Are you not still under waranty?
Just wondering...

 

I bought the truck used. It has 137,000 miles on it.

 

These truck remind me of some early '70s Chinese made crap. Everything plastic and what metal there is, rusting and breaking.

You live in Michigan- what did you expect?

Being in Indiana, I make a point to at least go through the gas station car wash once a week in the winter. My TB is an '02 and has no rust at all.

Besides, every make/model vehicle has its' own vices. I have a buddy that is replacing the drive shaft and rear diff in his Honda CR-V that will attest to this.

:m2:

 

You are correct. I have lived in Michigan my entire life.

I've never owned a vehicle that has rusted so quickly. The underside of the hood is rusted through the metal. There are spots all over the vehicle that are orange.

 

whoops... 6 years, 100k

Covered for six years/100,000 miles*
Corrosion Protection
GMC vehicles are designed and built to resist corrosion. All body and sheet metal components are warranted against rust-through corrosion for six years or 100,000 miles, whichever comes first. Application of additional rust-inhibiting materials is not required under the corrosion coverage and none is recommended. See your GMC dealer for terms of this limited warranty.

 

Semi-off-topic: Anybody consider lobbying the state to just quit using salt? It's an environmental disaster, the cost of repairing cars is a hidden (well, in your cases not so hidden) tax, and all for what? So people can evade the personal responsibility of being able to drive competently on snow?

Oregon, for instance, uses no salt. Sometimes a more expensive compound on certain hilly city streets. And sometimes you just have to wait for it to melt or get rained away. Like in the old days.

People have gotten out of the habit of carrying and using chains for extremely bad conditions. Chains on my Volvo wagon (and learning to drive in the mountains of western Mass) got me through 24" of snow in Boston during the blizzard of '78. If it's bad out, you need to get up early to shovel the driveway and put on the chains. When the roads get cleared even in the middle of your commute, you have to stop and take OFF the chains. You can't put on nice clothes and fancy shoes, hop in a pre-heated car, drive in style to work, and hop out ready to go. You have to get dirty sometime. You have to do manual labor.

Complaining about salt damage without taking into account the easy commutes you enjoy because of its use, is just disingenuous, IMHO. No vehicle should need to be designed to be soaked in corrosive compounds for half its life. And as has been noted, regular wintertime washing is an effective defense.

 

Semi-off-topic: Anybody consider lobbying the state to just quit using salt? It's an environmental disaster, the cost of repairing cars is a hidden (well, in your cases not so hidden) tax, and all for what? So people can evade the personal responsibility of being able to drive competently on snow?

Oregon, for instance, uses no salt. Sometimes a more expensive compound on certain hilly city streets. And sometimes you just have to wait for it to melt or get rained away. Like in the old days.

People have gotten out of the habit of carrying and using chains for extremely bad conditions. Chains on my Volvo wagon (and learning to drive in the mountains of western Mass) got me through 24" of snow in Boston during the blizzard of '78. If it's bad out, you need to get up early to shovel the driveway and put on the chains. When the roads get cleared even in the middle of your commute, you have to stop and take OFF the chains. You can't put on nice clothes and fancy shoes, hop in a pre-heated car, drive in style to work, and hop out ready to go. You have to get dirty sometime. You have to do manual labor.

Complaining about salt damage without taking into account the easy commutes you enjoy because of its use, is just disingenuous, IMHO. No vehicle should need to be designed to be soaked in corrosive compounds for half its life. And as has been noted, regular wintertime washing is an effective defense.

From my vantage point, it would be virtually impossible to replace salt as a de-icing agent in most of North America. Yes, in heavy snow country, salt isn't worth much -- it doesn't do much when you have 2 feet on the ground, but for many of our major cities, the normal is more like an inch of ice/snow mix that can grind traffic to a halt, not to mention all the injuries and expenses that come with all the wrecks.

Last winter, we had once ice storm that dumped over 1" of solid ice on every outdoor surface. Nothing else besides salt is even close to touching that sort of problem. Yes, there are other chlorides -- we're using potasium and magnesium cloride blends around our expensive landscape beds where I work -- and the cost is about $16 for a 50# bag compared to salt at $4. Now, load an entire twin-screw county truck and start spreading city streets... Other products that have some value are sand (and sand/salt mix -- used in northern states), beet pulp, and liquid calcium carbide (wet salt). The natural products need to be blended with salt products to work best, but can act as extenders.

It is a difficult problem, and unfortunately one that won't go away just becasue we don't like our cars rusting. But, better rust than what happens when you center-punch a tree at 50...

 

As one who has lived his entire life in the "salt belt", I can attest to the value of regular, weekly washes. Sometimes that isn't feasable though. The last two winters were horrendous. The worst we've had in years. MN has experienced it even worse than we have where I live. Not only was there a lot of snow, it snowed almost every other day. Impossible to keep a car clean for more than a day. Maybe life in beautiful, sunny SD has made you forget a little?

While salt certainly accelerates rust, just driving around with a dirty, wet vehicle for months at a crack doesn't help either. Regardless of salt, late model GMs seem to be prone to the bottoms of doors rusting due to poor drainage design. This issue isn't limited to TBs. The middle '80s to late '90s GMs I've owned didn't seem to be nearly as rust prone.

Incidentally, the past two winters have killed the budgets of most municipalities in my area. To the point that sand replaced salt as each winter dragged on. IMO, sand isn't any better. Just better for traction.

 

I guess I have been lucky with my TB. Mine has 120k miles on the clock and I have not had any of these issues that you mention.

Everyone has different experiences with any particular make/model. I could list all the repairs I made on the 2 Chrysler minivans I owned before my TB, and I spent almost as much as I paid for them in repairs just to keep them drivable.

All I was stating is that when you live where salt is used on the roads, you have corrosion problems. I also agree that GM could have done a much better job on several points with the TB. I'm irritated that almost every interior light bulb (Cluster/HVAC Controls/Radio/etc.) is burnt out in my TB while every lighted control panel in my '94 Astro Van is still lit! But, my TB is still reliable, has never stranded me, and runs/drives as well as the day I bought it.

I'm sorry if I seemed harsh or if I reacted poorly to JDW3's post.

 

There are so many design errors and marginal decisions made on the GMT360 platform, and we heard reports of a team of interns working on the suspension section at least, that I think it WAS worked on entirely too much by interns without enough adult, experienced, supervision.

GM cheaped out in a way that benefited them short-term, and stuck us with the out-year costs. Quelle surprise.

 

Back to the actual OP discussion of the rusted cooling lines...

Mine also were rusted. My TB was originally from Pennsylvania -- good salt country. I've had to fix some stuff that was salt corroded under the hood -- mostly cosmetic -- but still a bit odd for the age of the vehicle.

My rusted lines cost me a transmission. They ruptured on the freeway and I lost all my oil -- and that was with an already weak transmission from heavy towing -- no margin of error left when it popped.

I'd check the lines on any TrailVoy machine just to be sure. Free to check, relatively cheap to replace if you do the job yourself (frustrating, but doable at home -- no special knowledge is required except the small $6 tool and the know how to pop the lines apart).

A thought about "junk" cars from the manufacturer... I guess I've lived too long and seen too much. Every once in a while a manufacturer makes a vehicle that is seemingly indistructable -- but that is rare. They want them to fail so that people buy a new one. The failure timing is always calculated by the engineers and built into the system. Keeping most vehicles alive past that point in time means that someone has typically done a lot of work and taken care of business on a timely basis.

Oh, and though the GM360 platform has its issues, so do others... Just ask Ford or Dodge owners about their transmissions that rarely, if ever, saw 70K miles. Especially the mid-sized and mini-van vehicles. Go back farther in time and try to find a Chevy Vega that made 100K miles, or a Corvair that didn't almost rust in half (same for Pinto, Maverick, Mustang, ANYTHING AMC, Dodge, etc.). On certain model cars, people used to carry the spare parts needed to get them running in the glove compartment. I still remember replacing ballast resistors on Dodge products... Just the nature of the game.

 

As a matter of fact, I still carry all of the old-but-servicable hoses, belts, plugs, wires, cap/rotor, etc.; and a gallon of 50/50 coolant, a gallon of trans fluid, a gallon of oil, and a gallon of water (in bottles, so it's drinkable as well)... This is in addition to the tool kit and starter fluid, matches, JB-Waterweld (temp fix for holes in oil or trans pans, diffs, rad tanks, etc), a tire plug kit, and a small compressor, etc... along with the extraction stuff I carry, as well... Plus all the BS stuff... bug spray, ponchos, bungees, emergency blanket, heat packs, jumper cables, multitool, first aid kit, etc...

Mike

 

Your list is for off-road use. That old stuff was for highway use! Used to have to carry a spare set of points, condensor, fuses, fusible links, spare tire (for real -- you would use it!), etc. These days, for on-highway use, a cell phone and a credit card (and AAA membership) are mostly all that are needed for most folks.

 

AAA is expensive, so is a tow (or rather, the AAA that will tow you more than 5 miles for free is more expensive, and the $100 AAA only gets you 5 miles, then you have to pay for the tow, anyway)...

I keep that stuff in my LeSabre, except the extraction stuff is just a regular old tow strap (with loops)... If I'm broken down more than that, I call my dad or one of my buddies to pick up the trailer and come get me... AAMOF, I just took his trailer, and my TB to get my buddy an hour and a half away, when the trans in his '79 LeBaron lost a trans on the way back from drill weekend....

Yeah... as I tell my wife... "it's called being 'paranoid' until you need it, then it's called being 'prepared'"

Mike

 

glfredrick - Where did your lines fail? I was wondering if there is a specific area in the trans. lines we should pay particular attention to. My truck is from Missouri and has it's share of rust on it's belly.

I've done a "once over" underneath but reading this I really should do a thorough look on the underside.

 

Mine had pinholes just before one of the joints, The lines are 2 pieces each. I don't think it matters where. When the galvanized coating comes off, it just a matter of time. And the metal they use now is cheap.

 

My transmission lines rusted enough to start leaking fluid all over the engine area at about 90k miles. Enough so that I brought a fire extinguisher with me when I drove it to the mechanic because I was worried a fire might start! Or a line would burst and no more tranny! (I didn't have the time to fix it because I was going away on a trip.) What he did was cut off both lines about 6 inches from either end, and replaced them with copper lines and compression fittings so we don't have to worry about rusting through any more. BTW the lines were rusted through on either side of the quick connect halfway through each line.

Also the service manual calls for dropping the transmission some and removing part of the exhaust to put on new lines at the tranny end. My total bill was right about $240, which I didn't think was that bad.

Another fine example of the northeastern weather environment being totally ignored when parts were selected/designed for the TB. :worried:

 

That was a very good deal at $240.00. All transmission lines on Trailblazers in the salt states will someday at around 90K will have to be replaced. And if you don't change them you're only kidding yourself.:m2:

 

RUST... it never sleeps

This is why every year I break out the wire brush and rustolem paint and sand paper and try to undo what Michigan does every winter. I have had my truck since new in Feb 03 and after 175k miles this summer will be no different. Now the outside of the Truck (pewter LS) looks pretty good but the door hem seams and the under hood front edge need to be ground and painted every spring, after I prime them I hit them with a a can of Duplicolor to hide the cancer. I think the hood is going to win this year because it is starting to come through, looks like i'm now in the market for a hood deflector/ rust hider!

 

Tranny lines

I recently replaced mine after noticing the tailgate was covered in a film after returning from a Brooks and Dunn concert. Looked under and saw that the transmission coolant lines had rusted through. $200 later it is fixed. Never seen it before in any of my cars. The mechanic said it a common problem due to cheapola metal in the lines. On the bright side my undercarriage got a good oil coating..lol.

 

I don't know what kind of salt they use in MI, but EVERY Trailblazer I have looked at here in Western, New York are rusted ........................the lines should be replaced. PS: the first GM 360's had a recall because the tranny lines were designed wrong, too close to exhaust and just like yours they burn through. Look it up here on the forum:thumbsup:, it's here.

 

I've allready replaced some of the lines on my Bro's 00 chevy P/U... anyway salt is salt no matter what you drive, yes mine are rusty too. TB came from N.Y...Besides a cusory spray at the end of winter, I get under there with WD40 an spray the crap out of the lines. ...............
.. Speaking of; I met a guy some years ago who drove a Rustoleum brown CJ Jeep (Had NO holes!) He coated the WHOLE thing with WD top & Bottom you couldn't lean against it , slide right off.:dielaugh:. don't know if he was crazy or not but I have to agree with the bottom part. [& Don't Spray the rubber parts! (Dumb Azz)]... [ & Shut Up you D**n dirty Enviro. tree hugging Hippies your not repairing my vehicles:hissy:]:undecided& get a Haircut.:laugh::m2:

 

Hmm after reading this thread I think I should crawl under my 02 I just bought and check all the lines over again. It has 112k miles, an Ohio truck all its life, and Ohio loves its salt. Overall it isn't too bad in rust (a few surface spots here and there on the frame, and on the bottom edges of the doors as usual).