shimmy and a shake

So I know my '94 S-10 Blazer's got problems, I'd just like an idea of how bad it is before I head to the mechanic.

The Symptoms:

- I've had problems for about a month now starting my car. She cranks, but takes 3-5 seconds before she'll turn over. And when she does, she doesn't roar to life, but more like sputters and then runs normally. Cold and hot starts both cause problems. She'll turn over fine for about a half hour after I've driven it, but then has problems again after about 30 minutes.

- Very recently, like within the last week, my engine's vibrating pretty significantly. When I'm at idle and accelerating from stop is when the engine vibrates that car most noticibly. Imagine a ceiling fan with a big lump of clay on one of the blades - that's what my car feels like (i.e. out of balance). I hardly notice it once I'm above 20 mph though.

- I've lost power in the higher range of mph. The power's there down low, but above 50 mph, acceleration is very difficult.

So can anyone guess the prognosis? What does the bill look to be? She's getting to the point where I'm tempted to sell her, but my Blazer's worth a little more patience. Thanks for your help.

When was the fuel filter changed???
Last tune done?
What is the fuel pressure??

Look here:

http://www.automotiveforums.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=309161

When was the fuel filter changed???
Last tune done?
What is the fuel pressure??

The fuel filter was changed just recently, maybe a month ago. Tune up was about a year ago. And I have not checked the fuel pressure as of yet.

The fuel filter was changed just recently, maybe a month ago. Tune up was about a year ago. And I have not checked the fuel pressure as of yet.

Alright, so leaking gas from a regulator is a bad thing. What symptoms does this cause? What are we talking about with regards to magnitude of repairs?

First remove the small round valve on the top of your engine under the Vortec plate and peer inside with a flashlight and check for washed areas.

look at belt auto ten. egr valve ect..........

- Very recently, like within the last week, my engine's vibrating pretty significantly. When I'm at idle and accelerating from stop is when the engine vibrates that car most noticibly. Imagine a ceiling fan with a big lump of clay on one of the blades - that's what my car feels like (i.e. out of balance). I hardly notice it once I'm above 20 mph though.

That sounds like your running on 5 cylendars. Open the hood at night and run the car. See if you can see any sparks. It could be a bad spark plug or spark plug wire.

This sounds like a cylinder is not firing due to is not getting fuel because of a bad CPI injector or the distributor cap and rotor needs to be changed.

Yep its a fuel problem!!!

Had the same thing happen to mine when a spark plug cracked. (Reaching around that column to get to good old sparky #3 is a pain.) Check your plugs and wires before you get into the guts on your intake plenum. If changing out plugs and wires does not solve it, then do exactly what BlazerLT says to inspect your CPI.