Opinions of this 2002 TrailBlazer

[OR VietVet]

MSN

www.msn.com

Not for me but my girl. Was leaning toward a Highlander but found this. Any experience with these? Weak spots? Thanks

 

[RooTBeeRthe1st]

MSN

www.msn.com

Not for me but my girl. Was leaning toward a Highlander but found this. Any experience with these? Weak spots? Thanks

No personal experience, but I believe that's one of the earlier 4.2 engines and I want to say there was some failure point with the cam or cam gears or something That was usually catastrophic.
And those have the 4l60 trans that everybody knows are junk.

Seems like low miles for the year though.

 

[zbad55]

I owned one for several years and didn't have any real problems. The biggest I had is that first year had the smaller fuel tank I think (18 gallons), then GM upgraded the size based on the complaints about range. So it felt like you were always having to fill it up and the MPG was not very good. Other than that routine maintenance,

 

[George B]

We have a 2002 Envoy with 265k on it. 100k driven by us. Original 4.2 engine and trans. Has been a fairly reliable truck for us. Main issues I have had are.

T-case encoder motor. The usual failure.

T case control module. The 2002 calibration is bad and will fail. I installed a module from a 2005 to solve the problem.

The fan control for the rear hvac is a poor design and hard to get to. Needs heat transfer paste when reinstalling. I haven’t repaired ours the second time yet.

Has a picky throttle body that needs yearly cleanings.

I have replaced all the coils over the last 10 years.

More info here:

GeorgeB’s 2002 Envoy “Belle”

Mods: if you wish to merge some of these threads please do. Thought I would put some of my threads on our Envoy XL here. We picked this up in 2011 for $4200.00 with 135k on it. It has served us well with only regular maintenance, repairs and tires. Had some flakey transfer case issues that I...

www.tahoeyukonforum.com

All that aside ours has the tow package with 3.73 gears and towed our 16’ boat as well as my 03 burb.

Overall I would rate ours an 8/10 and would buy one again. In fact Heidi would love that one!

 

[OR VietVet]

No personal experience, but I believe that's one of the earlier 4.2 engines and I want to say there was some failure point with the cam or cam gears or something That was usually catastrophic.
And those have the 4l60 trans that everybody knows are junk.

Seems like low miles for the year though.

Did a search and found a known cylinder sleeve problem that is between certain VIN numbers. This VIN is outside that window. The other major concern had to do with valve seat problems on 2 cylinders caused by the heat transfer from the egr mounted on top of the valve area. Rest is fan clutch and water pump possibilities.

 

[George B]

Also:
Doesn’t like Fram filters. Ours will trow a code for cam shaft advance out of range. I have replaces the sensor and control valve. Also done a case relearn with my tech2.

Likes 89 octane more than 87 but burns E15 happily.

You will like that straight six. It pulls hard and revs much higher than I am comfortable…

 

[zbad55]

This post helped my memory, the other thing that happened t me as well as a lot of others is the Sunshell/Reation gear killed my tranny at about 100,000 miles.

 

[George B]

@OR VietVet the thermostats get weak and they run cool causing rich running issues. It’s hard to notice on the gauge.

 

[OR VietVet]

Getting ready to go in about 20 minutes to see it and drive it. Gonna wear my crash helmet.

 

[OR VietVet]

Drove it, was ok except for what sounded like excessive valve train noise, no coolant in reservoir and after roadtest was down an inch, broken driver's door grab handle...etc.
I offered $3k less than what was asked and they came back with $1500 less and I walked. Going Monday to look at a 2005 Highlander and 2006 4Runner.