Hey, Guys & Gals,

I have a few questions about the Blazers, more so for the ones that have 2003 plus Blazers, since I will only be looking at the 03 and up. I am wanting to get a S-10 Crew Cab sometime next year hopefully and since Blazers are essentially the same thing and none of the other sites for s-series truck really exist anymore, I need some info.

First off I had a 99 Blazer which from what I have read on forums was the year (Blazer and truck) that had the most problems or at least mine did, not to mention the horrible gas mileage, which got worse after the transmission started to go.

As for the questions, I did search and look at the threads about the common bugs and the thread gas mileage poll. But as for the first I didn't see the specific transmission / transfer case issues so I looked in the threads in the drive line section, what I found some post had links to what I was wanting to know about the transmission but they didn't work and I know that the issues very, so I was just looking for more info, I might have missed the more specifics - sorry. As for the gas mileage thread most of you guys have modifications which affect the mileage so that didn't really do me any good.

Questions:

1. What kind of gas mileage do you get? I have read that 03 and newer are rated higher at 16 city / 22 hwy / 18 combined.

2. Reliability and Problems? (I know what mine had and I know what I have read on hear as far as common problems). Seems the transmission issues are pretty common for all years and range from easy to hard fixes.

3. Mileage wise, most around here that are on the used lots are from about 50,000 - 90,000 miles, so on the 03 up Blazers or trucks at what mileage do the common problems usually happen?

^ The reason I asked this question is because I would like to get over 100,000 before I have to sink money into costly major repairs instead of upgrades or just driving it. I have always taken great car of my vehicles even when off-roading so I know there isn't any un-need abuse that would speed up the wear and tear.

That I know of, the 2 main things that I had on my old Blazer and what most have issues with, are the transfer case and the transmission.

What else am I missing?

Thanks, S10CC.

 

to be honest, from 98+ nothing really changed on the blazer until they stopped making them in 2005. blazer normally get about 14-16 city depending on how you drive, about 18 combo of highway and city and about 20-21 highway. i have got 22 on the highway just once with mine and she only has 51K on the clock and was extremely well maintained. As for the common problems, there is a whole thread on here with problems, but if you take care of your vehicles, you have very little problems unless your unfortunate and buy a lemon... Mileage wise, again it all depends on how you drive and maintain your machines, also are you driving highway miles or city miles? My father-in-law just picked up a 98 blazer with 165K on it and it only need rear brakes. My 98 has 50K and I have just put on front brakes and tires...thats it for its whole life. if you find one with less than 80K on it, I would buy it. these are great little trucks and if you live in a snow place, blazers are great in the winter as well.

 

Ya, don't take the length of the "problems" thread to heart. A ton of it is people listing the same problems over and over. Mainly squeaky glass, that kind of thing.

I have an 03' and no problems I could speak of. My brakes are squeaky, but that is due to my laziness. I would also say the mileage estimates are pretty close. It's nothing to be super happy about, but it's about average for SUV's and not the worst out there.

 

Yeah guys, thats pretty much what I figured. Like I said I had a 99' that I nicknamed the "problem child". It was one thing after another. I bought it at about 130,*** something and it drove for a while fine. I knew right off the bat it needed brakes and new tires and I also knew that it needed some work (both engine and transmission) but it was stuff that as long as I drove well and maintained it, it could wait. But at about 142,*** it literally went south quick and the repairs were costly! Here is the list of stuff that I had to fix.

The A/C quit working (of course in the stretch of a 100 degree two week period). Had to have it fixed A/C compressor, evaporator and something else (I don't remember off the top of my head) - I had to take this to the dealer because I had no way of dealing with the refridgerent. Cost me $1,400

2 weeks later the transfer case motor quit and locked in 4Lo which I already knew was a potential problem - I fixed it.

A month later the water pump and alternator went out the same week (also had to replace the battery because the alternator wasn't charging properly the battery checked out).

Then a short time later the transmission started going (the second time). So I took it out with a buddy of mine and then replaced the converter (decided since I had it out and with the mileage I might as well) and rebuild the transmission (a friend of mine helped me - we replace what was worn) and put it back in. I got another 25,*** out of it fine.

The problems were just too much and I had sunk way too much money in it and when the head gaskets started going I just decided not to stick anymore money in it and sold it to a buddy.

Now it has a 4" lift and 33s I think. I also rebuilt the motor which is now stronger than factory and it runs like a champ. We also put in a new transmission that his shop built to be nearly brute strength. - NOW I wished I would have kept it

 

Actually, the mid-02 through end of production (2005) engines were quite different from the previous L35 used in the Blazer & S10. The EGR system was redesigned as well as a change in the injection system inside the plenum to a true MFI system without the problematic poppet nozzles. The engine as a whole was rated nearly identical, but these few things make the newer engine more reliable, but considering how reliable the 96+ L35 is anyhow (very reliable BTW), it wasn't much of a jump.

As far as one vehicle being more problematic than another, that's used vehicles for you. You take a chance whenever you purchase a used vehicle. While it's true that some new vehicles are problems from day one, compound that with the unknown of how the previous owner treated a particular vehicle and the opportunity for a lemon increases dramatically. Most people these days treat their vehicles like toilet paper.

 

I have a 2002 Blazer. Any way to tell if my vehicle falls within the production engines you refer to?

 

If you have an EGR valve on the front of the engine, you have the older design. Search up on it, I believe someone posted pictures of the later style lower intake manifold where it was just solid aluminum where the EGR valve typically is.

 

Ummmm...

you might want to check this site out: http://www.s-10crewcab.com/

 

Actually, I have. There is a lot of great information on it but the forum doesn't no longer exist or doesn't work.

 

Yep, the site works, but the forum part appears to be kaput.