My Blazer thread. Caught fire last night, "pop" noises when trying to start. Begin.
#1
06-10-2015, 06:51 AM
My Blazer thread. Caught fire last night, "pop" noises when trying to start. Begin.
Sorry for the attention-grabbing title, but I DID want to start with the worst. Got VERY LUCKY last night. Almost had a fireball of a Blazer. Came probably within SECONDS of quelching that flame.. (How did that happen? 1. Put on new FPR. Mechanic "had the lines off that go to the Fuel Pressure Regulator and spider assembly, inside the intake not outside." 2. He told me to "turn over the engine," just to see if it would "catch." 3. After 5 times of trying to start it, and it sounding like it wanted to start, then did start and immediately die - almost exactly like when the manifold and all things were connected, they were disconnected this time - WHOA! Flame. On the manifold. Right by the gas lines... SEVERAL SECONDS AND WATER BOTTLES LATER AND ULTIMATELY THE HOSE THAT I HAD TO TURN ON IN A HURRY, (I am describing my garden water hose here) I ALWAYS LEAVE THE HOSE ON BUT THIS WAS UNEXPECTED TO SAY THE LEAST, THE FIRE WAS EXTINGUISHED. (same hose) IT WAS BURNING FOR ALMOST ONE FULL MINUTE, OR 60 FULL SECONDS.. IS HOW CLOSE IT CAME. TOP OF MANIFOLD.) <-- These are the details.
Truck details:
BODY: 1993 Chevrolet S-10 Blazer. Tahoe LT. VIN W. 4x4. Looks like "Tow Package."
ENGINE: 1994 Chevrolet S-10 Blazer Tahoe LT VIN W 4.3L Vortec 262ci. VIN W - with the Spiders. (Yes, engine came from a 1994 year vehicle. Was changed. Verified. How? 1. I bought it.. 2. Saw it come out of donor truck. 3. Have receipt indicating 1994.)
The pics: *after, since not even I, the most photo-happy guy EVER, would even THINK of taking pics with a truck engine on FIRE near GAS..
Truck details:
BODY: 1993 Chevrolet S-10 Blazer. Tahoe LT. VIN W. 4x4. Looks like "Tow Package."
ENGINE: 1994 Chevrolet S-10 Blazer Tahoe LT VIN W 4.3L Vortec 262ci. VIN W - with the Spiders. (Yes, engine came from a 1994 year vehicle. Was changed. Verified. How? 1. I bought it.. 2. Saw it come out of donor truck. 3. Have receipt indicating 1994.)
The pics: *after, since not even I, the most photo-happy guy EVER, would even THINK of taking pics with a truck engine on FIRE near GAS..
#3
06-11-2015, 02:34 PM
From what I can tell in your post, you haven't really asked any questions so here are some directed back at you:
What specific questions do you have about your predicament?
What have you done since the fire?
What specific questions do you have about your predicament?
What have you done since the fire?
#4
06-11-2015, 07:10 PM
My specific questions are:
- What are some possible reasons as to the "pop" noise when trying to start it?
- Is re-timing it possible when it does not run?
- How did the fire begin? I am slightly surprised that it did.. I also thought the coil was disconnected when I took off the upper manifold (or plenum maybe it is.)
#5
06-11-2015, 07:26 PM
If your mechanic removed the internal fuel lines and then reconnected them, his actions contributed to the evens leading up to the fire.
A pop can be caused by a back fire. It also could have been one of the fuel lines coming lose from it's fitting. If you attempted to start the engine with the upper intake plenum off, then that was not a smart move. Regardless of whether the plenum is installed or not, a back fire could have ignited fuel that leaked from the lines that were removed and reinstalled.
The lines themselves are commonly referred to as the 'nut kit' and should be discarded if they are removed. They are highly prone to leaking after they have been used and then disturbed.
As far as checking the initial ignition timing, that can be checked by getting the #1 cylinder to top dead center on the compression stroke and seeing if the rotor is somewhere near the #1 terminal on the cap. Since you have the older distributor setup, setting the advance is fairly easy. You will need a running engine and the timing connector disconnected (found on the passenger side of the transmission tunnel just under the upper edge of the carpet - brown or tan wire if I remember correctly), you can set the timing with a traditional timing light and turning the distributor.
A pop can be caused by a back fire. It also could have been one of the fuel lines coming lose from it's fitting. If you attempted to start the engine with the upper intake plenum off, then that was not a smart move. Regardless of whether the plenum is installed or not, a back fire could have ignited fuel that leaked from the lines that were removed and reinstalled.
The lines themselves are commonly referred to as the 'nut kit' and should be discarded if they are removed. They are highly prone to leaking after they have been used and then disturbed.
As far as checking the initial ignition timing, that can be checked by getting the #1 cylinder to top dead center on the compression stroke and seeing if the rotor is somewhere near the #1 terminal on the cap. Since you have the older distributor setup, setting the advance is fairly easy. You will need a running engine and the timing connector disconnected (found on the passenger side of the transmission tunnel just under the upper edge of the carpet - brown or tan wire if I remember correctly), you can set the timing with a traditional timing light and turning the distributor.
#6
06-12-2015, 06:39 PM
If your mechanic removed the internal fuel lines and then reconnected them, his actions contributed to the evens leading up to the fire.
A pop can be caused by a back fire. It also could have been one of the fuel lines coming lose from it's fitting. If you attempted to start the engine with the upper intake plenum off, then that was not a smart move. Regardless of whether the plenum is installed or not, a back fire could have ignited fuel that leaked from the lines that were removed and reinstalled.
The lines themselves are commonly referred to as the 'nut kit' and should be discarded if they are removed. They are highly prone to leaking after they have been used and then disturbed.
As far as checking the initial ignition timing, that can be checked by getting the #1 cylinder to top dead center on the compression stroke and seeing if the rotor is somewhere near the #1 terminal on the cap. Since you have the older distributor setup, setting the advance is fairly easy. You will need a running engine and the timing connector disconnected (found on the passenger side of the transmission tunnel just under the upper edge of the carpet - brown or tan wire if I remember correctly), you can set the timing with a traditional timing light and turning the distributor.
A pop can be caused by a back fire. It also could have been one of the fuel lines coming lose from it's fitting. If you attempted to start the engine with the upper intake plenum off, then that was not a smart move. Regardless of whether the plenum is installed or not, a back fire could have ignited fuel that leaked from the lines that were removed and reinstalled.
The lines themselves are commonly referred to as the 'nut kit' and should be discarded if they are removed. They are highly prone to leaking after they have been used and then disturbed.
As far as checking the initial ignition timing, that can be checked by getting the #1 cylinder to top dead center on the compression stroke and seeing if the rotor is somewhere near the #1 terminal on the cap. Since you have the older distributor setup, setting the advance is fairly easy. You will need a running engine and the timing connector disconnected (found on the passenger side of the transmission tunnel just under the upper edge of the carpet - brown or tan wire if I remember correctly), you can set the timing with a traditional timing light and turning the distributor.
#7
06-12-2015, 07:11 PM
Those ports that you pointed to are supposed to have those pieces of charred nylon attached to them. The one to the driver side is the supply from the pump and the other is the return. When working properly, the lines feed the fuel into the injection spider where the fuel pressure regulator maintains 55-60psi pressure at the injector; dumping any excess fuel back to the tank through the return line.
There is more than enough information on properly replacing the 'nut kit', spider, and even the internal wiring to the fuel injector on this site. That should at least get the fire damaged components repaired. No telling what you might have done with all that water... DO NOT attempt to start your truck again with the plenum off and/or the lines disconnected like that. At most, I would only suggest turning the key to the run position to check for leaks in the lines inside the engine. Before turning the engine over again, I would recommend you soak up all of the water/fuel that is in the lower intake, pull the plugs to get any water out of the cylinders that might have made it down past the valves, and change the oil prior to actually trying to let the motor run once you get to that point.
What you just did in that video is dangerous and I am not exactly sure what you were trying to accomplish by creating it. Regardless of you having the hose present, you are only doing more and more harm to your truck (water inside the intake/cylinders is not a good thing). To each his own I guess. Good luck with your issues.
There is more than enough information on properly replacing the 'nut kit', spider, and even the internal wiring to the fuel injector on this site. That should at least get the fire damaged components repaired. No telling what you might have done with all that water... DO NOT attempt to start your truck again with the plenum off and/or the lines disconnected like that. At most, I would only suggest turning the key to the run position to check for leaks in the lines inside the engine. Before turning the engine over again, I would recommend you soak up all of the water/fuel that is in the lower intake, pull the plugs to get any water out of the cylinders that might have made it down past the valves, and change the oil prior to actually trying to let the motor run once you get to that point.
What you just did in that video is dangerous and I am not exactly sure what you were trying to accomplish by creating it. Regardless of you having the hose present, you are only doing more and more harm to your truck (water inside the intake/cylinders is not a good thing). To each his own I guess. Good luck with your issues.
#8
06-12-2015, 08:35 PM
Those ports that you pointed to are supposed to have those pieces of charred nylon attached to them. The one to the driver side is the supply from the pump and the other is the return. When working properly, the lines feed the fuel into the injection spider where the fuel pressure regulator maintains 55-60psi pressure at the injector; dumping any excess fuel back to the tank through the return line.
There is more than enough information on properly replacing the 'nut kit', spider, and even the internal wiring to the fuel injector on this site. That should at least get the fire damaged components repaired. No telling what you might have done with all that water... DO NOT attempt to start your truck again with the plenum off and/or the lines disconnected like that. At most, I would only suggest turning the key to the run position to check for leaks in the lines inside the engine. Before turning the engine over again, I would recommend you soak up all of the water/fuel that is in the lower intake, pull the plugs to get any water out of the cylinders that might have made it down past the valves, and change the oil prior to actually trying to let the motor run once you get to that point.
What you just did in that video is dangerous and I am not exactly sure what you were trying to accomplish by creating it. Regardless of you having the hose present, you are only doing more and more harm to your truck (water inside the intake/cylinders is not a good thing). To each his own I guess. Good luck with your issues.
There is more than enough information on properly replacing the 'nut kit', spider, and even the internal wiring to the fuel injector on this site. That should at least get the fire damaged components repaired. No telling what you might have done with all that water... DO NOT attempt to start your truck again with the plenum off and/or the lines disconnected like that. At most, I would only suggest turning the key to the run position to check for leaks in the lines inside the engine. Before turning the engine over again, I would recommend you soak up all of the water/fuel that is in the lower intake, pull the plugs to get any water out of the cylinders that might have made it down past the valves, and change the oil prior to actually trying to let the motor run once you get to that point.
What you just did in that video is dangerous and I am not exactly sure what you were trying to accomplish by creating it. Regardless of you having the hose present, you are only doing more and more harm to your truck (water inside the intake/cylinders is not a good thing). To each his own I guess. Good luck with your issues.
Let me read what you first suggested.. I DO want to tackle this!
Those ports that you pointed to are supposed to have those pieces of charred nylon attached to them. The one to the driver side is the supply from the pump and the other is the return. When working properly, the lines feed the fuel into the injection spider where the fuel pressure regulator maintains 55-60psi pressure at the injector; dumping any excess fuel back to the tank through the return line.
There is more than enough information on properly replacing the 'nut kit', spider, and even the internal wiring to the fuel injector on this site. That should at least get the fire damaged components repaired. No telling what you might have done with all that water... DO NOT attempt to start your truck again with the plenum off and/or the lines disconnected like that. At most, I would only suggest turning the key to the run position to check for leaks in the lines inside the engine. Before turning the engine over again, I would recommend you soak up all of the water/fuel that is in the lower intake, pull the plugs to get any water out of the cylinders that might have made it down past the valves, and change the oil prior to actually trying to let the motor run once you get to that point.
What you just did in that video is dangerous and I am not exactly sure what you were trying to accomplish by creating it. Regardless of you having the hose present, you are only doing more and more harm to your truck (water inside the intake/cylinders is not a good thing). To each his own I guess. Good luck with your issues.
There is more than enough information on properly replacing the 'nut kit', spider, and even the internal wiring to the fuel injector on this site. That should at least get the fire damaged components repaired. No telling what you might have done with all that water... DO NOT attempt to start your truck again with the plenum off and/or the lines disconnected like that. At most, I would only suggest turning the key to the run position to check for leaks in the lines inside the engine. Before turning the engine over again, I would recommend you soak up all of the water/fuel that is in the lower intake, pull the plugs to get any water out of the cylinders that might have made it down past the valves, and change the oil prior to actually trying to let the motor run once you get to that point.
What you just did in that video is dangerous and I am not exactly sure what you were trying to accomplish by creating it. Regardless of you having the hose present, you are only doing more and more harm to your truck (water inside the intake/cylinders is not a good thing). To each his own I guess. Good luck with your issues.
If your mechanic removed the internal fuel lines and then reconnected them, his actions contributed to the evens leading up to the fire.
A pop can be caused by a back fire. It also could have been one of the fuel lines coming lose from it's fitting. If you attempted to start the engine with the upper intake plenum off, then that was not a smart move. Regardless of whether the plenum is installed or not, a back fire could have ignited fuel that leaked from the lines that were removed and reinstalled.
The lines themselves are commonly referred to as the 'nut kit' and should be discarded if they are removed. They are highly prone to leaking after they have been used and then disturbed.
As far as checking the initial ignition timing, that can be checked by getting the #1 cylinder to top dead center on the compression stroke and seeing if the rotor is somewhere near the #1 terminal on the cap. Since you have the older distributor setup, setting the advance is fairly easy. You will need a running engine and the timing connector disconnected (found on the passenger side of the transmission tunnel just under the upper edge of the carpet - brown or tan wire if I remember correctly), you can set the timing with a traditional timing light and turning the distributor.
A pop can be caused by a back fire. It also could have been one of the fuel lines coming lose from it's fitting. If you attempted to start the engine with the upper intake plenum off, then that was not a smart move. Regardless of whether the plenum is installed or not, a back fire could have ignited fuel that leaked from the lines that were removed and reinstalled.
The lines themselves are commonly referred to as the 'nut kit' and should be discarded if they are removed. They are highly prone to leaking after they have been used and then disturbed.
As far as checking the initial ignition timing, that can be checked by getting the #1 cylinder to top dead center on the compression stroke and seeing if the rotor is somewhere near the #1 terminal on the cap. Since you have the older distributor setup, setting the advance is fairly easy. You will need a running engine and the timing connector disconnected (found on the passenger side of the transmission tunnel just under the upper edge of the carpet - brown or tan wire if I remember correctly), you can set the timing with a traditional timing light and turning the distributor.
Those ports that you pointed to are supposed to have those pieces of charred nylon attached to them. The one to the driver side is the supply from the pump and the other is the return. When working properly, the lines feed the fuel into the injection spider where the fuel pressure regulator maintains 55-60psi pressure at the injector; dumping any excess fuel back to the tank through the return line.
There is more than enough information on properly replacing the 'nut kit', spider, and even the internal wiring to the fuel injector on this site. That should at least get the fire damaged components repaired. No telling what you might have done with all that water... DO NOT attempt to start your truck again with the plenum off and/or the lines disconnected like that. At most, I would only suggest turning the key to the run position to check for leaks in the lines inside the engine. Before turning the engine over again, I would recommend you soak up all of the water/fuel that is in the lower intake, pull the plugs to get any water out of the cylinders that might have made it down past the valves, and change the oil prior to actually trying to let the motor run once you get to that point.
What you just did in that video is dangerous and I am not exactly sure what you were trying to accomplish by creating it. Regardless of you having the hose present, you are only doing more and more harm to your truck (water inside the intake/cylinders is not a good thing). To each his own I guess. Good luck with your issues.
There is more than enough information on properly replacing the 'nut kit', spider, and even the internal wiring to the fuel injector on this site. That should at least get the fire damaged components repaired. No telling what you might have done with all that water... DO NOT attempt to start your truck again with the plenum off and/or the lines disconnected like that. At most, I would only suggest turning the key to the run position to check for leaks in the lines inside the engine. Before turning the engine over again, I would recommend you soak up all of the water/fuel that is in the lower intake, pull the plugs to get any water out of the cylinders that might have made it down past the valves, and change the oil prior to actually trying to let the motor run once you get to that point.
What you just did in that video is dangerous and I am not exactly sure what you were trying to accomplish by creating it. Regardless of you having the hose present, you are only doing more and more harm to your truck (water inside the intake/cylinders is not a good thing). To each his own I guess. Good luck with your issues.
What to do next:
Clean up any frank water and fuel-- but do not use a vacuum cleaner on fuel spills!
Disable the fuel pump by removing the fuse or relay. Confirm that NO fuel comes out when you turn the key on.
Disable the ignition by unplugging the small wires on the coil.
Remove all the spark plugs.
Crank engine for 30 seconds or so to clear water out of the cylinders.
Conduct a compression test. You can do this with the intake removed-- remember NO fuel or ignition. Realize that, as you found with the Honda, water in a cylinder makes the compression artificially high. But if you have some cylinders that are low or zero there is a big problem.
Assuming that passes:
Check the injectors and wiring for fire damage. Replace as needed.
Install NEW spider and "nut kit" lines like the guy on the GM forum said. He seems rather knolwedgable about this stuff so I would heed his advice NOT to try and re-use those lines after they have been pulled off because they're prone to leak. And of course now they definitely need replacing because they are burnt. Also check the lines going out of the intake area off or the engine back toward the pump and anything else your mechanic disturbed.
Re-connect the fuel pump and turn the key on (do NOT crank) several times to check for fuel leaks.
Reassemble the intake.
Re-connect the coil.
If you have been frobbing(*) the distributor timing, do what the guy on the GM forum said where you TDC the engine and adjust coarsely until it the rotor is pointed to fire cylinder 1. The engine should start in this condition. Once started, warm up and time with a light. "Timing by ear" is a bad idea on a computerized engine.
* A technical term for when someone thinks that something needs adjustment, so he does it without the slightest clue what he's doing.
Clean up any frank water and fuel-- but do not use a vacuum cleaner on fuel spills!
Disable the fuel pump by removing the fuse or relay. Confirm that NO fuel comes out when you turn the key on.
Disable the ignition by unplugging the small wires on the coil.
Remove all the spark plugs.
Crank engine for 30 seconds or so to clear water out of the cylinders.
Conduct a compression test. You can do this with the intake removed-- remember NO fuel or ignition. Realize that, as you found with the Honda, water in a cylinder makes the compression artificially high. But if you have some cylinders that are low or zero there is a big problem.
Assuming that passes:
Check the injectors and wiring for fire damage. Replace as needed.
Install NEW spider and "nut kit" lines like the guy on the GM forum said. He seems rather knolwedgable about this stuff so I would heed his advice NOT to try and re-use those lines after they have been pulled off because they're prone to leak. And of course now they definitely need replacing because they are burnt. Also check the lines going out of the intake area off or the engine back toward the pump and anything else your mechanic disturbed.
Re-connect the fuel pump and turn the key on (do NOT crank) several times to check for fuel leaks.
Reassemble the intake.
Re-connect the coil.
If you have been frobbing(*) the distributor timing, do what the guy on the GM forum said where you TDC the engine and adjust coarsely until it the rotor is pointed to fire cylinder 1. The engine should start in this condition. Once started, warm up and time with a light. "Timing by ear" is a bad idea on a computerized engine.
* A technical term for when someone thinks that something needs adjustment, so he does it without the slightest clue what he's doing.
I also did check it yesterday, and I notice that virtually all, if not all of the fuel and water I can see has evaporated away. I know I need those new lines.. I agree, does not sound like a good idea to re-use the old ones. "nut kit." Still, though, I should be able to do what was suggested..
Update on the Honda and the Blazer EX MANI IS OFF - YouTube
#9
06-20-2015, 09:13 AM
I removed the Spark Plugs.. my Blazer latest, and video
For all the "plug readers" out there. Also, wondering if I should (now) remove the heads..
I also am going to research the fuses for the spark and fuel. So I can pull them.
I also am going to research the fuses for the spark and fuel. So I can pull them.
