97 Blazer piece of crap that it is, dies in driveway. Noticed battery light comes on. Puts big drain on battery when trying to start. Changed fuel filter, that's not the problem. Wants to start...kills battery trying. Charged battery overnite but still won't start. Could this be an alternator issue??? Any info would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

 

Try tightening your battery cables.

After that, bring the alternator in to autozone or whatever shop you have near you and they'll test it to see if it's bad.

 

Before tightening the terminals, first pull them off and make sure that they are clean.

And yes, you should have the alternator and the battery both tested. A cracked plate in the battery can cause all kinds of issues.

 

terminals are tight and clean...that was my first thought

 

Ok...alternator is good...battery is good...fuel filter is new...now what? Frustrating as this is, I need my vehicle...lol

 

How about your ground wires? Those might be corroded (at the frame and firewall)

 

What about the starter? sounds to me like the starter is dead/dying when you say it puts a big drain on the system when trying to start. Autozone or the like can test starters as well.

 

It cranks, so it's not the starter or battery. With a new fuel filter, chances are it's not fuel - and after cranking if you can smell raw gas, you know it's not fuel.

You need three things to start: air, fuel and spark. Of the three, spark is the most common problem. (But make sure the air filter isn't plugged.)

Have you pulled a plug wire at the cap while cranking, to see if you're getting spark to the plugs? If no spark, you know more about the problem.

If I'm missing something and this will damage the ignition, someone please correct me. I'm not aware this causes any problems on the Blazers.