A list of common annoying S-10 Blazer quirks.

Feel free to add some that I may miss here. We all know them well.



* Seatback lever broken drivers side for sure, passenger side also if you ever gave someone a ride.

* Top of steering wheel losing rubberized coating.

* Power mirror switch started to operate sporatically, but now, not at all because rain falls directly on it.

* Drivers seat cloth wearing fast at point between seat and backrest

* Angle of windshield causes abnormal sandblasting "fun in the Sun"

* Doors do not seem to close tight and rattle over bumpy roads.

* HEADLIGHTS not bright enough on 95-97 models

* Rear hatch latch breaks too easily

* Requires front brakes more than any other vehicles ever owned

* Gas tanks start leaking from the top after just a few years so you can't "fill-er up" without odor

* Come with Delco radios that have a shelf life of 3-5 years

* Spark plugs located whereas you need David Blaine to help you change middle drivers side.

But go figure that I am on my 3rd Blazer in a row.

The top of the steering whell losing the coating sucks..... mine was like that when I bought it. .

i guess i have been lucky.....i have none of those problems yet :)....besides the spark plugs....

Ditto...spark plugs is my only issue. That, and window motors die quickly.

My 1997 has 126,000+ and It's on it's 3rd set of front brake pads...which were just installed so that's about 60,000 miles per set...which is great in my opinion. Also the rear shoes are still original...but I will FINALLY be changing them on my next oil change. I have replaced the left front door hinge pins/bushings once. Other than that I have none of these "quirks". Oh yea the spark plug thing......Try using a CHEAP spark plug socket with a 3/4" hex on the end of it....you can break iy loose with a 3/4" wrench and spin it out by hand and it's done in a few minutes!!

Don't forget that with power locks, sooner or later one of the doors will refuse to open! (Mine is passenger side rear) Does make it fun to try and watch the kiddies open it when they forget....

quote:

ORIGINAL: Blasir

* Drivers seat cloth wearing fast at point between seat and backrest

* Doors do not seem to close tight and rattle over bumpy roads.

* Come with Delco radios that have a shelf life of 3-5 years

My doors squeak because the plastic of the window controls rubs against the rubber and vinyl parts of the door.

I've had to take my truck to the dealer 4 times just for the radio. (The first time was to get it ordered, the sec. time to get it installed, third to get it reordered, and the fourth to get that one installed. (In a span of like a month and a half)

Anyone else have trouble with their gas guage fluxuating? That happened around 90K. Alternator went out around 80K, fron wheel bearings and ball joints around 60K, fuel pump just before 100K, 4x4 went out around 75K.

oooh yeah.....my passenger side front auto unlock just died....it moves it to almost unlocked....however at least it does lock it.....(I never take passengers) I think you covered most of the big stuff.....rotars and cv joints..replaced my radio with an aftermarket soon after I got my blazer.....


oh oh wait!!! I have one....the hood release!!! the hood release brakes so you keep a pair od pliers in it for the times you need to open the hood.....and you know what's even funnier...I oil change guy never asked how to get my hood open......(he must own a blazer too!!!!)

Ha! That's funny cause when I was on the used car lot buying my blazer I went to pull the hood release to check out the engine and the cable snapped right there on the lot. You should have seen the look on the salesman's face. They obviously fixed it for me before I picked it up.

ha ha ha...yep that's hoe it happened with me....must have opened the hood a lot of times...went to pull it...pop.....but the one good thing..is they break off with just enough of a piece to pull on it with a pair of pliers!!

Oh, I forgot that mine also has a sticky speedometer...it likes to sit on a speed for a while, then WHAM all of the sudden get unstuck and tell me what speed I'm REALLY going.

I found that on the sparkplugs, at least on the middle one that is almost impossible to get to, that I just bought a cheapie spark plug socket and slapped it on the bench grinder, took off about 1/2 inch to 3/4 of an inch and it works perfect.

1998 4WDR 4 Door Blazer with 208K Miles.
 
Lets see.. where do I start... here's my list of "common" problems

1. Passenger seat adjustment lever snapped off..
   
2. Windsheild Wiper control "solder" problem (fixed myself)
   
3. Driver side door hinge bushings (had a body shop fix it for $100)
   
4. 2 set of Front Wheel Hub/Bearings (Approx $500/Hub X 4 = $2K)
   
5. Upper and Lower ball joints and Tie Rod Ends (Replaced Twice)
   
6. Drivers Side Electric Window Moter (just stopped working).
   
7. Remote Mirror Switch (Damaged from dripping water in window).
   
8. Irratic gas gauge (but fuel pump is still working).

But... after 208,000 miles, the Exhaust system is still in good condition (even in Massachusetts weather). I expect to make it through the winter with it.
 
The really sad part about all this is... I still like the vehicle (but I probally wont ever buy another... except for parts!)
 
 
 

ive found out recently if you remove  the front tires doing the spark plugs is so much easier when going through the wheel well. alot easier than fighting with the steering shaft and brake lines

is there anything you can do for the headlight not being bright enought. if just replace the blub will it get brighter?

I also went at it through the wheel well, I tried to pull the steering knuckle, but there is a stupid plastic cap that covers the entire thing that I couldn't figure out how to remove, so I jacked her up, and it took me more time to find the wrench that it did to get them out....
problems I have had so far...only owned it for a couple of weeks now..
 
1.passenger side window motor is pretty much OOC,
2.hood latch cable works, but I have to jerk it pretty hard, then have to pound on the hood to get it to pop up
3. Vacuum Lines, had to replace all of them
4.the rear glass popper on the keyless entry remote only works sometimes
 
I can't really complain too much about the plugs, I own a 1994 Camaro Z28 and it is near impossible to get to the plugs on that sucker...take the blazer's plugs, and multiply the difficulty factor by about 5. took me about 6 hrs to do all 8...and that was the fastest I have ever done them. The first time, I was renting a stall at an auto shop, and I had to keep the car there overnight because I couldn't get one of the plugs back in.
 
Im sure that I will be replacing alot of parts in the future, just the same as I did with my camaro.

Only thing I have had problems with is the #3 middle plug. That is the biggest pain to get out...

Hmm lets see:
 
CRAPPY DEXCOOL THAT ROTS YOUR SYSTEM OUT (main issue)
 
1) early signs of FUEL PUMP failure (over heats and quits working when 1/4 tank or less) due to pump is cooled by gas and they fail to tell you to keep it above 1/4 or more so that the pump wont fall under early failure due to OVERHEATING
 
2) FOB or power lock fails with no warning
 
3) Power locks only work on one or two doors
 
4) Early failure of INTAKE gasket
 
5) Excessive build up of Carbon
 
6) Defective REMOTE OIL-FILTER LOCATOR
 
7) No warning BALL JOINT seperation
 
8) P.O.S. delco radios and limited addon BOSS systems
 
9) Problematic Power Seats
 
10) Cheap Hinge Pin sets (cheap Brass bushings) from MFG (replacements are around $12 per door for good ones)
 
11) ODBII system that requires a $80 plus reader that only gives general issue codes over Detailed direct Like the $200 code reader does.
(ODBI was better due to you could just Jump A & B and get your codes over having to use a scan tool specific for the same codes)
 
With all the reading I have done with both general forums and from ASE cert. mechanics. I could go on for days. But yea, the MFG had to ensure job stability with these issues for their mechanics (mainly dealership shops). If not for the extensive list of TBS it would make it so these would rarely ever have to go into the shop. These are not like the Pre 80's Blazers that keep running forever as long as you take care of the rot issues on the sheet metal.
Heck my 74 W200 has less issues, but then again that was when they were built to LAST over built to RECYCLE

ha
 
1. hood release wont open hood unless usmones pushing down on it
2. it smokes white everytime i start it
3. rear window doesnt stay open always falls on my head when im diggin around
4. when i push the cigarette lighter in my headlights go off
5. antifreeze leak
6. tranny's almost dead
7. windows take 5 minutes to open
8. wheel wells rusted through...but thats no biggy i could care less
9. ABS is out and i dont think i have any pads left in the front squeks like hell
 
im takin it to a friends tomaro and leavin it there for a week, hes gonna fix everything flush and change fluids/filters/and wutever else needs to be fixed and seafoam it for me

I'm glad I own old full size Blazers!!
Once the rust is removed, they're great...........................where's the next gas station?....lol

for the hood to open, after pulling the release try pulling up on the right hand side of the hood, it's what works for me.

front hub and bearings
ball joints twice on one side, once on the other (so far)
rear wiper motor
oil cooler lines
idler arm (twice)
water pump
radiator cap
alloy wheels leak
fuel guage
seat recliner handles
alternator
brakes/rotors
front door hinge pins/bushings
cargo area trim panel/tool storage cover kept falling off
front washer pump sometimes doesn't work
hood latch used to stick
intake gaskets
rear window squeek
monthly payments (almost done)

the Spark plugs were easy to change, 4.3 4x4, dont have to remove the wheel or sterring column to get at em.


The back glass is annoying as hell, it wont stop squeeking. oh yeah the front brakes suck on the blazer, I replace my pads every 7-8 months and rotora every year to year and a half.

The rear defroster wires always snap off, the cowl panel rattles, and last but not least you gotta strip the damn dash to replace any of the switches in it.

I actually dont mind taking the dash off. I have had to do it so many times to replace my radio and stuff so it takes me about 5 minutes. Just a few screws holding it all in. Its that #3 spark plug that still is ticking me off.