80s Blazer Reliability

[Elonner]

Hey guys I’m new here and am looking to buy a K5 Blazer, obviously. I’m sure this subject has been touched upon before but I haven’t been able to find specific enough answers. I currently have a very reliable car, but I’ve been in love with the K5 for as long as I can remember and desperately want a car that I can work on myself.

My worry though is switching from my current car to a much older one and having it be a money suck as I’m a broke college student. My budget would be about $7,000 and I’ve heard that that amount should get a pretty clean daily driver, but again I’m looking for some more specific input than that.

For reference, I am a mechanical engineering major and consider myself very capable with tools and such, about as capable as one could be without having any experience working on cars specifically, however whether or not I could, I probably will not have time in the foreseeable future to fix major issues (rebuilding transmission for example).

Sorry for all the info but my QUESTION is I’d love to hear from anyone who daily drives their Blazer. What has gone wrong with it over the years? How much money have you HAD to put into it to keep it on the road for such repairs?

I’m mainly just trying to figure out what sort of financial risk I would actually be taking on, because I REALLY want to get one, but not if that means I have to move back in with my parents because I put all my savings into my car. THANKS!

 

[Bent77]

Well truck projects are a money suck no matter what. Using one as a daily is doable, but don’t expect great mileage

 

[Elonner]

Thanks for the input Bent77, but I am less concerned with the mileage and other small, predictable maintenance stuff than I am with problems I can’t really account for before I purchase one.

 

[Bent77]

Thanks for the input Bent77, but I am less concerned with the mileage and other small, predictable maintenance stuff than I am with problems I can’t really account for before I purchase one.

Depends on the previous owner and how well it’s maintained. But I’d figure at least an additional $1k

 

[GoGoGirl]

OP, my mind has been in the same place with the same questions before. This might be long...

I daily drove a 93 with TBI (if memory serves) for a few years. It was used and this was the late 90s so it didn’t have a chance to rust much yet. I bought it with about 85k miles and put about 60k on it. Overall it was almost always perfectly reliable. I can remember replacing the fuel pump, rear shocks, and something about the FI system. The only work I did myself was maintenance so I don’t recall the exact repairs. That vehicle was great, what can I say. It could ascend slopes much more than I thought possible. The front end ate (OEM quality) components when wheeled hard...pitman arms, idler arms, and ball joints at least once. I did a lot of stupid things with it and it was always able to drive home easily. There may have been a $500 repair bill the next day, but at least I always got home.

I now have a 1985 M1009. It has a carbureted gas 350
of uncertain origin. If you buy something with a carb, I’d highly recommend having someone who knows what they are doing adjust the timing and carb operation as needed. My carb still isn’t perfect. I chose to replace plugs, wires, cap and rotor, filters, and belts when I bought the vehicle. It sure started and ran much better after that, and I got the chance to see some places to watch for future wear and tear. She can be temperamental to start, especially in the cold, but overall still puts a big smile on my face. I can’t daily drive due to needing to get places quickly and reliably for my job, otherwise I would at least in nice weather. My main battle is rust. The only thing standing in my way of total enjoyment is the sometimes-questionable nature of starting, which seems to be due to a fuel issue of some sort (see carb comments above). Otherwise it’s a slow, heavy, dirty beast that I can haul almost any of my belongings inside of and it’s fun and adventurous to drive.

 

[Elonner]

Thanks that’s exactly the type of information I was looking for!

 

[Scribbles]

It’s totally doable but keep in mind it all starts with what you buy and staying on top of the little problems. It will nickel and dime you to death but some of us enjoy that life and as long as you have friends that will come get you if you are dead in the water you’re set!

If you’re gonna daily I’d be looking for as close to stock as possible and read up on the common rust areas to check for on the trucks you’re considering so that you don’t get stuck with something you don’t want to or can’t fix yourself.

 

[79rustyk10]

I'd wait until you're done with school, and stable. As much as I love these trucks they suck up time and money.

That said, find the most virgin, unfucked with K5 you can. The newest full size k5 blazers are 28 years old now, and good ones are getting rare, and more expensive. The better your starting point, the more you'll enjoy it without it turning into a giant snowball of a project.

They're wonderful trucks, and with care, about as reliable as anything else of that era. That said, don't sell an efficient, reliable car to get one. IMO.

Also, if a driver, avoid trucks with the (NP203)full time transfer case. They rob power, and fuel like crazy. These were discontinued after 1979.

 

[Elonner]

Rusty, that is certainly the most practical and reasonable option, and likely what I will end up doing. Thanks for all the input guys.

 

[HankScorpio]

I have daily driven lifted 80's squares for like 20 years. 2 in particular plus a couple others that I didn't keep for all that long. Gas mileage in the 10 -15 range. Since they were older trucks something always wore out. Starter, steering pump, alternator, water pump, radiator etc. That sort of stuff can be fixed relatively easy and is still much less money than a car payment each month. Every few years something a bit more major is going to pop up. A trans or an axle rebuild, possibly a motor swap, all depends on what you start with. The more major things are when a daily driver is a pain. I have always had a second vehicle to get me by for a week or two while I repaired things. Never anything very new, sometimes just another square. I have worked on my truck at night in the cold to be able to go to work the next day. Its not much fun. I see the choice as buy a really nice reliable one that has a new motor, trans, etc or get a good one that you will work on here and there while keeping a second vehicle as a backup. Most of my mechanical knowledge came from fixing my truck because I could not afford to have someone else do it. Now years later I can afford it but no longer need a mechanic for my trucks, just time to fix whatever pops up. My advice on parts is buy the best you can find. Try and get genuine GM stuff if you can. I have replaced tons of reman parts over the years. A lifetime warranty on a cheap rebuilt starter isn't worth much when you are changing it out for the 3rd time in a parking lot in the dark so you can get home.

 

[Scribbles]

I have daily driven lifted 80's squares for like 20 years. 2 in particular plus a couple others that I didn't keep for all that long. Gas mileage in the 10 -15 range. Since they were older trucks something always wore out. Starter, steering pump, alternator, water pump, radiator etc. That sort of stuff can be fixed relatively easy and is still much less money than a car payment each month. Every few years something a bit more major is going to pop up. A trans or an axle rebuild, possibly a motor swap, all depends on what you start with. The more major things are when a daily driver is a pain. I have always had a second vehicle to get me by for a week or two while I repaired things. Never anything very new, sometimes just another square. I have worked on my truck at night in the cold to be able to go to work the next day. Its not much fun. I see the choice as buy a really nice reliable one that has a new motor, trans, etc or get a good one that you will work on here and there while keeping a second vehicle as a backup. Most of my mechanical knowledge came from fixing my truck because I could not afford to have someone else do it. Now years later I can afford it but no longer need a mechanic for my trucks, just time to fix whatever pops up. My advice on parts is buy the best you can find. Try and get genuine GM stuff if you can. I have replaced tons of reman parts over the years. A lifetime warranty on a cheap rebuilt starter isn't worth much when you are changing it out for the 3rd time in a parking lot in the dark so you can get home.

This is very very true, all of it but especially the lifetime warranty stuff.

 

[Elonner]

Yea that all makes sense. Seems like waiting until the pockets deepen a little is the right move here. Thanks for confirming.

 

[ZooMad75]

Anybody buying an older vehicle to daily better know how to work on it. Sounds like the OP is, but remember farming the work out because you can't work on it will kill you with the labor cost and parts markup. Go get factory service manuals for whatever year you end up with and avoid the Haynes and Chilton's crap they sell at autozone.

I'd try to buy a factory fuel injected truck so the target would be 87-91. TBI is stone simple and reliable and easy to fix when you know what you are doing. That will also net you an OD trans at the same time for an automatic truck. I'd start out doing a complete tune up and fluid change to everything to start a new baseline and the work will get your hands on every major subsystem in the truck. As others have said even in perfect tune a stock K5 with TBI and OD is not going to net stellar mileage numbers. As long as fuel is cheaper and or you have a short commute it's not much of a big deal. But the fuel cost can eat you out of house and home if the commute is long or fuel prices spike. Remember it's a 31 gallon tank back there so you got to get used to $50-80 fuel fill ups depending on price for fuel and how low you let it go.

Another reason to look for a TBI truck is emissions. It looks like the OP is from California, so passing emissions with a carb equipped truck will bring the suck and swapping in EFI will be fraught with emissions issues that will have you seeing a CARB referee to see if they will allow you to proceed.

 

[HankScorpio]

The 87-91 TBI trucks are also my favorites. I currently have a 91 V3500 and a 90 K5. They both run great, I don't want a carb one ever again. It's not just the carbs either, the last generation just feels a bit more refined to me. The 87-91 isn't a secret, you will pay more for one but I feel its worth it. They are also about 15 years newer than the first ones.
Back when gas was $4 I did drive my Cherokee a ton more but its $2.50 again so .

 

[fordsucks!]

Back when gas was $4 I did drive my Cherokee a ton more but its $2.50 again so .

Cot damnn. Gas is 4 bucks where I live. 4.60 at the high price gas stations. $5 in fancy neighborhoods.

It's even $4 in Mexico. Where the hell do you live that is 2.50??

 

[fordsucks!]

Try and get genuine GM stuff if you can. A lifetime warranty on a cheap rebuilt starter isn't worth much when you are changing it out for the 3rd time in a parking lot in the dark so you can get home.

this is truth. Tomorrow i'm doing 3rd starter replacement in 03 nissan G35. It's sad that the OEM starter only got 100k, but even worse that Chinese starters average 25K. Lifetime warranty waste of time

"I could take a dump in a box and mark it guaranteed, [...] but all you've got is a guaranteed piece of shit"

 

[fordsucks!]

to the original poster, the mechanical engineering student with the 7K budget, I would absolutely get a $3000 k5, and save 3k for surprises.

I would also put full coverage insurance. I had three cars stolen during my five years of college.

 

[dyeager535]

I daily drove an '83 K5 starting back in '95, and shortly thereafter picked up a 1986 Olds Cutlass as an alternate.

Had I started with a decent running econobox, I would have been insane to switch to anything mid 80's GM that had ~10 years on them at that point. I probably spent as much time working on them as I did driving them. And while the Cutlass was a bit abused, the K5 was original. K5 blew the transfercase after 500 miles, and the transmission around 2500 miles. Put me in debt for months. Then it was the constants...not being able to afford new tires, so used ones that meticulously found every screw around for miles (and now I'd consider most of those tires unsafe to have run...minimal tread, probably weather checked, absolutely worthless in mud and even rain with no traction). Starters failing. Plug wires. Plugs. Ignition modules. Cold start issues. Exhaust replacement. Brakes. Hubs. And on and on. Fixing them on the side of the freeway 3 miles short of work. Having a carb screw up in the middle of nowhere. Laying under the truck in the rain hitting the starter with a hammer at the gas station for one more start.

Absolutely fun to drive. Still are. But now that I have a reliable econobox (that nearly quadruples the mileage of either of those vehicles), working on either one of them is generally less a necessity than it is hobby. I'm not up until 1AM on a Monday night working on my vehicle so I can get to work the next morning. But I might be guilty of having been up at 2AM throwing a crate engine in, in time for hunting season. The present K5 also died on me halfway to California this year, so who am I kidding? Two weeks of storage, two weeks of a rental car, paying for Dad to drag a trailer down to get it, paying for another persons food, another night at a hotel, and so on. Easy $1000.

 

[muddybuddy]

Everybody has been spot on. Need to have the money to spend on it, learn how to work on it, have the time to work on it, and have a back up vehicle just in case. They are great trucks, but the newest ones are nearly 30yrs old now, so if maintenance hasn’t been done, it will let you know and could add up quick.

 

[b454rat]

I daily drove a 78 Malibu with a 400 that had who knows how many miles on it back and forth from Ottawa to Bingo, 4.5 hours one way. Only had rocker arms break, cam was max lift for stock springs, and the tranny went that was my own fault. I put 60k on it in 6-7 months. I daily truck an 84 Chevy 3/4 ton 6" lift 35s, 408, auto back n forth from DC to bingo, did that every weekend. Dunno how many miles, but only problem I had with was one spark plug wire melted on the headers, when I was putting the new ones on I slipped and broke off the upper rad hose, so had to change it parts store parking lot. Never figured out mileage, but car was getting hi teens, I could go one way on a tank. Truck would take both tanks. Same time I had the Malibu I had an 83 Grand Prix, which is pretty much same as the Malibu, had nothing but issues with it. Had a strong motor/tranny, rebult rear, all new suspesion, new exhaust, blah blah. Battery took a dump, master cylinder, caliper, alternator, wiper motor, driver side power window would ramdomly quit, usually when down and starting to rain. Headers ground down cause car was lowered....Some stuff will run for years with no issues, some role off the lot with issues.