounds like low quality repairs and replacement parts were the largest part of problem. While these might not have been premiere vehicles they weren’t all that bad.
I seem to remember these always scoring at or near the bottom of CR’s reliability scores, but maybe my memory has been warped.
I seem to remember these always scoring at or near the bottom of CR’s reliability scores
Ayup. Happen to have a 2004 Consumer Reports auto annual, which covers 97 at my finger tips.
Solid black circles, ie the worst, for cooling, fuel system, electrical, A/C, brakes and body integrity. Half black circles for engine, transmission, suspension, power equipment and body hardware. On the other hand, the exhaust system was excellent. Blazers from 96-03 made their list of “used cars to avoid”
Speaking from the point of view of a GM service guy, I had a lot of very irate customers whose Blazer dropped a $1000 + repair like twenty seconds or twenty feet after the warranty was up. These cars were terrible, really bad designs. Archaic electricals, cheap parts, low quality everything with a high price. No wonder they lost so many customers. The later one, the TrailBlazer, was even worse, if that could be possible. Awful cars.
I know a family who are “Trailblazer/Envoy fanatics”, they (Their 85+ year old mother/aunt/grandmother bought the first one after her Blazer was stolen and wrecked) have had about 10 of them and they love them. All have been good, no major failures yet, except when my friend’s wife ignored the oil light (and huge leak) her Envoy had, and seized the engine. They tossed a junkyard motor in it and it’s still going strong. Their youngest kid is currently learning to drive in it. It will be around until it’s a total basket case.
What a hunk of junk these things are I could not believe Adam from Top Gear USA thought it was a good vehicle for competition, maybe the 1st generation was better. For years it was painful to find out that someone had bought one of these for someone or bought it themselves. Even more painful as they complained about the issues for months, their lack of money, and eventually dumping the vehicle then buying a somewhat more reliable Domestic. I am glad the last of these are nearly 10 years old because most of them have rusted out in New York and most people in the Portland Metro Area have the common sense to avoid them. With GM building rubbish such as these SUVs they deserved to go bankrupt.
My niece has a 97 4 cylinder 5 speed 2WD GMC Sonoma PU. It has about 160k on it now, and has been trouble free except for alternator, water pump and starter. Not much power, and only low 20’s in MPG, but not a bad truck. AC has never worked since she got it 4 years ago, but not really needed much around here. I will say I thought I died and went to hell trying to change that starter, talk about a tight fit!
The first vehicle I ever sold as a car salesman – on January 25, 1997 – was a teal green leftover 1996 Blazer LS, to a young couple who’d just had their second child. The following Wednesday, they drove their brand new Chevy from Albuquerque to Las Cruces – well, they tried to, but the transmission died less than an hour south of the city. The torque converter had seized with less than 500 miles on the clock.
As you noted, the outside mirrors also were notoriously fragile, and prone to excessive vibration at highway speeds. GM finally remedied these issues with the mirrors in 1998 with a sturdier design, though of course the earlier mirrors should never have made production the first place.
Wow, small world.
The first car I ever sold as a car salesman was a purple(yeah…purple..with black leather) 1996 2wd Blazer LT at the long gone Sun Chevrolet-Geo, in 1996, can say I remember the exact date. Though I probably kept a copy of the paperwork somewhere. The one I sold performed fine though.
To be honest, all I remembered was that it was the last Saturday in January that year. (Thank you, Google!)
I remember that purple well – Casa Chevy-Geo also had a leftover 1996 S-10 4X4 extended cab in that color, that remained on the lot well into the summer months…
Sun Chevrolet-Geo in McMurray, PA? (Which happens to be the old Don Yenko Chevrolet after he moved to the then-countryside outside of Canonsburg, then gave it up a few years before his death in 1987)
Sun Chevrolet-Geo in Miami.
Several family members owned Blazers like this one when I was young. Maybe because of this, and because of a battery-powered toy Blazer I owned, around ages 3 to 4 I used to tell people that I wanted a blue Chevy Blazer for my first car. My how things change.
Everybody pile on GM! Don’t wait, do it now! Join NHTSA, can’t you smell the blood?
The NHSTA is somewhat pointless since their crash tests are inaccurate. IIHS with its offset crash test is much more accurate since most vehicle collisions I have seen were offset. Also, wasn’t it the NHSTA that left a crashed Volt outside for several weeks then had a cow when it caught on fire?
When someone sells crap it’s almost obligatory to pile on. I had a worse experience with a 99 Olds Bravada. I only got to put less than 500 miles on it. I am no kid so it can happen to anyone.
Otoh I loved my 91 S-10 with almost the same drive train. Mid nineties shift to electronic trannies was a killer. There is no way I will go GM again till they prove that they are through screwing us. In looking at trucks I found that purchasing a 4L60e was an experience in masochism. Most of the used ones I saw advertised rebuilt 4L60es.The 4L80e in the one tonners, not so much.
When the mechanic had the transmission rebuilt the electronic block tried to put it in two gears at once and he had to rebuild it again. I have owned a bunch of GM products Mikey and have generally been really happy. The mid nineties seem to be crap. Ymmv.
From my experience with people that have owned these vehicles, they are usually a love it or hate it relationship. I personally think the 4.3 is a great engine, yet have seen owners of these vehicles have many issues with suspension and electrical problems, not to mention a lot of tranny issues as well. The interior quality leaves a lot to be desired, too – plastic parts would simply fall off and door panels would wobble after a few years.
The problem is the ratio of lovers to haters was not in GM’s favor.
My experiences with S10’s were similar, admiration evolving into loathing. I had an 88 4×4 with the 2.8 and 5sp and a 97 Bravada. The 88 was a hand me down but did well hauling my landscaping trailer in high school, went through an engine (before I had it), ball joints, fuel pump, water pump and a heater core, but it was a cool truck. Red on red and a two door!
The Bravada went through a bunch of my family members and was similar to your blazer, very nice condition, loaded, with about 100k. Again, ball joints, fuel pump, ignition cylinder and finally an engine (rod knock). I was ballsy enough to put a crate 4.3 in it myself (fun getting at the bellhousing bolts), but it continued to deteriorate. Both were great while they kept together.
This story reminds me of my last GM vehicle. It was also my first brand-new vehicle; a 1994 Chev Astro van. I guess 3 of the 4 door handles breaking in the first 15,000 km should have been a warning. After the first year, the mystery grey trim bits that kept falling off of the interior finally stopped, as there were none left. At 30,000 km, I noticed the front tires were wearing heavily on the in and outside. My trusty tire shop said the tie rod ends were worn, so I went back to GM to ask about warranty. The GM mechanic checked and declared that they were within “GM specifications” I went back to my tire shop for repairs and asked why they wore out so soon. “Cheap substandard parts from the factory”, I was told “We do at least 3 of these a week”. I could go on and on! Muffler and tailpipe followed, then the seat-belt buzzer relay went up in smoke. While I was in the process of selling my little 60,000 km/ 4 year old gem; the starter solenoid died. I saw the van again not too long after the sale, and noticed that the reverse lights came on when they stepped on the brakes…
I drove a leased 1997 Chevy Astro for three years. The problems started the day I picked it up—the factory cassette player kept eating my tapes.
Day 2: Started engine and activated A/C. Engine stalled. When I restarted, I heard a vacuum leak from the engine compartment. Sent Astro to dealer for 3 days to repair cassette player and address stalling. Dealer observed that no gasket was present between throttle body and intake manifold. Third day I received a call from service adviser—he could not locate a new cassette player in dealer parts network–Would it be ok if they grabbed another unit from a new Astro on the lot to swap? I agreed. Upon picking up my Astro on 4th day, I noted that the swapped radio was only a radio—no cassette slot. Astro remained at dealer 3 more days awaiting a replacement cassette deck.
Day 10 or so: Persistent vibration at above 45mph. Dealer rebalanced tires. Vibration unaffected. Car released by dealer—vehicle is “normal”
Day 90 or so: Took to dealer for free first oil change and lube and to address sqeaking 2nd row seatback. Upon pick up I noted that original oil filter was in place and zerk fittings had not been touched by a grease gun. Only oil drained and replaced. 2 hour delay while work completed. Seatback still sqeaking at highway speeds.
10,000 miles: Front tires shot due to misalignment. Dealer would not align or replace tires under warranty.
13,000: When moving fan switch to position 4 (high), the plastic knob fell off in my hand.
1997 must have been a bad year for GM.
This sordid tale continues throughout the 36 month lease period. When the day finally came for me to return the car due to lease conclusion, I celebrated by leasing a new Toyota. I will NEVER get involved with another GM vehicle. Life is too short, and there are too many good alternatives to what GM is slinging.
These weren’t the greatest trucks, but really, you buy a 4×4 SUV for $500 and then call it a deadly sin because it was junk? Most all $500 4X4s are going to be junk.
This is why the Deadly Sin series needs to die, before every vehicle GM ever made becomes a part of it.
People have covered that the transmission failing is due to a bad rebuild, and the fuel pump was most likely a cheapo replacement. Ball joints are also a common wear area on trucks. Even Toyota has had trouble there, leading to a recall of over half a million Tundras and Sequoias.
Exactly.
To be fair i didn’t create the title.
I take responsibility for the title. And these trucks received rock-bottom reliability ratings at CR. No, these certainly “weren’t the greatest trucks”, and I’m quite confident in asserting that in fact they were the worst trucks, in terms of reliability rankings, of their time. Way too many folks had bad experiences with them, hence the DS designation. They did nothing but further erode GM’s reputation and hasten their continued loss of market share. Care to prove me wrong?
OK, yeah, I guess you have a point Paul. My issue is using this particular truck as an example. I looked on my local Craigslist and was unable to find a used four wheel drive of any sort for under $2000, and many looked a whole lot worse than this one.
A $500 4Runner repaired poorly is also going to be a piece of junk. A piece of junk that is considerably less powerful and comfortable than this one.
Still though, it was a $500 TRUCK….I mean really, that’s almost free. There was someone defending the Lancia Beta in another article which you really should have told to pound sand, I mean really, “The Lancia Beta wasn’t that bad”….really?
I had a 2000. With good maintenance it have me 130,000 miles of reliable driving and was passed on to a family member who lived it. But then, I neither bought it as, nor treated it as a clapper, and a deadly sin it wasn’t.
YMMV
you know that reminds me of my last ‘work vehicle’ bought brand new ex a major Ford dealership in Sth Akld
it rattled and shook and banged so much in the first few kms of driving that I took it back and asked for a replacement ‘new’ vehicle
turns out it had been stolen from the yard (prior to delivery to me) by a bunch of crims who had driven it around thrashing it over traffic islands etc etc …you name it ..they had done it (and it wasn’t an off-road vehicle but rather a low slung ute ..then when the fun was over ..the crims just abandoned it somewhere
so the dealership got the ute back via the police notifying them where it was ..etc ..
and ..
so they tidied to up as well as they could ..and delivered it to me as a brand new vehicle
bugger ..as we say down here
oh well ..if anyone has that ute now it’s reg number was DMQ35
John Andrew Ford/Mazda could not get vehicle insurance for their new car fleet due to salesmen racing and crashing cars even the sales reps were driving without vehicle insurance, I heard about that alledgedly stolen ute through my BIL he was a panel supply rep for Auckland.
I asked SAM how it could have happened, and they didn’t want to say too much.
It turns out the padlock to the main yard was simply bolt-cut and they then had a massive yard full of new vehicles to choose from .. in the ignition were the keys ..so it was dead easy for them ..period.
But why leave the keys in the ignition????? WTF ! !
With ‘Smartlock’ no keys means no engine start (unless you are a Ford electronics technician with a laptop and the correct updated programming on it)
Apparently leaving keys in all the new vehicles made it much easier to move the vehicles around and no worry about key registers and lost leys etc etc …the ‘story’ was that a disgruntled ex-groomer knew the ropes and organised the raid…
It wasn’t allegedly stolen …DMQ35 WAS stolen
The NZ Police phoned me as the ‘new owner’ to tell me the vehicle ‘had been recovered’ .. ..
It was a FleetSmart vehicle …and FleetSmart tried very hard to get me to accept this vehicle …with an added 2 years’ of warrantee chucked-in as a sweetener
I didn’t want a potentially unsafe vehicle and insisted on a second new vehicle ..
After a month’s wait SAM produced DPG921 a hacked-about ‘yard demo’ XLS from down south somewhere, complete with sunburn and bleached dash top and tonneau cover ..so they ‘gave’ me a brand new tonneau cover…lol
I took very good care of my Blazer despite the problems. I really did enjoy the vehicle when it was running and still had a lot of pride for it. I did miss some details from the story that make it look like im doing nothing but bashing it but it was my first piece. I treated that truck well and kept up with it. It was just cheap parts and bad repairs that killed it.
These trucks kept repair shops in business. Oil cooler lines, water pumps, & intake gaskets that leak. Fuel pumps (they wont start if the pressure is 5 psi below spec, has to be right on) & injector spiders. Ball joints, idler arms & pitman arms.
If only they kept the tbi engines & th700r4 trannys.
I’ve owned a 1997 GMC Sonoma with the 4.3V6 for almost 10 years, has 140k on the clock now and hasn’t seen hardly any of the problems I’m hearing about. They are fairly simple trucks (especially in base trim) and as a rule they work well when serviced well. I haven’t had any electrical problems, and the few mechanical issues I’ve had I knew about and had time to fix long before they came to the point of complete failure.
They are hardly unique in being plagued by poor dealer maintenance, and the bottom end replacement parts for things like alternators, A/C compressors, ball joints, ect commonly available at AutoZone or the like are basically worthless for ANY vehicle. Buy decent parts and get yourself a repair manual so even if you don’t do the work yourself you can tell whether or not your mechanic is doing his job well. The days when you could just hand the vehicle over to the dealership and expect/trust them to take care of everything are long gone. The inner tie-rods and upper balljoints on these trucks almost never get greased by service techs since they are not easily seen at a glance.
The only thing I would really warn people about on these trucks is the cooling system. 97′ was a transition year for these trucks, new engine controls, new manifolds, new body stuff, new coolant, same old gaskets. The new coolant (red Dex-cool I think?) has a nasty habit of slowly eating away at things like head-gaskets and heater core seals. Replaced head-gaskets at 90k, heater core around 110k, radiator at maybe 120k. Haven’t had any problems since that don’t fall under the heading of basic maintenance.
Please don’t take this the wrong way, but your comment only goes to reinforce the bad reputation these vehicles have. If one has to learn to be a mechanic in order to properly service them, and have to change head gaskets, heater, core and radiator by 120k miles, and can’t trust the dealer to be able to fix it, then you’ve perfectly explained why these are a Deadly Sin and GM went belly up.
But I’m glad you’ve become an expert mechanic on your Sonoma, and wish you many more years of happiness with it. Truth is, any vehicle can be kept running forever if one becomes an expert mechanic with it, or knows exactly what to have a mechanic do to it. That goes for old Jaguars, Yugos, Citations, anything. The point is that most consumers aren’t looking for that kind of relationship, hence the success of Toyota et al.
I lay no claims to being an expert mechanic, some of the work I did myself, some I had done by a shop I trust. The problems I mentioned about poor dealer maintenance were/are not limited to GM (oh the stories I could tell about Volvos and VW’s), though this would not be the first time GM’s dealer network shot itself in the foot. And, more to the point I was trying to make, ANY relatively high-mileage vehicle will require a bit more thought and diligence on the part of the owner than a brand new car that’s still in warranty, regardless of the manufacturer.
Frankly, these were entry level first-trucks for many people, they cost something like $15k new. What were you expecting? Yeah, there were better vehicles for nearly twice the price, but ALL of them will start needing a little extra TLC when they edge past 100k miles. The S-10 truck model alone sold around 200,000 vehicles per year for every year it was in production (1995-2004). The shear number of them still driving around on the roads some 15 years later, many with well over 200k miles on them says to me that these were not nearly the Deadly Sin you seem to think they were.
Any GM that goes past 20000 miles without a problem is a lemon. Any person who purchases a GM is a lemon. What is it now, 9 million recalled cars that kill people? Anyone remember that this company went bankrupt? Didn’t anyone think there is a reason for this? Look at the shit they are stil putting out. Why are people such suckers? Buy ‘murricun!
I’m sure your manufacturer of choice has never made a piece of shit ever. And your farts smell like roses.
And GM didn’t lose half its market share and go belly up.
I never owned a Blazer, but I did own a 2000 S-10 with a little over 50K when I bought it in 2001. I put another 50K or so over the next three years driving it to work as well as during work when a company vehicle wasn’t available. Regular cab, short bed, 2.2L/auto. It was slow as hell, (turn off the a/c when entering a freeway kind of slow), but eminently reliable. Never spent a dime on it other than oil/fluid changes, assorted filters, tires and maybe a battery. It always felt solid.
Can’t say the same for the Blazers I’ve driven. At the time I had the S-10 my then-wife was driving a ’96 Grand Cherokee. When we were in the market for an SUV we drove several Blazers and Jimmys. Every one just felt tinny and cheap. One of them even stalled when I briefly engaged the pushbutton 4WD. It was only two years old. Most people I’ve known who owned one had at least one recurring issue
This is so typically GM. Here are two vehicles built on the same platform, in the same assembly plants, sharing almost everything from the front doors forward, yet the level of quality was so different.
I had the bastard 1995 model year, which was a sordid kludge of GM parts from various “stages” in GM’s existence. It had some martian, half-assed OBD1.5 ECM that was the bane of my diagnostic existence because GM was still scrambling to make the 4300 an OBDII compliant vehicle during the first Clinton administration.
It was wonderful to remove an alternator to find a combination of metric and standard fasteners (all different sizes, mind you) in the same part. It was also a great fun replacing the rear most spark plugs; it was like the vehicle was designed to never be worked on as no standard length socket extension could reach the depth at which those spark plugs resided. Rebuilding the 4300 Vortec was relatively easy, but even when built to “GM Specifications” it ran like a bag of hammers. Sure the engine had lots of power, but as mentioned elsewhere in this thread, it sucked fuel like a 707. Ate two transmissions and every interior panel sang a different song, nicely complimenting the squeaks and clanks from the front end and the constant whirring as the pinion bushing on the rear end slowly wore out. Did I mention that the M80 4L60E transmission was MY 1995 specific as the ’94 was different and the ’96 had a different bellhousing? AWESOME!!!
In short: great idea, poor execution. The story of GM’s life.
My ’97 Blazer’s approaching 300K, and August will mark 10 years since I bought it with 86,000 miles.
True, the only original mechanical part left is the transfer case…it’s had some electrical issues thru the years but I just plain like the thing. Careful selection of parts is a must. Moog front suspension parts, for example. Duralast ball joints…don’t last.
Ignition modules and distributor caps? Same story. NAPA or better or you get a year at best.
A GM mechanic friend told me “if you got a good one it was good…but if you didn’t…” I obviously got a good one. Don’t plan to keep it much longer but for the $$ I sank into it over ten years, it’s been inexpensive to own.
We have been selling these along side the Explorers and Tacomas, Frontiers and 4Runners. I don’t care who manufactured it. If it was a 500 dollar truck you were going to be spending much time rebuilding the front end, engine gaskets, electrical etc. We just got through doing head gaskets on a Toyota 4.0 liter V6, swapping out a 2002 Explorer 5 speed automatic, scrapping a Tacoma due to a Swiss cheese frame and had a nightmare of a time getting a Dodge Durango to pass for inspection which turned out to be an intermittent faulty body control module or BCM for short. I don’t see where the 96-2005 Blazer was any better or worse compared to most of these models when they had lots of miles, were beaters, were abused or were purchased for cheap money. In fact I would say that the 2001 on up versions of these trucks were a lot better than the earlier models and if anything were on par with some of there competition at the time.
Last time i checked my Blazer is still going strong somewhere in Illinois. (I live in St. Louis btw.) Had i been able to afford another transmission rebuild i would still have the thing.
gee whiz I just turned 362,000 on my 96 S-10. I frequent an S-10 forum and there doesn’t seem to be anything like the whining and horror stories I hear here. Funny how some people have “bad luck”
There’s plenty of difference between an S-10 and a well-optioned Blazer. The article was about the latter.
no there isn’t. it’s the same drivetrain. the 4.3 is generally known to be bulletproof.
There’s more to a vehicle then the engine. Go back and read the comments, plenty of which are sob stories about folks experiences with the Blazer and its kin.
And the 4.3 has had its share of issues too. The basic block and rotating parts may be “bullet proof”, but there are repeated issues with FI, intake gaskets, etc….
A 350 Chevy with two cylinders whacked off is probably going to be bulletproof. Crude, but a great engine.
“It ran like a bag of hammers”
Thanks Ryan that made me smile.
You did just describe the 3.4 in my last (and I do mean last) GM vehicle.
You’re very welcome!
It was the most apt description I could come up with.
Speaking of hammers and GM engines, don’t get me started on the troubles i had with a 3.4… 🙂
I’ve been looking at a ’95 Lumina (new bodystyle, still has the older powerplant) with a 3.4. It’s been sitting at a used lot 7+ month so could probably get a steal. Little over 110k on the ticker, super clean. I figured that engine is rare in that car since I’ve never seen one with it, and may be better than the piston-slappy 3.1. Plus factory dual exhaust :-). Looks great in that engine bay too, IMHO. What’s so bad about a 3.4? Should I steer clear? (Sorry for drifting off-topic)…
Some of the 3.4’s in the early production Buick Rendezvous (2002 MY) had problems with the L82 3400 valvetrain material properties. Without going into too much detail, my mom’s ’02 Rendezvous, one of the first several hundred off the production line, had 50% of the valvetrain frag about 2 weeks after delivery resulting in 3 cracked pistons, shot-up valves and $3000 worth of warranty work. The warranty work was botched and three months later both head gaskets were toast. We traded the POS for a GMC Envoy, which wasn’t too bad lol.
YMMV with this vehicle though. This version is an LQ1 OHC engine, which differs from the L82 pushrod motor I was referring to.
Our ’95 Blazer LT has 167,000 miles. We got it used a couple years ago at about 147k. It went thru 2 fuel pumps so far, a heater core, and 2 front brake jobs. Now the rotors are warped and the master cylinder needs replaced. The driver’s door sags, common problem on these S10 Blazers and pickups for the hinge pins. Our LED middle brake light is shorted out as well, actually causing us to get pulled over once. The 4.3 is great for towing and sounds MEAN with a Flowmaster, and some previous owner put a shift kit on the tranny. Ours looks slick with the factory emblem delete and factory alloys, and the leather interior has held up surprisingly well for a ’95. Great options including power everything, push-button electronic 4wd (replaced bad switch with junkyard unit) and a digital compass and readout.The check engine light is now on and I can tell the EGR system is clogged with carbon. It pings, misses sometimes, and sucks gas like no other. A mechanic friend pulled the codes and said about 12 (?) things came up? Overall tho it’s been a pretty decent truck for $1500 (well it was $500 with known problems and about another thousand to get it on the road), it’s exceeded our expectations and it’s still going strong, even with all the little problems. I’d hate to own a newer one tho, especially after ’96 when you had the Dex-cool eating gaskets and piston slap to deal with!
That’s EXACTLY what my ’95 looked like, right down to the wheels, paint and bug deflector on the end of the hood!
Are you sure you aren’t from CT? 🙂
Haha nope, Washington state. It’s my mom’s DD. We bought it off my stoner bro in-law, who I think got it as a hand-me-down (or possibly traded a lil sumthin-sumthin for it!). We acquired it with bald tires and a bad fuel pump for $500. Seen quite a few in this teal green color, less so as the years go on. Theres a sticker from a Michigan dealership under the hood on the fan shroud, where I assume it was bought new. The picture I uploaded ain’t that great, it was getting dark and our carport light sucks. It’s got the window shrouds too, which probably came with the bug-deflector package.
haha!! 😀 Gas, grass or @$$ nobody rides for free!! Had a few friends ‘finance’ a ‘new’ ride that way here in the Nutmeg State.
About the color though: this teal was as ubiquitous to the 90’s as Harvest Gold or Avacado Green was to the Disco Era. You’re right about their numbers being scarce these days.
Can’t remember if i had the window deflectors on mine or not. IIRC, they were missing…
I have only good experiences with these Blazers here in Norway. They are reliable and dependable as well as any other vehicles. They have a much better reputation than many European cars, like Renault, VW, Audi, Peugeot, Citroën and Fiat.
I know I’m a little late to post, but thought it was worth mentioning that, while these are not something I was ever interested in, I’ve had three friends who’ve all owned one of these; a ’00 Blazer 2-door, a ’96 Jimmy, and a ’98 Blazer LS. The last one (’98), my friend bought brand new after highschool in 1998 and it’s still chugging along with over 230K on the clock, although it’s on its third transmission. But still, I can say from experience that they’re more comfortable than their Isuzo Rodeo, 4 Runner, or Pathfinder counterparts, and as a bonus, running examples can be picked up for peanuts if somone just wanted a beater to run into the ground then throw away. Isn’t that what a $500 car is for?
With you, there was much GM’s deadly sin! According to you, Gm is , was and will be the source of all american issues! the nuclear bomb? let’s me guess?! the answer : GM! Lol!