Blazer Forum - Chevy Blazer Forums - My toy, my wifes nightmare

I purchased a 1989 K5 while I was out of the country on Craigslist. It appeared to be ok but after returning to the US I started finding issues. I will attempt to share them so we can all have a good laugh and maybe on occasion someone might benefit from my torture. You might also expect I will be having questions along the way.

For starters, I purchased the Blazer from a fellow about an hour outside of Shreveport LA. My brother gave it the once over and said it's great and I should buy it. This is where my journey began.

First trip in the US I drove the Blazer about 130 miles from Dallas to East Texas. All was well with the exception of my 8 MPG. Noticed the rims were not in very good shape but the tires were ok. Replaced the aftermarkets that were on the Blazer with a set of Dick Cepek DC-2’s. Ordered a fifth wheel and additional tire so I will have a full size spare.

Home two days then decided to drive to Amarillo Texas from Palestine, should take about 16 hours best guess. Five hours into my journey I hear a loud clanking noise and pulled over. All seemed well so I tried to continue my drive only to find the problem was getting worse. Because it was already after midnight I decided to pack it in for the night just outside Dallas. Next morning found my rear end had crapped out and it would need to be replaced. Back on the road….

The following day I arrived in Amarillo Texas and my starter decided it wanted to go on vacation, simple fix… back on the road. Two days in Amarillo and back to East Texas I go…..

Arrive in East Texas and on the way to pick up a trailer to tow my worldly possessions to Charleston SC. My Blazer notices a radiator shop it appears to like and decides it a good time to have the radiator blow up. Another quick fix and a couple more hundred dollar bills and I am back on the road….

Managed to make it three days without issue…. All is not as it seems…… Pulling into South Carolina and its pretty late my buddy and I are about dead to the world just wanting to finish our trip when suddenly my Blazer decides the engine needs a nap. Pull into a service station and let the demon cool off. It doesn’t want to be disturbed but I floor it to choke it out and it putters back to life. After a few minutes of clanking and cluttering all seems well. Back on the road we go. Pulling into Charleston it starts acting silly again but when I floor it the engine seems to spit the crap from its lungs and purrs back to life. Following day I head to AutoZone to pick up some treat for my Blazer and wouldn’t you know it, the voodoo witch strike again, Lucifer won’t start. I put the go peddle to the floor and Chucky starts spitting out deep dark clouds of black smoke and protests the thought of a properly running engine. Some grease covered fellow happens by and points out I might want to try disconnecting my engine idle coolant temp sensor. I did as ordered and my truck runs like a champ. Back inside the store I go. New sensor in hand I march out to the parking lot and slap her in. Like magic, the demon has gone back into hiding and my jerk of a truck runs again.

Couple of weeks go by and all is well in my torture chamber until…. Wife flies in from Lebanon and takes Tommy the time bomb out for a ride. Someone (closely resembles my wife, tells her friends she is the mother of my child, knows everything, can’t do wrong) parks my Blazer and leaves the radio on. Following morning I have a briefing at the my job, walk on out to the old serpent and try to wake him up, no juice. Notice my key was in the accessory position and walk back upstairs to tell the innocent one my truck won’t start. My angel proclaims innocence and blames my wicked truck for any wrongdoing. I spent one hour trying to find someone to jump me off. A helpful off duty police officer offers assistance and wouldn’t you know his hood won’t open once parked next to Beelzebub, likely out of fear. Fidget with it a while and the hood springs to life and we get iblis running.

Now for the “build” part.

My rear window has never worked properly. I work off of a very rough road and each morning I find my rear windows is down a bit. I can move it by hand up and down. I tear the rear panel off to try and uncover my problem. Prior to my return to the US my younger brother advised I need a new window motor so I ordered one only to find it isn’t the motor that was an issue, the switch needed some love. Initially I thought there was a problem with the cable from the motor to the track because there wasn’t one in my truck. Ordered a new cable and after connecting it to the window motor found there wasn’t a place to connect it to on the other end. Drove to the local Chevy dealer to see what part I needed to order and the diagrams they have on file don’t show. I started doing hours of research to find there is a transmission that the cable attaches to and it has been removed from my truck. This issue is unresolved as of the time of the posting.

Transfer case… truck won’t shift into 4x4 when I picked it up. There is nothing but dead air when I try to select 2H, 4H, and 4L. Crawl under the truck and see the linkage is missing. Start my search for a replacement part and come up empty handed. Visited a few salvage yards in my area and had no luck finding the part. Later was in a salvage yard looking for front seats for my Blazer and mentioned I needed the connector rod for the transfer case and the fellow donated several different connector rods broken in different places. Took them home and after a few days of tinkering was able to piece together the needed parts and can now use four wheel drive.

Front seats, one of my Blazers previous owners removed the stock seats and replaced them with captain’s chairs from a van. These seats are about 4” low so when you sit inside the truck you feel you are dragging the ground. My wife sits on a pillow to drive the Blazer. I am still on the hunt for replacement seats but everything in my area is $1,000+ or I much buy from a salvage yard (molded) and recover them. Shops quoting about a grand for the set to be recovered. This issue is unresolved as of the time of the post.

Installed a new radio with navigation and the navigation doesn’t work. Turns out my radio requires the Vehicle Speed Sensor wire to be connected, our trucks don’t have that. Did a bit of research and found Dakota Digital sales a VSS add on for our trucks. As of the time of this post I have put the part in and I am working out some bugs. More to follow.

Truck jerks like a crazy person when you slam on the brakes. It wasn’t too funny the first time I learned of this issue. Currently working to replace the bearings in the front drivers’ side wheel and some brake overhaul to hopefully clear this up.

Rear carpet had a funk to it. Removed the rear carpet and found it had been soaked in oil. Front carpet is rough as well. This is a future project, more to follow.