Comments: 1-15, 16-30, 31-45, 46-60, 61-75, 76-90, 91-105, 106-120, 121-135, 136-141
I have a 97 blazer 2 door and it runs like a clock. I pushed snow plows with it, towed boats that weigh morethan the truck. All I ever had to do was change the radiator and brakes. That thing is a beast now I'm putting a disc brake rear end in it. It has 95'000 miles now it's time to give it a makeover and put a bigblock and 1 ton axles under it so I can tow construction equipment...yeeeha.
My WONDERFUL 97 Blazer!
1.Broken Tailgate (won't open)
2.Broken rear-windsheild wiper
3.Broken Multi-function switch (NO BRAKELIGHTS)
4.Ball joint snapped driving home from Hospital w/Baby!
5.Idler arms
6.MAJOR oil leak! (newest problem, haven't fixed yet)
7.Rear speakers broken
8.Mirrors Rattle (waiting for them to fall off)
9.Sparkplugs (nightmare)
10.Pitman Arm
I'd keep going but I think you get the picture!
I called, emailed and wrote to chevy and they basically laughed at me! My truck was very well taken care of it was just built horribly, and the sad thing is, is I LOVE THE TRUCK!!!Good luck Blazer owners youll need it!
Owned my 97 Blazer since day one. It has driven all through Oklahoma and Texas before I sent it over to England for 18 months and then to Germany for two and a half years. In Germany we did hit black ice coming down a mountain early one morning but nothing serious happened to either me or the Blazer other than nearly going over the side of the mountain. Had wear and tear replacements as all vehicles will need and I did replace the door pins. Then on to Spain's Atlantic coast for another two and a half years of bad tight roads. Replaced both mirrors due to narrow roads and bad Spanish drivers. Fuel gauge in tank stopped working but not many Chevy dealers in Spain so it was a guess thing with mileage. Back to England for another four and a half years but first got caught going over the Pyrenees Mountains during a blizzard. Maybe a four wheel drive would be nice. But she made it just fine. Got the gauge fixed in England and then the tranny went so a new one was plunked in. I have replaced the fuel pump once and the belt several times but nothing that surprised me as she gets older. Back on a boat and now in Virginia and she still running good. However since she hasn't been in a Chevy garage since 97 and it's now 2008 I have spent over two thousand on minor maintenance that should've been done long ago. Good car think I'll keep her, beats a payment on something else. Oh yeah she was repainted in England for free when vandals attacked the paint job on a military installation and I had the under carriage sprayed since I spent so much time near the ocean.
1997 Blazer key will not turn on ignition, seems to be locked. Any ideas? Thanks.
My son was a victim of misfortune. He is 16 and a newly licensed driver as of Thurs (6-12-08). On Friday (6-13-08) his father purchased a 97 blazer for him. He spent all day Saturday and Sunday cleaning and preparing his blazer for everyday use. On Monday (6-16-08) he was set loose with his new vehicle only to experience an engine fire while driving it. The vehicle is now a total. (But thank God he wasn't injured) I have been researching to see if maybe there had been any recalls on the 97 Blazer for any problems that may have been the root of engine fires. Does anyone know?
I agree with you on these vehicles having more problems than anyone should reasonably have deal with. The dealers want $80.00 an hour and from what I am reading in these posts, they don't seem to do much more than guess at which replacement parts to change any better than me.
So. I choose to do the semi- easy stuff myself. I've put in a new transmission, new alternator, new radiator, new heater core (that was a real pain to change) new multi-function wiper switch, new head gasket, new water pump, new front axle differential, new gas tank, new sending unit/fuel pump, new fuel delivery & return lines, new ICM module... and now to find out what this problem is... Ignition switch on steering column then after that, the next part will be the computer... rebuilding this crapbox piece by piece.
Transmission 1836.00
Alternator 98.00
Radiator 178.00
Heater core 82.00
Multi-function switch 150.00
Wiper motor pulse circuit board 30.00
Head gasket replacement 648.00 /450.00 labor -- 198 parts
Water pump replacement 183.00 1/2 price from original quote
Differential & transfer case replacement -
4x4 switch - oil change - fix door hinge 1361.00
New gas tank - fuel pump, fuel lines & filter 1115.94
Basic Tune-Up 300.00
Ignition Module 132.00
Ignition Switch 98.00
2nd fuel pump install 1036 (less than 3 months after above install)
GRAND TOTAL = $7247.00
WOW!!! I didn't realize how much I actually sunk into it up till now when I added up the slips... Holy Cow! I'm sick!
I bought a brand new Toyota P-U in 1987. I drove it 334,000 miles and the only replacement part I ever got for it was an alternator... and the light came on to tell me I was in need of replacement... I did change wear and tear parts... brake pads, mufflers. and the like.. but, the tranny, drive train, radiator, starter, distributor, engine all original.. no valve jobs... nothing!
Ironic thing... I just sold it tonight and they loaded it on a flatbed tow truck... my wife started crying when it was leaving the driveway... LOL
Although I also still have a 2003 Silverado 4 door crew cab 6.0 I will not buy another GM ANYTHING! The wife just got a 2008 Toyota Rav 4... I feel confident that it will be trouble free for many years... I can't afford to keep GM service department employed...
This car has given me problems from the start. Bought it used in High School for $1200, with about 150,000 miles on it. It sat in a garage so I put about $600 into it from the beginning. It had a coolant leak... I had to refill the coolant about once every two weeks. Then the fuel pump went out ($1200), I went out of state for school and my stepfather ended up replacing the alternator and some other stuff ($1000), and I just had to pay another $1500 to replace the radiator. My mechanic is my cousin and I trust him to not cheat me... and every time I send that truck in to get looked at I end up paying because somethings leaking pretty bad here or there. Def. not buying another GM product.
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?
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.
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.
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.
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.
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?
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.
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.