My 1996 Chevrolet Blazer recently overheated. The coolent was low and this was the issue. I put more coolent in and that seemed to fix it. I checked and there isn't any leaks. At first the motor sputtered when I pulled off the road and immediately shut it off. The truck had some issues starting back up at first but it eventually stayed started and i drove it back home. After setting for a few days the truck sputters going out of first (it is a manual) and is fine after that. The power of the truck has dropped because once I come out of first it hesitates and feels like there is a loss in power. It also idles rough. It does run and has not shut off on me. I plan on replacing the thermostat but that would not explain why it is running rough. I am not sure if i damaged my motor. I don't see how because of something bad would have happened it wouldn't have waited a few days. Any suggestions to why? Thanks.

 

Have u checked the water level since u found it low? The idling problem might be u overheated a sensor. Or something is causes it to use water..Have u checked to see if water is mixing into your oil? or go see if u can run a scan on it..see if its throwing any codes...

 

If the coolant was low and you just added coolant then you need to find out why. It had to either leak out or go thru the engine and burn thru the exhaust. Do you notice any white smoke out the exhaust?

 

I definently know i blew a head gasket. I checked the oil and noticed that is had water in it. The motor oil is filled to the top. I think the reason why the coolent i put in after the fact did not get into the oil is because its already full. I plan on draining the oil and replacing the head gasket. I drove the SUV about 12 miles to school with the bad oil in it and a blown head gasket. I just hope that I did not do more extensive damage to the truck. It still is running and idling rough, the motor hasn't seized up. I just hope it doesn't burn oil because i fried something. Thanks.

 

You are going to want to verify a head gasket failure with either with a combustion gas test on the coolant or with a compression test on all cylinders before just replacing them (unless you want to that is).

Just pay attention to the intake manifold gaskets when you pull the intake off. I'd bet that they are shot.