Im sorry if this is a long post, but i want to give you guys all the info. My gf has a 2001 Blazer 4.3 4X4 with about 250,000 miles. About a month ago she was driving around and according to her it was driving just fine. She parked it on a Saturday and then on Monday she got in it and all it would do is just crank over but not fire. So she let it sit and that night i tried it myself it took me about 5 try's but it finally started it ran for about 30 minutes or so then i turned it off and started it again. This time when i got high into the rpm range around 4k or so it sounded like water rushing by the firewall. So i shut it off and let it sit overnight. The next day i tried again and no matter how many times i tried it wouldnt start. This car always ran cold. I figured that maybe it fouled out the plugs so i changed them and they were really bad so i changed them and still nothing. Now when i crank it over i smell gas so im sure its getting fuel. A couple of family friends checked for spark and they said it was getting spark. So at this point im not really sure whats going on and i would really like to get this running we're relying on my honda with 280,000 miles so i would like to have another car again. So any help or suggestions would be very appreciated. Thank you.

 

Welcome to the forum!

The water rushing sound is due to the radiator being low on coolant. Your vehicle should have Dexcool in the cooling system, (orange). Someone may have changed over to ethylene glycol at some point in time, (green and not recommended). Add coolant, do not mix the two coolants. If it has orange, add Dexcool. If it's green, add ethylene glycol. Engine running cold probably means the thermostat is stuck partially open, replace it.

Will not start: Check for a good, hot, blue, (not orange) spark at each plug while cranking. Distributor cap & rotor is a possibility, do not use aftermarket stuff, use AC Delco.

Check fuel pressure and leakdown. If you smell fuel, there may be a leak or the fuel is not being burned due to an ignition issue, (faulty distributor cap etc). Key ON, engine OFF, fuel pump running: pressure must be 60psi to 66psi and it must remain above 55psi for at least 10 minutes after the pump shuts off. Post your results.

 

captain hook FTW. He knows his stuff. Listen to him.

 

I am betting fuel pump. Ours did the same thing more or less. Would not start but I could smell fuel and it was getting a good spark. One new fuel pump later and it was running again. I would start with the fuel pressure and leakdown test and go from there.