A list of common annoying S-10 Blazer quirks.
#201
04-13-2010, 02:13 AM
I got a 2002 model 4X4 2 door.
The driver's side electric windows get stuck when it's down.
Sometimes I'll down the my window all the way down and then I change my mind and close it, but the damn thing won't let me cause the window won't go up. I have to wait 30-60 sometimes 120 seconds just for it to close all the way.
Anyone else have this problem?
Changed my ball joints today. That was fun! I don't know. Every time I fix up my Blazer, I get inspired to spend more money on it to either fix lesser problems, or to upgrade it. Anyone else feel like this?
The driver's side electric windows get stuck when it's down.
Sometimes I'll down the my window all the way down and then I change my mind and close it, but the damn thing won't let me cause the window won't go up. I have to wait 30-60 sometimes 120 seconds just for it to close all the way.
Anyone else have this problem?
Changed my ball joints today. That was fun! I don't know. Every time I fix up my Blazer, I get inspired to spend more money on it to either fix lesser problems, or to upgrade it. Anyone else feel like this?
#203
11-18-2010, 04:11 PM
Recap of list of common annoying S-10 Blazer quirks (thread).
I'm not trying to rehash things, but I just thought it would be nice to see this list in a condensed version.
After reading all 21 pages
Here’s 60 answers that I thought were either funny or just a bitch to have to deal with. I didn’t get them all on here cause a lot of stuff is regular maintenance stuff.
Oh, you might want to make yourself comfy, cause it’s a pretty long list hahaha.
What am I laughing at? With my luck; I’ll probably have to change everything on this list too!!!! Man what did I just get myself into? It’s a good thing that I've been a backyard mechanic most of my driving life!!
Here we go:
1. Angle of windshield causes abnormal sandblasting "fun in the Sun"
2. Spark plugs located whereas you need David Blaine to help you change middle drivers side.
3. I've had to take my truck to the dealer 4 times just for the radio. (The first time was to get it ordered, the sec. time to get it installed, third to get it reordered, and the fourth to get[INDENT]that one installed. (In a span of like a month and a half)
4. Oh wait!!! I have one....the hood release!!! the hood release brakes so you keep a pair old pliers in it for the times you need to open the hood.....and you know what's even funnier...I oil change guy never asked how to get my hood open......(he must own a blazer too!!!!)
5. Oh, I forgot that mine also has a sticky speedometer...it likes to sit on a speed for a while, then WHAM all of the sudden get unstuck and tell me what speed I'm REALLY going.
6. After 208,000 miles, the Exhaust system is still in good condition (even in Massachusetts weather).
7. Early signs of FUEL PUMP failure (over heats and quits working when 1/4 tank or less) due to pump is cooled by gas and they fail to tell you to keep it above 1/4 or more so that the pump wont fall under early failure due to OVERHEATING.
8. Rear window doesn’t stay open, always falls on my head when im diggin around.
9. When I push the cigarette lighter in, my headlights go off.
10. Windows take 5 minutes to open.
11. The back glass is annoying as hell, it wont stop squeeking.
12. You gotta strip the damn dash to replace any of the switches in it.
13. Passenger side visor's mirror cover is broken, so it falls everytime my fiance flips it down to primp herself.
14. Owning a Blazer is a catch 22...for the most part, you can beat the poop out of them and they keep running and running....but like all vehicles....they are prone to their quirks...
15. Rattles and squeaks even when not on bumpy roads.
16. Gas gauge reads empty at 1/8 of a tank.
17. Shopping carts that like to ruin my paint job.
18. The damn vacuum 4x4 system, these things suck.
19. Cheap double oil line crimps end up leaving oil on road when lines let go with no warning...
20. Have to be fair and list the good points...Girl friend likes it but then again she doesn’t have to fix it!!!
21. Factory radio decides when I can change the volume or station!
22. When in four high it sounds like I'm torturing it if I go over 15 MPH.
23. Might as well tape the window motor button down and get some coffee/read a book while it's going down.
24. It drinks gas like I drink Pepsi, and yet never needs to use the restroom.
25. It idles higher and pulls a bit more against the brakes when I turn the defroster on.
26. Whoever made the gas gauge needs to die. Once I get under 3/4's of a tank god only knows how much gas is left. It fluctuates like crazy... one minute ill be at 3/4 next minute 1/4 then 1/2... My only rule of thumb is when it stays at or around 1/4 for a while I go get gas. So far it hasn’t fooled me yet...
27. Speed controlled volume works at the worst times even when turned off.
28. A lot of people will probably disagree about this, but I also believe that your vehicle can tell when you don't like it. It's the energy you give off. I love mine, so it seems to love me back.
29. I just put on the 5th alternator and the bearing is already noisy!!!
30. Power mirrors don’t work, but defrost in them still does.
31. Radio turns on and off at will.
32. If I can't fix the electrical issues I'm considering setting it on fire and dancing around it giggling like a little girl.
33. Button on tailgate has to be pushed like 8 times before it works!!!
34. Hood opens with special "technique".
35. Everything friggin rattles, sometimes little mystery rattles too!
36. As far as the recline lever, tell people to just buckle up and ride and stop messing with crap if they are tired they need to lay in bed and take a nap not take one in your ride!
37. The factory radio was the first thing I threw in the garbage!!
38. As for the No.3 spark plug on a 4.3 4x4...I went and bought a $5 swivel socket at AZ and went through the wheel well...Took all of 30 seconds to get out.
39. I see signs that the fuel gauge wants to misbehave, but this disappears if the engine is shut off and restarted.
40. My driver side window refuses to go up most of the time or usually when I need it (has a mind of its own). Sometimes I have to pull on it to get it to lift, then it stops and I can't lift it as I'm holding down the button. I swear that's annoying.
41. Oil lines crack and leak (if your unlucky they will break as your driving and then seize up the motor).
42. Oh ya I forgot my pos heater, that still after the 5th fix doesn't work right.
43. Gauges randomly freak out during long road trips!!!
44. G80 Posi-Trac Rear ends are known to self-destruct...
45. My seats are wearing out from getting in and out.
46. My frigging cargo cover will not stay in place.
47. How about those F&^%$IN power window motors that keep going out that are mounted with heavy-duty aircraft grade rivets?
48. Bought a 2000 blazer used and both my seat back levers were broken so the guy i bought it from gave me 2 sets of vice grips to use for the lever. works great haha.
49. My ball joint separated on a 4 lane divided highway.
50. Since I’m a smoker and I smoke when I’m driving if it rains my leg gets soaked as well as my mirror switch and window control cuz of the weird angle of the windows.
51. Aftermarket stereo picks up engine noise, and the lights flicker allot.
52. Oil pressure gauge bounces all over the place at idle.
53. Front doors are about to fall off...and there's some weird black tar looking stuff under them???
54. Came home from Iraq...Drivers side door fell off (In parking lot of the airport).
55. Motor mounts (both of 'em) broke.
56. My cd player skips every time I hit a bump.
57. Center console tab broke under armrest from a 50 pound dog leaning on it.
58. Recently had to replace the heater core which wasn’t as bad as I thought except for a few a dropped 10mm socket, which required a trip to get another one to dig out the dropped one.
59. I had to glue the rear view mirror back on.
60. This old, tired thread has run its course.
Well, that about sums it up folks.
I’ve only owned my 03 Blazer for less than a week and I’ve already noticed a few odd little things like:
1. The warning bell won’t go off if I try to listen to the cd player in the reverse ignition mode.
2. The passenger lock won’t unlock with the remote.
3. Gas gauge is intermittent.
4. Lights stay on all the time, at night I don’t have to turn them on at all (the switch is always in the off position).
That’s it for now.
Although a lot of the stuff on here is regular type maintenance, if you take the time to regularly check stuff, it won’t surprise you unexpectedly.
With older vehicles, things are bound to breakdown or fall off. That’s just the way it is!!
Happy Blazing everyone
After reading all 21 pages
Here’s 60 answers that I thought were either funny or just a bitch to have to deal with. I didn’t get them all on here cause a lot of stuff is regular maintenance stuff.
Oh, you might want to make yourself comfy, cause it’s a pretty long list hahaha.
What am I laughing at? With my luck; I’ll probably have to change everything on this list too!!!! Man what did I just get myself into? It’s a good thing that I've been a backyard mechanic most of my driving life!!
Here we go:
1. Angle of windshield causes abnormal sandblasting "fun in the Sun"
2. Spark plugs located whereas you need David Blaine to help you change middle drivers side.
3. I've had to take my truck to the dealer 4 times just for the radio. (The first time was to get it ordered, the sec. time to get it installed, third to get it reordered, and the fourth to get[INDENT]that one installed. (In a span of like a month and a half)
4. Oh wait!!! I have one....the hood release!!! the hood release brakes so you keep a pair old pliers in it for the times you need to open the hood.....and you know what's even funnier...I oil change guy never asked how to get my hood open......(he must own a blazer too!!!!)
5. Oh, I forgot that mine also has a sticky speedometer...it likes to sit on a speed for a while, then WHAM all of the sudden get unstuck and tell me what speed I'm REALLY going.
6. After 208,000 miles, the Exhaust system is still in good condition (even in Massachusetts weather).
7. Early signs of FUEL PUMP failure (over heats and quits working when 1/4 tank or less) due to pump is cooled by gas and they fail to tell you to keep it above 1/4 or more so that the pump wont fall under early failure due to OVERHEATING.
8. Rear window doesn’t stay open, always falls on my head when im diggin around.
9. When I push the cigarette lighter in, my headlights go off.
10. Windows take 5 minutes to open.
11. The back glass is annoying as hell, it wont stop squeeking.
12. You gotta strip the damn dash to replace any of the switches in it.
13. Passenger side visor's mirror cover is broken, so it falls everytime my fiance flips it down to primp herself.
14. Owning a Blazer is a catch 22...for the most part, you can beat the poop out of them and they keep running and running....but like all vehicles....they are prone to their quirks...
15. Rattles and squeaks even when not on bumpy roads.
16. Gas gauge reads empty at 1/8 of a tank.
17. Shopping carts that like to ruin my paint job.
18. The damn vacuum 4x4 system, these things suck.
19. Cheap double oil line crimps end up leaving oil on road when lines let go with no warning...
20. Have to be fair and list the good points...Girl friend likes it but then again she doesn’t have to fix it!!!
21. Factory radio decides when I can change the volume or station!
22. When in four high it sounds like I'm torturing it if I go over 15 MPH.
23. Might as well tape the window motor button down and get some coffee/read a book while it's going down.
24. It drinks gas like I drink Pepsi, and yet never needs to use the restroom.
25. It idles higher and pulls a bit more against the brakes when I turn the defroster on.
26. Whoever made the gas gauge needs to die. Once I get under 3/4's of a tank god only knows how much gas is left. It fluctuates like crazy... one minute ill be at 3/4 next minute 1/4 then 1/2... My only rule of thumb is when it stays at or around 1/4 for a while I go get gas. So far it hasn’t fooled me yet...
27. Speed controlled volume works at the worst times even when turned off.
28. A lot of people will probably disagree about this, but I also believe that your vehicle can tell when you don't like it. It's the energy you give off. I love mine, so it seems to love me back.
29. I just put on the 5th alternator and the bearing is already noisy!!!
30. Power mirrors don’t work, but defrost in them still does.
31. Radio turns on and off at will.
32. If I can't fix the electrical issues I'm considering setting it on fire and dancing around it giggling like a little girl.
33. Button on tailgate has to be pushed like 8 times before it works!!!
34. Hood opens with special "technique".
35. Everything friggin rattles, sometimes little mystery rattles too!
36. As far as the recline lever, tell people to just buckle up and ride and stop messing with crap if they are tired they need to lay in bed and take a nap not take one in your ride!
37. The factory radio was the first thing I threw in the garbage!!
38. As for the No.3 spark plug on a 4.3 4x4...I went and bought a $5 swivel socket at AZ and went through the wheel well...Took all of 30 seconds to get out.
39. I see signs that the fuel gauge wants to misbehave, but this disappears if the engine is shut off and restarted.
40. My driver side window refuses to go up most of the time or usually when I need it (has a mind of its own). Sometimes I have to pull on it to get it to lift, then it stops and I can't lift it as I'm holding down the button. I swear that's annoying.
41. Oil lines crack and leak (if your unlucky they will break as your driving and then seize up the motor).
42. Oh ya I forgot my pos heater, that still after the 5th fix doesn't work right.
43. Gauges randomly freak out during long road trips!!!
44. G80 Posi-Trac Rear ends are known to self-destruct...
45. My seats are wearing out from getting in and out.
46. My frigging cargo cover will not stay in place.
47. How about those F&^%$IN power window motors that keep going out that are mounted with heavy-duty aircraft grade rivets?
48. Bought a 2000 blazer used and both my seat back levers were broken so the guy i bought it from gave me 2 sets of vice grips to use for the lever. works great haha.
49. My ball joint separated on a 4 lane divided highway.
50. Since I’m a smoker and I smoke when I’m driving if it rains my leg gets soaked as well as my mirror switch and window control cuz of the weird angle of the windows.
51. Aftermarket stereo picks up engine noise, and the lights flicker allot.
52. Oil pressure gauge bounces all over the place at idle.
53. Front doors are about to fall off...and there's some weird black tar looking stuff under them???
54. Came home from Iraq...Drivers side door fell off (In parking lot of the airport).
55. Motor mounts (both of 'em) broke.
56. My cd player skips every time I hit a bump.
57. Center console tab broke under armrest from a 50 pound dog leaning on it.
58. Recently had to replace the heater core which wasn’t as bad as I thought except for a few a dropped 10mm socket, which required a trip to get another one to dig out the dropped one.
59. I had to glue the rear view mirror back on.
60. This old, tired thread has run its course.
Well, that about sums it up folks.
I’ve only owned my 03 Blazer for less than a week and I’ve already noticed a few odd little things like:
1. The warning bell won’t go off if I try to listen to the cd player in the reverse ignition mode.
2. The passenger lock won’t unlock with the remote.
3. Gas gauge is intermittent.
4. Lights stay on all the time, at night I don’t have to turn them on at all (the switch is always in the off position).
That’s it for now.
Although a lot of the stuff on here is regular type maintenance, if you take the time to regularly check stuff, it won’t surprise you unexpectedly.
With older vehicles, things are bound to breakdown or fall off. That’s just the way it is!!
Happy Blazing everyone
#204
11-18-2010, 07:59 PM
If i start my blazer in Neutral the gas gauge wont work itll just say empty even if it has a full tank haha
#207
09-02-2013, 03:59 AM
Interesting that you have all said the hard plug to get out is the middle one on the drivers side if you have a LHD, because on the RHD its the front one on the driver side as you have to jack up the chassis to get the steering column out of the way and then have fingers that belong to a contortionist so you can get the plug in. 
#208
09-10-2013, 01:40 PM
Just changed plugs and wires in my 03 jimmy ZR2...the plugs were a cinch! seriously took me 8 minutes for all 6. Now the wires on the other hand...another 45 mins cause of those stupid plastic retainers, couldnt get them open for the life of me!
Also, fixed squeaky interior panels using recycled foam underlay for hardwood floors and some adhesive spray. whole thing cost me $36 and now my jim's as silent as cat riding over those bumps =)
Other project yet to tackle is all the plastic and trimming etc (roof rack, rear window trim, tire carrier, and such) that all need to be sanded and painted)
Also, fixed squeaky interior panels using recycled foam underlay for hardwood floors and some adhesive spray. whole thing cost me $36 and now my jim's as silent as cat riding over those bumps =)
Other project yet to tackle is all the plastic and trimming etc (roof rack, rear window trim, tire carrier, and such) that all need to be sanded and painted)
#209
01-02-2014, 12:53 PM
My 1999 Blazer has a transfer case gear indicator light that works when it wants to in 2 wheel drive. I just pound on the dash right above it and then it works again. Still pretty annoying though.
