New to the blazer/suv world, any advice?

A few weeks ago my '02 Impala was totalled when a Dodge Ram was obviously living up to its name & rammed me pretty good! I went out that weekend and purchased a 2002 4dr 4wd Blazer, 63,000 miles on it. So far I'm loving it, especially loving no car payments!
I've always owned cars, never a truck or suv and I tend to have a bit of a lead foot. I've had a few family members warning me about roll overs, how huge of a concern is this for everyday road driving?

I've noticed when first starting my Blazer when it's cold, there is a roar, from reading on here it sounds typical for the fan clutch? It usually stops in what seems like a minute or two. However, if I try to drive before the roar quits, it is very sluggish, once the roar quits it drives beautifully, is this normal?

And last but not least, any advice in general on how to keep her around for several years to come? *I know I know.....lose the lead foot*.

Welcome :)

Thanks for the welcome!

The clutch fan roar is normal,
Now Some advice on keeping her around for awhile...

Flush your cooling system every couple years
Change your factory radiator cap to a Stant cap "ASAP"
Change your oil/ filter and GREASE it regularly
Grease or oil all your door hinge pins at each oil change
Change your fuel filter and air filter
Get your transmission fluid flushed out and front & rear diff fluid changed
Grease your disc brake slide pins
Keep her tuned up, only use AC Delco tune up parts
Never let your fuel guage drop below the 1\4 tank mark
Wash and wax her as much as you like, weather permitting
Happy Motoring Net Kitten................
DINO

The clutch fan roar is normal,
Now Some advice on keeping her around for awhile...

Flush your cooling system every couple years
Change your factory radiator cap to a Stant cap "ASAP"
Change your oil/ filter and GREASE it regularly
Grease or oil all your door hinge pins at each oil change
Change your fuel filter and air filter
Get your transmission fluid flushed out and front & rear diff fluid changed
Grease your disc brake slide pins
Keep her tuned up, only use AC Delco tune up parts
Never let your fuel guage drop below the 1\4 tank mark
Wash and wax her as much as you like, weather permitting
Happy Motoring Net Kitten................
DINO

Hey thanks....appreciate that! Im curious though why it should never go below 1/4 tank? So far it hasn't. And why do you suggest changing the FRC to a stant cap asap?
Oh and before I forget, you said the roar was normal...kinda thought so from what Ive read, but would the sluggishness be normal too? It perks right up after the roar quits.
Thanks again

Scratch the stant question.....I just read why on here =-)

welcome bro!!! i dont know if im a mind reader or not but i think what he meant by keep it above a quarter tank is because of the fuel pump being in the tank if it isnt under gasoline its exposed to air and will heat up and over time will eventually overheat if exposed to air too much!!! trust me on my Highschool budget with my dynasty, i was surprised the low fuel light hadnt burnt out!!! but like i said in the drive thru of a McD's the pump overheated and i pissed off a lot of hungry people!!!

welcome bro!!! i dont know if im a mind reader or not but i think what he meant by keep it above a quarter tank is because of the fuel pump being in the tank if it isnt under gasoline its exposed to air and will heat up and over time will eventually overheat if exposed to air too much!!! trust me on my Highschool budget with my dynasty, i was surprised the low fuel light hadnt burnt out!!! but like i said in the drive thru of a McD's the pump overheated and i pissed off a lot of hungry people!!!

"Bro" *giggle* bro'ette is more like it but thanks for the welcome! I sure dont wanna piss off any hungry people so I will keep that in mind.
I've been looking online and found several model numbers for these stant caps....didnt have a clue what they were until I started this post but Im a fast learner. Any suggestions on what one to purchase for a 2002 Blazer?

The website Im on now has..........

STANT Part # 10230
16 psi Pressure Rating {Standard Cap (Open or Closed System) - 16 psi (SAE Range 14-18 psi)}

STANT Part # 11230
16 psi Pressure Rating {Standard Cap (Open or Closed System) - 16 psi (SAE Range 14-18 psi) - Card Packaged}

STANT Part # 10330
16 psi Pressure Rating {Safety Release Cap (Open or Closed System) - 16 psi (SAE Range 14-18 psi)}

STANT Part # 11330
16 psi Pressure Rating {Safety Release Cap (Open or Closed System) - 16 psi (SAE Range 14-18 psi) - Card Packaged}
**Non-stock item--shipping delayed up to 30 business days**

Net Kitten

Opie was pretty much Correct, Gasoline in the tank is your fuel pump's coolant, the lower the gas is in the tank, the hotter the pump run's, and the harder it is on your pump.
I can't remember if I have the STANT 10330 or the 11330 on mine...
And yes the sluggishness is normal till the roaring stops.

Dino.........

Net Kitten

Opie was pretty much Correct, Gasoline in the tank is your fuel pump's coolant, the lower the gas is in the tank, the hotter the pump run's, and the harder it is on your pump.
I can't remember if I have the STANT 10330 or the 11330 on mine...
And yes the sluggishness is normal till the roaring stops.

Dino.........

That makes sense, thanks! I dont usually like to get low on gas so this should be easy enough for me to do.
Its amazing how much info/help is on these boards. Im not an active poster here, obviously, but everytime I visit I learn something!

Net Kitten

Maintenance, Maintenance, Maintenance. I know that can be said for any automobile, but for these trucks, its a must. On time oil changes, with good quality oil a must, transmission service on time a must, front/rear differential service a must. These trucks can get very costly to repair, can be much more than your Impala, so keep maintenance up and you should be o.k.
If you really rely on your vehicle for work, keep it serviced.

By the way welcome to AF, looks like a nice truck, hope it serves you well!

Grease the 10-11 grease fitting on your front end twice a year. Do it now seeing I doubt if they have ever been done. Don't trust the oil shop guys to do it, they won't.

Do a tuneup right now on it.

Plugs
Cap & Rotor
Fuel Filter
Air Filter
PCV valve

After run a full bottle of Redline SI-1 Complete Fuel sytem cleaner through a full tank of fuel to clean up and deposits.

Use only 5w30 oil and don't use a Fram filter.

wow, who woulda thunk there is so much to do/know!
I was browsing around the forums last night and saw a picture of the cap, so I looked today and sure enough I have the original on it and will need to replace it.

I loved my Impala, plenty of giddy up & room but these trucks are just so attractive physically that I really wanted to get one. Mine looks almost black in the photo but it really is a dark green color. I keep finding reasons to go somewhere just to drive it lol Then I bought the kids a portable dvd player for it and well, you know, I cant disappoint them so then I have to drive around some more so they can try that out *wink*.

I've only had it a few weeks but so far all I've done is change the wiper blades, they were horrible. I will definately follow the suggestions here for upkeep.

Remeber, cap AND rotor, not just the cap.

And change the plugs.

Oh, I forgot, get the tranny filter and fluid changed. If you don't you will get a tranny failure.

Is most of this stuff you all are suggesting fairly inexpensive things to do? Just wondering because looking down through I see chi ching.. chi ching.. chi ching lol

I'm sure my husband would do most of the work for me....as soon as he finds that honey do list he keeps misplacing *wink*In all fairness I should say he is working long hours, not that he just puts it off or anything.

Is most of this stuff you all are suggesting fairly inexpensive things to do? Just wondering because looking down through I see chi ching.. chi ching.. chi ching lol

I'm sure my husband would do most of the work for me....as soon as he finds that honey do list he keeps misplacing *wink*In all fairness I should say he is working long hours, not that he just puts it off or anything.

For instance, do you want to do a $99 fluid and filter change or a $3000 tranny.

You get cheap, it will put you in the poor house.

These are maintanence items that have to be done. You don't do them, your nice truck will turn on your.

Trust us on this, spend the money and get the maintanence up to date. It will save you 1000s in the future.

For instance, do you want to do a $99 fluid and filter change or a $3000 tranny.

You get cheap, it will put you in the poor house.

These are maintanence items that have to be done. You don't do them, your nice truck will turn on your.

Trust us on this, spend the money and get the maintanence up to date. It will save you 1000s in the future.

I dont mind shelling out for whatever needs done, just I dont know anything about this sort of thing and was wondering if they are fairly inexpensive or what to expect. We dont have car payments on either of our vehicles so the way I see it, anything I have to do in routine maintenance is far less expensive than a car payment kwim? The whole reason I bought a used truck was to not be tied to a car payment anymore and have something that would last several years that was paid for. The only down side is I dont know how to do these things myself so unless I take a crash course on it, or pay someone else to do it for me, Im limited to my husbands schedule and when he can fit it in.

Here is the list to do:

Fuel filter
Spark plugs AC Delco Platinum plugs only (Model # 41-932 "Set to Gap 0.060")
Cap & Rotor
Air Filter
PCV Valve
Transmission flush and refill and a new filter
One bottle of Redline SI-1 Complete Fuel System Cleaner into the tank beofre filling it.

Here is the list to do:

Fuel filter
Spark plugs AC Delco Platinum plugs only (Model # 41-932 "Set to Gap 0.060")
Cap & Rotor
Air Filter
PCV Valve
Transmission flush and refill and a new filter
One bottle of Redline SI-1 Complete Fuel System Cleaner into the tank beofre filling it.

okey dokey....making my list and checking it twice. Thanks for all the advice, it really has been very helpful.

No problem, better get my advice in there before I leave the Blazer crowd.

I will be moving on to greener pastures soon.

No problem, better get my advice in there before I leave the Blazer crowd.

I will be moving on to greener pastures soon.

What'cha moving to if you dont mind me asking?
I think we are about to pick up a second Blazer. My husband has always regretted getting rid of his 2dr for the family Impala *god rest her soul*, he is talking about buying another 2dr Blazer in the early spring.

By the way, I've done a search on all the things you suggested and the total isnt bad at all!

Going to a Chrysler 300C.

If I am going to get 18mpg, I might as well have some power.

But mind you, it was noice to have the 4x4 in the snow storm yesterday.

No problem, better get my advice in there before I leave the Blazer crowd.

I will be moving on to greener pastures soon.

Have fun with the 300C and thanks for all the advice!

Have fun with the 300C and thanks for all the advice!

You aren't rid of me yet. ;)

Grease it every time you change the oil. It's cheap and saves your parts from prematurly failing.

I work for a heavy construction company, in management. It's cheap insurance on all the moving parts of a machine. Don't grease your machine, see ya.

In regard to not running your tank below 1/4, the fuel pump uses the gasoline to stay cool. No fuel = hot pump = pump burning out. From what I've read, you don't want to be replacing a fuel pump. Call for an estimate and you'll see what I mean.

My '95 has the pick up tube or pump, whatever it is, in the rear of the gas tank. So when I parked it facing downhill with a 1/4 tank, I couldn't get the engine started because there wasn't enough gas for the pump to suck up and get to the engine. I dumped a gallon of gas in. Didn't help. My dad drove half an hour to bring me 4 gallons of fuel. Needless to say, he wasn't too happy.

Hope this helps.

Yes, fill up at 1/4 of a tank, never allow it to go to empty.

oops, maybe i should have known that before, and are blazers supposed to have gas lights? haha

I thought it odd that a '92 $12,000 Escort has a low fuel light but a '95 $22,000 Blazer doesn't. Maybe the light would have put it over budget. LOL!

that low fuel light goes on when i am empty guess it should be more of an oh shit you're out of gas light

This is a great thread! Any additional advice for a 2001 Jimmy 4x4? She's got about 86K on her. Just purchased and I'm a bit new to the domestic crowd. Only problems so far are the lack of heat for the interior, broken rear defroster, rear washer doesn't squirt, remote opener is going. Engine pulls strong, brakes are great, steering is a little sloppy though. I'm coming from a '06 Evolution so I'm trying not to be too jaded. :icon16:

Once main question I do have is that when I went to the service guys at the local GMC to see what work had been done prior, and other than the various nick-nack minor things (switch gear, door handles, etc) there was a replacement of the K7285 - reaction gear @ 45k miles in Jun of 2003. The gal couldn't really describe what it was just looks like the tranny. I've done extensive searches and can't find out what exactly the reaction gear is. I know what reduction gears are, could it be a typo?

Anyway, also say hello. :wave:

Aloha,
Ian

P.S. - new_kitten not ment to jack your thread. :smooch:

P.S. - new_kitten not ment to jack your thread. :smooch:

Hijack away...don't mind at all.

OK Im getting a GMC "blazer". I want to do away with the 4X4. Do I have to preplace the spindles or do I need to change the upper and lower A arms. If I need to is there any difference between a 2X4 and a 4X4? Thanks

Hi All,

Just a comment on the trans service that was recommended. ONLY do it if you knowthe trans has been serviced previously. If you have more than 60k on the vehicle already and do the first trans service, you could be causing the death of your transmission. When I worked at a trans shop, I pushed more cars than I could remember because the owners chose to ignore advice not to change it.

Best of luck! I am still trying to bring my Bravada back to life...

Hi All,

Just a comment on the trans service that was recommended. ONLY do it if you knowthe trans has been serviced previously. If you have more than 60k on the vehicle already and do the first trans service, you could be causing the death of your transmission. When I worked at a trans shop, I pushed more cars than I could remember because the owners chose to ignore advice not to change it.

Best of luck! I am still trying to bring my Bravada back to life...

I've read that before and was wondering why that is?

I used to have a 96 Lumina and was reading on some forum (years ago) that not long after he had his tranny serviced (fluid, filter whatever they did) it failed on him. Other suggested that it's best to let it be.

Now, while I know a fair amount in general about cars/trucks, not neccessarily the specifics of every bolt on the machine, it seems to me servicing is a good thing.