Any advice for a 2002 Blazer with 13000 original miles? Other than the obvious oil change and radiator flush and I know it will need new tires, but all the belts and hoses still
look like new. Was kept in garage by retired person.
What do you all think?

 

How long has it been sitting? Change the fluids, and fire it up!

 

For fluids to replace you will have (off the top of my head):

• engine oil
• rear differential
• front differential
• transfer case (if a 4-button can take a special fluid)
• coolant
• brakes (brake fluid is hydroscopic (attracts water) and where water has settled, corrosion could occur; e.g. master cylinder, caliper cylinders, etc.) Draining and replacing is a good idea and if you see water in the flushed fluid you will know to look for other problems.

How long has it been sitting? Anything made of rubber could be bad and rotted but look fine. For instance if the tires are over 10 years old I would suggest not driving at highway speeds with them. I had a tire fall apart on me once on a highway, not a fun experience. Rubber things to replace would include:

• tires (as you mentioned)
• serpentine belt
• coolant hoses (at least inspect)
• oil cooler hoses (less likely in need of replacement unless leaking oil)
• under-hood vacuum lines (easy to replace and almost guaranteed to be rotted. these control the HVAC and 4wd system. see the link to my thread on these below)

Other maintenance to consider is to flush the coolant system as the original version of the coolant used in these (Dexcool) when exposed to air in the system could cause a sludge to form. The new formulation is apparently fine. You don't want by accident end up with a blocked heater core as those are a bitch to replace.

If it hasn't been run for a long time, I might suggest pulling the spark plugs (perhaps except for the notorious #3) and crank the engine until you get oil pressure. This will ensure that all of the engine components are fully lubricated at the slow cranking speed before you start the engine.

 

 

 

One owner, 13,000 miles? It almost qualifies as a museum piece. LOL