New (Used) 98 Blazer

Just bought it with 64k miles. It seems in good shape, no obvious oil leaks, body is straight. It does have a lot of black thick oily/dust residue on the valve covers. Is this caused by leakage from the valve cover gaskets ?

Any pointers on what maintenance items I need to check ? It seems to maintain engine temp very well, doesn't ever get too warm. Oil pressure varies from 36 to about 48 PSI depending upon RPM. Shifting is very smooth even forward to reverse. It has had the throttle position sensor replaced and the tachometer by a local shop. Ran much better after that. AC is very cold and some liquid drips from the big silver canister which I believe is normal. This vehicle has had regular oil changes for the last two years at least. I paid $9500. Do you think I got a good deal ? Leather and all the options.

Oily residue on valve covers is probably rust protection spray.

Do you know when it last had a tuneup?

Other than that, do the following:

New Plugs
New Cap & Rotor
New PCV Valve
New Air Filter (big time)
New Fuel Filter (Big time)

Do those and you will be good to go.

Always assume that your new vehicle has never been maintained properly.

LT's advice is great. Assume it wasn't maintained. I bought mine with 98k on it 4 months ago. It has 102k on it now.

The a/c quit, recharge solved that so far.

The seat recline lever broke (wierd). I have yet to fix that.

Driver's door top hinge needs replacing (this I knew).

Last week the rear wiper just started on it own......

The power door locks go off and on all by themselves....turns out its the remote key lights up....something bad there.

But the biggie, is the heater core started to take a leak inside. I have the dash apart as I type this. What a PITA. I've done them before on other cars so I knew the fun to be had with a core. But this site hurt and helped. Major differences in how its done dewpending on the year. Who knew the whole dash would lean forward? Still haven't finished it yet. Major rain sorta slowed the process. I might need a total revamp of the cooling system.

Check the radiator for rust. Mine was so caked up that I fear a radiator might be the next replacement.

Gas mileage is 19-20. A little under powered when towing the boat, but that weighs more than the blazer. I think I'll stick to using the Express 3500 for that.

As for price? Not comparing apples to apples. You must have thought it was a good deal. Mines not leather, has 60% more miles than yours, never wrecked (I knew the previous owner, my best friend) ... I paid him $500 over what Carmax was going to give him.

After the heater core is fixed, and the seat recline arm, and the wiper motor, I'm selling it. We got a new forrester. I don't have time for this.

Whoa, looks like you have been having some minor problems that are piling up on you.

Getting rid of it is the smartest thing. I like having "little" things go wrong so I can putter a bit.

But if you don't enjoy auto work, jesus, get rid of it, you will go mad.

As I have seen, you give sound advice. I agree.... I used to like to piddle, but have less time and find some stuff frustrating, esp this heater core. Turns out since I have a vortec its $169 at Auto Zone, $149 at Advanced and $122 at the dealer. I have a non-vortec in my hands and noticed that it says Vortec under the hood, I was hoping the $36.99 core would work. Oh well to the dealer I go.

I have a cbr 1000 that needs fork seals, a Sleekcraft w/ an outboard that needs a few things - 2 hours or so, nothing major, and my daughters' cars to keep up on....My stuff, I don't want to work on!!

Solid truck, just little stuff like you said. Maybe a new 350Z makes sense.

How do you make room for core removal?

Heater Core replacement on a Blazer is just a plain bitch, there is just no way around it.

You will have to grunt and piss to get it out but once it is fixed, they rarely ever go again.

What you are seeing is a lack of cooling system maintenance that has turned the Dexcool into a corrosive slurry and you should get the cooling system triple acid reverse flushed or the problem will occur again.

Please take a look at this professioanl article on Dexcool and how the Rad Cap replacement will save you 100s or maybe 1000s in repairs. Air getting into the system via a poor or worn out cap will cause the sludge seeing air will break down dexcool.

http://www.imcool.com/articles/antifreeze-coolant/dexcool-macs2001.htm

Your 1998 Blazer is about due for a couple problems are does every vehicle at that age range. Don't be discouraged, it is a good truck and should be very dependable 90% of the time.