Been in here for awhile now just reading, reading, and reading some more, haha.

Picked up a 2000 Blazer Auto 4x4 LT in early fall. Got it for cheap, $1K, and it has new tires, breaks, bearings, rear shackles. Great shape for 155K miles. Runs like a top. Just a bunch of "little" stuff to fix. It's going to be my son's vehicle when he turns 16 in a few months as long as I can figure out the no cold start issue. I'm in MN, so cold start means -20 to 0 F. Needs to be reliable. Anyway, looking forward to learning more about everything on it and what I need to do to get everything fixed up.

The short list:
-Upper and lower intake cleaning and gaskets
-New Spider injector and Fuel Regulator
-Distributor Cap or Rotor
-Spark Plugs/wires
-A/C repair (Shrader valve is shot on accumulator, not sure what else yet without repair and vac test)
-Pitman arm
-Replace leaking oil lines to and from filter
-Rear wiper motor

Shocks suck, but that can be part of his responsibility as well as any interior upgrades he wants to do like radio, seat covers, etc. Hoping that he gets some interest in basic mechanic skills. Sure saves a ton of money in the long run doing it yourself, as long as you do it right.

 

Welcome. Sounds like a you got a good deal.

You might already know but it bears repeating that for the LIM gaskets, use the upgraded ones from Felpro.

Also, have you checked the idler arm? These tend to wear out too.

 

Thank you, yes I have already priced out the Felpro upgrade gasket set for all of the intake. Wondering if the spider upgrade to the MPI would be worth it ($50 more @$218 vs $179) when I do that, or if the regular poppit style is good enough. It's just for my kid, lol.

I haven't really looked into the pitman arm or idler arm yet, I just know the steering is a bit loose. Not terrible like my first car (53' Chev), but enough to be annoying. First I need to solve this cold start issue.

 

@Besel53....I saw some of your other posts. Not sure if you're still troubleshooting hard starting, but I'm wondering if the fuel pump may be the culprit. I had to change mine somewhere between 150-170ish k-miles...but your Blazer seems a little neglected, prior to your acquisition of it, compared to mine, so I'm assuming that means probably one or no fuel filter replacements during that time, which surely would kill or weaken the pump. If you put the key in the ignition position, without turning it over, do you hear the fuel pump kick in momentarily to prime the engine??

 

Thanks for the ideas. Yes, the fuel pressure and leakdown has been checked and filter replaced. Definitely keeping the pump in mind if I have other issues, but for now it's ok.

I have a build thread going https://blazerforum.com/forum/builds...r-build-96148/ if you are interested, take a peek at the posts and comment there. Don't want to talk repair and tech in here as it is just a new member area. Thanks!

 

Welcome to the forum.


If you're replacing the spider and FPR you may as well spend a bit more and go with the newer style MPI. It's supposed to be more reliable and get more even fuel to each of the cylinders. As for cold start, I'll second that it could be a fuel pump. I had a similar issue in my Blazer where if the temp dipped below -20* the fuel pump was just weak enough that the slightly reduced voltage would cause it to not build enough pressure where it would start. It would just crank. The battery was in great condition, and after changing out the pump it would start fine, even below -30*.

 

Thanks for the welcome! I do have a build thread going on it, feel free to check it out. I did go with the MPI Spider. It definitely improved gas mileage. I THOUGHT it was starting great now, but it is 9° here this morning and it was really touchy to get started. I'l keep the tech in the main pages though. Thanks again.