Apparently my blazer is filled with it, or at least used to be. Its vanishing.... Anyways, I have had problems keeping coolant in my truck for a while now. It is not in my oil, no hoses are leaking, no puddles. I noticed today that there seems to be some form of liquid seeping out of the motor where the intake manifold attaches to the engine block. All of my fluids are in check except for coolant. This liquid looks and smells like coolant, so i'm assuming it is. Is this what happens when the infamous leaky intake gasket problem arises on these trucks? If so, will it hurt the truck if I do not fix it right away? I'm keeping the coolant topped off and the truck is driven less than 80 miles a week. I probably have all of the necessary tools to do the job, just need some instruction from someone who has done it.

 

Your description of the fluid leaking from the front of the intake manifold sounds like the telltale of a LIM gasket failure. You could be sucking coolant into the intake port(s) and blowing it out the tail pipe.

 

well, that would certainly account for the pleasant aroma of warm coolant I get after the truck is driven... Is it something I can replace with a Haynes manual and some general mechanical skills?

 

Whether to fix it or not depends on if you intend to drive the truck for another 6 years or another 6 months... =). I thought my leak was only external until I did the repair. I had some coolant in the lifter valley and subsequently found my oil to be milky (surprise! =).

Get the felpro gasket set everybody recommends (metal/rubber gaskets). I found my haynes manual to be pretty worthless for this repair. Haynes and GM say coat the new gasket with a layer of RTV, but felpro says leave it dry. I followed felpro's instructions and haven't had any problems yet.

http://www.gmfullsize.com/forum/showthread.php?t=76029

http://d-tips.com/General/Articles/a...akearticle.art

Allow yourself a few days in a garage/barn/whatever. It's not too complicated if you do your homework before ripping apart the engine. I had a hell of a time finding all of the bolts to slide the power steering assembly forward far enough (probably because my garage was very dark).

 

Search here works as well!

I have never read anything from GM that states to use RTV on the overmolded intake manifold gaskets except where the gaskets meet the block.