Well my theory did not pan out...

We went Saturday (12/14) and it acted just like it did 12/2. Turned over and over, a gurgle every now and then but no start. It was wet/raining most of the day, like it was 12/2. When it started and ran (12/11) it was sunny and dry. I tried my HF spark tester again and the light was weak at Number 2 plug this time. I hooked it to the coil and the light was bright.

I decided to check the distributor cap. I loosened first the screw to the rear. Once it was out, I moved the cap and it came right off! The housing was cracked all the way around the front screw! I don't think I cracked it at that moment as I heard no pop/crack or felt any resistance when I moved it. Nevertheless I viewed the rotor and the centre contact tab is gone! Just a crescent in line with the cap's outer diameter centre contact point. No wonder it does not run! I do wonder why it ran (albeit badly) on 12/11. Perhaps the dry day allowed enough voltage passage to run the engine. The rain got heavier and darkness was approaching so I stopped. I plan to get to it tomorrow with a new cap and rotor. Hopefully it'll start and I'll drive it home and plan on changing the LIM gaskets this weekend.

 

Yesterday (12/18) rotor and distributor cap were changed. Had to jump off, but the Blazer started even with a slow, weak crank speed and purred like a kitten. Revved up to 3K and no cutting out or MIL light. Idled about 10 minutes. I plan definitely now to drive the car the 10 miles home Saturday to change the LIM gaskets.

I did notice the rear distributor screw appears to be near stripped as it will not tighten fully. It will hold the cap, but if you moderately pull, it will pop out. Recall the housing around the front screwed was cracked all around. This may have caused the rear to strip out or vice versa. Has anyone experienced with this? Since the distributor will be removed for the LIM gasket change, I'll get a better look at it. I'm hoping I can just find a slightly larger screw to replace.

 

The bottom plate of these distributors is plastic. Mine had a worn gear, so I replaced it with an aftermarket unit with needle bearings and a metal base plate.

Before you remove the disty, turn the rotor by hand and check for excess play (a small amount is normal, along with a bit of vertical movement). Once it is out of the engine, look closely at the gear for unusual wear. You can find plenty of posts and pictures here about distributor gear wear. If the gear is worn, I'd replace the whole unit.

If the gear is OK, you might be able to repair the stripped hole in the base plate using one of those plastic repair kits. I'd rather build the plastic back up than use a larger screw. New caps come with replacement screws, and some caps have metal sleeves lining the screw holes. A larger screw would be a pain in the long run.

 

Here is my update. It appears many folks post here but do not give a final result on their problem. I thank all who suggested here and hope this post may help someone with a similar situation.

Sunday 12/22: After dark, heavy rain. Drained the oil/water mixture, added only 3 quarts of cheap dollar store oil (enough to drive the 10 miles home). Blazer needed a jump, but started fine. Wife followed in the rental car. Drove 1 mile surface streets, the Blazer appeared fine so I decided to enter I-20 for the eight mile stretch. Did fine first 4 or so miles. Made it passed downtown Atlanta. Temperature gauge soared to 3/4 mark. Skipped once or twice. One mile before the exit the Blazer died. Heavy rain, dark. Barely enough room in emergency lane to park. Wife pulled behind me. Battery dead. We took the rental to get the battery out of my Corvette. I have the 'Vette where you have to remove the fender to get the battery out. 'Vette Parked outside. Heavy rain. Soaked. Drove to the Blazer, swapped batteries. Blazer started but very rough. Drove 1 mile to exit and another 1/2 mile to a red light and the Blazer stalled again, was able to roll into a gas station. Temp at the 3/4 mark. Added 2.5 gallons of water. Started, drove last 1/2 mile home. Parked in the garage. Took wet clothes off, pj's on, bed.

I should not have driven the Blazer home as some of you had suggested, nevertheless, I dodged a bullet this time and saved the tow fee.

Monday 12/23 - Started the LIM job at 8 AM. Finished at 8 PM. Had lunch break and another 'break' to drive to Advance for the LIM Felpro set, oil and filter. So about 11 hours work time. I used 2 links/posts here and a third I found to do the job.

Highlights - Drained approximately 3 gallons of oil/water mixture from the engine! Recall I only put in 3 quarts of oil at my aunt's house. Over two gallons of water leaked into the crankcase for the 10 mile drive! The mixture was also observed in the throttle body, MAF and even the air filter! I guess it was sucked from the egr system. Again, I should not have driven it and was lucky! I had to clean all that of course.

The rest of the job was similar to other people's experiences. I did not remove the fan. I only shifted the AC bracket forward an inch or so. The LIM gasket was blown on both sides of the front passage ways. I did not open/change the plenum gaskets (even though the kit included them) at this time. I plan to do so soon. I did use a slightly larger distributor hold down screw to replace the rear in which the base was stripped out.

I put everything back together. Added fluids and started the Blazer. Very rough running the first 2-3 minutes, flashing MIL, etc. P0300 code. After 5 minutes or so it leveled out and ran relatively well. Cleared codes, no P0300. Due to it being dark, called it a day. No road test.

Christmas Eve - Blazer was about 30 miles from 200,000 miles. About 9 am we drove the Blazer about 10 miles with my wife following in the rental. Ran fine. We then returned the rental (>$1,000). The temperature gauge was/is about 1.5 tick marks from centre. In the past it was usually just shy of center. We also noticed no heat. Since at the time it was not that cold, I did not investigate. The P0304 code returned that I've had for 2-3 months, so this job did not fix that. I also have a P1133 and an occasional P0133 (O2 sensor).

January 3rd - Blazer has been driven over 500 miles since repair. We had an overnight low in the low 20's. Feet were so cold driving the Blazer we were in pain. Check blend doors, they were fine. That afternoon whilst driving we heard water flow and had heat for about 5 seconds.

1/4 - Flushed heater core. Full of junk. Hooked it all back up. Have heat.
Good thing since single digits are forecasted for tonight.

Thanks again for the help! I now have to figure out the P0304 code and the other two.

In summary, the car stopped running because of the broken rotor tab. I guess the severe leaking LIM was coincidence and glad it was caught.

 

Holy bucket of three day old squid bait in the sun.
Give you many Salam Alihums.


When you did the Lim did you happen to inspect the bottom distributor gear for play, slop or excessive ware.


The deal of the century is a Skip White billet distributor. You get the whole nine yards for if I remember around $75.00. They work like a charm. Cap, rotor, distributor sensor. Metal no broken plastic. Look for him on E-Bay.

 

Aleichem Salam to you my brother!!!

I checked the distributor for such and my one eye and fingers determined a functional distributor!!!

I will consider your generous advice if experience dictates!

SALAM!!!

 

Just want to second the Skip White aluminum body complete distributor for about $50. Installed one earlier this year and has been going great ever since.

Also want to point-out that running the engine with coolant in the oil has shorten the life of the main bearings and will likely lead to a spun crank bearing in the near future....and this is going to be expensive as looking at a complete engine rebuild or replacement.

Here's hoping for the best on this for you and the wife.

But more importantly...what year 'Vette do you have and are you on the Corvette Forum? See me there.

 

Lanny,

I have a 1995 Coupe I purchased new in 1996. Just turned 253,000 miles today. Unfortunately it has been my daily driver for the last 2 years and is in bad need of 'refurbishment', nevertheless the "Vette runs good.

I joined corvetteforum.com in the late '90s, but had to rejoin October 2000 as my email/ISP changed then (remember CompuServe?) and I could not remember my password or reset it due to the email change. My current user name is cOvette.

 

You didn't mention if you still have water in the oil. I;m still gonna call a head gasket here. A simple compression check would verify.

 

There appears to be no water in the oil. Nearly 1,000 miles later, no coolant has disappeared. Oil on dipstick looks like oil. No bubbles appear in radiator neck with cap off whilst engine is idling. Blazer runs relatively well, except a small miss at idle. I still have the P0304 (4 cyl miss) I plan to look into this weekend.

I'm thinking the above would rule out a head issue. I haven't seen my compression gauge in several years. I suspect someone 'borrowed' it.

Thanks for the suggestion.