gbelous

I am going to be getting (hopefully) a 1997 Blazer LS with 154k miles and replaced engine (not sure how many miles on that)
Has some rear end damage, but nothing major.

The person said this about it...
"interior is in good shape. it is rwd untill you push the 4hi or 4lo button but can be left in 4wd all the time if needed. tailgate opens just fine. damage does not affect it. its an automatic. no tranny issues, it shifts just fine. the last owner didnt rake care of then engine so it wasnt in good shape so i had it replaced. it had served me well. i just wand a smaller vehicle. i go to an automotive school. so i maintain my car well. doesnt have any issues. has about 154,000 miles on it but engine has less. not sure how much."

My main question is what should I look for when I go see the vehicle and are there any problem areas to be concerned with? I know nothing about this vehicle yet.

Thanks for any help!

rubrhammer

Depending on what part of the country you are in you may need to take rust into concideration. Salt belt vehicles will need brake and fuel lines if they haven't been replaced already. Shocks and exhaust system do to miles and age respectively. Cupping on the tires is a sign of a bad shock. How many miles since the brakes were replaced? Pull the tranny dip stick and look at and smell the fluid. If it isn't pink or smells like burn't toast then there are some tranny issues. Look at the tires, with that many miles and that age there is a good possibility that the springs are getting tired. On the front this can show up in the camber and cause a tire or both tires to wear more on the inside. Don't confuse this with toe in. A toe problem will leave feather edges on the tread blocks that won't be there with a camber problem.
Bob

njerrdawg4

after having had 2 blazers now i would suggest also looking at the rear end because they have a tendancy to leak at the rear main seal. other than that i would say the tranny also. It seems like they don't last as long as some other trannys though i have not had problems with either that i have and i have over 100k on both of them

rubrhammer

The valve body in that era was soft enough that the bore that a modulating valve rides in wears and becomes oval allowing preassure bleed and slippage in the tranny. There is a fix that involves reaming the valve body and putting in a sleeve. If you ever tow with one it will show up! Especially with high miles on it.
Bob

gbelous

ok, thanks for the ideas. i looked at the tires and the rear ones were nice, had lots of even tread, but he had larger tires than stock on the front, i think 235 75/15 so they rubbed the wheel well when it was turned all the way...not sure how much of an issue that might be. the fuel pump, intake and entire exhaust are new since he did an engine replacement about a year ago.
not sure what else i would consider a deal breaker...just always apprehensive about getting new vehicles.

didn't notice a lot of rust, didn't really get under it much, but we are from CT, so rust might be an issue, I will have to look again if I go back.

I looked for the tranny dip stick but couldn't find one. when I asked (kinda felt retarded for not knowing) but he said some of these engines didn't have dipsticks...not sure what to make of that.