29th Oct 2008, 07:04

I am the proud owner of a 97 Blazer 2 door 4X4. Rides great I think. I bought it used and I bought it from a coworker.

The engine has been rebuilt, a new transmission was put in, a new gas gage had been put in. I just got it registered and starting driving it this week, had a fuel line leak and had to take it to the Chevy dealer to fix ($399).

Put a new battery in, but now here is my issue... this just started this morning. It started up just fine as I was leaving for work, I stop to get coffee and then it doesn't want to start. As if the battery was dead. After waiting a few minutes, like 3 minutes, it started right up. I get to work, go in, come back out to head out to another work site, does the same thing. It seems as though the battery is draining.

Now I just bought that battery a month ago after I got the truck home because when I bought it the battery that was in it was dead. Seems like there is significant battery drain from what I've read so far on this site... wish I would have known that before buying this thing. That is an issue I really don't want to deal with. Has anyone been able to resolve the electrical battery drain issue?

4th Nov 2008, 00:10

I own a 97 Chevy Blazer, and the heater and AC don't blow with any force. Is there anything I can do to fix this problem cheap? As money is tight at the moment.

10th Nov 2008, 11:56

I own a 97 Chevy Blazer as well and I wanted to comment on the person with the starting issues in OCT.. It's your ignition switch and that is $95 at auto zone and 160 to get in put in.. Now I live in Indiana so not sure if you will find the same price but I just had to get it done since my car wouldn't start.. I got a test done on it to make sure and that only got 45 at Goodyear.. Hope this helps.

Christina.

18th Nov 2008, 20:01

Hello all and sorry about the piece of crap that everyone has..

I am Christina's husband, and yeah she thinks that the truck is fine.. LOL I do all of the work.. We have had the truck for about 7 years now paid 12,000 for it.. I have done a crap ton of brakes on it. Every part of the A/C unit, tires, ball joints, new radio, well you see where I am going with this..

Yeah everything in every post I have done.. But on the other hand it's been OK, but the money has to stop right. I don't know, but I do know one thing, I WILL NEVER BUY ANOTHER ONE AGAIN..

They turn into junk.. I am going to replace the oil pan seal this weekend.. Good luck with everything...

Eric.

28th Nov 2008, 19:16

97 Blazer... We bought ours in Sept of this year, it had a motor problem when purchased so we knew what we were getting into..

I have done a lot of research, and read that others were having problems, but ours has 180,000 on it so what can you expect.

We have now rebuilt the motor, changed the tranny seal, fix the brakes... But I have to say this, the ones who had it before us, must of had some bad mechanics. The things my husband has found working on this Blazer is unbelievable. If this truck would have had better mechanics fixing the problems, it probably would have ran better for them, but the mechanics did a half bad jobs of putting things together, just fixing it half way and then leaving it. It looked like the only tool they had was vise grips. Plus this family lived in the country, and there was so much dirt and dust on things we had to scrape stuff off to get it to work right.

We know we will still have some things to do. But when you buy used, and anything over 75,000 miles usually starts needing things replaced, we are up for it. I steam cleaned the inside, so it looks good again, there should be a law about eating in vehicles, nasty. But I feel we made a good choice in buying this vehicle. People need to remember if you buy used, you will have to sink money into a vehicle.

5th Dec 2008, 15:34

Hello I have a 97 Blazer and so far I have replaced the alternator 3 times, wiper motor 3 times the radiator, water pump and my heater core went so I just by-passed it. The gas guage doesn't work. The drivers side window is off and on.

Now I have a HUGE water leak coming from the rear of the engine. Freeze out plug??? Intake gasket??? I have no idea. Anyone else have this problem?

24th Jan 2009, 09:18

I have a 1997 Chevy Blazer, and it has 230,000 miles on it. Leaking head gasket, and had to replace the heater core twice in 3 months time. Chevy needs to put the heater core under the hood to better access this thing. And the air/heater does not blow that well. It has been a good car for as long as I've had it.

25th Jan 2009, 14:55

Thankfully I bought my daughter's 97 Blazer for $400. I have since repaired so many things I forgot half of them until I read this. The previous writers' question on the water leak at the back of the engine is most likely the intake manifold gasket. Buy a book, it can be done with some patience. The ignition switch was last week. I realized if I drilled a small hole 3" in from the key, I could have inserted the allen wrench like the final step in the manual and replaced the switch without removing even one screw. Now I get to replace the turn signal as I broke the hazard button during removal of things that never needed removal. Check Ebay for cheap parts. Next up is the 4 wheel drive that only the lights work. I did see there is a reboot of the computer by disconnecting the battery. Not on my of course. Any help would be appreciated.

Tom.

3rd Feb 2009, 22:38

Well I bought a 1997 Blazer 4 months ago with 130k on the clock for 400.00 that sat in an Iowa barn for a year, because get this, the 3 body (yes and I quote body) shops wouldn't figure what was wrong with it.

Well the alternator and battery were replaced, and a month later the battery was defective. His loss my gain.

I just did an oil change to find dexcool sludge. So I am hunting for a pressure full and green coolant swap.

I am buy another on tomorrow; it's a 1998, 169K, also leather and sunroof, same as 1997. It's going to get here, get cap, rotor, plugs, wires fuel filter and throttle body cleaned, and sea foam in through brake booster vaccum line. And some wet sanding and buffing to get out scratches.

My 1997 is going to this weekend get a new passenger front wheel bearing and maybe tie rod end, and possibly some ball joints.

To be honest, I have a 3rd Blazer, it's an 1988 2wd 2 door fully bagged with co2 air ride to lay it on the ground or ride on three wheels.

I play hard and I have had a total of 13 S10 products, ranging from 1983 S10 pickups to V8 swapped Blazers, to lowriders and lifted S10 trucks. They all need work. What vehicle is perfect - some need more than others, but what they give you that another one didn't (you chose it - it didn't choose you) is it the cargo space that a Honda Accord didn't have, or it is the the hitch that can handle a boat or camper that the Accord had no steel to mount it to, or was it the four wheel drive to get you to that fishing spot or home during a snow storm that the Honda Accord hid from (I have had 5 Accords).

Regardless of the issues these have, every one is fixable and in most cases have fixes that can better it as an overall vehicle (moog ball joints).

Almost every issue I have read I have been through or had friends or family that have been through it, and how many people have asked their mechanic or asked yourself "how could this have been avoided"?

A vehicle that won't meet your needs isn't the answer. Get rid of dexcool, don't continue running your gas tank empty (splashing or gas in general is what is used to cool the fuel pump - if the tank is regularly dry, no cooling and consistently above normal operating temp will cause it to go out more often than normal - in other words don't be a cheap skate and keep gas in it).

And make sure it's properly aligned with correct offset rims, and understand some things just won't last forever and then take it off roading, and you will start to understand why you wanted it to begin with.

Really, for you that have had transmission issues, how often have you had your transmission serviced? I have had oil leakers and I have developed a habit of always when approaching my vehicle, or as am leaving it, glancing for drips or leaks or smells to be safe, and haven't ever had something occur where I wasn't lead on to it through common sense clues.

So stop complaining, and go clean your ride and show it that you really do care. Wow.