Starting Problem Chev Blazer 2000 S-10, 4dr, 4 X 4

Yes I am a woman who knows nothing about cars. I have had my Blazer in the shop four times for the same problem. They have given me two new batteries for this but the problem is still there. It is a S10 4 X 4 four door.

When I go out in the morning to start the car it cranks and cranks, rumbles then sometimes and only sometimes. If it does not start I have to jump it from my sons car. Once I do this and use the car during the day it starts up but when it sits for a long time, it's dead again.

When I brought it in for repair they said they used some kind of meter and they could not find a short. It was drawing the right amps.

Last year I had a complete tune up done and had the fuel pump replaced.

I have spent a fortune on this already and cannot afford a new vehicle. Do you have any advice on what could be wrong or how this can be fixed?

Another strange thing it started doing is the heater will blow warm from the dash but not and floor vents. Don't know if that has anything to do with it and the Radio now half lights up and the CD player quit working.

I don't know if any of this is related but thought I should let you know. The car has 120,000 miles and is in perfect condition.

Do you mean the battery gets weak from trying to start the engine, the engine cranks strong but will not start, then you must jump it?

You are correct. If I crank it too much the battery will loose strength. Here is a strange thing though.

About four months ago it just would not start at all. I went out and bought a new battery and had it installed. It worked for about 48 hours. Then it would not start again. So I got another battery they said it was probably defective and gave me a new one.

But that one kept on going dead too. So they said it was something with the car. Supposedly they checked and said it may be electrical but they put a meter on it with the battery disconnected and said it had the right draw, i think.

Now it has this problem. So far they have charged me over $900.00 to get this fixed but it still is not right

Thanks so much for your help with this

Do you have a place that can put it on a battery Analyzer like PEP BOYS, Auto Zone or Advance? Make sure they give you a print out of the diagnosis. Have they checked your alternator?
SC

The battery checked out find. I have a new Alternator, Tune up including plus, wires, distributor cap and some other things I forgot the names of. and they put in a new Water pump and fuel pump inthe gas tank. No kidding so far I am way over the thousand dollar mark

Hard start cold if the battery is turning it over good and plugs and tune up is good.
You need to run a good fuel pressure check on it. If fuel pressure is not up to pressure specs even several low you will get a hard start cold.
The injectors will not squirt cold.
Here is the guide lines on checking fuel pressure.
If you do not have a fuel pressure gauge and take it to a shop make sure the garage does the full pressure check. And post back results.
MT

Hard to start cold.
Check cold start fuel pressure.
Check engine running fuel pressure.
Check engine running on the road fuel pressure.
Then shut it off and watch for fast leak down.
Pinch off at rubber part or block off return line and check full pressure.
Later V6 and V8 gm engines should have 60-66 fuel pressure.
Cold start should be 64-65 lbs of pressure.
If you do not have full fuel pressure on a cold start the injectors will not squirt fuel.
Do not leave home without it.
Engine running should be 60-66 lbs pressure depending on engine load.
Full pressure with return pinched off should be 75-85 or more.
And if it has a fast leak down after shut off you have a leak.
Post back fuel pressure readings.

ok I have printed this and am taking it to the shop down the street instead of Chevrolet dealership. Or should I take it to Pep Boys???

Should I ask them if they have this type of equipment to test this before I go or should I expect them to have it?


Sorry I sound so stupid about this but I really don't know about cars.

Sounds to me like it may be the alternator. You may have gotten a dud. Or maybe there's a bad ground wire causing the battery not properly charge.

My sister in law had the same symptoms when the alternator died in her Malibu. The stereo stopped playing, the lights would dim, and the car would stall and not start. When your alternator isn't putting out enough volts to keep the battery charged and enough volts to run your accessories, things like the radio, lights, fuel pump, even the computer will stop working. I'd get it checked again to be sure. With any luck, that will be all that it is. :)

Chevy took the new alternator out and sent it somewhere to be checked it came out fine

ok I have printed this and am taking it to the shop down the street instead of Chevrolet dealership. Or should I take it to Pep Boys???

Should I ask them if they have this type of equipment to test this before I go or should I expect them to have it?


Sorry I sound so stupid about this but I really don't know about cars.

No problem a lot of people do not know much about cars and they are getting more complicated all of the time.
You are asking for help is the main thing. Instead of some that just try to bluff there way threw it.
If Pep boys are a full service set up they can do it or if the garage down the street is a good repair shop they can do it to.
It might hurt there pride a little if a lady tells them how to check it but you need to make sure it is done right.
And if they do good work they will not mind checking it like it should be done.
On the cold start of morning you will need to leave it overnight so they can catch it when it is cold and see what it is doing.
Good luck and let us know how it goes.
MT

Well it is at the shop he is going to do the test but will not have the results until tomorrow morning. He said he is going to leave it sit overnight. What he did do though is put a computer on it for somekind of codes and non came up. He said if something was wrong codes should come up. Is that true?

He probably hooked up a scanner tool - or computer - to the On Board Data (OBD) port. When the scanner is hooked up it asks the onboard computer to tell it if it has any problems. These are displayed on the scanner as trouble codes. Just because there were no codes listed does not mean that there isn't a problem. Sometimes the problems are more intermittent and don't show up all the time.
I hope that they find the problem fo ryou and that it is a fairly easy fix. Good Luck.

Well it is at the shop he is going to do the test but will not have the results until tomorrow morning. He said he is going to leave it sit overnight. What he did do though is put a computer on it for somekind of codes and non came up. He said if something was wrong codes should come up. Is that true?

As Billibong said
Not all problems set a code.
But a good scanner read out of the data can help pointout problems.
A good repair shop can tell a lot from the scanner readings if everything is woking good.
But a good fuel pressure test is also needed.
The scanner will not read fuel pressure.
That is why they make fuel pressure gauges.
Let us know how it goes.
MT

Might be a long shot, and the fuel pressure test will certainly pick it up, but has anyone ever replaced the fuel filter on your vehicle? Also, discharging batteries are often caused by something simple, such as the under hood light staying on all the time. I had a car once that made me crazy with a disharging battery and it was because the glovebox light wasn't shutting off with the glovebox closed.

I'm no expert, but from what's in here, it sounds like a short, or a power draw from somewhere, like what AJT mentioned.

Doesnt start after sitting for a long time + starts after a jump + starts fine after that all day + on your 3rd battery, same problems + alternator checks out OK = something's causing the battery to drain slowly. You dont see it after you start it and run it for a while cuz the battery gets charged back up. If it sits long enough, too much power gets sucked out and you have to jump it.

Again, I'm no expert, but thats my 2 cents....

That is what they said in the beginning they thought it was a short. But they disconnected the battery and ran some kind of test and nothing was shown as drawing from the battery. How do you find a short? They disconnect the factory alarm too. The gas filter was changed about 4 months ago

Please! please, check the + positive Batt cable, I have noticed that the top part that has the red boot gets a serious amount of build up, and the bolt rusts very badly, diconnect and remove your batt for clearence, once removed check the length of the cable for any problems, if nothing is obvious look at the head try to turn the bolt by hand, it should move freely, if a bunch of white stuff comes out, there is your problem, replace the cable and head. Another easy way to check is to try to start your truck and after a no start condition ,Please be careful, put your hand near the positive terminal and check for heat, if very hot replace the cable. Very high resistence will kill a batt in no time.

That is a good suggestion Blazer SS. I had some problems starting and had everything check and all checked good. I then checked my positive cable head and it had white powder and looked like it was beginning to melt against the battery post. I should have replaced the wire but just cut the head off and cleaned it really good and no more problems. The didn't put a lot of slack on those cables. Your diagnosis is a very real possibility.

Thank you I will tell the shop when they call me this morning with the fuel pressure results. As many times as I have charged the battery though I have never seen any white powder. This is the third battery too wouldn't they have seen it?

Spoke with the shop the cables are fine the post does not heat up they checked that yesterday, no white powder

If they're removing the battery to test it, then thats not going to find the problem. It sounds like the problem is only when the battery is connected. I'm not sure how its done, but you should try having the battery tested when it's parked to see how much charge it has, leave it overnight, then test the battery again. If you're losing a lot of juice, then something's draining the power...

Spoke with the shop the cables are fine the post does not heat up they checked that yesterday, no white powder
How did the fuel pressure test come out?
MT

I am calling them now when I called yesterday they said they had not looked at it yet.

Sounds to me like it may be the alternator. You may have gotten a dud. Or maybe there's a bad ground wire causing the battery not properly charge.

My sister in law had the same symptoms when the alternator died in her Malibu. The stereo stopped playing, the lights would dim, and the car would stall and not start. When your alternator isn't putting out enough volts to keep the battery charged and enough volts to run your accessories, things like the radio, lights, fuel pump, even the computer will stop working. I'd get it checked again to be sure. With any luck, that will be all that it is. :)


My big sis has a 99 blazer and had the same problem. She had a brand new Alt. Installed her car would always die on here, I tossed 2 batt.'s at it and still same problem I even put my RED TOP in and it did the same thing I made her take it back to the Shop, The guy said it was a bad Alt. So he poped in a new one. the next say no start same problem. I went out and bought and alt. And put it in, Problem was gone. Unless she was the unlucky one to get 2 bad alt. or the guys a loser and doesn't know how to put an alt. in. Not sure if thats your problem but Just one of many direction, good luck

Why do shops think woman are stupid. I am at the crazy point. I called the shop to get the readings. I was extremely specific I wanted the numbers couldn't be more clear, even typed out the sheet and brought it to them and placed it ini their hands and this morning they stated. "We check all of that out and it is fine." I asked what the reading were they said "they don't have them and not to worry about it they were fine." I am ready to go there and pull the car out. Any suggestions????

Phillips Chevrolet put the new Alternator in. When I started having the problems they pulled it out and said they sent it somewhere to have it checked out and it came back fine. Should I not believe them? They charged me $225 to get that done

Why do shops think woman are stupid. I am at the crazy point. I called the shop to get the readings. I was extremely specific I wanted the numbers couldn't be more clear, even typed out the sheet and brought it to them and placed it ini their hands and this morning they stated. "We check all of that out and it is fine." I asked what the reading were they said "they don't have them and not to worry about it they were fine." I am ready to go there and pull the car out. Any suggestions????

Ouch that is a bummer deal.
Find a good repair shop fast.
They are giving you the old run around.
If they could not give you the fuel pressure readings or check it out hang it up with them.
The fuel pressure is very important on that engine. If it is not up to specs it will not squirt the injectors whe on a cold start. Even 2-3 lbs low can cause hard start cold.
The electrical problems mentioned can also be checked out by a good repair shop in a simple test.
That should be done on the car not take it off and send the stuff out.
I do not think it is your problem if the engine is cranking over good but.
It would not hurt to have it rechecked or checked by a good repair shop.
Here is a tip on finding a good repair shop.
Check around Ask around
Word of mouth.
Family friends coworkers neighbors business people and delivery people.
Mailmen and parcel delivery people get around and notice a lot of stuff.
Even a good parts house knows what shops are good and not good.
Chamber of commerce and better business bureau and city hall.
If you find a good referral to a repair shop go look them over and talk to them.
Look for a clean looking busy place with nice people running it.
Ask a few questions and ask about their qualifications and training.
Not all places have trained tech/mechanics.
If they do not find a place that does.
Even all dealers do not have all trained techs/mechanics.

I wish there was more we could do to help.
But a good repair shop is what you need to find.
Unless you want get some tools and repair books to do it yourself.
We can try to lead you threw it if you want to try it.
Good luck and let us know how it goes.
MT

Well it is out of that shop and in another one who is said they will give me the readings. They are not happy. On another note now it is dramatically pulling to the right, didn't do that before. he is also telling me it started right up. So Iknow they were not relling me the truth

Good for you on the another shop. Wise choice.
Let us know how it goes. And post back pressure readings when you get them.
Good luck
MT

Hello Everyone

Sorry but the shop just got back with me. The fuel pressure is off they are saying it needs a fuel pump. and are suggesting another new battery but did say it was not necessary. Actually I like these people I just hope it's the truth. I had a new fuel pump put in about 2 years maybe 1 1/2 years ago at the tune of 750.00. They said they warranty their work and the pump will have a 1 year. I am at such a loss but don't know what else to do.

If they ran the full test and made sure it is actually the fuel pump weak then go for it.
If they just stuck a gauge on it a came up with low fuel pressure it may not be the fuel pump.
I would call and ask them for all of the pressure reading I posted to you.
It is very importaint to get all of the pressure readings to make sure the fuel pump is bad.
Many other things can give a low pressure reading that a new fuel pump will not cure.
And go from there or post back the pressure reading they got and we can help.
MT