Greetings from Northern Indiana
#1
10-02-2014, 01:52 PM
Greetings from Northern Indiana
Hi Everyone, I'm a newbie to this forum.
Last month I bought a 2001 Blazer LT 4Dr 4WD from a new car dealer in a North Chicago Suburb for a winter driver (especially after last winter here in northern Indiana). 65,000 miles. Paid plenty but its a VERY nice ride - simply beautiful in my eyes.
About me... I turned wrenches in GM dealerships from 1978 - 1986, 1990, and 1996 (just the start of OBDII). After 1982 I figured out I wanted something more than to be a technician and went back to college. I did primarily engine fuel controls and general electrical diagnosis/repairs on Cadillacs in-between classes through my Junior year. Also worked as a technician in-between undergrad and graduate school - and then again in 1996 in-between Chemist's positions, all at the same dealership that apparently really liked my work. So I think I definitely know my way around cars, but my full experience is admittedly a bit out-dated (and experience is 2/3 of the battle).
I now have four vehicles the first two of which I bought new (2006 Pontiac G6 GTP Coupe, 2008 Ford Ranger XLT 2WD Regular Cab, 1989 S10 with Ghost Flames /383 (runs 11.7/114), and of course the 2001 Blazer). I also have four sets of factory shop manuals I have purchased, one for each vehicle. Factory shop manuals are the only way that I roll. I have never in my life paid for someone to work on my car for me (other than for tires) and it scares me to think of doing so ($$$$$$$). I'm too cheap and used to doing things myself! I would rather pay $100 for a tool to do things myself than to pay $100 to someone else to do a job for me. Plus I care about my cars more than other unknown people. I have also found that if you throroughly understand the systems you are working on (read operational descriptions in the shop manuals), often you can improvise your own diagnosis in a way that does not require all the special tools mentioned there.
In addition to the shop manuals for the Blazer, I also bought a subscription to AlldataDIY and checked the TSBs. Already identified and repaired the ABS activation at low speed problem my new Blazer was having per the TSB for no cost! Simply removed the rust under the sensors and put some corrosion resistant RIG Gun Grease on the rusting surfaces. I feel the $20 or so for the subscription is definitely worth it to get the TSBs. You can bet that if you are having a problem on an older vehicle, someone else has also had exactly the same thing happen.
My engine is making some strange noises when fully warmed up that aren't bad enough to fix this Winter, and the gas mileage sucks way worse than another person who has a 2001 LT Blazer here at work - but I will save those for posts in a technical forum. I now have a $25 OBDII scan device coming to wirelessly interface with $10 software on my Samsung tablet (I think this is very cool development in scan tools!), and a comparison of readings between the two vehicles may be revealing. I'm not quite done investigating on my own just yet!
And that is really why I joined this forum. To find help with issues that I come across. Only thing about forums is sorting through bull**** answers. When you see multiple people reporting the same thing fixed their problems and it makes good sense - then you have a good reason to investigate a particular repair! I will try to pay forward any help that I get to the next person.
Best regards,
Les Myer
Last month I bought a 2001 Blazer LT 4Dr 4WD from a new car dealer in a North Chicago Suburb for a winter driver (especially after last winter here in northern Indiana). 65,000 miles. Paid plenty but its a VERY nice ride - simply beautiful in my eyes.
About me... I turned wrenches in GM dealerships from 1978 - 1986, 1990, and 1996 (just the start of OBDII). After 1982 I figured out I wanted something more than to be a technician and went back to college. I did primarily engine fuel controls and general electrical diagnosis/repairs on Cadillacs in-between classes through my Junior year. Also worked as a technician in-between undergrad and graduate school - and then again in 1996 in-between Chemist's positions, all at the same dealership that apparently really liked my work. So I think I definitely know my way around cars, but my full experience is admittedly a bit out-dated (and experience is 2/3 of the battle).
I now have four vehicles the first two of which I bought new (2006 Pontiac G6 GTP Coupe, 2008 Ford Ranger XLT 2WD Regular Cab, 1989 S10 with Ghost Flames /383 (runs 11.7/114), and of course the 2001 Blazer). I also have four sets of factory shop manuals I have purchased, one for each vehicle. Factory shop manuals are the only way that I roll. I have never in my life paid for someone to work on my car for me (other than for tires) and it scares me to think of doing so ($$$$$$$). I'm too cheap and used to doing things myself! I would rather pay $100 for a tool to do things myself than to pay $100 to someone else to do a job for me. Plus I care about my cars more than other unknown people. I have also found that if you throroughly understand the systems you are working on (read operational descriptions in the shop manuals), often you can improvise your own diagnosis in a way that does not require all the special tools mentioned there.
In addition to the shop manuals for the Blazer, I also bought a subscription to AlldataDIY and checked the TSBs. Already identified and repaired the ABS activation at low speed problem my new Blazer was having per the TSB for no cost! Simply removed the rust under the sensors and put some corrosion resistant RIG Gun Grease on the rusting surfaces. I feel the $20 or so for the subscription is definitely worth it to get the TSBs. You can bet that if you are having a problem on an older vehicle, someone else has also had exactly the same thing happen.
My engine is making some strange noises when fully warmed up that aren't bad enough to fix this Winter, and the gas mileage sucks way worse than another person who has a 2001 LT Blazer here at work - but I will save those for posts in a technical forum. I now have a $25 OBDII scan device coming to wirelessly interface with $10 software on my Samsung tablet (I think this is very cool development in scan tools!), and a comparison of readings between the two vehicles may be revealing. I'm not quite done investigating on my own just yet!
And that is really why I joined this forum. To find help with issues that I come across. Only thing about forums is sorting through bull**** answers. When you see multiple people reporting the same thing fixed their problems and it makes good sense - then you have a good reason to investigate a particular repair! I will try to pay forward any help that I get to the next person.
Best regards,
Les Myer
Last edited by LesMyer; 10-02-2014 at 02:30 PM.
#4
10-06-2014, 10:31 AM
Welcome,
I, too, am new to this site and still learning to navigate it. Hoping to help more than I get helped, but there are a lot of newer vehicle questions that I am totally unfamiliar with. Like you, I work on my own vehicle for many of the same reasons, but $$$ is probably the number one. Like I tell people, I'm a mechanic out of necessity, not choice.
Cheers
I, too, am new to this site and still learning to navigate it. Hoping to help more than I get helped, but there are a lot of newer vehicle questions that I am totally unfamiliar with. Like you, I work on my own vehicle for many of the same reasons, but $$$ is probably the number one. Like I tell people, I'm a mechanic out of necessity, not choice.
Cheers
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