1st Oct 2010, 08:28
MY 05 TB after 65,000 miles suddenly will not start. It is the anti-theft system.
1st Oct 2010, 13:00
"MY 05 TB after 65,000 miles suddenly will not start. It is the anti-theft system."
Well, at least no one can steal it! Not that anyone would want to steal one of these trucks...
1st Oct 2010, 17:25
"We traded ours now, and I will never buy GM products again"
GM is not to blame for lack of maintenance or abuse. Adding injector cleaner every 3,000 miles will keep the injectors from ever needing cleaning. Ours has just under 100,000 miles and has never had a single repair. The brake pads are still the originals. I'm a mechanic and can assure you these SUV's are some of the best ever built. No car can stand up to abuse and neglect.
26th Oct 2010, 01:59
2005 Chevy TrailBlazer rear door lock and stalling problem.
Our TrailBlazer will not unlock the rear door. What started out as a good overall day has turned into a mess due to our GM crap truck. We are the original owners and have had problems since we bought this vehicle. It has so many TSBs out against it and Chevy will not repair them for free even though it was a known problem=/.
Now today the door locks were operating on their own unlocking and locking, then the windows operated on their own as well as every light on the truck! Now we cannot get the lights to turn out without disconnecting the battery! The rear door lock will not disengage and the rear wiper is not working now! I hate this truck with a passion! It also stalls at low speed on the road or highway which ever it decides is the most dangerous at the time!
I am definitely going to trade it in for a Honda or some other worth while import vehicle. I have always taken great care of this vehicle and now this is what I get in return! So to the guy saying doing your required maintenance will keep the vehicle running great needs to think again. Does anyone else have this issue or did we get a brand new lemon 5 years ago?
26th Oct 2010, 08:45
Our 2003, 2004 and my Uncles 2003 Envoy were all junk, so no you didn't just buy a lemon unfortunately. I think these trucks were hit and miss, as some posters on here claim to have no problems with them. Unfortunately I was among the "miss" category twice.
The lights issue... Try just leaving it for five minutes and the lights should go off. Ours was doing this as well, and I was unhooking the battery too. I took it in to get checked out, and they said the lights would go off after five minutes or so. I blamed this issue on the aftermarket remote starter, but maybe it was yet another fault of this truck?
We also had the infamous stalling issues with both of ours. The '04 stalled and it took literally a full minute of cranking before it would finally catch again. This was after we had the injectors cleaned for the problem. I hated the way it would surge and die off. Backing up to trailers was a lot of fun with that truck!
We also had over $1,400 worth of crazy repairs on ours while we had it. Many of which were well known problems like the "jet engine" sound. Ours, unfortunately was a pump on the transmission and not the easy fan clutch fix.
Our 2003 had the infamous left turn signal failure that was actually recalled. That truck also had a complete front end failure at 30K miles. The tie rods failed and you could feel how loose they were with every bump in the road, as it resonated through the steering wheel. We traded it in at 36K, when the warranty was up, because the rear end started making similar noises after the whole front end fiasco. I no longer felt this was a safe reliable vehicle for my family to drive around in.
The front end failure is a very well known problem with the Trailblazer. They are very poorly designed trucks overall, which is a shame because they weren't all that bad to drive... when they worked right. Why we went for an '04 is beyond me. I, like you, was really hoping the first one was a lemon and they worked out the major issues. We didn't have the front end issue again thankfully. The tie rod ends lasted for about 75K miles. Still not great, but better than 30K.
Sorry you have been having such bad luck too. We recently traded ours for a RAV 4 Sport with the V6, and the difference is night and day. The worst thing is that ours needed almost $2000 more in repairs when we limped it to the dealer. The front differential failed and this caused a heavy strain on the tranny, so that was going to be failing soon after. You could smell burning transmission fluid every time you drove it, and it made a whirring sound at 45 and above. Supposedly that was a wheel bearing. I was done dumping money into it. We only had 90K miles on it at that point.
We are so happy with the increased refinement of our new truck. It drives so much better, and it is actually more comfortable on long trips than the TB ever was. Honda makes some good SUV's as well, and will no doubt be a great choice for you. People go on about their transmissions, but with my GM experience, I'd have to say I know who has the poorer drivetrains :). I've never had any issues with a Honda transmission. In fact I've never had any issues with any foreign car. Outside of a possible Mustang GT in the near future, I am pretty much done with domestics.
26th Oct 2010, 13:05
Yeah, here we go again... every GM that has issues has been abused. Give me a break!! Oh, and another backyard mechanic that loves GM. I guess you just love your hobby a lot, because with GM you get to practice it all the time!
I maintained the trucks that I had just fine, and on par with every other car I've owned. 85% of the miles were easy highway miles, and neither of my TB's were ever off road. They both ran Mobil 1 in them, and had all fluids checked and changed when needed. I've never had to add injector cleaner on ANY car I've owned, and never had issues... other than the TB's of course. If you use good gas like I do, the injectors should stay clean just fine. And if you read my post, getting them cleaned didn't really fix the problem!
How do you maintain a vehicle so the front end won't fall out of it? Should I have put it up on blocks, and covered it and never driven it? I guess that might make a GM trouble free. How about the other odds and ends that fail on so many of these trucks. Do a little... and I mean a very little research, and you'll find tons of reoccurring issues with these trucks. They are underdesigned trash that should have been dropped from Chevy's line years ago. I am far from the only one who has had all of the same issues I have had. For every single issue I had, I did a quick search and always found numerous sources as to what the problems were, and what parts cost, etc., etc. If these trucks were so well built, how come it is so easy to find every last failure at will on the Internet?
Really it is tiring to see posts that claim one is abusing their car because it is failing them. Guess this is why GM still produces second rate garbage. People just blame the owners for their poor quality. huh.
I'll stick with imports, thanks. Less headaches and cheaper to own and operate, period, end of story!
9th Sep 2010, 11:02
I have a 2003 Trailblazer with V8 engine. It is currently in the shop for its 4th starter at approximately 156,000 miles. The last starter replacement was in May 2010. The symptom of the problem is no crank. The solenoid on the starter does energize. So there is an audible click when it engages the starter gear. But the starter does not turn. This issue begins intermittently. If I try to start the engine again, sometimes it will crank and start. The longer the problem exists, the more attempts are required to get the engine to crank. The issue is more pronounced when the vehicle is cold. The dealer first tried to change the ignition switch which didn't work. But I was charged for it anyway. Second part they threw at it was a battery. This did not help... but it really did need to be replaced. The second starter lasted about 18 months before it quit. The third starter lasted about 4 months. Symptoms are always the same.