Hi guys! I hope you can help me! I have a 2000 Blazer and have but more money in this thing in the past 4 months and things continue to get worse. After much reading I've decided its either the MAF or the catalytic converter.

First let me explain why I think that. It all started one day when the battery died. A jump start, started it right up. Was fine for a few days and then required another jump. We changed the battery and continued to have the same problem. It was very random. It could sit for a week and start no problem and then you could drive it and 10 mins later it wouldnt start. So the days it wouldnt start and i did not have anyone to help jump start we used a battery charger and it started perfect every time.

After about a year of this and progressing to jump starting it nearly every morning i put it in the shop. My thought was battery cables. Mechanic said no way, its your fuel regulator. I told him that made no sense at all to me and he fed me a line about extra power would send more gas and help it work??? So $960 and 2 days later because he said the right front hub assembly also had to be replaced. I go to pick up the truck and its doing the EXACT same thing! After 3 attempts it starts and I think its a fluke until the next day I try to start it and it wont turn over at all. They tow it back and 3 WEEKS and many parts later they say its the fuel pump. I did throw a fit (I am girl :-) ! )about them checking the battery cables since they said they could only start it if it had a constant 14.2 voltage?

All is good for 2 days when I stopped for gas the truck is running horrible. Check engine light on and flashing. Back to the shop it goes. They don't see a problem and say its runs fine! BS!! I take it to another shop and their they change fuel filter spark plugs ($180) and say the machine tells them its a random misfire. They want to take engine apart to find the valve causing it.... NOT happening! We replaced distributor cap ourselves. I have read alot on this forum and others and read some of the same problems Im having others have had and it seems to be related to the MAF or cat converter for them. Im sick of feeling like these mechanics are trying to take advantage of me and this seems to be a pretty easy part to remove/replace.
Forgot to mention the problem. It has no power. Loses acceleration going up hill and takes forever to speed up. Have to keep pedal floored to get it to go. It sputters and acts like it wants to stall.

My question is can I disconnect/remove the MAF and still drive the truck? If I remove it and it runs better then thats my answer it needs to be replaced? If there is no change in performance, then thats not my problem and I should look at CC? I dont have a way to test it. Can AutoZone or a place like that check it for me? I appreciate any and all help!

Sorry this is so long!
Annie

 

You can dissconnect the maf and drive it to see if it helps. If it does then it just needs to be cleaned with maf spray cleaner. What codes did it throw? You can also diagnos the fuel problems, there's a really good write up in the diy section. Its a really easy procedure.

Hope that helps.

 

Thanks for your quick response!

I dont know the code. He did not tell me exactly just that the code they got meant random misfire. My gut tells me that they messed something up while trying to diagnose the random starting. They replaced something on the crank shaft to give it more power to start and many other things, that did not work. When they changed the fuel regulator and then a few weeks later changed the fuel pump they never changed the fuel filter. That wasnt changed until this new problem started. At first we thought it was bad fuel since it started at the gas station immediately after filling up. The whole thing is extremely frustrating!

 

alrighty..1st thing is at least you got the spider(fuel regulator) changed,they are going to go out anyways. maybe thats some good news for you? lol

2nd thing is you said it ran fine,just didnt crank,then they did the pump and now it started running bad in general? If they didnt replace the pump with a genuine ac delco pump,its gonna die out or cause problems. These blazers pitches fits with aftermarket pumps,which i guarantee they used.


Go to advance auto or autozone,and rent a "fuel pressure tester" its free to use,but you gotta leave the retail price deposit incase you dont bring it back. You get 100% money back when you are done with it. Checking fuel pressure is easy,you gotta find the right adapter in the kit which you can find using the book it comes with. You attach it to a fuel nipple on the fuel line behind the engine and turn on the key. if it reads less then 55 psi and drops below that,the pump or regulators bad,which i bet it'll be the pump. you're blazer needs 60 psi to run.

For the maf sensor you can get a can of maf cleaner for $5 and spray it all inside the cone area and let it dry. Dont use brake cleaner or throttle body cleaner if they try to sell that to you.

For the cat converter wait until its dark outside. then go for a ride. Drive the blazer hard for about 10 minutes and then pull over in a parking lot or home,leave it running,get out and look at it. Is it glowing any shades of red? if so its bad. if not? move onto the next step.


these guys took you for a loop,or either didnt know what they were doing in the 1st place. the misfire code is probally due to the pump if its not ignition related. Send me a pm if you need some more help.

 

I agree with the above post. I would start by unpluging the maf and driving it, if it helps its just a simple clean. I like to look at the easiest solution first.
You may need to replace the spark plugs with ac delco. What brand of cap and rotor did you put on? It seems like any brand other than declo will give these trucks random misfire.
You may also want to clean the egr valve. But start with the maf.

 

Dont forget EGR valve, guys... otherwise what they said!
Annie, you need to ask around and get another shop.

 

Thanks for all the advice! I am quite proud of myself today! I disconnected the MAF and drove to Advance Auto. I did notice some improvement in the acceleration. Not much but some. The check engine light is still on but now it does not blink. YAY!
I did buy MAF cleaner (yes they tried to sell me something else). I also bought a air filter. Figured since I was there might as well take the extra step and change that too. Since I did see a slight improvement I think I should replace the MAF anyway. But my next focus is to check the fuel pressure. My advance doesnt rent testers out. I'd hate to buy it for just a one time use. If all checks out there I will focus on the cat converter. I was quoted about $500 for the converter!! Yikes!

So now my dumb question... What is a EGR valve??

I dont remember the brand cap we put on.

Chris he didnt know what he was doing. And he changed the regulator 3 times and finally went with one from the dealer. I can only take his word for it. At the time I didnt know to request certain brands or ask what they used. Hard lesson learned! Took 4 weeks to figure out to change fuel pump. They even said they called Master Tech at Chevy dealership and was told they have never encountered a problem like mine.

Pettyfog I agree! Thats why Im trying all this myself this time. I have been to 4 shops and seem to get taken advantage of. It seems quite difficult to find someone trustworthy around here.

 

Annie just clean the MAF, no point in replacing it till you get the problem totally fixed otherwise..

If your engine light is on, what is the code{s}. Have advance or autozone pull them... and bring back the codes, not the definitions, please. They are a letter and 4 numbers example 'P0300'

Also anytime you want to know about something like where {or what} is the EGR on the blazer 4.3L just type it in the google search box..
where is the EGR on a 2000 blazer 4.3
will get you
https://www.google.com/search?q=wher...000+blazer+4.3
Then if you click 'images' atop that results page.. voila! Thumbnails for what you want .. most of the time.
The first one happens to be what it sort of looks like,



the second is where it is located

 

glad things are getting better. If possible,call whoever installed the pump and find out what brand they use for pumps etc.

Like pettyfog said,dont buy a maf sensor,1. they are super expensive and 2,they normally just get dirty.

 

You only need to spray the wires in the maf sensor. Becareful they are very fragile! To clean the egr, just remove the wire connection then unbolt it from the truck. Carb cleaner will do the trick. Don't let the electrical part get wet though. Spray some in it and take a wire brush to it.

When you replace it, be sure to get the gasket with a screen in it. A swivel head adaptor makes it easy to get the bolts off. Otherwise they can be tricky. To get them back on easily, take a small piece of paper towel and lay it over the socket then put the bolt head in the socket. The paper towel helps hold it in place so the bolt doesn't come out of the socket.

500 seems pretty high for a cat. Look on ebay for a weld on cat and take it to a muffler shop and have them weld it on. Should be much cheaper. Hope that helps.