Hi all;

Just picked up a 94 S10 Blazer 4-door that was very well taken care of. It has 152K on it, but that isn't much judging from some of the mileages y'all are posting.

Anyway - a couple questions. Among the odds and ends I have run across, there are a couple that stand out...

#1 - the dreaded rear gate lock. Mine opens with or without the key. I'm believing from some other threads that the lock cylinder is shot. The one question I didn't see answered - and that the manual is NOT clear on - is this: is the mere presence of the key in the cylinder what allows the handle to turn, or do you have to turn the lock cylinder a 1/2 turn before the handle will turn, like every other vehicle I've ever seen? I can insert the key but it will not turn within the handle. That key is the one that works on the doors and glove box so I assume it's the correct one, unless that gate lock cylinder was replaced... BTW the electric glass release works fine. I just can't lock the rear handle.

#2 - I have a bit of a rough idle at times, hard starting at times, and a consistent "burnt fuel" smell like it's running rich. Runs fine above idle though. The fuel pump and the spider tubes have been replaced. Any other thoughts? (This is the W engine).

Thanks... Dave

 

My '95 runs great apart from hard starting. Idle is nice and smooth as well. It has always had the rich running smell. A few times it has thrown a code for running rich. It has not done so recently. I have replaced the cap and rotor, wires, spark plugs, one O2 sensor that was failed, EGR valve, and TPS. I have also seafoamed the engine. No dice. The smell has diminished greatly and I have not seen my SES light in quite some time. I have learned to live with it. I have pondered changing out the spider injector and the coil.

 

Update - had a fuel injector flush done. The tech said it blew black smoke for the longest time but eventually the injectors got cleaned out. Seems to run better now, still a touch rough on idle occasionally but starts better than it did. Runs real smooth above idle. Been averaging 15-16 mpg in city driving, not bad all things considered.

Still haven't replaced the rear lock. I suspect now that it may have been replaced at least once, I found a set of keys that doesn't fit anything else. That will be a project for another weekend.

 

Fuel injector flush? Please elaborate.

 

seafoam style injector flush?
how much did that set you back?
x2 elaboration

 

Sounds like a professional injector cleaning where they disconnect the fuel system and run it off of a can of concentrated cleaner. This type of cleaning should be a last ditch effort before replacing the spider. They can usually clean the junk out of the poppet nozzles to restore smooth drive-ability.

 

Yes, swartlkk described well the type of cleaning that was done. The spider had been replaced previously.

Still had the rich smell and rough idle come back though after a few days, so I took it to my trusted local mechanic. He found (as he described it) some of the internal fuel lines inside the manifold were leaking. Replaced all those individual lines with a genuine GM line kit, and that solved the problem. Runs like a top now. Also increased gas mileage between 1-2 mpg.

Not saying the flush didn't help, it did, temporarily. But that internal flooding was going to still be an issue.

-dave