Greetings folks. I am a retired guy living in rural western Canada and I recently adopted a ’97 LT Blazer. It’s kind of an ideal vehicle for around here – a bit of off-road to go fishing and 4WD for winters.

I got such a good deal on it, that I knew I would be in for some repair work and I wasn’t wrong. I’m trying to do as much of it as I can myself, but it’s been years since I did my own wrenching on a truck and I’ve never dealt with computer diagnostics before or airbags, either.

I managed to get the passenger side mirror replacement installed and the replacement hood wasn’t too difficult.

Right now, I have it on a ramp because I’m trying to find the source of an oily leak that’s throwing oil on the inside of the driver’s side front wheel.

I think this: https://blazerforum.com/forum/tech-a...r-lines-47297/

…Is a likely candidate, so when the directions say:

I figure this must be the skid-plate looking aluminium armor with the trap door that accesses the oil filter.

I run into a problem immediately.

Do I have to buy special Chevrolet Tools to work on this truck?

There are 6 bolts holding this on that seem to need a 15mm or maybe19/32.
I don’t know that I’ve ever even seen those sizes before. I do have a 6-sided deep socket that is for spark plugs that fits sloppily, but I fear rounding the boltheads.. Same for my adjustable wrenches because they seem to be really cranked on.

I’ve got them soaking in liquid wrench for now, so I thought I’d solve another problem at the same time.

My airbag light is on and won’t shut off. For some reason, the MT2500 that I borrowed won’t communicate with the airbag system, so I thought I’d visually check the sensors to see if they look okay, but I don’t know what a sensor looks like or where they are located.

All assistance gratefully accepted.

EDIT: the bolts gave way to a hosing with liquid wrench and a 12" adjustable, but still - is 15mm a standard Chev size?

 

All hardware is metric. The skid plate on my '97 has bolts, while my 2001 skid plate has Torx bolts. Quite a variety of specialty tools needed.
My guess is this was the Big 3 auto makers' way of generating return business.
15mm is quite common, as well as 17mm for bolts that hold the gas tank cover on.

Back to the original topic, I bought a '97 back in Oct. 1996. It is now on it's 4th set of oil cooler line hoses from the radiator to the filter block. 1 from the dealer (under warranty in 1997), 2 installed by me (2001 & 2010)Luckily the original hoses from the filter to the engine block are still holding up.

Remove the skid plate to get at the filter block end , and remove the air filter box to get at the radiator C-clips holding the hoses in. The new set of hoses should also include new C clips.Takes less than an hour to do.
Good luck.

 

This might help:

https://blazerforum.com/forum/articl...il-line-29898/

 

My mechanic buddy tells me that the oil cooler was added for people who tow trailers, some Blazers don't have it and that it's not really necessary.

Since I've altered my trailer hitch to carry my bicycle, I am going to try bypassing the oil cooler.

I have plenty more work to do on this vehicle and spending $100 or so on oil lines is not on right now.

 

Well, I didn't have to do any of that - at least not yet.

When I got the oil line detached from the rad, it turned out to have a groove worn through the aluminium tubing, seemingly from the corrugated plastic shielding on the other line.

After cleaning it all thoroughly, I kneaded up some tootsie roll epoxy, flattened it, wrapped it around the line, then wrapped that tightly with electrical tape and reassembled everything.

I just took it for a boot down the highway and the leak has stopped. Tomorrow, I'm going for a 200 km drive - that should tell the tale for certain. I'm pretty sure this will hold until I can afford to buy new lines.

 

Your "mechanic buddy" is mistaken, the oil cooler is standard factory equipment on all S & T series vehicles with a 4.3L engine, and it is necessary. Don't bypass it.

 

I've been driving it over a week now and there's no sign of the leak, so I reckon my patch is holding.

Just out of curiosity, if I had bypassed the oil cooler, what do you think might have happened?

This is the first vehicle I've owned with one and I've never felt the lack of one before.