Shortly after purchasing my 99 Blazer, i have began to find certain things are just expected to Brake!!
4 wheel drive actuator, Reclining seat handle's, intake manifold gasket failure, fuel pump, ruptured brake lines, just to name a few......so...i was wondering, 'is 99 the bad year for Blazer's'? or is this common among all Blazers?

 

MC, I don't know if '99's are more breakage prone or not, but there probably are a few quirks that Blazers in general seem to exhibit. The intake gasket thing, fuel pump weaknesses, these seem to be well documented. Both can possibly be mitigated by preventative procedures such as regular cooling system flushes (forget the 50 year, million mile GM recommendation even with DexCool), not letting the fuel level get too low in the tank, changing the fuel filter, etc. Other failures may come from the old rule that the more complicated a system is, the more things are going to go wrong. In other words, the more options a vehicle has, the more that will fail. Finally, and I'm not directing this toward you, some people forget that in real life you cannot treat a vehicle like they get treated in professional competition or on TV and expect them to continue to perform as a daily driver. These are 2 different worlds and DD's neeed to be cared for if they are not to become a 'daily fixer'.

 

I know how you feel. My blazer is the same as yours probably just a different color I have thought the same thing, I even put a posted a replyon here in the should I buy a high mileage 95 4x4 its in the general chat section and I think the post I am talking about is right under yours I put my updated list of crap I have had to fix. The only thing that has kept me from insanity is the fact that 95% of the work I have either done myself or with help of some of my buddies. I have put a conservative estimate of $5-6,000 in it since I bought it in December of 04. When I bought it I thourghly checked it out my buddy whos use to be a dealer mechanic went with me top look at the truck we both thought it was prettynice athough neither of us knew much about blazers since he works on Fords we thought it was solid. (We thought, he did say thathe had heardthe 99's had there inherant problems but this truck seem to be ok). 1-2 weeks after buying it fuel pump went, then it started.lol., about once a month you can almost like clock work count on something screwing up, blowing up or something that quits. My mom just has a fit that I will not get rid of it but I like my truck when its running good its IMO the best onroad / offroad vehicle I have owned and I have owned a few. It serves all my needs as far as towing and hauling. Has enough room for all my friends withoutanybody being cramped.I have had some really bad problems with my knees and feet (I still recovering from two broken feet) so the truck for me is very easy to get into and drive. This past weekend I did a torsion bar crank to lift the front, overall I got 2.5 inches of lift and it evened it from front to back and the handling and looks dramatically improved, which is all I wanted. I don't know, call me crazy but its paid off ( ITS MINE), for me it gets decent gas mileage even offroad. I often though wonderwhy do I keep sinking money into it but the body and chassis is in good shape and as soon as I get done with college and can start to work full time, I can start putting more money into it and make it my own. I already have the paint pick out and my wish list of parts (you can see the color choice in the paint and body section underDoes this sound right?. Please check it out and rate the color and give me your opinion).Bad Truck OR Bad Luck I don't know but the way I see it I 've made this far and I am not broke yet so I am keepin it.

I almost forgot maintence, maintence, maintence. It will help.
Oh and I found carrying spare parts hoses lights belts other thingsthat are prone to braking and also tools. Basic hand tools and a flashlight can be your best friend at 2 am in the middle of nowhere I know this, I've had it happen!

 

I will second that, a lot of things have to do with good solid maintenance. Other things however are just plain annoying, vacuum line 4x4 for example...just too many weak hoses you have to keep an eye on.

 

Welcome to the world of the Blazer.

Actually, i've had terrific luck with my Blazer. Let's see, bought it with 135k June of last year and now has 159k. Things that have gone wrong: A/C blows hot air when I looked at it, they took it to a Grease Monkey to have A/C recharged and didn't work (like a Grease Monkey can properly recharge an A/C anyway[sm=WTFsgign.gif]) but still bought it and still blows hot to this day, replaced front ball joints and bearings, new tires, replaced portion of a tranny cooler line, replaced Crank Position Sensor, doesn't have a passenger reclining handle (i don't care, i don't sit there), CD player had LOC on the display (it was replaced with aftermarket within a day, literally), and the driver power/heated seat control panel thing is "a little loose."

I'd say that is pretty good considering how many thing that can possibly go wrong with these trucks. I stay on typical maintenence stuff the best I can, 1've gone below 1/4 of a tank only twice in the year or so of ownership, I speed a lot, see off road trail once a week (never need the 4wd), and treat it like a sports car a little too much.

 

I replaced my manifold gasket and my reclinder handle broke off my seat[:@]. I would check the balljoints and pitman arms on your truck while you are at it. I had to replace balljoints, idler arm and pitman arm last year. Might replace them again when I install the lift kit next month.

 

You are right about the upcoming needed repair's, and i will have too get on them as soon as i can afford. Thanks

 

some of it's a blazer thing...it is a 9 year old vehicle...things happen as cars get older...

 

uggh, buddy broke off my recline handle too........seems like cheap aluminum holding it on, and it just snapped right off.

 

lolol...yeah this one came with both front seat recline handles broke off....but i think when i get a little time off i can fix this with a lil ingenuity. One of mt reason's for posting this thread is my previous d.d is a 87 ford taurus LX SHO. Fully loaded. I have 367,000 miles on this car and have had it since 89, and have not treated it that nice...Air conditioner does not work. The car is mostly computer driven and the only half way major repairs to this vehicle were a fuel pump, ball joints, tie-rod's, ignition module,shock's and strut's, power steering pump, cooling system fan,a power steering high pressure hose (i had the replacement made at a Hydraulic hose company, that sucker will NEVER bust), it has busted head-bolts before, it's on it's 3rd set now, and it eats front brake pads. other that that, everything still works, and i mean everything, well except for the lumbar support in the driver's seat, (it will air up, but slowly leaks down)...oh and then there is the bad paint that came off...My point is...my Blazer is half as old, with less than half as many miles, but has way more problems..
on the up-side..I like my new too me Blazer, and with you people's help will fix it's problem's, but i'm just wondering why it has so many of them??