Ok, 1996 Blazer 4 door 4X4 automatic Vortec V6. Got it free from my little bro. Only need it til March when I move back to Cali, then I'm selling it. To get through this ridiculous Northern Indiana winter I want to fix these little problems.

1. Wipers juice wont spray out. The rear washer works, the front dont. I tried swapping the little motors (since I dont really need the rear one) and it didn't work. Tried blowing thru the hose and it bubbled so I know it's not a bad line. Also the little nozzles on the hood are open and ok. Anyone know a quick fix???

2. When you put it into Drive it takes like 3-4 seconds to engage. At 50MPH the acceleration sputters but then you hit about 56MPH it evens back out.

3. Heater. Fuse is fine. Blows lightly and works when it wants to.

4. Transmission: bro said you gotta add fluid every month or so but heres the deal- It's OVER the full crosshatch line and unless you overfill the thing ALOT the trans will slip and make funny sounds etc. What's up?

5. Power Steering Fluid: Sameas problem # 4.^^

Any advice would be appreciated. I only need this thing for 2 1/2 more months so it's not too crucial, it still drives and gets me where I gotta go. Even used the 4x4 this morning in the crazy snow.

 

ONE MORE THING...

When you open the hood theres a black plastic ball mounted on the hood on the right corner by the firewall, what is it? The hose going to it was dryrotted and i heard a sucking sound. I threw a new hose on but the plastic nipple on the ball broke off (it was like 10 degrees outside). I just filled the vac hose hole with a screw (old trick) to shut it up for now. Is this ball a very crucial part?
PS- Runs fine with or without the hose, but when I plugge dthe hose with the screw it seemed to idle better now.

 

The ball is a vacuum reservior. It stores vacuum so that the vacuum powered accesories will still work when the engine isn't producing a lot of vacuum pressure. You should attempt to repair or replace it as the HVAC system and 4wd actuator on the front axle are powered by vacuum diaphrams.

On your other issues...

#1 - I would test for power at the pump for the front. It could be something wrong with the multifunction switch in the steering column, not passing power through to the pump when you request for spray.

#2 - hmm.. I'll have to think on that

#3 - So you are saying that the blower motor doesn't blow on all of the modes? What does it do at each of the steps in the speed adjustment on the HVAC head? It is possible that this problem is caused by the vacuum reservior not being connected.

#4 - Doesn't sound good for the transmission...

#5 - Again, doesn't sound good for the PS pump either. You shouldn't over fill either of these systems.

 

Thanks swartlkk!
1- I did test the power and they both put out. Problem is for some reason even when I switched plug connectors the good motor (for the rear washer) wont work when placed at the bottom of the resevoir. I give up on it for now.

3- The air comes out but it's only after the car has been on for a while. All the modes work but the air just don't blow out hard, it kinda just seeps out. This was the case long before the vac suction problem.

4- If the transmission is not over-full the trans makes all kinds of noise and slips really bad. If it's waaay past the "full" notch the trans works perfectly fine. Bro said this has been like this for years.

5- Same as #4.

The ball vacuum reservoir don't really seem to effect anything. 4X4 works great, engine runs great. However I did plug it just because it seems a little smoother at idle this way. I dont wanna put any un-needed money into it as long as it dont ultimately effect anything. Like I said I only need it for a few months, the wiper thing and th eheat are my main probs just cuz all the snow here and it's always cold.

 

Here are some more ideas:
1- connect a test light/voltmeter to the wiper motor contacts, and place it into position, then test. It might be that there are frayed wires inside the harness that intermittently make contact, and when you mount the pump they are open.
2 - is likely related to 4. The sputtering at 50MPH is when the TCC engages, does the truck also sputter under heavy acceleration?
3- check the blower motor bearings? Power to motor?
4- Are you checking the level with the truck running? Was the dipstick changed? Could be that the trans filter is missing, or has come off / is loose in the suction port in the pan. The trans fluid might not be reaching the suction port in this case, trans pump might be cavitating or running dry.
5 - no real ideas here... what color is the PS fluid? Clear or black? If it's black you might need to suck it all out and replace.

 

That's just it, when I accelerate hard it goes like hell with no sputter. Just when the speedo hits 50 under normal driving conditions does it start to "jerk."

The mechanic told my bro unless he wants a huge labor bill and plans on keeping the car a long timeto tear apart the trans that he could keep adding fluid. It's got a slow leak.

PS fluid is clearish-brown? more clear than brown/black though.

I dont have a voltmeter and I really think it's just that both motors are dead. One of them made a noise then slowly got quiet and that's it.

I was just looking for some cheap fixes. Maybe I'll just RainX the thing to death and maybe that will help with the salt sticking?

 

Make sure that the hose from the washer pump is NOT being kinked in any sort of way by the airbox assembly pieces(i had an issue with this last summer..took awhile to find that culprit.
If that isn't it..a new one/junk yard pump for the meanwhile till spring.
My '95 Blazer was taking a few seconds to do it's shifting like yours,took to shop,they say it's all burned up inside there,and yippee another $2800 out the pooper!Thats now $5000 on this stupid GMC,last one for this poster for dam certain!

 

Fix your vacuum leak.
It controls your heat, your engine timing, your tranny, and just about everything. Dryrotted hose, replace them all and YEES replace that vacuum ball. IT IS IMPORTANT!!!!!!

As for the tranny leak, not good. Where is it leaking from?

Pull out the top plug in the t-case, do you get a gusher of fluid, if so your tranny fluid is filling up your t-case, and if your vacuum switch in teh t-case is bad, the tranny fluid could be traveling up it into your HVAC system, and even into the engine.

FIX YOUR VACUUM SYSTEM.
FIND THAT TRANNY LEAK.

 

Wow! I know I sound stupid here, but I never knew a car to be so reliant on vacuum[:-]
I'll go to the boneyard Saturday and get a new vacuum ball and check all the hoses.
As far as checking the transfer case, I'm not really good with engines and transmissions, I'm decent with everything eles though so I guess I'll check and replace any bad vac hoses and see what happens. This forum is mega helpful! Thanks you guys! (and girls)!

 

Only stupid questions is one not asked.
We all didn't know jack about vehicles coming out of hte womb.

Vacuum is pretty important, and yes a lot of systems depend on it.
On the back side of your t-case are two plugs/bolts. They are about 1" in size. The top one is a fill plug, the bottomw one is a drain plug. Take the top one out, if you have a trickle of fluid, your good to go. If its any more then that you more then likely have a leaking t-case input seal. Failure to replace that $5 part will lead to ohter problems, how big and how costly depend on how long you let it go. Its important you check. if you lose too much tranny fluid, you could be looking at a tranny rebuild, now we are getting into some coin.