Q: When I push on the brake pedal to stop it makes a ratchet clicking sound and a medal grinding sound, like medal on medal.

Hello. I will help you with your concern about the brakes on your 1996 Blazer. Of course, your vehicle has to be actually examined and fully diagnosed but what you are describing are common symptoms that occur when the brake friction material is all worn away. Basically, the "metal" backing plate for the brake pad, that is the part that the brake friction material is bonded to, is all that is left and that "bare" metal plate just rubs directly against your brake rotor when you apply the brakes.

My guess is you will need an overhaul of your braking system (one or both axles) and that will require new friction material (pads and/or or shoes), new brake rotors and/or drums (unless your existing rotors and drums can be re-surfaced) and based on the age of your car, you will undoubtedly need new front calipers/torque plates. Typically, on a car of this age, the calipers and the sliding pins on the torque plate will be just too corroded to be re-used without re-building them. It is cheaper to just replace them. If you don’t replace (or rebuild) the calipers, more often than not your new pads will be ruined quickly because the old calipers usually are "sticky".

Not to make it sound too simple, but this sort of brake overhaul is a fairly common, mundane repair and one which is done in such volume that YourMechanic can do it for you quite economically. Off the top of my head, calipers might be $75 per side, brake pads are $35, and you will need two rotors which are roughly $35 to $50 each. So, for the front axle your parts (parts, not labor) cost would be roughly $300. But, keep in mind, that is a very approximate, crude estimate and costs depend on what quality of part you want. It is also possible to just simply buy "loaded calipers" which basically includes everything (that is, includes pads, caliper, bracket, all pre-assembled) and then all you have to buy are rotors. You will want to talk to your Mechanic about which parts vendor to select. Not all automobile parts are created equal insofar as quality. For rebuilt calipers or loaded calipers and rotors, AC Delco would be a very safe and reliable choice for you.