Usually, I like to stay above the Bowtie camp, but I'm working on my son's 2000 Jimmy and I am absolutely astounded about what a turd this thing is!

Ball joints look like a 70's holdout. May have worked fine on a '72 Nova, but add drive axles and it is nearly impossible to work on them.

Door hinges are welded to the body and you have to drive out pins? Come on!

4.3 engine has to come out. Will it come out with the transmission? No, it hits the front drive axle before you can lift up. Can you separate the engine and transmission in the body? Only with great difficulty. Read up on some of the Chevy forums about what a PITA the top two bellhousing bolts are.

Everywhere, I'm running into things that must be cleared out of the way for other things. Some bolts are in plain sight with no way to swing a wrench around them. Hoses and wires abound. Engine compartment is packed. Grrrrrr.

 

Sorry to hear you're having such difficulty. However, I'm pretty sure I've had at least one moment on every vehicle I've owned where I went "Damn, what the hell were those engineers thinking?" Regardless of manufacturer. Plenty of complaints against Ford.

 

Big sigh.

Yes, you are correct. I did not have much fun changing the transmission on my 93 Ranger either, but this Blazer takes things to a new level.

Finally got all the bellhousing bolts out and found the engine needs to come straight up while remaining perfectly level in order to come out. Barely enough room to move forward to clear the transmission before you hit the front differential and it has to come up about 4 inches before there is any hope of more forward movement. Oh yes, this is the point where I discover that the engine and transmission are connected by an umbilical of wires that require me to unplug everything from the engine. So much for that nice single connector at the main junction box. Not to mention the fuel line flare fittings at the back of the engine that still remain inaccessible!

Another big sigh.

I have spent 3 days removing this engine and I'm still not done. I am not new to this. I'm known for having Ford blue running through my veins and yes, I am a little biased. Still, I'm trying to find the right way to do this and I can honestly say that the right way would be to pull the body off the frame. Yes, I know that is the recommended service procedure on late model Ford trucks as well. There ought to be a special place in hell for the engineers and/or marketers who thought this was acceptable regardless of brand!

I know this procedure has been done many times and I hate to have it defeat me, but it has become far more labour intensive than the vehicle is worth. I will admit that, for its purpose, it was not a bad vehicle. It was comfortable to drive and some aspects were actually superior, like the 4L60E transmission. Much better than an A4LD! The Bose sound system was incredible. The downfall seems to lie in GM's insistence on using design ideas from the past, then cluttering it up with all the hardware and plumbing required in a modern vehicle. I did ball joints on this very truck side by side with a 2003 Ranger and there was no comparison. The Ranger was a breeze while the Jimmy was a struggle. The design of the components on the Ford was clearly superior.

End of story, happened on a pair of bullnose regular cab short box 4X4 pickups that my son and I are quite excited about. So, the Jimmy is getting scrapped. Probably could have had one in pretty decent shape for the work I've put into this Jimmy, but that's life.

Learned my lesson, no more GM's!

 

I hear ya.....did a front brake job on a 06 Uplander yesterday for my brother-in-law. Was going smoothly until I tried to get the rotors off.....after much pounding (which I am used to in removing rotors here in the rust belt) enough crud and corrosion was finally knocked off to reveal a small star head set screw! Popped the screw out and the rotor fell off....doh! And the rotors were about the same cost as the ones for my Excursion!

 

We owned two Blazers 4x4s a 97 & 98. They are awful if you have to work on them. The 97 we owned started out with a bunch of issues. But I bought it from a dealer & they took care of almost all the problems up front. I have to give Prescott Honda in Prescott AZ a 5 star rating. They stood behind their used vehicle.
We drove it 100,000 miles & sold it. A big mistake if we wanted a Blazer. we both liked the vehicle it rode great, got great mileage. Was good Off-Road.
After a while we decided to buy another. What a mistake. I bought one that CarFax said was top of the line, they valued the vehicle to be worth about $800 over book.
This vehicle was an absolute LEMON. I complained to CarFax & they refunded me my FEE for the report.
I dumped more money in it than I will tell & finally called a friend & said if you want this junker come get it.
By far the worse vehicle I ever owned. Like the looks, the ride, gas mileage, & off road capabilities. But if you see me running by you on the freeway with my bad knees. you know it is to get away from ever owning another.

 

Earlier this year I bought and fixed a 91 Cavalier to sell. My parents had a Cavalier wagon a bit older than this one, but it was an ok car with sporty looks, and with the manual didn't do too bad for performance.
This one is a whole other story. Bigger engine, but anemic as can be. I bought it torn apart so looking at the large canted valves and good sized ports I thought it might be a bit of a performer, but nope. The automatic took away the rest of the performance, by shifting just as the engine came into it's power. The interior is incredibly cheap, and the car overall is just bland and uninspiring to drive. I put about 350miles on it after fixing it, and it was so lame. At least this one didn't have as sporty of looks as the mid 0s ones, so there wasn't the look of performance to disappoint further.

 

i don't trash talk chevy.
they are poor enough of a vehicle that they disappoint people on their own.

 

Just had to revisit this. Blazer and Jimmy ended up in the back row. Sold a few parts. Surprising how easy it is to sell GM parts, but this thing fought me to the end, even today!

Young fellow needed the transmission. Did have the engine out after the fight documented 2 years ago and thought I had unbolted most things. Well, I used up the rest of my special Chevy curse words and I was not the one doing the hard work! Took 2 more hours to get everything else out of the way, lying on his back in a snowdrift and even when we got it out from under the truck, we could hardly drag it along the snow covered ground.

This one has become legendary around here!

 

ya know, they make a tool called a plasma cutter for removing transmissions and other hidden parts out of chevys....and dodges too.