'97 Blazer cuts out ! Any ideas?

Thanks for the sanity check guys.

I was going to say that the common factor in all these problems appears to be: It's the wife's vehicle ;-)

But that would be sexist :-))

I'm going to get the ignition looked at as soon as possible.... I'll let you know how it goes.

Kev.

What went into protective mode? Your wife or the Tahoe? ;-)

(and what does protective mode do?)

I've booked my Blazer into the garage for Wednesday afternoon. I told them my ideas on it being the switch, so that where we'll start. Only time (and a few more dollars) will tell.

Kev.

@#!$%^&* Chevrolet!

The Blazer WAS due to go to the garage this afternoon, but it committed suicide earlier this morning.

Garage took it in and tell me that it was more dead than alive. All the occasional problems have become regular.

Battery had a bad cell (only coming up with 10V) ...leads suspected of having corrosion deep down. So tomorrow I should have a new battery and new leads. Holding off on the ignition replacement, to wait and see if this fixes the issues.

There's an Interstate Battery store two doors down from the hardware store where I work. I think I'll take my blazer over there tomorrow and have them run a diagnostic on the battery and charging system. Maybe it'll turn up something usefull. The last time I was there they had some cool tools that could give me a print out of any problems.

-NW

I dropped by the garage tonight on the way home from work and they tell me that the Blazer seems to have overcome it's 'ignition' problems by the changing of the battery leads. Now I also have a new battery to replace the previous one with the bad cell, so only time will tell if it was the leads.

More bad news....(never buying a Chevy again!).. garage tell me that the 'Infamous' (unfortunately it's one of those 'infamous' problems you only ever hear about once you get it, not before you buy a vehicle) 'Dex-cool' (or Death Cool depending on who you listen to) problem has struck my coolant system.

Going to have that corrected....seems multiple acid flushes, new gaskets on the inlet manifold and new thermostats are required + lots of labor. More Joy. :-(

Found this website

Check your coolant!

I'll update on the success (or not) of the changed battery leads.

K.

Yeah, I played the Dex-Cool game about a year and a half ago. I had it fixed about 2 days before a week long cold snap / snow storm, so luckily the heat worked when I needed it.

I didn't get over to have my battery/charging system tested today. That's on my list for Monday morning. Let me know if the new battery leads fixed it.

-NW

Any word on battery leads or ignition switch replacement?

My blazer has been acting up more lately. The starter always cranks strong, but it's getting harder to start, and when it does start, it's been dying right away (as soon as it is put in gear). I guess that's a good thing, since it'll be easier to troubleshoot when it's displaying it's symptoms.

-NW

NW, Got the Blazer back on Monday night and so far (Friday pm) it hasn't tried to cut out on us yet. However, it continues to have the delayed dashboard lights symptom when the ignition is turned on. I turn the ignition key....radio and fan start up, but the dashboard lights can take anything up to a minute or two to come up. When they (eventually) do light up, the engine starts as good as new.

If nothing changes, I'd say the poor connection, due to the corroded positive lead, was causing the cut out problem and the delayed dashboard lights is a seperate problem (ignition switch?).

But I'm no expert :-(

Looks like it'll be back in the shop next week for an ignition switch :-/

Kevan

Here we go again.......

My wife tells me that the Blazer stalled on her yesterday!

Looks like I'm going to have to go ahead and replace the ignition switch too.

I'm gong to hold off on the battery leads then... they look pretty good, so I'll wait to hear if the ignition switch did any good.

Even if it doesn't fix the problem, I should replace mine. I'm starting to loose patience with not being able to get the key out all the time.

-NW

Wow, you guys have been *way* more patient than I (or my wife) would have been... Better buy her flowers after the switch replacement... ;-)

Waiting impatiently for your outcome. (My '95 Suburban used to cut out while going down hill. It took $270 and a new fuel pump to find out my wife was just running out of gas... :-D )

-Omar

Yeah Omar, you may be right on that patience thing...

I can't speak for Kevan, but my wife and I are both college students, so money is tight. I guess I've got to be patient because I can't afford not to be (already put $600 or so into this already with no joy).

I would sell the blazer, but a dealer won't give me what it's worth in trade, and I don't think I could sell it in it's current state to a private buyer. The truck is worth fixing, and I know this can be fixed... If I can track down the source of the problem. It runs great normally, it's comfortable, and in excellent condition.

-NW

Hi NW, Car is okay at the moment. The ignition was changed yesterday, the lower part - not the top part where you insert the key. So far so good, but until I get to the weekend without a problem I'm not celebrating (besides that, the garage has took all my party funds!) No signs of any delay in the dashboard lights coming on. No problems with the key not wanting to come out of the ignition switch any more and NO stalling. But hey, it's only been a day :-/

The garage rang me part way through the replacement to tell me that there was a part on the wiring that would be unnecessary when the new part went in. The called it an ignition interrupter and said it looked a bit ragged, they also said the heat in there may cause it problems in the future. As they deemed it unnecessary I told them to remove it while they were there. I don't know what the extra bit was, or why it would become irrelevant after a new ignition was put in, but I am curious they called it an ignition interrupter and that they described it as a bit beat up. I wonder if that was the offending part? Too late now I suppose. Sounds like Chevrolet installed a time bomb on my car!

Fingers crossed that this did the trick. I don't know how much more there is to replace, but if this doesn't work it'll be cheaper to replace the car than keep throwing good money at it.

If you thought college students were poor.....become a married father with a money pit Chevy Blazer! See how rich you are then! ;-)

Regards,

Kev.

Thanks for the update!

Let me know if you make it through the weekend without any problems.

I've got a buddy who is working on his ASE cert., so he and I may try and do the replacement. I'll have to look into how to take apart the steering column to get at the switch.

-NW

NW, So far, so good. My Blazer (for the first time in months) is behaving like an angel. It appears that changing out the ignition has cured the problem.

Good luck with your repair.

Kev.

That's great news! What should I expect this repair to cost me?

-NW