Hello Everyone,
I have a 2002 4.3L w/ 84000 miles. About 1 month ago the Blazer started leaking coolant. On 3/25 had the intake manifold gasket, thermostat & seal,
distributor cap & rotor replaced. Everything seemed fine until a week later when the service engine light came on. Mechanic replaced the ignition coil and fuel filter. Then everything seemed fine again. Then a few days later drove the car for about 1 hour with
the a/c on and then the temp guage starts going up. Got the car home by turning off the a/c; the temp hung around 210. Drove the car without
the a/c on for a couple of days until I could get it back to the mechanic and the temp never went about normal temp. When I took it to the mechanic, he had to have the car idle with a/c
on for about an hour then he drove it on the hwy at 60 for a few miles, then it the temp started to go up. He seemed to
think it was the radiator, but at that point
we couldn't get a new one for a few days so we made a future appt. Then last night
my wife was driving home and the service engine soon light started to blink (she was going around 60) but the temp never went up. Today it wasn't blinking but stayed on. The code was P0302. From what I understand that means cylinder 2 is misfiring. So is this something the mechanic didn't get back together correctly? Or is the blazer just blowing up all at once. I distrust such coincidences. Thanks in advance for any replies.

 

From what you have written I would suspect air trapped in the coolant system. The solution has been discussed several times. Try the 'search' function for 'purge air', etc. and replace the radiator cap if not already done. Double check the #2 plug wire connections for the misfire. Too bad we don't know what the earlier SES codes were.