Ok, the run down:

'96 Chevy Blazer, second hand from a friend of a friend of one of my brothers friend's fathers.
- 3.1 v6
- stock

Now I'm not exactly sure if that is my engine size or not. I do know it is a six cylinder engine though.

Don't know if it helps, but VIN number is:


Ok, the issue is, about three or so months ago, my truck started to over heat.. Ok, I just though that It needed fluid/coolant.

(Recent pic, but it looked worse back then.) ^Brown, slip-(pottery term)-like gunk.

Go to put some water in (I know, don't do that, like I said, I'm broke) and I noticed that the reservoir was damn near Clay red and empty. I know that is not normal, so I asked my dad (who was a buss mechanic for a couple years and fixes all of our cars[saves money]) the hell it was. We flushed the system as best as we could and it ran pretty well for about a month.
Then it started up again. Ok, now I was worried. So I bought a flushing kit, and we flushed it again, also to the best of our ability. Now both times, the water that was coming out was still pretty brown but much clearer than when we had started over an hour beforehand. Worked fine after that.

Well in the last few weeks, it started overheating again. I was trying to hold out till at least friday, when I had a full day (and some money) to deal with it. That didn't work out. First time it over heated was the Monday before Christmas. Took two gallons of water to properly fill the Radiator (again, still broke) and the reservoir was full, but mud brown. In fact, It still is.

Looks black because of the shadows, but trust me, It is clay brown.

Again bugging my dad, he said we needed to properly flush the thing, by taking out the thermostat, and pumping water in until it runs clean. The previous times we left the thermostat on, which made properly judging if it was properly getting flushed difficult.

Well, on my way to work yesterday, it started to over heat again. I pulled over on the side of the road, let it cool down, put in a gallon of water into the Radiator, it ran fine the rest of the journey to work (one hour drive one way) on the way back, I needed to add another two liters of water.
This morning, it overheat again, at about the same distance from the house. So i pulled over, waited for it to cool down, added another gallon of water, and started up the truck. Got about two minutes down the road, and the thermostat was reading exactly like it was before, not 260, but slowly climbing. So I turned around and started back home. It was fine at first, but then I heard what I believe could best be described as plug being pushed out. I though that it was the overflow reservoir expelling some extra water from the radiator. Also I was on the way home, so I didn't think much of it, as I could deal with it when I got back.
About 2 minutes from my house, and roughly 5-6 minutes from when I heard the noise, the thermo was in the Red (260). So I eased it back to the house, and popped the hood. Low and behold, steam is everywhere, Not a very thick steam, but steam non the less. It looked like it was coming from the engine (God I hope not), but it could have been from a hose or two. They are old, and probably have never been replaced.

Now I have dealt with blown head gaskets before, in my old Pont. Sunbird. Thus why I have a Blazer now.
Please tell me that the Heads have a possibility of being ok, I can't afford to loose much more work and be able to fix things and be able to keep my bills in order. Gaskets are feasible, but I don't have the time to wait for them to be fixed at home, nor the cash to get them fixed.
This is the only car my family has that can make my work trip daily so letting it sit idle while I go to work is a non option, unfortunately.

I've seen a few threads on this site (Thanks to Google) that deal with the Sludge. But I'd rather have this specific problem answered, than looking at what others went through.

Thank you guys/gals.
~Spike

 

wow....yeah something internal is not right.....

how does oil look?

 

Yeah, the pic is kinda bad. {And the forum won't let me change it's size... no matter what size I scale it down to, it remains this huge image:/}
But my Oil is not runny or closer to Coke-caramel colored like it was in my Pontiac when the heads went on it.

It is Black/Dark Caramel brown. Like most oil that needs to be changed, that I have seen anyway. I know I need to change it, I haven't changed it since about a month or so before the first time the truck over heated. So I know it is due. I plan on changing the oil this week, if not today.
I also intend on adding actual coolant to the system, instead of just water. Antifreeze and water mix. Probably about 70c-30w. not sure yet though.

 

Well the oil seems to be OK, so you have a coolant leak somewhere or a blocked passage or something. I assume the truck has cooled down by now, can you tell where it's leaking from? That'd be my first thought, see where it's leaking.

After that, a good thorough flush may be your best bet to get all of that gunk out. It's possible that it's corrosion or something from the previous owner not keeping up on service,etc.

 

We've looked around for a leek, and haven't found anything. Then again, we also just kind of looked around, didn't take anything off or anything. We will definitely do that today If I can manage it. But no later than tomorrow.

That's good to hear. Replacing a few hoses, possibly the radiator, sounds much cheaper than new heads. Lets pray you are correct TheRandom1.
And yeah, we were going to flush it out this weekend, thus why I was trying to wait till Friday before I needed to do anything... Funny how things always have their own schedule.

 

I don't know if the heads are OK, there could be damage (warping, etc) because of the overheating. Not trying to be a jerk or anything, just don't want you to get your hopes up because of something I think, haha.

If anything, you could try filling it back up with water and letting the truck idle with the hood up. I know it's not terribly warm outside, but as soon as the water starts leaking, you should be able to tell where it's coming from. Or at least have a good idea where to start looking.

 

Good point. I should go do that.

Well, it only overheated once, and that was today(Because I was so close to home). The other times, I didn't let it get to that point. But warping could have happened. ~Le Sigh~

 

coolant pressure test will find leak
white smoke out the tail pipe means head gasket blown

if it has t&ts or tires it will cause you problems

 

I had a similar issue with mine when I bought it. Come to find out the radiator end cap was cracked and the previous owners fix to this was to take out the t-stat to not build enough pressure for it to actually leak. I also had no heat so I knew I had blockage and no pressure. The first thing you need to do is find the leak and get it fixed before you do anything else. For your flush I would make sure you put some decent pressure behind it and flush it really well. It is best to remove the t-stat and reattach the hose so that there is nothing preventing anything from moving freely. One thing I found was to take a pair of needle nose vice grips and squeeze the heater hose alternating on both sides of the flush kit adapter. You will be amazed at what that will push out. Take your time with the flush don't rush it do it until it is absolutley clear. After it is running clear be sure pull the drain plug on the bottom of the radiator and let it drain and reinstall the t-stat and then use this Peak Radiator Super Cleaner and Flush. (Google it)
I left in in my truck and ran it with water from monday till the following monday. I'm not sure how cold it is near you but if it gets anywhere near freezing I would not leave it in that long due to the fact that the water can freeze and cause more damage but it sounds like you should be ok since you are already running water. Once you have ran it for a couple days do another super thorough flush like you did before including removing the t-stat and watch how much more stuff comes out. For the overflow tank I took mine off and got this Dryer Vent Brush to really get inside and get it as clean as possible. Remember take your time with this and get it as clean as you can and rinse and rinse and rinse. Now it is time to put everything back together and fill it up with antifreeze. I would recomend replacing the t-stat at this time with a fail safe one that will fail in the open position so it will not overheat your truck if it does fail. This is a cheap $13 replacement and it could save your engine. GM recomends using Dex cool but I have nothing good to say about it and I went with the good old green stuff. Its cheaper and it doesn't gum up like Dex cool. Evertything needed including the anti freeze and t-stat should cost $50 or less and will be worth every cheap cent of it.
Let us all know how it turns out for you and good luck getting it straightend out. If you have more questions there are a ton of super knowledgable people on this forum who are willing to help. They have saved me a ton of times.
Rex

 

Well that was thorough.

I would like to thank everyone whom has posted on my thread.
Well with all of the suggestions posted, It may take me some time to get through it all. I'm going to hold off on it for now, and go through each suggestion one by one this weekend.

I'll keep in touch.

Again, thank you all.