Hi all. My first post on the Blazer forum and I'm having problems.

So I was on my way home a couple of nights ago and my 2002 Blazer (2wd 100k mi) started missing big time. I had no indication anything was wrong before this. It just acted like it was running on half the cylinders. Fortunatly I was only a mile from home and limped it there.

Naturally I'm short on funds otherwise I would have just paid somebody to solve this for me.

So...I get out while it's running and sample the sights, sounds and smells.

Exhaust smells BAD
Engine Idle ROUGH

So I Shut it off.

Pulled the dipstick hoping I didn't see milkshake looking oil (water in the oil). And I didn't. However....the oil level was a tad high....and it has a sort of red tint (not butterscotchy like I would have expected). My last oil change was 2 1/2 months and 2500 miles ago. So if anything I expected the oil level to be slightly low.

So I change the oil. No clear signs of water in the oil. Just that it has a red tint. (I thought transmission fluid but I think that is impossible for this vehicle to get transmission fluid in the crank case. This was possible back in the days of vaccum opperated shifting transmissions and carburators)

OK So I went and got a code reader (didn't want to drive it to autozone and mess something up worse). The code reader came back with the code.

P0300 Multiple cylinder misfire

This wasn't a surprise. The question is WHY?

I changed the plugs just on instinct (except for the one behind the steering column...who the heck decided to do that?????). No help there.

I have dexcool coolant in it. I wonder if the coolant is getting in the oil and giving it the red tint. I just expected it to look different if that is what it was.

And if that is the case is it a head gasket blown or an Intake manifold gasket?

Either way....UGH!

My next move is to get a compression tester to see if I have a compression problem in any of the cylinders.

Any other suggestions? I would be grateful for any help at all.

Also what should the cylinder compression be for the 4.3?

 

I don't think it would be the intake gasket, if it IS water it's probably the head gasket...One way to tell if it is water is to hold a match or lighter to the oil on the dipstick, if it is water/coolant you should get some popping and cracking. just plain oil won't do that.

 

ok I fixed it.

I got a compression tester and it came to roughly 80-90psi on every cylinder (which is low but it's a higher mileage engine that probably wasn't taken care of before me).

So I went ahead and changed the plug wires, distributor cap, and rotor. And she runs great now!

The oil still bothers me. Guess I will keep and eye on that.