1998 Chevrolet Blazer LT review from North America

I bought my S-10 Blazer used off a lot at a Chevrolet dealership, and they included the papers of the necessary repairs needed just before I bought it. These repair included, new brakes and ball joints at 35,000 miles. Good thing this was done before I bought it. Since then, here are the repairs that I have done. Keeping in mind, almost all of these repairs were done by myself in order to prevent me from having to go out and get a second job just to afford them.

35,000 miles: New tires right away. Current ones made by Laredo are almost completely bald. Put Michelins on and they still have a lot of tread at 120,000 miles!

37,000 miles: Transmission cooling line leaks. New cooling line from radiator to transmission replaced. Dealer actually took care of this for me since I just recently bought this vehicle.

42,000 miles: Wipers start to operate all on their own on clear sunny days with no clouds. Dealer laughs because this is a common joke in the service department known as "ghost wipers". Bought and replaced wiper control module located in engine compartment. About $70.

43,000 miles: New shocks needed all around. Dealer wants $230 a piece for exact AC Delco replacement, however, I bought the exact AC Delco replacements direct from AC Delco for $50 bucks a piece. Imagine that.

68,000 miles: Four wheel drive doesn't engage. Actually had to take it to a dealer this time only. One dealer tells me he has to take apart the entire system and will need the truck for a week. Another dealer fixed it in an hour and determined the old battery leaked acid on the engaging cable which cause the cable to snap.

84,000 miles: Upper and lower oil cooling lines leak. Bought parts from dealer. Dealer told me I need to lift the engine off the engine mounts to remove and replace the oil cooling line. Nonsense, just get a good friend and a piece of wood and your able to used the wood as a lever to move the engine just and inch or so to the side without removing any bolts, and then have your friend slide the old one out and slide the new one into place, and then release.

95,000 miles: Accelerator pedal becomes really sticky to push. I don't know why, but I got the dealers opinion and they want to change the entire throttle body for only $750 dollars. I determined all you need is a $3 dollar can of carb cleaner, remove the intake hose, and spray and wipe off the dirt build up around the intake butterfly. Good as new. Amazing.

98,000 miles: New brakes needed on front. Not bad, got almost 60,000 miles out of these. Actually was able to continue to use the brake rotors, just had them turned.

100,000 miles: New shocks again. This time went with Edelbrock IAS shocks. Took me about 30 minutes to change each one.

105,000 miles: Water pump leaks. Can't complain really. 105,000 miles is pretty good for the original one to last this long. But, it takes me an entire day to replace because you have to remove so much to get to it.

110,000 miles: Alternator goes bad. Bad streak I guess this month. Pretty cheap though and easy to replace. Change the battery as well just for my own sake.

112,000 miles: (2) new u-joints needed in main drive axle. Guess this is about right for a 112k.

115,000 miles: Front driver wheel hub bearing goes bad. No sweat, at least I got 115k out of it. Replaced part in my garage in about (3) hours.

120,000: New spark plugs and wires. Actually to my surprise, I determined that I could have gone longer before I changed them cause the engine still runs well and still get good gas mileage for this vehicle, but there was a sale at the auto store.

As of now, I think I'm good for a little while as far as repairs goes. For everything I have done so far, its almost new again. Only problem left I have to determine is the main drive shaft. After the u-joints were replaced, I still have about an inch or so of rotational play in the drive shaft. You can here the clunk at low speeds when you begin to accelerate again. Stay tuned...

Overall, I really have enjoyed my Blazer and probably would get another one. I would have to do more research on the reliability of the new ones first.

The concept of this SUV has really matched my lifestyle of continued outdoor activities from camping in the summer to skiing in the winter. However, I think that if you own one of these vehicles though, you either need your youth to keep up with the do-it-yourself repairs, or a really great paying job in order to afford having all these repairs done at the dealership.