I recently picked up a 97 blazer and its been running perfectly fine for quite a while I've only driven it around town with no issues. as of recently I've tried taking it up some mountain roads and that's when things go bad. after about 30 min of pushing the engine pretty hard up steep mountain roads the car begins to smoke its white smoke coming from the left rear of the engine. I've checked fluids but its hard to tell what was lost because everything wasn't topped off. it only smokes when I take it up steep hills and have to give it a lot of gas. image below is where the smoke comes from. any tips on where to start would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!!

 

I can't see the picture, but I'm guessing it could be an intake manifold gasket. Is it losing any coolant?

 

A 97 is old enough to smoke. Sorry could not help myself.

George

 

White smoke? Only when going up hill? Could you be leaking coolant from a heater hose that only hits the exhaust manifold when the truck in inclined upward and at higher revs and hotter?

That is my best wild guess.

 

How about excessive blow-by under load?