I recentainly replaced my radiator, water pump, thermo and hoses on my Blazer. Shortly after that it started to run hotter than I would like it to. I checked my water and saw it was low so I added more to it assuming i had a small leak (got the parts from O'reillys). It ran really pukey for a couple days then finally it ran HOT one night and finally died on my way home from across town. I got it to limp home and it sounded horrid. The next morning I went out and it was bone dry. Pulled the dipstick and found my coolant. I am assuming it is my head gasket which I really don't want to deal with.

So my question is will a Vortec V-8 from 98-02ish fit and pretty much bolt up nice or would I need to make a bunch of adjustments? I can get one with around 75k for about $600 but would it be a mess with wiring or tranny or anything? If it will I am just fixing the heads!

 

Going with the SCFI 5.7L (RPO code L31) or 5.0L (RPO L30) V8 found in the 96 to 2003 (for some applications - they was dropped from the fullsize pickup & chevy/gmc suvs after 1999, but they were kept in use in the fullsize vans until 2002-2003) would be the least painful swap.

Just to get it in there, you'll need swap headers, conversion mounts, e-fan setup, and likely other incidentals.

Once it's in there, you'll need a v8 injector harness, PCM reprogrammed to add the v8 code to run the two extra injectors, and possibly some harness extension here & there for various sensors. After that, you have to hope that your transmission is up to the task of holding up to the v8's torque.

The above is just the broad strokes of what you are inquiring about.

Your current motor likely blew a lower intake manifold gasket. I'd try fixing it first and see how it does.

 

Yeah not gonna do all that! Not that I would really do much of the work anyway it just seems like a headache!

I will just fix my poor 4.3 and be ok. It just hit 125k so it still has some life to it anyway.

Thanks a lot for the quick response man!

 

No problem. I had researched the heck out of that very swap when I had my old '00 Bravada, but never got around to even starting to collect parts before I traded it in. Now I have a V8 in all of my vehicles!

 

No problem. I had researched the heck out of that very swap when I had my old '00 Bravada, but never got around to even starting to collect parts before I traded it in. Now I have a V8 in all of my vehicles!

 

Also if it was the lower intake gasket would that make it run "pukey" and no response from take off? It was like I had to give it 1/4 throttle before it would really take off "normal". I just figured it was a head gasket and wasnt getting compression.

 

It's easy enough to test the compression. The LIM gaskets are a known sour spot on these engines. Just make sure you get the updated Felpro gaskets with the metal frame when you get it taken apart.

 

OK cool thanks man!