For the last 3 months, the electrical system in my S15 (1995) blazer has been going haywire.

To date, the starter and the ignition switch and a total of close to $800 has been sunk into "fixing" the problem to no avail. I had a wireliterally catch on fire afterit was serviced; thankfully the hood was open and I had water readily available.

When I turn the key, the lights fade (similiar to the battery being low on juice) and there is no crank. I had the battery tested thinking it was bad, and it came back as a good battery and it also had a good charge upon the initial testing ... so the battery is not the issue. I replaced the battery terminals too and that wasn't the issue either, although the problem "disappeared" for about 10 days after I replaced the terminals.

This happens when the car has been shut off for 1 minute or 12 hrs. I had it happen to me last night, and after a few tries (10 or 12 turns of the key), I finally got a partial crank. The next turn, it started.

I drove it today and haven't gotten it to start since.

I am at my wits end here. Any suggestions would be highly appreciated! And thanks in advance

 

Might want to check your Ignition Switch (most of these are on the colum about mid way down). Now mind you this is not part of the tumbler, its further down. This is where your main harnes connects to the colum. If you have a short there, it can cause the same condition. And I would not keep pushing it to start due to you can end up catching those on fire and no more blazer.

Here is a picture of it:

or

These are the two most common Ignition switches for the 95 Blazers

And this is the other which is the tumbler:

 

Thanks for your response

Other than the basics with cars (changing oil/filter or tire), I am otherwise severely retarded when it comes to self-maintenance.

I believe that I have the ignition switch to the right in the pic posted above.

At first, one of the ignition switch wires was smoking. This happened twice. The first time it smoked but then started; the 2nd it smoked and literally disintegrated. This happened in late August. I took it to get serviced and the wire was replaced.

After this, I noticed that the same wire was getting very hot when I tried to turn the key. However, if the car did start, the heat in the wire was immediately gone and it was quite cool to the touch. (The wire no longer gets hot when I turn the key, which seemed to occur after the ignition switch was replaced)

So, the ignition wire didn't solvethe problem. I then had the starter & cellanoid replaced and it didn't solvethe problem either. Then I had the ignition switch replaced which definitely needed to be replaced as it was melted. I'm not sure whether the short / ground or whatever caused this.I thought the battery could be low on juice and had it tested. The battery was good, it was holding a charge and had a charge when I brought it in. The + terminal battery connector was severely corroded so I replaced both connectorsand the blazer ran fine for over two weeks.

It acted up again last Friday and I tried to jump it to no avail. But, it eventually started after about an hr. Monday it did the same thing, but started after only about 10 mins. I finally got a crank and it started on the next turn. And it happened again last night and I had a partial crank / sputter. But, I haven't been able to get anything since.

It is acting like the the battery is low when I turn the key ... the dashboard lights fade and the battery indicator drops to nothing. Also, I just noticed that the indicator light in the dash is flashing in drive instead of where it should be (park). Not sure if these are interrelated but it is clear that the electrical system is going haywire.

I can gladly overlook the indicator light; I just want a halfway dependable vehicle which won't leave me SOL in the coming winter mos.

 

Seems like you have GROUND issues. If you have improper grounds then the system will try to pull, but with no luck or over pull and cause shorts. Try checking the terminal connections too. If they look good might not hurt still to try to clean them up some.

Electrical issues can be a pain to track down. And seeing as the newer the car/truck is the more %(*#(*&$(&#(*&#$ the wiring gets.

The only other thing I can think of off hand (without having it here to look over) is within the colum itself. The switch that the tumbler mounts into might be having connection issues. This might explane why the wire is getting so hot, its pulling but not grounded right due to a bad connection.

 

Thanks again for your help

After posting this, the piece of S*** finally started to start.

Though it died a week ago. After 5 yrs of the dashboard gages not working, they finally worked and I didn't trust them. Gasket or manifold or whatever lost every drop of oil. Engine ceased 5 mins later

A blessing in disguise, though. It was a $ pit andutter junk. A bicycle with flat tires would have been more dependable.

No more GM / Chevy trucks for me. I'm buying foreign now