1992 S-10 Blazer: what to watch for

[53' Stude]

Hello and may be inheriting brothers 1992 S-10 Blazer with 215,xxx miles on it. Replaced leaking oil filter adapter and both front and rear shocks. Passed PA Inspection and emissions fine. No real issues with it brother says. He's getting a Tacoma here in a few days. What to watch for on this if I get it? Transmission fluid flush and cooling flush done also.

Thanks in advance

 

[supton]

Suspension, front end parts. Fuel pump, not sure how much of a pain it is to change. It's pretty old so it's in the age of "anything can go"--but parts ought to be cheap. Finally: rust.

Sounds like an automatic? 4.3L V6 or 2.8L? Not that I recall much of an issue with either.

 

[53' Stude]

Fuel pump was replaced 2 years ago brother found as well as fuel filter. Yeah, it's the 4.3 v-6. Only pain is changing oil filter which requires removing air cleaner assembly. Glad we replaced the air filter as it looked way worse than the Focus MC filter from my Ford. Going to change gear oil in it today and the weeping pinion seal and u joint since brother has a lift and I'm on vacation and there's cold beer in the keg-er-ator. Hey, that's what vacations are for

 

[Pop_Rivit]

It's almost a quarter century old with almost a quarter of a million miles on it. It sounds like your brother wasn't even the original owner, so there's really no way to tell what the maintenance has been. But no matter how you look at it, it's going to have all the typical problems that a well-worn vehicle of that age will have.

 

[nwjones18]

At this point its old enough anything could cause a problem, so just a general look over is about all you can do. Sounds like you are on the right track. That 4.3 is a tough little motor.

 

[53' Stude]

It was a southern vehicle as not much if any rust on it. It does great in winter and no complaints from brother. We'll see

 

[Bud_One]

I had a 93 2 dr 2WD S10 Blazer 4.3 - only issues I ever had was the fuel injector assembly (spider looking one) regulator leaked and would cause hard start issues (TBIs don't have this issue) , left front upper control arm bushings wearing out - replaced the entire upper and lower control arms and fuel pump/sending unit wiring burning and shorting out.

 

[53' Stude]

The only thing I helped brother fix on it that he couldn't; was a bad tps sensor. World of difference after it was fixed. Even has new Goodyear wranglers on it.

 

[Donald]

I believe this is around the time where GM had TBI and [censored] poor fuel pumps. (My 1993 Suburban did for sure).

So never run out of gas or new fuel pump. Some say to never run low. The fuel pump is cooled by gas flowing through it.

The vehicle is likely to need lots of continued maint.

 

[Andrew1972]

Everything. Just drive it and if it expensive enough the junkyard can take it off your hands. I would not invest more then $100 in fluids and filters.

 

[dlundblad]

For a car this old, you seem to know a lot of maintenance history. Id go for it. Would this one be a southern truck? How is the rust?

Not sure on the older 4.3, but I know the later ones have the intake manifold gasket issues.

The ball joints/ A arms are fun to replace.. The ball joints are riveted in and the bushings on the A arms are most likely gone.. so its just easier and cheaper to buy new complete upper and lowers. You should be able to get Moog or AC Delco pretty cheap from Rock Auto.

 

[53' Stude]

Yeah, brother found the history and it came out of Arizona. Not that much rust underneath. Passed PA Inspection even this year. Greased front ball joints and tie rod ends as most of those have been replaced. We'll see as it rides good and has never let the brother down.

 

[blupupher]

Originally Posted By: Bud_One
I had a 93 2 dr 2WD S10 Blazer 4.3 - only issues I ever had was the fuel injector assembly (spider looking one) regulator leaked and would cause hard start issues (TBIs don't have this issue) , ...

I had the same issue on mine, a common problem on this model 4.3 (but I loved that motor).
It is also know to have EGR problems.
I ended up trading mine in because I started having coolant leaks from the freeze plugs.

 

[53' Stude]

This one has the "W" code engine and smaller air filter that's rectangular. Brother is driving it out to me summer time. Says "it's never left me stranded in 4 years of ownership". Good enough for me and he is a mechanic/engineer so kinda like me