ok, my blazer is having problem after problem. not sure which ones are related but i will list them all in no special order. i like to do my own work on my car or i would just take it to a shop and have them figure it out.

1. coolant temperature wont stay constant. goes in the red then back down to normal. i also have had to add a lot of coolant/water mix to keep it "full" but i havent seen any puddles. i have been told possibly a faulty temperature sensor.

2. i dont have the codes handy, but three of my heated oxygen sensors are giving me a check engine light. all three went on the same day so im thinking a fuse but i am not sure which one(s) to check. i rather avoid buying three new ones if possible.

3. engine turns over but will not start. i was told to try "priming" the fuel pump by turning the ignition on (but not all the way) and off several times. works like a charm. im guessing faulty fuel pump although i just replaced it a year and a half ago :\ or dirty fuel filter. i do experiance poor, POOR acceleration when the car is cold.

4. when starting the engine (see #3) from a cold start, i get a clicking noise from the driver side of the engine. i lifted the hood one day to hear it and it is definitely from the engine... near the steering wheel shaft. this clicking increases with frequency as i press on the gas.

 

1) could be a bad gasket, could be a bad thermostat... <-- any codes? any weird colors/ranibows in the overflow res?

2) avoiding buying O2's is not a good way to roll... go to autozone, and get your codes read free. write em down, and bring them back. If you are melting down o2's you will develope more/worse problems in time (and not much at that)

3) that can be symptomatic of your o2's being screwed up. or any number of other parts that are working to hard with the air/fuel mixture thrown off. EGR can get gummer up if you are running too rich, cat can be plugged up.... lots of ugly stuff can happen. if you have a bad fuel pump, letting it build pressure (turn key one click and listen to buzz) then shutting it down, off and on, off and on, etc isn't doing it any favors *BONUS* take a look at the o-ring on your fuel cap: is it chewed up? that is fairly common and can cause a loss of fuel pressure/keeps you pump running to make up for the leak

4) can't help you there...

SERIOUSLY: pull the codes. they will help diagnose this much more efficiently (save you $ instead of throwing parts at it) Some things of note: you are a 99, so i'm guessing 4.3L and auto tranny. are you 2wd or 4? and how many miles?

This is mostly shooting in the dark though with out codes...

 

i'm at work or i would post the codes. i think i lost the paper i wrote them on so i will get them rescanned and post.

as for the other things.

1. my coolant is a poop brown. i flushed it myself over the summer (first flushing to my knowledge) to discover a nice rusty color along with chunks of rust after refilling it i put some leak sealant in which i think is the cause of the funky poo water. the water looks flakey as well but i think thats just the sealant.

2. will edit later.

3. gas cap is fine i believe. its pretty new since the stock lock and key drove me nuts.

 

if it looks like you are running for coolant... you have a problem...

when you flushed it what color was the coolant? green or orange? what did you put back in? standard antifreeze (green) or Dexcool (orange)? how savvy are you with flushing?
chunky = bad
brown = bad

if you have chunky coolant there is a good chance that things can get plugged or stuck open/cosed. if you cahnge the T-stat i reccomend a full flush again. flush the hell out of it. until nothing but pretty, clear, i might drink that, water comes out. refill with your choice of fluid (green or orange) and never EVER mix them... it's like dividing by ) for your cooling system...

odd question: when you run the defroster does it leave a build up on your windshield over time? like a film?

though about it more and you said you are hearing a clicking by the steering shaft.... you know what lives there and clicks? Spark Plugs! pull the wires and slide you handy plug socket over each one. give it a little pressure, I'll bet you find one that backed out on you

GET THOSE CODES YO!

 

TIP: Don't mix red and green antifreeze. They will eventually gum up in your system. As long as you flushed iit out and just replaced, you should be good. However, depending on how many miles is on it, if this was the first flush, you probably should've done it through twice for good measure. There are coolant temp sensors and there are engine temp sensors. Also the tstat. How about pressure testing your coolant system for a leak?

I disagree with ABN31B. My cat. is completely hollowed out which means my O2 sensors are inactive, and it starts and runs just fine.

I would have the codes read.

 

okay, so i went to autozone today and had the codes read. unfortunately he only told me the problems, not the codes. it was cold and he was in a hurry. i looked up the numbers myself for easy reference.

Heated Oxygen Sensor- Bank 1, Sensor 1 (P0135)
Heated Oxygen Sensor- Bank 1, Sensor 3 (P0147)
Heated Oxygen Sensor- Bank 2, Sensor 1 (P0155)

if i remember correctly since the last time i got them read, they were all malfunction codes as opposed to low/high voltage etc.



on to the coolant: my car had about 150000 miles on it when i flushed it. i did the best i could. unfortunately, i could only get only one of the plugs out from under the engine to flush the cylinders heads or whatever that area is called. they were a PITA to get to so i was lucky to get the one. i kept the water going until the water would get as clear as it would. *edit* the coolant was rust colored when it came out and i had a few small chucks of rust () come out from the cylinder head plug *edit*

i refilled it with prestone in the yellow container. i never mixed two colors. as the for the defroster question, i do have to clean my windshield every month or so... but i thought it was just from condensation and other crap coming through the vents... never coolant. im guessing that is a bad thing.


clicking noise: i did change the spark plugs and spark plug wires this past summer. what a f**king PITA. never again. i thought the clicking could be caused by a loose wire but since the noise goes away when the car is warm, i was unsure.