Faults:
Well, just to pile on, I think we can all agree there are numerous design defects that GM refuses to acknowledge with this year Blazer. Bought my car used - no warranty - so didn't really expect that much help from GM. But you would think some parts they would reduce the price on or comp? The Saturn division is very responsive to owners, why not Chevy?
Driver's side door - on my third set of door pins. None of the other doors have ever been a problem, and they do get used since this Blazer is the kids' ride to school.
Noises - got a doozey under the dash near the drivers side. Have had the dash torn apart several times, door hinges pulled, hood hinge pulled, etc. Now I just live with it.
GM Stereo - first one speaker went, then a second, then the whole radio. Aftermarket radio took care of that.
Serpentine belt tensioner - went at 40k miles.
Gas gauge - ya, did the dance everyone experiences about 3 months ago. However, let that be a warning to people - when your gauge goes the fuel pump isn't far behind since they're all one unit. My dealer wanted $1500 to pull the tank and replace the unit - about a 1/3 of the current blue book value. Another DIY project.
Vibration - not knowing it was a design flaw at first, wasted money on new shocks, rebalancing tires, etc. Then learned it's on tons of Blazers so live with it.
Heater - quit working. Went to check it out, and found the whole cooling system a gummy mess at 70k miles. Never saw anything like it before. Took forever to flush everything out. I chalked it up to a prior owner dumping something in the fluid, until I learned others have the same issue. One weird antifreeze these must have originally come with.
Roof rack - ya, mine is peeled bare now.
11th Oct 2007, 10:25
In regards to your heater not working, I'd say it was the coolant GM uses. They use Dexcool in their engines, which you can tell because the stuff is red. It seems that after a few years, it will clog small passages. I ran it in my non-GM truck for three years and boy was it a mess to clean up afte I changed to a plain conventional radiator fluid. I'd suggest flushing the heck out of your coolant system and replacing it with plain radiator fluid. That will solve the problem.