I am looking at a 2003 ZR2 with 145k miles and have a few questions:

My understanding is that the MPFI was available by 2003 and should be on this engine. Is there a way to visually confirm this? My understanding (correct me if I am wrong) is that visually the FI system is the same with the difference being the injector is located in the intake manifold vs the poppet valve.

Secondly, from what I have read the FRAME for the 2DR blazer was the same for LS and ZR2 however the suspension was changed/upgraded for the ZR2 making the track width approximately 4 inches wider--is that last part accurate? I assume a portion of this was due to the wider 10.5 tires?

Other than typical stuff like rust, does everything work, etc is there anything specific to this model that I should be aware of?

Thanks for the help--expect to see me a lot on this forum in the future.

 

Yes, a 2003 should have the MPFI spider. It will also not have an EGR valve. The EGR valve is easy to visually tell if it is or is not there. The MPFI spider...not so much. If you have an endoscope, it is possible to put the endoscope through the throttlebody and look at the ends of the spider where each individual line runs into the lower intake manifold. The older SCFI spider will just have a hose that runs into a poppet nozzle in the LIM. The MPFI spider will have wires and a connector to the injector at the LIM.

I am not a ZR2 guru by any stretch, but I believe that the front suspension mount points were different for the ZR2 (wider than stock). I'm sure someone else will chime in to give further clarity to this point.

There are a lot of things that pop up regularly on these trucks from electrical (ignition switch, multifunction switch, fuel pump, etc.) to wear & tear (rear hatch/gate actuator, window actuators, etc), and driveline related issues (front axle engagement, 4wd vacuum system, transfer case encoder faults, etc.). If you are mechanically inclinded, it shouldn't be too difficult to repair almost any of these issues.

 

As always, swartlkk gives great advice.

Most anything I can imagine that might be not be working well at purchase can be fixed without a lot of cost, especially if you are handy with tools.

The engines if given regular oil changes seem to last a long while. By 2003 I'm pretty sure the issue with leaking intake manifold gaskets was fixed. In the late 90s, water could leak into the engine oil.

The only exception would be the transmission if it is an automatic. If not maintained and/or abused from towing in overdrive and causing overheating, they can last a long time. I learned the hard way about the overheating.

I'd have it looked at by a shop prior to purchase, in particular the transmission. A rebuild or replacement can easily run $3k.

There should be a thread here that lists common problems.

 

Thanks everyone.

 

I think Swartlkk and Christine_208 have covered things quite well.

I'll add a couple details on the ZR2 frame. The frame is slightly different between the 2-door non-ZR2 vs the ZR2. The upper control arm mounts are wider and lower on the ZR2, giving it the wider & taller stance. The upper control arms are the same part number between the non-ZR2 and the ZR2. The lower control arms are different though, with the ZR2 lower control arms being longer and a different sway bar mount.