Hi
I have a 1999 Blazer and have had some acceleration problemsfor the past 2 years

It first started as a hesitation when driving on the highway... thought it was minor issues..and had a tuneup...never noticed after that... Then a year later I was driving on the highway for 2 hours and went to pass a car and my passing gear died... I was able to maintain speed at 100 all the way home for another hour... but could not accelerate any higher than that. (I have not taken on a roadtrip since). Now, a year later.... 90% of the time at startup... if I don't let it run for about a minute... as soon as I start driving... it hesitates.. I can floor it and it will not gain any speed past about 10Kmh and it will start jogging/jolting for about 15seconds then all of a sudden the acceleration is completely back in full gear as if nothing is wrong.


Now I want to take it into the shop and tell them what is wrong, so they don't give me the run around...so if someone could tell me what is wrongand what the average cost of repair is, I would greatly appreciate it

Thanks

 

Ever changed the fuel filter? No fuel = lousy acceleration because you're calling for more gas in a hurry. If it can't get through the filter, you get hesitation.

I don't know that your symptoms match well, though.

Next question: have you pulled the codes or had an AutoZone do so? That's the first thing the dealer will do.

 

Hi,

I was thinking it was the fuel filter or injectors or something... when I took it in to the shop though.. they said the fuel filter was fine... It may have been changed at some point anyways...can't remember, but this wasn't the cause. I took it into the shop before and they said that they don't know what is wrong and would charge me $200 to put it on the scope but couldn't guarantee that they would know from there either... so I would be out $200 without a fix if so. This was when it first started... and they money has not been available to us for questionable repairs... we need to know what is wrong and then be able to have the money available to repair...without spending $200 for nothing.

We are planning to sell.. and eventually will need to fix this...but I was hoping this symptom was a common problem that the blazer has and I could have the heads up prior to the repair. I have found that going to the repair shop with the probable cause has saved me from being scammed...been fortunate so far.

thanks

 

I'd start out by pulling the EGR valve and giving it a good cleaning. Pull off the TB and clean it up really well. Also, remove and disassemble the MAF sensor and clean the elements on it VERY CAREFULLY. You could run some injector cleaner (I prefer Chevron w/ Techron) through a few tanks (ie. put a bottle in and fill up the tank, then repeat when you fill up for the next few tank fulls)... See where that gets ya.

Also, when you did your tune up, did you replace or check the cap/rotor?

 

Hi, I don't think that was done with the tune up... just the standard... oil/air/fuel/plugs/lube... etc... As for your suggestions... I will have to pass that off to my husband...even though i do know quite abit about autos, I'd say quite abit more than the average woman... I do not know how to do what you suggest. My husband and brother-in-law would be able to do that though. But I do think it might be a little more than that... I thought it may be fuel injectors/pump... maybe an oxygen chip was suggested to me...or even may be something electrical, I only suggest that because I have noticed some other things (fan and signals) electrical wise acting up around the same time the acceleration was. I don't believe it is the tranny or timing. I still for some reason think it is the injector/pump.

But thanks for the suggestions...we will give that a shot this week.

Thanks

 

Well, I usually start with the free suggestions that won't hurt a thing to do. Once those are done, we can diagnose further.

If it were an O2 sensor, you should be getting a code.

 

Hi,

Every 4 months or so... I get a service engine soon light... goes away within a day...(sorry... we have not been able to afford up keep on this vehicle which has caused some neglect).... usually happens when I am running on empty. Maybe it is the O2. Is that expensive?

In regards to the previous postings...... I think our electrical problems were caused by a dying alternator...which we just rebuilt...haven't had any electrical issues since...but it was only a month ago. And I think my husband replaced the fuel filter at that time too.

tx

 

The service light in my 97 Blazer will occaisionally go on and seems to stay on for maybe a few days at most. I do think that there may be some kind of connection with having excessive moisture in the fuel tank from condensation both from the service station tanks as well as the cars tank to make that dash light go on. Just a few weeks ago when it last happenedI added a bottle of dry gas on my next fill up, made sure the cas cap was secured tight with the click sound and within 2 days of doing just that it went off and hasn't come on since.
You might also want to concider changing the PCV valve at this time if you haven't done so in the recent past. PVC valve isshould beless than $10.00
Good Luck..... Skoot

 

The TB position sensor may have misfunctions. This is a cheap spare and very easy to swap. If the TB butterfly position is being read as "close" when in fact is open the PCM will adjust the injectors, fuel curve, whatever. The part is mechanical and it can fail. If you are going to do trial and error, include this.

 

This might sound really weird but it might be the cat is bad. My car was doing somewhat of the same deal, if you raise your car up like on a lift or jacks and hit the exhaust you might hear some ratteling around, Thats what i did and then just cleared the cat out and it runs like a champ now. But i did the same thing on the highway, i couldnt pass anyone and it was just bogged and didnt know what gear to be in and it was really messed up, killed my gas milage too.