Opinions/Info on 03 Trailblazer...

[bigt61]

Dexcool coolant is evil be sure to flush it!!!

 

[Old_School]

We just bought an 03 Trailblazer from one of my oldest friends. He bought it last year from the widow of the original owner " Drunk Phil" . Phil was some kind of instrucctor at Mercer University for years but also fancied himself a pool technician. So the carpet in the back of this ine is bleached out and just ate up in spots. Yes, tomorrow I plan to get some torx head sockets and remove the damaged carpet and check for further damage.
As you would expect Phil was kinda rough on this vehicle and it shows dings and dents in several spots. And somehow he managed to break the threaded stud off the end of the antenna mount/cable. So I gotta ebay motors a new one.
Anyway, I'm not usually a GM guy but a thousand bucks for a drivable vehicle with less miles than the wife's 2010 Soul seemed like a no brainer. I drove it about 20 miles back here to Perry from south Bibb County with no issues on surface roads and down the interstate. To ME 142K on an 03 is pretty damn good.
Its the inline 6 engine in 2WD and automatic of course. I have no experience with this later style GM engine and no idea what to look out for. My GM experience was always with the 4.3 V6 trucks and 3100/3400 front drivers. So my question here is what should I be on the look out for? I was just assuming that it can't have too many big issues just going by how many older Trailblazers/Envoys I see on the road everyday. But as some of yall already know I have Charlie Brown luck from WAY back. So I'm always expecting the worst.

We have one with 225k on it. Bought it in 2009 with 85k on it. Pretty solid engine. Doesn't burn a drop of oil at 225k! Had minor issues, but nothing unexpected.

Had the radiator rupture at 175k, which solved the issue we'd had of losing coolant slowly & engine running a bit hot at times. Has run perfect ever since I replaced radiator & it has stayed cool (I was afraid it was a blown head gasket).

Replaced 2 fan clutches, which can be problematic. Note: Forget the local auto parts store clutches and buy an authentic AC Delco clutch from Rock Auto. They last longer.

Right now, rack & pinion seals are leaking. Normal advice is to replace rack & pinion, but ours has been slow leak and I just keep adding power steering fluid every 5-7k miles.

I'm happy with ours and would have bought a new one if they were still being built!

As another poster stated, flush & replace the Dexcool coolant. Replaced ours at 85k and have flushed it every 50k or so with no issues.

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