I am new to this forum so please be patient with me until I learn how everything works here. I am in need of serious help with my 2000 Chevy Blazer 4x4. I purchased it from a man on craigslist. ( I know ... it was a huge mistake but now I am stuck with it ) So, I need to get over it and put my big girl britches on and tend to making much needed repairs.

I immediately noticed oil leaks coming from the front & rear oil cooler lines, another leak at the oil filter housing, minor leak at the timing cover gasket. While I was under the truck I also discovered leaks in the transmission cooling line at the radiator. It was really difficult to tell exactly where the leaks were coming from because of the undercarriage. Oil leaks down and hits the undercarriage and it travels back and drips off of the oil pan. ( I wiped it as clean and dry as possible but it is still hard to tell sometimes. I was afraid I might have a hole in the oil pan or from the rear main seal.) So ... I took it into a shop to have it inspected for leaks. He put some dye in the oil and told me to drive it a couple of days. I did drive it back and forth to the store which is about a mile from home. Took it back to the shop for them to put up on a rack.

After about two hours ,the service writer came to me with his diagnosis. Which was about the same as I had thought ... the oil cooling lines and oil filter gasket. I authorized his repairs ... he was to repair the lines and oil filter gasket and if there were other leaks ... advise me before making additional repairs.

Then he found a screw in one of the tires and I ok'd the repair and I also asked him to replace the radiator cap with one that had a pressure relief valve. He also did that. When the truck was ready for pick up ... I took his word that all oil leaks were resolved with the exception of the one at timing cover ( it was not a significant leak, no dripping )

I paid him about 600.00 and asked him if it was safe to drive now. He said yes it was. I took his word for it and left. I drove it about a 60 mile round trip to pick up my grandson, got home and looked under the truck. To my surprise they did not put the undercarriage back on it and it still had leaks. The first thing I did when I got up this morning was call and ask why they didn't put the undercarriage back on it and told them it was still leaking.

I went down there and he tried to say that it didn't have the undercarriage on it when I brought it in !!! ( Which was the same as calling me a liar ) You could see where they removed it. One of the other mechanics came out and looked at it and agreed with me ... you could see where it had been. They had charged me 45.00 for degreasing the bottom of the engine. ( I did tell him not to clean the timing cover because it would make it really start leaking ) But, you could tell that he didn't degrease nothing much if any at all. He didn't replace all of the oil cooling lines ( front ones were still leaking). What upset me was that he let me drive away in an unsafe vehicle that was subject to leaving me on the side of the road with my 3 year old grandson.

He said that he would order an undercarriage to get me out of his office and away from earshot of his other ( little old lady customers ) But it will be Tuesday. I am curious as to what he will replace it with ? The one that was on it was steal with two cross bars on it. ( Greasy as it was it served a valuable purpose or it wouldn't have been on there to begin with ) Right ? Plus ... I assumed that was the reason there were so many labor hours involved ... because they had to remove it to get to everything else like the oil filter housing gasket and oil cooling lines !

Sorry for such a long rant. But, I thought I'd tell a little about myself and my truck. It does have a good strong engine and transmission. The body and interior are about an 8 out of 10. Fairly low mileage for a truck of its age. It's got almost new tires. It will probably need some work on the suspension because of all the leaks ... those bushings will go pretty fast after being drenched in oil and transmission fluid. I'm pretty much stuck with it ... I have put enough money in it that now I might as well finish repairing it. I may just have to make a lot of the repairs myself. I am no stranger to most common repairs. I have tools .... I am just a little older and slower than I used to be. Lol

I have enjoyed reading all the posts in the forums and I am looking forward to getting to know everyone and hopefully make some new friends and learn from you all.

 

When you say "undercarriage" are you speaking about the skidplates? If you are, I believe another member has mentioned that starting in 99' they switched the skidplates from aluminum to composite. I have aluminum ones on my 98, but I don't think they ever made steel. I would suspect that you might end up with the composite skidplates. I don't know what you are referring to concerning the braces? The oil leak locations are very common for Blazers. For my own curiosity, was this a dealership or a private shop?

 

It was one of the larger local shops. I was truly put off by how they treated me and my vehicle. ( I used the word steel for the lack of knowing what type metal it was ) It covered the torsion bar, had 4 bolts that held it up. And there were two cross bars that crossed from those 4 bolts like an X. I found a picture of what it looked like.

 

This isn't exactly the same as mine but as close as I could find ... mine covered the torsion bar and had those cross bars. Now there isn't anything covering the bar or keeping rocks etc ... from flying up there and knocking a hole in filter, oil pan or tearing up things. ( I'm not a mechanic but took plenty of pictures of the leaks etc ...)

 

Sorry, I'm not familiar with that setup...but then again...I've only had a'95, '97 and '98. That setup is new to me. Is your engine a four cylinder?

 

It's a 2000 Blazer LS V6 4.3 ... I love that it has lots of power, yet decent gas mileage. So far I'm getting about 28 mpg on the hwy.

 

Huh...completely different setup than I'm used to seeing. All of my 4WD have the oil filter remoted. Oh well, shows how much I know.

 

I don't think that picture is an actual blazer at least not one like I have ever seen


this would likely be closer to what you should have seen if yours is a 4wd
if you scroll down in my link it will show you an aluminum one and composite , I think the one on my 05 is just plain old plastic
Aluminum front skidplate - Body - Zr2USA.com

 

Ok ... the latest news about my situation with the shop that was supposed to replace the oil cooling lines on my Blazer. They said that they ordered the other lines ... ( They originally charged me $134.55 for an oil cooler line kit ) Which I assumed covered all of the lines needed ... If you bought them individually the Dormans are only about 80.00 for all of them ...front and back. Am I missing something ? I realize that I am a woman and subject to being pretty ignorant about certain things. But that is a heck of a mark up on parts prices !!!!