tiso_us

My brother and i had a disagreement that when doing heads on a 4.3 liter engine, my brother said that i would have to remove the entire top (CAM) (center) of the engine before removing the heads on the left or right. he's thinking of pulling the engine.

I'm trying to explain that it is possible to replace the head gaskets without removing the cam cover or top center section. better then pulling the entire engine resulting in extra work to replace a head gasket.

I do not know which head is bad. it blew going to work and would not start, chocolate color for oil, disappearing antifreeze with no leaks on the ground(first sign).

So, my question is can this head gasket be replaced without removing the top center section?.

I've done overhauls before but not on a 2000 Chevy blazer 4.3 liter and i apologize for such a newbe question, but i must know what my next move will be.

All comments are welcomed and appreciated.

stock s10

With any "V" motor you have to pull the intake in order to remove either head.
Are you absolutely sure it is a Headgasket that went, I had a similar situation with my S-10 that turned out to only be a blown intake gasket(went ahead and did an entire top end anyway). So in answer to your question yes you have to remove the intake to do a headgasket job. In order to reseal the intake to the heads it has to be removed to put down a bead of RTV sealant along with new intake gaskets.

tiso_us

Thanks for the reply stock, you know....it never occurred to me that the intake gasket could be the problem, thanks for that information.

I have a 1995 blazer also that has somewhat the same problem, but when i go and put antifreeze in the radiator, it goes directly into the oil, I just got it for payment of money owed, and yes i knew that something was wrong with the engine.

But getting back to the 2000 blazer. I noticed that when the engine is cold, i would try and start it, it acts like it wanted to start with firing on some cylinders.

I wander if there is a easy way to check this intake gasket?....

I'll do some compression testing on each cylinder and if that's ok, then i'll look at the intake as the problem.

thank you, and i'll let you know what i find.

oh, by the way, i did an OBD II reading and found no errors....all green.

stock s10

One easy way of determining if it is a headgasket is first thing before startig or attempting to start the truck check all your spark plugs for any hint of coolant on them and try to look into the cylinders to check for coolant and pressurize the cooling system if you can this will give a push for the coolant to leak. As far as the intake gasket if you can get ahold of a scope cam you can stick it into the intake through the throttle body and visually check for any coolant at the valves. Those are the only ways I can think of at the moment to check the problem.

That '95 sounds exactly like a blown intake gasket.

tiso_us

OK, Sorry it took so long, had to work and clean out the garage for room, but i managed to get it cleaned and put the blazer in the garage.

I pulled the intake off, but to my surprise, the intake bolts were not even tight....yep, it was the intake all right...it started to blow the rear port and i added some stop leak which it helped for awhile...the one that blew was the front driver side, it took out a one inch chunk of gasket when it went.

With that aside, i need a recommendation as to what i would use to Flush the cooling system out....it has antifreeze and oil mix which is sticking to the metallic surfaces, anyone with ideas?.

Another thing....what would cause oil be in the carburetor?, could the blown intake gasket cause this?.

I just don't want to put it back together and find another problem when i could have fixed it before putting it back together.

I was just thinking if i should just pull the engine. I found out a complete overhaul kit would run @ $500 bucks and i could replace the engine for $600. guaranteed.

Hmmmm....what to do. Let me think on this one.....

stock s10

When I worked for VW I had a couple of cars come in that had an oil leak leaking oil into the cooling system. I was told by the senior guy there the easiest way to clean oil out was to drain the entire system remove the T-Stat and reinstall the housing without a T-Stat refill it with plain water with JOY dish washing liquid and run it for about 15 minutes drain and repeat. It took me about 1/2 the bottle of JOY 'til there was no evidence of any oil in the cooling system. Now I've never done this with an S-10 but I believe the concept is the same. As far as oil in the Throttle body(Carb.) that would be caused by the PCV system sucking a mixture into the intake from the valve cover. If you have a "milkshake" oil/water mixture in your oil pan you may want to flush your oiling system(with an engine flush) also.

tiso_us

OUI!!, OK, my brother and i need some help here....Problem is this....

We were going to take out the engine, right!, where do you take out the flywheel bolts to separate the Tranny from the Engine....or do you pull the entire Tranny with the Engine?....Does the whole front axle with transfer case have to be removed?.

It's auto with 4X4.

stock s10

There should be an inspection plate that covers the bottom half of the bellhousing of the trans. You remove that and it should give you access to the torque converter bolts. Even if you do decide to pull the trans. w/ the engine the front axle stays in place but you will have to pull the transfer case.

tiso_us

I talked to the guy that was going to pull the other engine to use in my blazer...he said the engine to tranny bolts was hard to get to and then he said that i would have to drop the transfer case and drop the back of the tranny just to get to the Tranny/engine bolts.

on the bellhousing plate....yes, i saw the plate....kinda small to remove the bolts though, but instead, i removed the starter to gain access, and if that don't work, i'll pull the whole Tranny and engine together.

Now only if the snow and cold would stop, i'll get back to work on it.

tiso_us

Oh man!!....that was not cool....I went to pick up the other engine and the guy tried to pawn off an engine that was worse then mine, my brother had 'marked' the other engine without the guy knowing.

the engine looked like it came straight from the factory.

anyway, we went to pick up the engine and pay the guy, found out the engine had glass all over it, the marks that my brother made from prior visit was not there, seals were leaking.

My brother demanded the check back and he tried to dodge us and cash the check....what he didn't know was our bank has a 3 hour waiting period on check cashing and my brother simply called the bank and canceled the check.

It was then that the guy gave the check back.

My wife wanted to call the cops in on what he was doing, he insisted that he did not wanted the law involved(I wandered way).

so, I did not get the engine that i wanted, and decided to do a complete overhaul instead....other then the fact that the intake gasket was shot, It needed the gunk cleaned internally.

So, be careful when picking out an engine from wrecked cars, they just might do the old switch-a-roo on you.

NOW!...could anyone recommend a excellent complete Overhaul kit....looking for the best, because that's what my blazer deserves...The Best!!.