Alright, I have a '03 Blazer that has been pretty good to me... It hasn't been to the shop in ~2+ years. I usually do all of the maintenance on my own to keep it in shape, but none the less it's age and mileage (142k) are catching up. I'm at a crossroad with only three ways out, and maybe you guys can help me decide.

Road 1) It's paid off, and runs (relatively) fine. So fix it up, and keep running it.

Road 2) Fix it up and do a private sale to maximize return.

Road 3) Just trade it in before I start spending money, but with it's low value I may just keep it as a beater...

Here's what's up (mechanically, not cosmetically).
I ran the codes and got 3, some being doubled.
P0449 -Evap Code
P0155 -O2 sensor?
P0128 -Coolant thermostat

1) **Most dangerous** Airbag light is on... I enjoy my life, so I've been doing my best to drive like an old lady.
- To fix this I just need to take it to a shop cause I don't want to mess it up.

2) I have a coolant leak.
3) My ABS light comes off and on... Hoping its just a dirty sensor.

I went to the junk yard today and pulled a charcoal canister from an '02 (and a bumper end from a '99 Jimmy). About 5 years ago my tread ripped from the tire and ripped a bunch of things apart/off (canister) on the back driver's side, hence the new/old canister.

I would like to tackle the intake gasket on my own. As well as the ABS sensor (if it's just dirty).

Question for you all, can I put an old junkyard canister back on?

I'm horrible with social media, but I'll try and stay on this.

 

Well, I am very gracious for the mass replies... I guess there were too many words in the original post.

I ended up pulling a charcoal canister out of an 2002 Blazer at the junk yard, and a rear bumper panel off a 1999 Jimmy. So far nothing bad has happened.

So I answered my own question. Question for you all, can I put an old junkyard canister back on? Yes.

 

So you did it without us.....


Are you still getting the P0449? This code is specific to the circuitry of the vent solenoid above the spare tire.

Disconnect the 2 wire connector and use a test lamp to test for 12v on the orange (or which ever wire isn't white). You can do this with the ignition off. If you have power, then pull the solenoid out (one bolt to the chassis, or unclip it from the bracket) and bench test it.

You can bench test it a number of ways, but the easiest is to hook up each male terminal to each side of a 12v battery, doesn't matter which goes to which, if it works you'll feel and hear it click as you make a connection.

If it doesn't click, replace it (about $25) and clear code, if the code comes back, or if it clicked during the bench test you either have a bad connector, a short in the ground (white wire) or you have a bad PCM (worst case senerio.)

Since you had the tire problem, I would venture to guess that it hit the wire bundle that runs between the rear LH tire and gas tank and your white ground has coroeded there. The white ground is really small gauge. Check the bundle for damage.

If all else fails you could check for continuity between the ground wire and the pin on the #2 connector to the PCM....Might be pin 41...if you need to know which pin it is let me know and I'll look it up.


With 147 I would fix it up and keep it, you already own it, might as well run it til the Vortec decides it won't run anymore.


Hans

 

Hans, thank you very much for the detailed assistance. I will look into this first thing this weekend. That was exactly the kind of help I was hoping for. +1

 

Coolant leak fixed. All in all this is what was replaced:

-Intake manifold gaskets
-Head Gaskets
-Plenum Gasket
-Throttle body & spider injector gaskets
-Thermostat & Thermostat Sensor
-Radiator & Hoses
-Distributor cap & rotor
-Water Pump

Here is a rather long video of it

 

Good job on replacing the intake manifold gasket....I did this job earlier this year on my 02 so I know what you went through.

I think fixing your Blazer was the right decision. The 4.3L engine is a high mileage one as long as basic maintenance is done.

Again good job.