Ok guys, I decided to break this question away from my original thread "Another fuel related question....." as that issue has now been resolved (thanks to everyone) but I find myself upon another journey I fear...

Before the snow came the blazer was running fine, kept in garage started no problems. Then I parked it outside for the snow and here comes the issue.

Day 1) 25 oF weather, It cranked for about 5 seconds, trying to start, after about the third time it started, but it misfires bad and the idle was rough, I thought it would smooth out when warmed up, but it didn't, at idle I thought it was going to stop if I didn't give it some gas.

Day 2) 10oF so I left it for one more cold day and night, then tried it again yesterday and it would not start. Even tried with starter fluid but nothing, except for a few fires and some pops. It tries so hard to start and if I hold the key trying to start it fires and stops, then fire and stops, its so close in starting.

Day 3) 25oF Went out checked the battery, only 70% so I charged, removed the charger and it fired straight up and I let it idle and run for 30mins. Shut it off, and immediately tried to start it, no problems.

Day 4 (today) 22oF I thought I would make a quick trip to the gas station for some milk when it would not start again, checked battery 95%, sounds good, then tried to start and the same happened, I mean exactly like day 2. Ahhhhh!


Are the blazers prone to cold weather starting issues? Could moisture have got into the distributor / computer or wiring to cause it not to start somedays. I guess anything is a possibility. Here is a list of new parts installed in the past 6 weeks.

1) Fuel Pump
2) Dist Cap
3) Leads, Plugs
4) Spider Assembly (Including Regulator and fuel lines)
5) Battery
6) EGR Valve Cleaned
7) All Gaskets

I have checked the Fuel and it reads ~60psi.

Should I be concerned that the computer is going out?

I really don’t understand the difference between one day to the next, at this rate I will be able to use it every other day. So tomorrow should be a starting day for the blazer...ahhhh!

How can it run perfectly in the good weather and then at the first sign of snow all these issues come up. Am I missing something simple here. Would a block heater help the situation?

Any help would be appreciated, lets see what the forum can dig up...
Ryan.

 

Does it start EVERY time its jumped?

My roommate just had a problem with this but it was a bad cell in the battery.

 

Unfortunatley no, it makes no different. I tried jumping (should have included that sorry) on the days it didn't start using the wifes explorer, but it doesn't like it either. The battery is brand new, maybe I should try and exchange the new battery I just purchased with another one and see if that makes a difference.
I guess this will then rule out the battery.

 

so....just as I predicted.

Day 5) Started no probelm at 29oF weather.

At this rate it starts every-other day and only above 25oF weather.

Once I figure this out I will post a reply and let everyone know as it looks as though this is a unique problem.

 

I dont understand why it wo=il only start above 25, I know the 4.3's are notorious for producing ALOT of internal condenstation but I dont think that has anything to do with it. Have you checked all the connectors and wires to make sure its all decent under the hood?

 

Have you figured out what is wrong with your blazer? I have been experiencing the same exact problem. I also just replaced my battery with one that has a higher CCA rating, and still nothing.
I just took my truck on a 1200 mile roadtrip last week and I had no problems at all with it. The moment the freezing cold weather came in this week my truck just doesn't seem to want to start in the morning or at night when I get out of work.
The only difference with my situation and yours is that once my truck has run, it will start again no problem until it is shut off for a few hours, then it will have a hard time starting again. I've checked the cables from the battery they are in great shape. I even put that conductive grease-like stuff to protect the battery terminals from corroding when I replaced the battery.

I looked through the list of things you replaced and did NOT see a new inline fuel filter. That's what I'm thinking my problem is. I'm replacing mine in the next few days and will let you know if that solves the problem.

 

UPDATE:

I gave in and decided that it was too much trouble to replace my fuel filter in my driveway while it was below freezing temps, so I had a shop do it. I couldn't believe the amount of crud that came out of that filter - black sludgy gunk! It took them almost 2 hours to replace the filter thanks to all the corrosion in the bolts - I live in Upstate NY and salt does wonders for your truck! I was real glad that it was them in the pit for that long rather than me freezing on my back under the truck in my driveway.

Lo and behold, the truck was much easier to start this morning!.... although it was also above freezing today. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that the filter was the culprit of my cold start issue.

 

Yea rusty bolts and nuts can do that, what I found was that if I plan on working on my blazer I wd-40 all the bolts I will need to take off a day or two before I start the project. I found that this works wonders beyond what you believe.

 

Hi all,

Thanks for the help, but I have seemed to have solved the problem. I thought I would post a reply to my own thread just so if someone else were to come across it, in a search and they had thesame symptoms as least they could get a potential answer.

The answer was the moisture / water in the fuel, everytime it would get below freezing the water in the line would freeze, hard may it seem, but that was the issue. I drained the tank and put new fresh fuel in with a bottle of "Heat" just for good measure and now it starts at whatever temp. It got down to Zero herethe other night and I went out at 1am to see if it would start, and no probelm started straight up.

Thanks.

 

I have a 1995 Blazer 4x4 that has been slow to start since cold weather has hit. Always cranks over, but doesn't "take" until three or four attempts. Finally tonight after work, temp 2 degrees, 9pm it just wouldn't start. Cranks over, tried for 20 min but didn't want to totally drain battery. Too cold and too dark to examine anything. Got a ride and left it in the parking lot. My guess is "fuel" not "fire". Have full tank of gas, but did put a can of seafoam in a few days ago. (Because of the hard starting). Any suggestions would be appreciated