Howdy from KC metro area
07-23-2016, 03:59 PM
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Howdy from KC metro area
Greetings salutations adieu! 
You can call me "chevy" or you can call me "04" or you can even call me "blazer" but my friends just call me Paul.
... just purchased my *-series Blazer 4x4 ...
("100% STOCK" I think - 'cept for obvious things like tires - about 101,000 miles w/o documented service history - appears in good shape - drives real fine - tranny maybe a bit sluggish? slight hints of "shift flares" [or whatever the heck] - slightly uneven shifting doesn't seem "real serious" [yet] and average driver might not notice much (if any) issues ... Dad drove it and didn't notice anything at all - though he'* a "conservative" driver ...)
Anyhow ... w/ 101K miles and apparently less-than-picture-perfect shift patterns, on this 4-speed automatic w/ 12.5 (roughly?) QUART transmission - perhap* fluid and filter change is in order ... transfer case and differential fluids as well ...
LBNL, and sincere apologies for the lugubrious intro - hopefully comes across as fully cordial beings we already noticed useful threads first-glance! -
Grateful-as-all get-out from the get-go! Wouldn't have signed up if it didn't seem a sportin' chance Lol!
--- Still, honestly a bit mystified and/or intrigued about "the place" to "research" non-routine maintenance on the Blazer;
... apparently (from 94/95-'04) 6-cyl Chevy *-10, Chevy Blazer, GMC Sonoma/Jimmy/Envoy [Envoy 98-'01?] commonly/very/often shared the 4L60-E transmission and 4.3L engine ... also seems obvious these are called "*-series Pick-up and SUV" ... and yet ... so far ... doing general Google-search(*) - abundance of hits (regarding not-so-simple maintenance on Blazer) yields items often located at https://www.gmforum.com ... in several DIFFERENT forums. No biggie. No huge deal, no crisis, but at least that'* how things SEEM.
So - not quite sure how to phrase this - awkward place for an awkward question - but sure SEEMS like: "Info on working on the drive train (except for 2.2L [4-cyl] engines) of the vast majority of Blazer/*-10/Sonoma/Jimmy/Envoy vehicles for the decade 94/95-'04 (Envoy 98-'01) is all pretty much the same." Not seeing a "6-cyl/4.3L *-series Pick-up & SUV drive-train" type-forum, anywhere, and if the 6-cyl/4.3L drive train is virtually identical on a-decades-worth [very wide array] of GM Pick-ups and SUVs - also including Bravada and Hombre, then apparently, that might mean:
A) discussion board information on working on these 4.3L drive-trains is "relatively scattered?"
B) and maybe/probably exist historical reasons why [pertaining to inception dates of boards relative to production dates of vehicles themselves?]
C) and so the [apparent] lack of a "4.3L *-series Pick-ups/SUV drive-train" type-subforum is another case of "Paul'* hindsight is 20-20" or (blind-as-a-bat on a good) day should/would be my first/best guess? ... "Inquiring minds would like to know" Lol!
Honest to goodness, swear on a stack of bibles, I'm pretty much in the dark about all this and NOT trying to be a pest (before ever even making a first post Lol!) nor (hopefully) over-stating the obvious ... but having done SOME research on "switching out all roughly 12.5 Quarts" of tranny fluid - or at least switching out 99% of it - and the best 'step-by-step' procedure I remember finding (so far) was on a non-GM vehicle (if memory serves) at Youtube a couple years back --- it sure SEEMS the process involves removing a tranny cooling line from the radiator to change out fluid in the torque converter ... and about the best description I've found on the (gm-type) forums thus far (as of last week) still seems open to some "debate"; again, no complaints ... even for a shady-tree wannabe (mechanic) like me, even THAT thread might contain ample info [beings it doesn't seem that hotly contested] to get from A to Z ... if that'* the case we're off to the races.
(Finally [he says, nearly out-of-breath] ...) painfully aware of writing 500 words asking a couple naive questions -
DESPERATELY HOPING (maybe) I've added enough glorious (Lol!) detail - that answer(*) [assuming there are any] might take 25 words or less ... happy to do the leg work on the research ... just be nice to "know in advance" if heading in a generally 'North' or 'East' direction makes good sense to start with so-to-speak. Or, in this case, as a couple decades ago my good friend Tom told me a (true) story I've never forgotten;
Having newly re-located from living in the Midwest (all his life) to working as an engineer/mechanic in the NY City area, and after driving aimlessly a good while, in search of a garlic press that'd been misplaced in the move, and upon getting COMPLETELY "lost in the City" - then finally pulling over and asking directions:
he was told, in a thick Brooklyn accent, "You can't get there from here." Nobody is making any of this up. "You can't get there from here." ... Nobody could make that up! I know, I know ... setting myself up ...
You can call me "chevy" or you can call me "04" or you can even call me "blazer" but my friends just call me Paul.
... just purchased my *-series Blazer 4x4 ...
("100% STOCK" I think - 'cept for obvious things like tires - about 101,000 miles w/o documented service history - appears in good shape - drives real fine - tranny maybe a bit sluggish? slight hints of "shift flares" [or whatever the heck] - slightly uneven shifting doesn't seem "real serious" [yet] and average driver might not notice much (if any) issues ... Dad drove it and didn't notice anything at all - though he'* a "conservative" driver ...)
Anyhow ... w/ 101K miles and apparently less-than-picture-perfect shift patterns, on this 4-speed automatic w/ 12.5 (roughly?) QUART transmission - perhap* fluid and filter change is in order ... transfer case and differential fluids as well ...
LBNL, and sincere apologies for the lugubrious intro - hopefully comes across as fully cordial beings we already noticed useful threads first-glance! -
Grateful-as-all get-out from the get-go! Wouldn't have signed up if it didn't seem a sportin' chance Lol!
--- Still, honestly a bit mystified and/or intrigued about "the place" to "research" non-routine maintenance on the Blazer;
... apparently (from 94/95-'04) 6-cyl Chevy *-10, Chevy Blazer, GMC Sonoma/Jimmy/Envoy [Envoy 98-'01?] commonly/very/often shared the 4L60-E transmission and 4.3L engine ... also seems obvious these are called "*-series Pick-up and SUV" ... and yet ... so far ... doing general Google-search(*) - abundance of hits (regarding not-so-simple maintenance on Blazer) yields items often located at https://www.gmforum.com ... in several DIFFERENT forums. No biggie. No huge deal, no crisis, but at least that'* how things SEEM.
So - not quite sure how to phrase this - awkward place for an awkward question - but sure SEEMS like: "Info on working on the drive train (except for 2.2L [4-cyl] engines) of the vast majority of Blazer/*-10/Sonoma/Jimmy/Envoy vehicles for the decade 94/95-'04 (Envoy 98-'01) is all pretty much the same." Not seeing a "6-cyl/4.3L *-series Pick-up & SUV drive-train" type-forum, anywhere, and if the 6-cyl/4.3L drive train is virtually identical on a-decades-worth [very wide array] of GM Pick-ups and SUVs - also including Bravada and Hombre, then apparently, that might mean:
A) discussion board information on working on these 4.3L drive-trains is "relatively scattered?"
B) and maybe/probably exist historical reasons why [pertaining to inception dates of boards relative to production dates of vehicles themselves?]
C) and so the [apparent] lack of a "4.3L *-series Pick-ups/SUV drive-train" type-subforum is another case of "Paul'* hindsight is 20-20" or (blind-as-a-bat on a good) day should/would be my first/best guess? ... "Inquiring minds would like to know" Lol!
Honest to goodness, swear on a stack of bibles, I'm pretty much in the dark about all this and NOT trying to be a pest (before ever even making a first post Lol!) nor (hopefully) over-stating the obvious ... but having done SOME research on "switching out all roughly 12.5 Quarts" of tranny fluid - or at least switching out 99% of it - and the best 'step-by-step' procedure I remember finding (so far) was on a non-GM vehicle (if memory serves) at Youtube a couple years back --- it sure SEEMS the process involves removing a tranny cooling line from the radiator to change out fluid in the torque converter ... and about the best description I've found on the (gm-type) forums thus far (as of last week) still seems open to some "debate"; again, no complaints ... even for a shady-tree wannabe (mechanic) like me, even THAT thread might contain ample info [beings it doesn't seem that hotly contested] to get from A to Z ... if that'* the case we're off to the races.
(Finally [he says, nearly out-of-breath] ...) painfully aware of writing 500 words asking a couple naive questions -
DESPERATELY HOPING (maybe) I've added enough glorious (Lol!) detail - that answer(*) [assuming there are any] might take 25 words or less ... happy to do the leg work on the research ... just be nice to "know in advance" if heading in a generally 'North' or 'East' direction makes good sense to start with so-to-speak. Or, in this case, as a couple decades ago my good friend Tom told me a (true) story I've never forgotten;
Having newly re-located from living in the Midwest (all his life) to working as an engineer/mechanic in the NY City area, and after driving aimlessly a good while, in search of a garlic press that'd been misplaced in the move, and upon getting COMPLETELY "lost in the City" - then finally pulling over and asking directions:
he was told, in a thick Brooklyn accent, "You can't get there from here." Nobody is making any of this up. "You can't get there from here." ... Nobody could make that up! I know, I know ... setting myself up ...
07-24-2016, 12:30 AM
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PS - I just realized it TURNS OUT: gmforum.com ACTUALLY IS "the place" (by default or design I mean) to research Blazer maintenance!
... after THINKING about it - out of the SEVERAL forums I THOUGHT about signing on --- https://www.gmforum.com (is THE one that) actually DOES group *-series Pickup & SUVs the way one might hope/expect --- (other forums I looked at this week obviously confused me as to "how the vehicle forums were chosen to be arranged") - embarrassing start to things ... but all'* well that ends well! ...
SIGNED UP FOR THE RIGHT FORUM DESPITE MYSELF Lol!
... after THINKING about it - out of the SEVERAL forums I THOUGHT about signing on --- https://www.gmforum.com (is THE one that) actually DOES group *-series Pickup & SUVs the way one might hope/expect --- (other forums I looked at this week obviously confused me as to "how the vehicle forums were chosen to be arranged") - embarrassing start to things ... but all'* well that ends well! ...
SIGNED UP FOR THE RIGHT FORUM DESPITE MYSELF Lol!
07-31-2016, 01:22 AM
#3
Senior Member
True Car Nut
I have to admit, I am not the best atreading long posts that jump around a bit, I welcome you anyway!
Welcome!
For tranny fluid swaps, the common belief in these parts is to drop the pan and change the filter. That gets about half of the fluid swapped. Also transmission treatments in a bottle can go both ways. Seafoam transtune is great for breaking loose sticky bits in the tranny right before a fluid change. I also like lucas trans fix as well for livening things up. Also it'* best to use Dexron 6 fluid from here on. It will mix with dexron 3 just fine, and offers better protection. Walmart is typically the cheapest source (supertech) and brand is usually irrelevant.
Welcome!
For tranny fluid swaps, the common belief in these parts is to drop the pan and change the filter. That gets about half of the fluid swapped. Also transmission treatments in a bottle can go both ways. Seafoam transtune is great for breaking loose sticky bits in the tranny right before a fluid change. I also like lucas trans fix as well for livening things up. Also it'* best to use Dexron 6 fluid from here on. It will mix with dexron 3 just fine, and offers better protection. Walmart is typically the cheapest source (supertech) and brand is usually irrelevant.
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WilliamE (07-31-2016)
07-31-2016, 02:16 AM
#4
Senior Member
True Car Nut
Welcome to the forums, hopefully you will find the info you need here!
Like rjolly said, drop pan, change fluid for new fluid, the Seafom Transtune would not hurt either.
No need to d a full flush, I'd only do a full flush if there were no trans issues at all, and even then I'd rather drop the pan and inspect the pan/magnet first.
Then deiced if a full flush is the way to go..
Like rjolly said, drop pan, change fluid for new fluid, the Seafom Transtune would not hurt either.
No need to d a full flush, I'd only do a full flush if there were no trans issues at all, and even then I'd rather drop the pan and inspect the pan/magnet first.
Then deiced if a full flush is the way to go..
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