Hi All,

Long time reader, first time poster. Sorry in advance for the picture size.

I've searched the forums and have found some relevant threads, but I still have some questions.

Ok, so my 2001 Blazer is doing great after ~110k miles (other than having replaced all the ball joints twice and the idler arm and the pitman arm and some tie rods...), and I'm gearing up for a summer roadtrip of about 10k miles in about 8 weeks.

Problem 1: The cover of my passenger vanity mirror broke off. I wouldn't care except that the cover, when closed, holds down a switch that keeps the light off. As is, the light is constantly on. I took my girlfriend' hairband and wrapped the owner's manual around the cover to keep the switch depressed for now. Any good fixes for this? Ideally, I could replace the visor, but I was told that the part alone is over $100.

Pics as promised:
http://img153.imageshack.us/img153/9084/mirrors.jpg
http://img691.imageshack.us/img691/6...rrormanual.jpg

Problem 2: So that I don't get strangled by my girlfriend, I'm supposed to fix the "whoosh" sound of air flowing in the (ostensibly closed) passenger window. I guess over 10k miles, that would get annoying.

All relevant threads suggest checking the door for sagging, and if there's a sag, replacing the pins and bushings. But this has usually been in the context of *both* water and air getting in. I've never had a water issue, only air. It's only the passenger door, and it's done so for probably 40-50k miles.

My driver's door had a really bad sag (but no water/air leak), so I replaced the pins and bushings. The holes for the bushings were bored (?) out (i.e., the holes were way bigger than they were supposed to be), so I had to fill them with quick steel (one of these "hey, mix two tubes of gunk, let set, and it's steel!). The door still sags, but not too bad, and the horrible squeak is gone.

The other option is weatherstripping? What else? If it were worn weatherstripping, is there an easy way to test this? And I am a DIY-er, but I actually had a real hard time with my driver's door. I'm renting right now and don't have a garage or really anyplace good to rig something up to keep my door off the ground. What would replacing the pins/bushings run me at a local body shop/mechanic?

Pics of driver's side door sag & pins (you can probably see the quiksteel):
http://img179.imageshack.us/img179/2562/ddoor.jpg
http://img101.imageshack.us/img101/705/dupperpin.jpg
http://img220.imageshack.us/img220/886/dlowerpin.jpg



Pics of passenger door sag & pins (which look totally fine I think, but...):
http://img514.imageshack.us/img514/9730/pdoor1.jpg
http://img522.imageshack.us/img522/8909/pupperpin.jpg
http://img339.imageshack.us/img339/8523/plowerpin.jpg

Thanks so much in advance!

-bkw

 

Change those door pins on the passenger side. It may not solve the problem you have (or maybe it will), but it will prevent it getting to the point your drivers door is at. In the pictures, the bushing looks completely wasted!

 

to test the weatherstripping you grab a dollar bill (perferabally a $1 bill in case it rips) and roll down the window and close the dollar bill between the door and the body of the truck then grap each side of the dollar bill with both hands and move the bill along the permitier of the door and where the dollar bill has no tension on it the weather stripping is bad and either has to be replaced or put some of that stick on weatherstripping over the old stripping ( http://www.carparts.com/wcsstore/car...8607G_SW_1.jpg ) and if its all tight with the dollar bill then its either your glass window not seating rigt or the winshield (very rare).

 

Follow-up:

Thanks for the comments. I ordered a new set of sun visors off ebay for around $40. I could have held out for something cheaper, but that was the fastest way to get the job done at a reasonable (read: less than the dealer would charge) price. Note: when you unscrew the visor, there are wires with an electrical connector. To replace your visor, do so at the electrical connector. No splicing of wires required. However, the EC clips together, and it was kind of a pain to get it apart again. I was worried I'd break the plastic in the process, but I didn't.

And re: the whoosh sound of air coming in, I put some new weatherstripping on both doors, and I now have a nice quiet ride. Of course, both doors still sag, so I'll have to replace pins and bushings in both doors. The holes for the bushings are now ovals, so I'll try to drill them out and use bigger bushings. The estimate from 2 body shops for this work was upwards of $600 for both doors (that is, $300+ each door). No thanks, I'll give it a whirl.

Fixed the "front end" rattle recently by adding the hood hinge conical washers (12383460) to my hood hinges. That was awesome. (cf. https://blazerforum.com/forum/2nd-generation-s-series-1995-2005-tech-41/rattle-clunking-noise-7145/)

Tomorrow, I'm getting her a tune-up (new spark plugs and wires), tires, and an alignment. She's going to be good as new by the end of the month, when we embark on the 10k mile trip!