Many things to cover here. This is a ramble, it would be funny if it were not so serious, it should be under the "Dark Humor" category! But you guys don't have one...

Thanks to you of this forum, especially to Kyle, (Kyle, I hope GM has sent you a check or two, everywhere I look you are there helping owners of their, -GM's, -vehicles), I have conquered the R&R problems and replaced my haz./turn/cruise assembly, and now have the use of those luxury items.

This Bravada has been an interesting experience, a lot of good, but too much bad, and I had the unpleasant experience of doing business with a seriously criminal dealership who sold me this little truck under false promises. I was the owner of a dying Jeep, had a short notice trip to make, knew I now wanted AWD, and though I had not heard of GM offereing this, I thought I was dealing with a rational, trustworthy, semi-honest dealer, Anderson on Amelia Island FL now of Yulee. Nothing could be further from the truth, they are criminals, crooks, slimeballs, dirtbags, etc., etc., etc. The vehicle was sold to me as "All wheel drive", a misnomer they stuck with, -even the service manager used it for years while he replaced two radiators, three heater cores, and some other stuff my mind has thankfully forgotten. I refuse to believe they are that stupid, I believe instead they are human garbage. They took my premium price-level purchase, -I was rushed, took them at their word, (Caveat Emptor; what the h*** could that mean?).

Even the owner's daughter, as she drove off in a $100K Corvette, told me to get lost.

But, somehow, I have come to admire and enjoy the vehicle itself and the small but utility-grade CONCEPT of this Blazer/Jimmy/Bravada. Even though the auto-sensing, auto-engaging 4WD, (only distantly related to "Full time ALL WHEEL DRIVE"), quit a year or so ago at 1:00 AM on a cold beach. After a re-start, the fronts worked long enough to dig in to the subterranian depths of the rears. Long night, AAA was a disappointment, took $200.00 cash to an independent to get a decent tow. Strangely the 4WD worked again, as soon as I was towed 10 feet, then after I left the beach, I checked the next day. It never worked again. That will be another project.

WEIRD things this car has done recently:
1. Once - I had to brake with maximun effort at an intersection traffic light; the car had decided to maintain full throttle with no pedal.

2. Twice - I had to use full pedal, (WOT, we called it at GM's Desert Proving Grounds, wher I was a test driver many eons ago), just to keep it running at about 300 rpm.

3. I finally found out that I coulod kill the headlights by pushing the interior light defeat switch four times in quick sequence.

4. Driver window quit working in the down position, the began working after a re-start.

5. One day, I twisted the key to "Off", removed it, started to get out of the car, and realized it was still happily running! I could find no procedure to shut it down. Finally, I unhooked the (-) terminal from Mr. Battery.

6. A spaceship lifted it up to the mothership, it came down a different color, though still ******-up in general.

OK, I made that last one up.

Based on the actual symptoms, is there any hope?

Bruce Hinton

 

I know I have been guilty once or twice of not moving my foot fully over to the brake pedal and also touching the gas pedal. If you know for sure that was not the case in your problem #1, then I would inspect the throttle cable for binding and signs of kinking under hood.

#2 could be a faulty or failing TPS sensor, a dirty MAF sensor, clogged EGR valve, and a number of other things... Hard to say without diagnosing the condition when it happens or without codes.

#3 is normal. It is the DRL/autoheadlight disable procedure.

#4 sounds like a weak motor, a misaligned track, or an intermittent fault in the window switch or related wiring.

#5 is very unusual, but could result from a faulty or stuck ignition switch.

#6, well, that would explain a few things! LOL

 

That's why I say "possessed". I jumped out and twisted the throttle shut to bring the rpm down. Drove it without touching the throttle pedal, into a parking lot across the intersection, (officer watching, wondering if he should have let me do that), shut down the car.

Upon restart, it acted normally and never did it again. I assume the electronic gremlins, had infested the cruise diaphragm's controller, and then left to go check out the, - previously and since, - perfectly functioning driver's window.

If I can get it running again, (fuel pressure check today, filter changed about 3000 mi ago), I will get a full error code list and see what it knows about itself.

Reminds me of the phrase, "I'm not sure I understand all I know about this"!

Bye for now,
Bruce