Thanks Les, I tightened the clamp up a little more that day and it seems to be holding all the coolant in now!! I also switched back to my old IAC valve 2 days ago and here is what I have come up with, both IAC valves show about the same counts warmed up in idle, the old OEM IAC valve responds to everything night and day better. What I'm talking about is with the IAC valve I had in when I would come to a stop, rev it in park then let off, switch gears, or turn the AC on anything like that I would normally get a big dip in RPM right away but the OEM IAC valve responds to all these things way better there's no dip in RPM at any time anymore and the idle is a lot stronger and steady. I found on the new IAC valve I put in a year ago (only driving about 6 months, 6 months engine rebuild), the rubber on the tip is already worn down to the metal! I must say though, even with all this it still vibrates more than it should at idle, I'm thinking I might try adjusting the throttle stop back to where it was and see if that changes anything. All in all, this is a win here, I'm no longer worried about stalling out at every red light or having to turn the heat off to idle, also in these 2 days it has been starting better too, it hasn't given me one long crank yet! I feel it may be too soon to say that it has helped with the starting, I will look into that more over the next few days.

 

Good deal! Keep us posted!!

 

Hey guys, I'm back with some more stuff now. So I want to say that putting the old IAC back in indeed helped with the long crank too, it has not given me a single long crank since putting the old IAC back in. Now, Les and George, and anyone else, I could really use your input on this. So a while ago I was looking at my crank pulley and I think I even posted on this thread about it that I thought it was wobbling a bit too much, we concluded that the pulley was all good. Now in the past few weeks here I have developed what seems to be an oil leak from the front crank seal, and looking at the crank pulley now I'm pretty certain the amount it's moving cannot be normal. I made a video here of some different angles of the crank pulley, keep in mind the videos are slowed down to half speed except the last, so the pulley is actually vibrating twice as fast as you see while idling. What's weird is it looks like only the pulley is wobbling and the balancer looks like it's running true, I have tried to wobble the pulley around with my hands and it won't budge any, what do you guys think I should check out here? Maybe try just remounting the pulley? I'm curious to see what you guys have to say after seeing the video.

 

Yes, try remounting the pulley. Then new pulley. Finally if all else fails you can put a harmonic balancer on it. Good luck! (Mine doesn't run perfectly true!). Doubt if it was the wobble that caused any leak. But any imperfection on the sealing surface of the balancer can cause problems.

 

Well guys, I had some family stuff come up then the holidays came but I have had a chance to look at the Blazer again now. First, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year everyone! Thanks Les for the advice about the pulley, I think after all of this, I am going to say it's running as good as it can be. I learned about engine balancing in a class I took this last term and learned that the V6 is pretty much the most unbalanced engine made! Ever since putting the old IAC motor back in the idle has been much more steady and now I think any more vibrations I feel are probably from the poly engine mounts being stiffer than OEM. For now, it's not misfiring and starts up first try every time (even in the cold cold -28C) and idles just fine. However, to revisit the point I made earlier about a possible oil leak from the front crankshaft seal, I looked at that more today and it looks like it's not leaking from the front seal, but the oil pan! Pictures below. Now I would think it's only leaking from the oil pan, but it looks like possibly the front cover too. I think I will first try torquing the bolts again and see where that gets me, worst comes to worst I will hold out until the end of April ish when school is over and pull the engine again to reseal everything. I'm not sure how it's leaking already when both the mating surfaces were perfectly clean and I followed the book exactly, crazy! If you guys have any ideas about why I developed a leak here so soon I would love to know!

 

Hi Zack, Good to hear from you! Happy Holidays!

Yeah, these Blazers start really well in the cold when fuel injection and ignition is working right! Barely have to turn them over. I believe this is primarily due to the sequential MPFI spraying directly into the intake ports.

Yep these 90 degree v6 engines have a pretty goofy balance on them - kind of a compromise. Not at all like a V8. As I understand it, the 60 degree V6 like the 2.8 and 3.1 does not have these same balance problems. It might be interesting for an engineering student like yourself to look at that. I agree it is most likely not misfiring and you are just feeling vibrations through the new poly motor mounts. (I think I once said that! :-))

Myself, it does not seem like you have much of an oil leak, but I understand your desire to not have any seepage. I wonder if it might be due to the way you drive! Not to say you need to drive differently, but if you're into the throttle a lot - then the lower the manifold vacuum and the less blow-by the PCV valve would ingest. Plus the engine would make more blow-by at heavier throttle. Could be you are running positive pressure in your crankcase part of the time, and that could certainly cause seepage (if not one place, then at another). You may need to drive like an old lady to really fix it, but snugging the bolts might help a bit!

Bet your parents and friends are super-amazed at your abilities! This Blazer has really given you a practical education!

Curious how many miles since the valve job? Any oil useage?

 

Thanks Les! In the class I just took about engine balancing, we looked at the difference in balancing between inline and vee engines and the difference between 60-degree and 90-degree engines. I wish we spent more time learning about that stuff, we also spent some time learning about how to calculate the size counterweight needed to balance an engine, it's all very interesting for sure! I think you did say that above too LOL that the vibrations could just be from the poly engine mounts, it was just hard to believe then because with the old IAC in I couldn't even idle with the AC on or the idle would jump all around, I guess that was more the main problem and I should have seen that clearer. I was thinking once I totally "fixed" it, that it should idle as smooth as my inline 6 BMW or something. Well anyways, we got there in the end, and now it's running and idling good with no codes (but that pesky P0420 I still haven't addressed).

Thanks for the tips about the oil pan, you are correct about my desire to keep my engine leak-free LOL. You make a good point about crankcase pressure though, I feel like I did almost the best job I could have done when putting the oil pan on with what I have, so I'm not even sure what I would do differently if I did reseal it to try and make it not leak. I will try retorquing all of the bolts first and see where that gets me. In the last few days, I have fixed up some other easy stuff that should make driving the blazer much more enjoyable. First, with the new IAC in, I decided to put the idle screw in a half-turn as sometimes the gas pedal would stick when the throttle blade was fully closed. I also got around to tinkering with my steering box a bit, the blazer was just becoming so hard to drive especially on tight roads because there was an absurd amount of free play in the steering wheel (with new tie rods, idler arm), I tightened the adjustment bolt a quarter turn, and will see where that gets me. I've seen another way to adjust the bolt where you tighten the bolt all the way until you feel resistance, then back off a quarter turn. I was wondering if anyone has any experience with that method?

I've put 6500km (4000 miles) on the rebuilt engine so far! I did the first oil change at the end of November and there was no noticeable oil usage. The blazer has really been a great practical education for me, so many times I have been able to relate in my classes to things I have actually done or seen happen in real life, I love when that happens! My family and friends are definitely very amazed in my car abilities, I have turned into the "friend you call when your car breaks down" LOL. But let's not forget I have no one other to thank than you Les. I'm still very thankful every day I drive the blazer that you have taken the time out of your life to help me and teach me all of this knowledge that will last a lifetime.

 

Well thanks! I could see you were receptive to learning and didn't expect the easy answer. That's rare!

Now that you are becoming a goto person for friends with car problems........ I have some advice for that too!

Best to never charge friends or people that you know money for fixing cars. Only work on someone else's car if you want to do it out of the goodness of your heart. If you do it for any money at all, they will expect you to warranty the job like a regular shop would - so quote them the same kind of money a shop would (maybe minus a 20% friend discount). Be sure to buy parts yourself and and mark them up to retail like a shop would as well.

If your help has been free, you can always walk away and tell them to take it to a shop if you get tired of the job or the person. You would be surprised how many people just want cheap (and you will soon become a target for cheap)! Of course girls are exceptions, but they need to help and watch!

 

Thanks Les, that's some good advice there. It sounds like you have had lots of experience fixing friends' cars LOL. I think much the same way as you that I would never ask for or accept payment for working on friends' cars, but a case of beer is ok!

So I've decided to take on another small project on the Blazer and I was looking for some advice from you Les or anyone else who may have experience with this. The rear passenger speaker blew out and I've decided to pick up a pair of 6x9 Alpine S series to go in its place (I'm no speaker expert, I really just want something to go in their place that might end up sounding a little better in the end), of course, this job entails taking off the big interior trim piece that spans the whole rear of the Blazer. After doing some research, I have decided I want to take it a step further and while I have those trim pieces off I want to try and take care of the rattling the best I can, a few ideas have crossed my mind and are as follows, using felt tape where the trim touches other trim, using velco to secure the trim in different places, I also saw butyl tape mentioned online somewhere. Anyways, I was wondering if you had any input on what would work best to limit the trim rattling while I go over bumps?

 

I suppose having a friend drive over rough road with you in back to see what is rattling. Then maybe place just enough furniture leg felts under trim in crucial places to stop it. Amazon has large sets of furniture leg felts with sticky on the back of each for quite cheap.