Okay, '95 s10 4x4 blazer 4.3 w been running very good. On the way to work, starts feeling like a slight miss, then the Check Eng light starts to flash, never stays on but flashes. I get to the parking lot at work and the idle seems very very low, barely wants to keep running, HELP, what should I look for???

 

Look over all of your spark plug wires. Possibly pop the cap off and have a look at the rotor & the pins on the underside of the cap. A flashing CEL usually indicates multiple misfires...

 

changed cap and rotor about 2 months ago. I did put in cheaper plugs at the sametime from Wal-Mart, I am thinking maybe one of those went bad. Does that sound reasonable. Obviously I need to check plug wires on snuggly and plugs in snuggly. My next step is back to the cheaper Autolite plugs from Wal-Mart. Does this sound like I am thinking correctly. Thank you so much

 

I would think the plugs need to be checked as well. Yes, check the wires, make sure that none have gotten pinched, andnthen start checking for fouled plugs and the correct gap.

 

well new plugs in all wires doubled checked, took it up to my father n law shop he runs a Big Rig repair shop, couple of guys felt like it is diffently a timing belt going bad. So she is now parked and I will start to pull her apart, I'll report back when she back togther, wish me luck

 

Before you tear into things, check the timing with a light and then run a compression check on all cylinders. Your cylinder pressures should be within 10% high to low in a healthy engine. If you find one or more low, try squirting oil into the cylinder and cycling the engine a bit to get distributed and recheck the compression. This will tell you if you have a ring seal problem. If you still find low compression, then you could have a blown headgasket or bent valve.

If you find that the compression on all cylinders is pretty low, then you may have a problem with the timing chain and this can be verified with a timing light.

 

Okay, reporting back. I spent all day yesterday putting a Timingchain set in. It did not help. Boy pretty frustrating, and got the wife just all over my backside. I hate to keep throwing money at it. Wife says just buy something else for like 5k, obivously your not going to get anything real new for that. So we are not seeing eye to eye, I just don't know when to throw in the towel.

Still SES flashing, indicating multiple mis-fire. Even spending another $35.00 on plug wires has got me in a quandry. I guess I will put a set of plug wires on, just can't imagine plug wire causing multiple mis-fire. I replaced the Spider about 1.5 years ago, I guess that could cause mulitple mis-fires also, may pull the upper pendlum and check again for wetness.

As you can tell, getting to a point of what the heck to do, try another vehicle or keep putting money into this one. Just very frustrated.

Thank you

 

Did you run through any of the checks I suggested before opening up the engine for a timing chain replacement??? Those checks would have told you what was going on with the timing chain...

Also, don't rule out an internal fuel leak. You can pull off the MTV (round plastic cover on the top of the intake plenum) and have a look down in. If you see puddles of fuel, there's your problem. If you feel more inclinded to just remove the upper plenum entirely, you can do so and then pressurize the fuel system with it off. Inspect the entire internal fuel system (lines, spider, FPR) for leaks and replace as necessary.

If you can not see any fuel leaks, then DO NOT disassemble/replace anything.

Please run a compression check as a single cylinder with a broken ring can cause all kinds of issues.

 

I know, I know, and do appreciate all your help. Father n law and his buddy said they thought it was the timining chain, hard to agrue with the old father n law I replaced the spider about 1.5 years ago so I guess that is possible. I will go rent a compression check to rule that out. thanks again

 

well took off the pendlum and look down inside, boy sure looks wet again. I replaced with an AC Delco replacement the Spider assembly about 1.5 years ago. Boy that sucks if another one is going bad, could this allow the computer to show a flashing SES(mulitple miss fires)?

It does appear to be running a lot like it did before I changed out the spider, I now have some black smoke again. I know there is an obivous Eng. design problem as there are way to many complaints about the Spider assembly.

But with it being what I would call pretty darn wet down in there, I would bet to guess another Spider is dead