First off, I'm new to the site. I bought my first vehicle, a '94 Blazer (Blue) when I got my driver's license, and now I'm about to graduate college and go on to Grad school. My blazer's accumulated problems through the last few years and I've put most of them off 'til now. I'm moving to a colder, more mountainous location after graduation and I figured I need to be 'sorting the kinks out' of the blazer, so to speak. I've been reading up on various common problem threads and I'm making a list of how I'm going to go about fixing my Blazer's issues. FYI: I'm not a mechanic, but I can do simple maintenance myself! What I'm looking for is advice on any of these problems below as well as good brands and places to purchase parts, etc.

A little history in case it'll help you:
-'94 Blazer, Auto, 4WD, LT Tahoe trim level
-141k miles, original engine & trans
-Recently had R12 refilled this previous summer
-replaced stock radio for CD player + 1 subwoofer (I can't imagine this would be important, but here it is)
-Previous owner took very good care of the vehicle, well documented repair records. I have tried to carry on this tradition
-Had trans serviced at 120k miles. Mechanic said everything looked good.

Issues fixed since I've owned it (~5yrs):
-ALL three 4WD shifting issues corrected at once: points on top of transfer case replaced, the shifter cable was eaten apart by battery corrosion and the vacuum lines that control the 4WD shifter replaced.
-Ball joints replaced
-Heater core replaced after dumping antifreeze into the floor for months!
-Driver's side radiator "tank" replaced (plastic ones) - related to heater core incident.
-New fuel pump + filter


Replacement Parts (stuff I know I'll just have to replace, no avoiding it):
-Window motors (at least 2, maybe all 4) - Is there a preferred brand window motor? the stock ones are awfully slow...
-Shocks - I can live with less than perfect suspension, but it's probably time for new ones.
-Starter - current one is beginning to drag, turns over most of the time, but cold weather will take its toll!


Longer term fixes:
-External differential seal/gasket (rear) cracked - VERRRRY slow leak. A GM mechanic told me these diffs have a crush-seal (or something like that) at the front which an inexperienced mechanic may break upon differential work and not realize. Anyway, it leaks incredibly slowly and I'm not worried about it now, hopefully it won't get worse! I, foolishly, let it run out and the singing it made alerted me to the issue.
-The springs are straightening out. I don't know if this is cause for concern or not. It squats down considerably in the back. I guess this is normal for blazers.

Puzzlers (I don't know what to do, stumped):

-About 4 months ago, I noticed my washer fluid sprayers weren't spraying anything when I pressed the buttons. I checked to make sure the washer fluid was topped off. Still nothing - front or rear. Then, everytime I'd turn on the front washers, it would blow a fuse before the wipers could make it a full revolution (about 1/2 way up the windshield). Curious, I changed the wiper fuse and tried it again. Blew another. Tried again and it blew another and a sizzling noise and a small, short puff of smoke came out of the steering column at the signal lever. Haven't used it since.
-Last weekend, returning to the University, I had been driving about 20 mins with the fan blowing cool air in on high. Suddenly, a familiar short puff of smoke came out from behind the AC controls panel. I had music on so I couldn't hear anything else happening. I turned the heater on last night a little and it worked some, but I wasn't in the mood to wreck something else.

-Vacuum lines (rehooking?) - when i turn my AC controls on or off to any setting I can hear the vacuum lines behind the controls leaking air (it's quite loud). They still work to some degree, but it is limited and I wish it was full capacity. I'm not sure how to take the AC control panel off to hook the hoses back up or if that's the right course of action.

I have read several threads, but some of my issues seem to be slightly different. All thoughts are appreciated as I begin some much needed repair work! Thanks in advance!

 

You say you can hear the vacuum lines leaking...does it go on continually or just for a short burst...3-4 secs. If it makes the sound for just a short time that's usual, it's just the actuation of the baffle, if it's steady, you've either got a bad hose or more likely 1 line has come off. It's really hard to try and explain things like the removal / installation of the A/C controls, etc. without a visual reference. I have a cheap Haynes manual plus the factory repair manual for my '86 S10 Blazer and there is no comparison to the two. If you plan on spending any amount of time repairing all those little problems yourself the factory manual is priceless. The Haynes ( or Chiltons ) are too generic, they usually cover anywhere from 5-10 model years and the pictures never seem to be what you see on your truck..lol...figures. Just for reference, I looked in my factory manual and they have 9 pages devoted to the repair / replacement of the A/C controls alone. All with great pictures and model-specific instructions.
Have a look on EBay, I've seen factory manuals for all kinds of vehicles there. Also, there's a good chance your local dealership could get you a new copy but that would be expensive...the factory manuals are usually in the 90-130 bucks range. Good luck.