Chevrolet Blazer has no power and engine bogs down

dprovin

In the morning I'll drive the car and it will be fine but wheni park it and come back to it later for lunch i have no power at all. The engine bogs down when first driving. I'll have it floored for a little bit then out of nowhere i get power. i have changed all the plugs, wires, distributor, cap, fuel filter and pump.. I'm out of idea's. It also has a rough idle if that has anything to do with it. People have said it may be a clogged cat converter? any ideas? Thankss

See Also: Chevy Trailblazer Loss of Power

captferd

2 things to check. First see what code it has stored. It will be either PO100 thru PO104 (Mass Air Flow) code. Or PO300 (Random/Multiple Cylinder Misfire) code.
Both of these problems have symptoms you've described. The first (Mass Air Flow) is located on the air breather intake (looks like a honey Comb). If not that code then your problem is most likely the cheap plastic distributor that GM installed for that year. Take off that expensive cap and see if the shaft jiggles. It is better to remove the distributor to inspect it. AutoZone sells a lifetime warranted Distributor for about $90.

dprovin

It has a lean code that comes up with the random misfire.. i have already replaced the distributor and there has been no change.. they attached a fuel pressure gauge on it thinking it might be the fuel pump that they put in. not sure what else it could be unless its the injector which if i remember right it very pricey for the vortec engine. not sure what else to do...

captferd

The description you give is an identical problem that I had at one time. I did all the things your describing everything from the tune up to the injector s. I had this problem for almost a year before it set off the mass air flow code. Once I replaced that all was fine. The distributor happened after and had almost the same symptoms. Im not sure that you can check it but the MAF sensor is were my finger would be pointing towards next. The injectors would cause more of a constant problem than an intermitant one. Hope I've helped.

silversmoke

Could possibly be a converter problem. The problem that most Blazers have is a malfunction ignition switch. Take it to a good local mechanic (not a dealer) and see if this is one problem.

mmstei2

My Blazer bogs down when you hit the gas and has trouble starting. We have replaced the MAF sensor, plugs, rotor, cap, plug wires, and fuel filter. The fuel pressure is at 50psi when idling and 64 wot when driving. Can we have pressure without flow? Initially the code was p0171. Now that we cleared it it hasn't come back on. Pulled O2 sensor to relieve back pressure and there was no change. Cleaned connections on battery. On scanner TPS checks good( 0-100%). ABS coming on at brake, could that have anything to do with it( no light)?

silbs

The car was backfiring and the mechanic said the distr. needed adjusting but that it was not adjustable. He made things work by "grinding" something. The car now runs fine, but am I in for trouble in the future because of this?

jadoty

ok so the other day i had to make a two hour drive in relitivily cold weather. so i started my blazer 15 min before i left, and i noticed that the service engine soon light was flashing. so i popped the hood to check all my fluids and what not, everything was ok. the light shut off and then i left. i was driving down the road and my brack light turned on. then shut off.....about 30 min later i went to pass someone and it hesitated to accelerate, then about another half hour later it stalled on me while i was driving. i pulled into the gas station, and re started it, and it started fine. so then i continued. everything was fine until later on in the day. i the blazer sat for about 5 hours after the first set of stuff.....i was going to park in the parking spot, and it just died. i lost all my power, and i noticed that i had smoke coming from the right side of the hood. so i popped the hood and look for the source and i couldn't see anything. then i had someone come to help me get it in the parking spot and he wanted to try to jump me, and well when we tried that i almost killed his car. i drew so much power that i almost stopped his engine....originonally i was thinking O2 sensor due to the light the slow acceleration, but i still had good gas millage. so i am just a little confuse....and i do know how to jump a car....

jlflemmons

Have your battery checked. If it shorted out, it will pull enough current to overload (and possibly damage) the alternator and cause enough drag to kill the engine. It won't jump start either. The engine of the other car will slow down, and the jumper cables will heat up. Even running, the load of the shorted battery will cause a low voltage condition causing all sorts of issues for the computer.

I have seen two different cars just recently where batteries less than 90 days old have shorted out. Somebody (there are only a couple of companies that make batteries, they just change the labels for the different brands) is making junk batteries. I use Delco and have had no problems, Interstate seems to be okay. The bad ones were both from AutoZone.

402driver

Check for vacuum leaks downstream of the MAF. I had an issue with deteriorated vacuum lines allowing excess air into the intake manifold causing an intermittent misfire due to an excessively lean mixture. Was driving me NUTS.

punshka

Good Morning,

We are going to ask you a stupid question, if you don't mind? What would MAF mean? We're not sure of what that could mean. Let me know. Thank you.

skiextreme2

MAF is the mass air flow sensor and is located between the air filter box and the carb. You'd probably have one or both of these codes po101, po102 and possibly duplicate codes.

Rick

punshka

Mr. Rick,

We don't have a MAF problem. Lets do this, go back and read all of my post that we've put up and please, let me know if I may have not went into depth about. We really need some help with fixing the issue that is at hand. Please, help, if possible. Thank you....

captferd

Are you smelling raw gas at all?

bchro2

Got a question. I have a 2001 Blazer, last week as I was climbing a hill I attempted to accelerate and heard a "pop" and my engine started to bog down. Over this last week the bogging down has got progressively worse but only happens when you attempt to accelerate. I took my vehicle into the chevy dealership and now they have replaced plugs, wires, distributor cap, rotor, PCM (Powertrain Control Module), and still can't figure out what it causing the problem. In the past year the fuel pump and filter has been replaced twice, the intake manifold gasket, water pump, radiator, and I am sure some other things that I can't think of. Any ideas what could be the problem???

In addition, anytime you hit the gas to accelerate the RPM gauge suddenly shoots up to 3.5 and shoots back down to 2, and keeps going up and down until you let off of the gas.

captferd

My first test would be with a vacume gauge. If the vacume is good it should hold between 25 and 29 at idle. May be a little low cause of the rough idle, but what your looking for Is for it to drop slowly to well below specs. This checks the catalyst converter it could be clogged.

helotaktiks

I'm new to forums, but I need help. Every step u said about maf and raw gas smell is true about my blazer. I was just wondering how much it would cost to fix this problem. And how I would go about resolving the situation. What do I buy. And what do I tell my mechanic to replace. And how much would he charge for the labor. Thank you.

captferd

If the mass air flow sensor is the problem they are not hard to change. They cost a little over 100 dollars. Its located just past the air filter in the tube going to the engine . I believe its connected with two big hose clamps on the two ends and can be removed and replaced in a few minutes. You can go to autozones website and should find the info ther on its price and removal.

helotaktiks

Thanks for the info. I plan on doing the work this weekend. Much appreciated!!!

captferd

Where are you smelling raw gas? as there may be a seperate problem to address as well. Behind the drivers rear wheel under a leather type cover the gas lines come up and over the rear axle. At this place the fuel lines are notorious for rusting and leaking. Check there and see use a flash light If so get back with me on a easy fix.

helotaktiks

Okay. So I bought Crc maf cleaner. Took it apart sprayed it as well as the compartment it attaches to. Charged battery. And engine still will not accelerate when on the freeway.

keema1125

Will mass air sensor make it have a loss of power. Won't go over 20 mph.
Starts right up. New plugs and wires. Never really cuts off. Runs hot but not extremely.

captferd

Mass air flow is usually an intermitant problem. This sounds more like a stopped up catylist converter.

mtlwiz

take the cat off and run it, see if it gets hot, most likely that will be the problem, gm cats fall apart inside over time and can clog themselves up with the broken pcs.

d4runner67

Will the cat go out just like that. Run fine one day and then loss of power the next.

mtlwiz

it's just a ceramic honeycomb, it can break up anytime with age and vibration,hot and cold, etc, and they can cause all kinds of issues that are hard to pin down. they choke the motor and it can't breath when they fall apart.

captferd

A simple vaccume test can be done to check for a bad coverter. No need to remove it. the proceedure was earliar in this thread I believe. If not you can search it for the specs and what to do.

d4runner67

There is no codes stored in the computer. Can the cat be blocked and not give any codes.

Thanks for the help.

captferd

Yes that is possible. The vaccume test is simple to do. Most autoparts stores will loan you the guage. Do this to test the converter. The vaccume should recover ammidiatly, If it is very slow to return to its normal specs it will be a stopped up converter.

krob0920

I had the same problem and alson waisted a ton of money. I finally took it upon myself and fixed it. I cut the catalytic converter out and replaced with a straight pipe and the car runs incredible. The only problem is you gotta know someone to get it passed for emissions

jrdnkmbrly

I have a 95 Blazer that I love and runs pretty good. Except I have no power when I take off from being in a stopped position or I can hardly make it up a hill. I have no cat just straight pipe, new plugs and wires and no mechanic can seem to figure it out. It also runs a little on the hot side. Help please.

captferd

90 thru 96 vortec v6 were notorious for carbon buildup in egr system. carbon breaks loose and gets stuck in egr valve wont let it close. you can clean it out (egr valve), but will most likely keep happening.

boondocksjosh

so I have a 1990 blazer and I was on my way to church this morning and I was stopped at a light, light turned green and I put my foot in it and it lurched forward about 10 feet (enough for me to be in the middle of the intersection ) and then it wouldn't go, rpms were at nothing but the car was running and it didn't go anywhere, ive had this happen for like a 1/2 second or 1 second but I figured that could just be delay somewhere but this was like for 4 seconds before it started to go, enough time for the light to turn yellow. so at this point its dangerous to drive so I need to figure out what is wrong, guy at church told me it would have to do with the fuel line or something related to fuel, any advice on what to do or look for would be awesome!

captferd

Throughout this thread this problem has been talked about and covered pretty good. The first thing that most will condemn is the fuel delivery. Not to say this could be the problem but with a 1990 a fuel problem will leave you dead in the water. There has been a problem I brought up earlier where the lines rust in half, in the rear where they travel over the rear end. You'll smell raw gas back there. The intermittent problems like yours are Mass air sensor, TPMS and the good ole plastic distributers. V6 Vortec engines are notorious for carbon getting stuck in the EGR. All produce symptoms like you have described.

emarcantel

hi i have a 2003 chevy trailblazer sometimes it will run other times it only goes 5 miles an hour. ive changed plugs and boots, 3 of the 6 coals, ive taken of the 02 sensor off the cat but its still running bad and back firing... help....

jimmmmay0316

I don't know if this has been solved, but my Jimmy kept showing the same exact symptoms except the light never comes on. However, I narrowed it down to the plugs that connect to the injectors. I've even replaced them. But those cheap pieces of junk do not snap on to the injectors like they are supposed to and wiggle loose. Pop the hood and push them back down and run like a dream. 

cherrybubbles

I had the same problem with my 2004 Chevy blazer LS 4x4 and after spending a whole ton of money replacing everything under the hood it ending up being a clogged cat. My advice check the cat for being clogged before spending all kinds of money doing process of elimination.

adakdog567

I have a 1999 Chevrolet Blazer Sport Utility 4-Dr - When I start the veh up, it will run for a minute or two and then the engine will shut off. Can anyone tell me what the problem might be?

Ajkillian_83

I have a 98 Oldsmobile bravada that was running just fine then out of nowhere I'm running down the highway to having to pull over my 4.3 is bogging down bad and it over heats runs very rough pls help asap the Bravada is sitting at a gas station need help ASAP oh and the oil pressure bottomed out 

Chrissy

I have a 2000 Chevy Blazer 4 x 4. It was bogging down. The tack needle was jumping all over the place. The car kept stalling on me. We did a tune-up change from Platinum plugs to copper. New wires. New distributor cap and rotor. Cut out the cat. Put in a new mass air flow sensor. Put in a new PCV and a new throttle position sensor. None of these fix the problem. I finally brought it to a mechanic who said the distributor had to be changed. $200 later my truck has never run this good! I've been trying to fix this problem for months. I owned the truck 6 years and now it is running better than it ever has. Hope this helps.

Kodikid

2004 Chevy Blazer w 200K that bogs down eventually quits going up gradual long hills only in summer warm/hot weather. In winter colder/cool weather it runs great! No problem going up hills. Has new plugs, wires, air filter, fuel pump, no cat, pcv good, does not sputter or backfire, just losses power gradually then quits when warm or hot out. As temps rise, problem gets worse. It does much better on long grades in overdrive (lower rpm) than 3rd drive. Suggestions?

imidazol97

What codes is it showing?
What is the scanner showing happening to the fuel trims and oxygen sensors as it's running under these conditions where it starts to get bogged down? What's showing for the engine coolant sensors?

Going to need to go to a competent shop to analyze what's happening.

Kodikid

The codes are PO131, PO136, PO151 (O2 Sensor Circuit Low Voltage - Bank 2 Sensor 1) and PO174 (System to Lean), but the first three I've always had since the cat was removed, because one of the three 02 sensors was part of the front cat pipe and removed along with it. We removed this long ago when it had 78K and it ran like a champ. This is a new problem here of bogging down and no power going up grades only during hot/warm weather. I'll change the MAF but I'm thinking the new fuel pump might be bad already even though it's ACDelco. We replaced it last year, 15-20K ago.