1997 Chevrolet Blazer

SUV

4.3 V-6

Automatic

1GNDT13W6V2249582

Clear

Gasoline

UP FOR SALE IS MY SON'S 1997 4 DR BLAZER. BOUGHT IN 1997 WITH 75,000 MILES, NOW READS 114,000....LESS THAN 8000 MILES PER YR. OVER THE YEARS HAVE REPLACED THE RADIATOR, WATER PUMP, ALL BALL JOINTS, TIE RODS,IDLER,PITMAN ARM,SWAY BAR LINKS, THOSE ROTTEN LEAKY OIL COOLER LINES SO FAMILIAR TO 4.3 OWNERS, FULL IGNITION TUNE UP,SHOCKS, FULL EXHAUST,SEVERAL O2 SENSORS, BELT TENSIONER. IN LAST 18 MONTHS HAVE CHANGED REAR BRAKE LINES,TPS,FRONT BRAKE PADS AND ROTORS. AVERAGE OIL CHANGE INTERVAL AROUND 4200 MILES. NO RUST, TRANS SOLID, MOTOR STRONG (WITH AN ASTERISK....SEE BELOW), NO SMOKE. ABOUT 20000 MILES ON TIRES. NEW BATTERY 6 MONTHS AGO, NEW STARTER 2 MONTHS AGO. CLASS 3 HITCH. I DRIVE IT AS IS TO KEEP THE FLUIDS MOVING AND THE BATTERY CHARGED. TOOK IT OUT TO PA. LAST MONTH WITH NO PROBLEMS (ABOUT 170 MILES). INTERIOR IS PRETTY GOOD FOR 16 YEARS OLD.....NON-SMOKER OWNED. NOW FOR THE BAD STUFF...THE ASTERISK REFERS TO THE DREADED CHECK ENGINE LIGHT BLAZER OWNERS ALL KNOW AND LOVE. I GOT A PO CODE FOR A MISFIRE (CYLINDER 2, I THINK) AND FIGURED IT NEEDED IGNITION STUFF AGAIN A FEW MONTHS AGO. CHANGED WIRES, PLUGS, CAP, ROTOR, AND THREW IN A NEW COIL FOR THE HELL OF IT. RAN MUCH BETTER, BUT STILL HAS THE LIGHT AND A ROUGH IDLE/MISS. RUNS STRONG ON THE ROAD WITH NO DETECTABLE MISS, BUT LIGHT NEVER GOES OUT AND THE IDLE ALWAYS SUCKS. MECHANIC FRIEND SAYS IT IS MOST LIKELY A CLOGGED INJECTOR, BUT I DON'T HAVE ANY MORE TIME OR PATIENCE FOR DEALING WITH THAT....MY SON GOT A NEWER RIDE AND I HAVE MY OWN 2 CARS TO WORK ON AND CURSE AT. INJECTORS ARE UNDER PLENUM AND REQUIRE REMOVAL OF INTAKE ASSEMBLY TO REPAIR. IF YOU'RE GONNA GO FOR THAT MUCH TROUBLE, YOU SHOULD CHANGE THE WHOLE SPIDER ASSEMBLY (AROUND$280) AND FORGET ABOUT IT FOR ANOTHER 100,000 MILES. OTHER STUFF: THE STANDARD BLAZER & 4.3 IDIOSYNCRASIES - TICKY VALVES WHEN STARTED COLD (LIKE THAT SINCE WE BOUGHT IT), VACUUM CONTROL OR SWITCH FOR 4WD INTERMITTENT...TRANSFER CASE GOOD, 4WD RARELY USED BUT DOES WORK WHEN IT WANTS TO.....WISH THEY HAD LEFT THEM WITH MANUAL CONTROL LIKE THE OLD ONES...THEY ALWAYS WORKED RIGHT. REQUIRED CLUNKING FROM THOSE DAMN TORSION BARS....MOST OF THE REST OF THE FRONT END ONLY HAS ABOUT 25000 MILES ON IT. LOTS OF CENTER PLAY IN STEERING BOX...MIGHT BE ADJUSTABLE, NEVER TRIED. SMALL PAINT BLISTERS AROUND FUEL FILLER DOOR (NO ACTUAL RUST), A FEW DINGS AND DANGS. 1 SMALL SEPARATION OF FABRIC ON DRIVER'S SEAT...SEE PIC ALL IN ALL, WOULD MAKE A GOOD CHEAP WINTER STATION CAR, BEATER OR TOW MULE. GREAT FIRST TANK FOR A KID.....HEAVY, SLOW AND LOUSY ON GAS TO KEEP HIM OR HER FROM WANTING TO DRIVE TOO MUCH....FULL FRAME AND LOTS OF STEEL TO ABSORB IMPACT...ALONG WITH ABS AND AIR BAGS. I'VE DONE THE BEST I COULD TO DESCRIBE THIS CAR ACCURATELY....PLEASE REMEMBER IT IS 16 YEARS OLD AND FAR FROM PERFECT....SALE IS "AS IS, WHERE IS"...PLEASE TAKE THE TIME TO COME CHECK OUT THE CAR IF YOU ARE SERIOUS.....I DON'T WANT ANY AFTER SALE PROBLEMS NO RESERVE....THIS CAR WILL SELL ! DON'T MISS OUT ON A GOOD BEATER....OVER $3000 IN PARTS CHANGED SINCE WE'VE OWNED IT....$600 SINCE LAST SUMMER....THATS PARTS ALONE...MY LABOR THROWN IN FOR FREE ! A LOT THERE TO WORK WITH AT A CHEAP PRICE ! P.S. - PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE DON'T BID IF YOU ARE NOT READY TO BUY....IT IS NOT FAIR TO SERIOUS BUYERS. On May-06-13 at 15:00:21 PDT, seller added the following information: In response to several inquiries: We are the 2nd retail owners of this car since new...the 3rd "owner" was when I transferred the car to my son so he could get his own insurance. This vehicle has spent its entire life within 10 miles of here, except when my son took it to college. It has never been in an accident that I am aware of....parking lot "touches" excluded. The trailer hitch was installed by me when I bought the car.....the wires were still taped up over the spare like they come from the dealer...had never been used. I have a 1500 pound limit open trailer, and have only towed something bigger 3 times. Pulled a car on a 2 axle flatbed a couple of times for a couple hundred miles with no problems...the 4.3 may be slow, but it has lots of low end grunt for towing. This would be my recommended use for the vehicle since the trans is still good and it already has engine oil and trans oil coolers installed. The $280 quoted for the intake spider assembly is for the part only on line...anybody bidding on a 16 year old car is most likely doing their own work, or they should probably bid on a newer car. Hope all questions have been answered. Thank you all for your interest and good luck bidding. On May-09-13 at 14:29:20 PDT, seller added the following information: More answers......all power options work....windows, locks, mirrors, driver's seat in all directions, a/c (usually needs a can of refrig at the beginning of each season....right now there's still enough in there to make compressor cycle, but doesn't get freezing cold, just chilly) even the back hatch latch and courtesy lights work. Covers to vanity mirrors on visors are gone.....had to take out the light bulbs because they won't shut off without the covers, but they will work. Has working aftermarket CD stereo....nothing great but better than nada. Have been driving the car to work.....yesterday on my way home the engine light went out, and when I came to a stop the beast was idling fine for the first time in months. After another 10 minutes of driving it went back to rotten idle and light on....leads me to believe there may just be a bad connection from the injector. This has happened several times before, but not in a while. You may get lucky and not have to change the spider after all, but bid like you will have to just in case. One other possible cause could be bad signal from the ECM. Don't panic, they are now cheap...about $120 at auto zone or pep boys, and are easy to swap yourself.....but I still think it is probably an injector problem.On May-10-13 at 16:47:05 PDT, seller added the following information: Final comments: As of 8 last night the check engine light went out and the idle got almost back to normal. Drove it last night and back and forth to work today, no light, idle pretty good, not perfect. At this point I'd have to call the engine light intermittent. I checked the stored code with my scanner and it read misfire in cylinder 4, not 2 like before. I deleted the stored code last night, then checked it again after work today...no stored or pending codes as of right now...yay. It could just be that I've been using it regularly for the past week and blew out all the crap, or maybe the blast of TBI cleaner and bottle of fuel injector cleaner I dumped in it did the trick...who knows. Even with the light on you could drive this car anywhere....it only ran rough at idle, was fine on the road. PS - tried the cruise control, that is also working correctly, including accel and resume.