Anyone have a Chevy Trailblazer?

[Dieselnerd]

A week ago I got a new 2002 Trailblazer LT, mainly for my wife. It replaced a 1986 S10 Blazer that we bought new and was still running like new. The new one seems to run perfectly so far. It's really got a quiet but powerful engine. Straight 6 just like my Cummins except it has double overhead cams and is all aluminum. I got the factory service manuals Vol. 1 and 2 and each volume is about 2. 5 inches thick. I can't believe the amount of electronics in this thing and I spent my whole working life at IBM. I think I may have finally found the vehicle that oil and filter changes may be all I can do other than obvious mechanical failures. We liked the Trailblazer when they first came out but thought we would wait a year so the driving public could complete the normal GM testing process and at least work out any major problems. According to the manuals there are 17 separate computers that are all interconnected by communication lines with OnStar connected into the on board diagnostics as well.



I was wondering if any of the other members have one of these vehicles and how well they are performing.

 

[hammersley]

This vehicle has a new approach to......

Look under the engine and transaxle. This vehicle uses a "revolutionary" new one piece oil pan for everything - the transaxle AND engine. Don't ask me about the lubricants. Take a look and see if this is correct - I noted it in one of the professional auto/engineering magazines.

 

[exfuzz01]

Re: Chev. Trailblazer

My wife and looked at them... ... ... . bought a 2002 Dodge Durango, 5. 9 RT... . Love it... .



















01 Laramie, QC, AT, 4x4, long bed, 4:10, gauges, line X liner, Smitty nerf bars... otherwise stock... tow a 24 ft Komfort 5er with slide. .

 

[heliopilot]

i have a 2002 LT also, wife drives it, approx 2500 miles on it.

either i drive it to fast or the brakes dont slow it down as quick as i'd like, but thats it, for me.

 

[Dieselnerd]

Hammersley, it's true that the front axle goes right through the oil pan but the differential is on the drivers side, bolted to the outside of the engine. It uses normal gear lube. Front and rear diffs come filled with synthetic lube from the factory.



Exfuzz, We looked at the Durango before buying the Trailblazer. Our dealer is a Dodge and Chevrolet dealer and normally has a large selection of both. It's the same dealer where I bought my Dodge Cummins. At the time of our purchase they had 55 Durango's in stock and 26 Trailblazer's so it wasn't hard to find what you want and we could do a side by side comparison. We tried both and liked both but eventually went to the Trailblazer since it's new from the ground up and had more power. I really like the straight 6 double overhead cam engine. Super smooth, very quiet and when it idles you don't even know it's running. Unlike many of the new engines today, it does not have rubber timing belts that must be replaced periodically. The cams are chain driven and the exhaust cam has variable timing to eliminate the need for EGR. Slick, if you like high tech stuff...

 

[Champane Flight]

Heard

I heard they have a hunk of power and run at a lower RPM. Higher milage between oil changes? Whats the fuel milage like?

 

[TPCDrafting]

Little old lady that lives down the street has one and it's treated her good. It's funny, she can barely see over the steering wheel. She lives with her son and his family and he says it's a real screamer, but all his vehicles are ferds, what would he know.

 

[Dieselnerd]

Champane Flight, they do run at a lower RPM. It seems to run at about the same RPM as my Dodge at similar speeds. The mileage has been pretty good for a SUV so far but we have been driving slower. You are supposed to stay under 55 MPH for the first 500 miles which we will reach in the next day or so. After I can take it up to the 70 MPH that everyone else drives around the Twin Cities metro area I expect a mileage drop. I've been getting just slightly better than 20 MPG so far with about 70% highway, 30% stop and go. Better than the S10 Blazer this vehicle replaced which got around 18 under the same conditions. But it's really too early to tell until I do normal driving.



As far as oil changes go, they electonically monitor engine RPM, run time and various other factors and when you reach the end of oil life as the vehicle calculates it, a light goes on telling you it's time to change. The manual says it typically will come on somewhere between 3000 to 7500 miles. If it doesn't come on for a year you are supposed to change it anyway. I don't feel real comfortable waiting for the car to tell me when it needs new oil but maybe this is the way to go in the future. It holds quite a bit of oil for a 4. 2 liter gas engine. Capacity is 7 quarts including filter.

 

[TPCDrafting]

My bro had a '69 Chevy Nova 2d through high school and college that had an in-line six. 230 cu in. (I think) It had the 3 on the tree transmission. The car had 260,000 miles on it when he sold it to a high school kid a few years back. He rarely had to do anything to that motor and never had to rebuild it. Everthing around it was starting to "go" when he sold it. It was a far cry from a "SS", but it was some real reliable transportation.