Hello all,

Sorry if this might seem dumb, but I have a coolant leak which is literally a spray on the passenger side just above what I believe is the exhaust manifold. I am presuming that the head gasket has blown but was not successful in figuring out if that is true. I took pictures and am uploading this here. I am going to need some advice as to what I need to do to fix this, so possibly there is a tech article I can be referred to. Thanks.

 

It is a 2001 4.3 Blazer. 92k miles.

 

eeek. Yea,either a hairline crack in head,or headgasket. Sure its not a freezeplug?

 

Pretty sure, the leak is running horizontally, and literally on the lip there that looks like the seam. I suppose eeek means I am in a world of hurt?

 

Well, to revive an old thread, I spent a year gathering up some stuff needed to actually do something with this Blazer. I really like it and want to keep it. My problems seem to start with the discovery that Dexcool and anti-freeze don't mix. With that, I ran into problems after problems - heater core, a mess of an intake manifold gasket, and finally, at least this head gasket leak I reported. I'm fairly certain it is the head gasket but won't know for sure until I pull the head - which is where I am now. So, I thought I should share some knowledge for others who run into similar problems, and anyone who cares to comment...

After removing the intake manifold (there are several great threads here on this), I discovered I really had to remove the wheel covers (inside fenders) to access the bolts for the exhaust manifold. I am in Ohio and we like salt on our roads - so there's lots of rust you get to dig through. The wheel well bolts run to clips that deteriorate. There's a load of them. When I started finding how much of a pain it was to pull them all, and a few other considerations, I bought a compressor, impact wrench and air ratchet. (Wifey did some shopping for me on Craig's List and I came out way ahead on the deal - maybe $200 for the whole kit and kaboodle.) You probably don't need it but really, if you're going to do a project this big on your own, it helps tremendously.

There are a few items connected to the wheel well that come out pretty easily enough as well. (Looked intimidating but no real big deal.)

The exhaust manifolds unbolt easily enough as well, almost. That damn "Y-pipe" connection is giving me a lot of fits. First, the nut size threw me as I could get a 13MM and 14MM on it, but didn't get enough bite. So, grabbed some deep socket 1/2 air sockets and finally realized they were 15MM (by the end of the day). But damn, the arrangement of pipe kicks my socket with extension off when I try either impact or breaker bar when I torque down. Frustrating and took all day studying to find a way to do this without rounding off the nuts. Still doing it but have a lot of new ideas to try now. Next best bet is the wobble extension by Craftsman. I had 1/2 a mind to cut the y-pipe off close to the manifold, and may still do that if all else fails.

Will keep posting the progress.

 

Can u get in there with a grinder?????? Then u can just replace the studs after u get the manifold out.....I made sure to replace the studs in my manifolds while it was apart, made putting it back together a breeze once I put the new motor in....well worth the extra $10 spent....

 

Btw, once I got the manifolds off, I used a pipe wrench to turn out the studs....a couple of them. I had bent trying to get them off...

 

Oh, you mean just grind off the nuts. Damn, I didn't even think of that. Brilliant!!!

 

Back out on the car today. Added a die grinder to my arsenal and learned all about that today. Did some real damage to one of the problem nuts but such a tight space. Still, almost through. Did some more digging and found some cut off wheels to fit my die cutter and... ran out of time.

Cutting off the nuts promises to be the most effective solution to the problem of nicely rusted exhaust manifold nuts at the flange to the y-pipe. Thank you Ohio salty roads (not that I should want it any other way. Last winter was a killer in Cleveland.)

 

Ok - so the head in question is finally off. (BTW - Irwin Bolt extractors are absolutely brilliant for removing the exhaust manifold nuts. Perfect actually.)

Here are some pics of the girl herself...