Hey all,

Been having coolant disappear in my 02 Blazer LS 4wd along with a few performance issues.

Decided to get some UV dye in the coolant and then fairly quickly found the issue. Looks like the intake manifold has cracked at a bolt hole [image attached]. Only had this vehicle for 3 months so have no idea of the history.

Goes without saying I'm gonna have to get a replacement manifold, but is there anything I should look out for before doing any work? I need to use the car as a daily driver right now, so I can't strip it down to inspect the damage just yet.

So really, just wondering if this a common issue, or should I expect damage to the head as well as the manifold?

If not I'll obviously get a replacement (probably from a scrapyard) and a set of gaskets too.

Any advice/experience much appreciated.

 

Looks like I'm barking up the wrong tree. Looking at brand new intake manifolds on the web, it looks like that bolt hole is supposed to be a u-shape and it doesn't enclose the bolt thread entirely.

Maybe all I need is a fresh set of gaskets and a good clean after all.

 

That is what it looks/sounds like, the lower intake gaskets. The 4.3 is notorious for them...