Hey there,
I am new to this forum, and enjoying reading through all the posts. Now its my turn to post and ask for some help.
I have recently bought a 1994 2 door full size Blazer (5.7 350 v8) 133,000miles. Everything has been running fine and I have done a tune up. I recently moved from the west coast to Michigan, right before the major cold came in. It has been negative temps for the last month or more.

Not sure if this is important, but maybe it is.

It has had a small oil leak, adding about a quart every 1200 miles, as well as a small coolant leak, but very minimal. I know the head gasket had a very small leak to it but nothing big.

The other day I was driving and all the sudden started to overheat. I lost some power above 35mph. Pulled over and noticed my coolant was very low. Filled her up and went back home. the next day, ran it full of coolant. noticed it wasn't blowing heat, and had a semi-rough idle at first. Didn't notice smoke coming out of the tailpipe, or bubbles in the res, so was hoping it wasn't the head gasket. I let it sit and was going to visit a shop next week.

Ran it a couple more times and noticed that it wasn't leaking the coolant during my drives, or at least not very much. It actually seemed just fine when I drove it. Even blew hot inside on one of the runs. (??).But it lost a massive amount once I parked and turned it off. LOTS! It seemed to be coming out of the front of the engine.

I haven't been able to check everything, but all the tubes look good and are connected well, and the oil looks fine. Any idea what this may be? Really hoping it isn't the head gasket ($$$).

Let me know if you have any ideas or questions. THANKS!

 

Welcome to SE Michigan!
A cooling system pressure test would locate the problem. If it's at the front of the engine, it could very well be the water pump. Not costly, and not difficult to replace. Most of the chain type auto parts stores rent pressure testers for free.

 

YEP! Looks like its the water pump! Thats great! I kind of feel dumb not really looking at that before. This was the first time I really looked hard and took things apart. Finally not freezing outside! I know you know what Im talking about Captain.
Im happy its something I can take care of myself and for muuuuch cheaper than the repairs I originally thought it was. Ive replaced my water pump on my old bronco and a couple friend's explorers.
It took a while to get the rig warm enough to see it leak after turning the car off.
Hopefully I can get to it later this week.
Thanks Captain Hook! And thanks for the welcome to Michigan !

 

Not a bad job on that one, you can get right at stuff! Weather will be turning soon, one of the best times of the year around here is right around the corner. Have you done any exploring in the State?

 

I haven't done much yet. I work at the U, and live really close. So just the routine drives around Ann Arbor. Everyone talks about all that goes on here when it warms up and whatnot.
I guess on my drive here from seattle, I stopped along the way in Kalamazoo, but I don't think that counts. I really plan on checking things out soon. Any big recommendations?

 

"Scenery" around A2 in the Spring is awesome Check out the second story sun decks It's like a ghost town in the Summer though. If you like pristine wilderness, check out the UP, (Upper Peninsula). Drummond Island, and the entire UP, is a GREAT place to go 4 wheelin'. Several hundred miles of State owned trails. Takes a while to get there from here though. Local, you need to check out Knight's restaurant on the NW side. Let me know how the H2O pump goes. If you need a line on where to get parts, let me know. High rent town and they try to hose everybody.

 

If you do and know you do have a head gasket leak you must get that repaired. It will go all together and really cause problems. most likely waste the engine. Happend to my 87 3/4 ton 4x4 years back and completely destroyed the bearings on the crank in a matter of minutes.

 

Yeah if I find out my head gasket is bad, i won't be driving it at all until I have the funds to fix it. Like I said, I knew there was a very small leak at the head gasket, so I'm sure Ill have to repair it eventually no matter what.
I've been very busy with work lately, so i haven't been able to start repairing the water pump. Im going to grab my buddy's coolant pressure tester kit to locate any other leaks before/after the repair as well. Might at well knock out as much out as I can while its torn down.
I went ahead and got everything I needed for the water pump, plus decided I'm going to go ahead and replace the thermostat, and all the hoses as well. This blazer was previously owned by a soldier, and she had it sitting for lonnnnng periods of time during deployments. So many things are dried out and cracked or brittle. Lots on my list to do, but got to fix the necessary things to get it back on the road first.

 

O yeah! I've been told many many times about how great the, uhh, scenery is here! ha! Now that its warming up I'm starting to see it a lot more on campus and around town . Ill definitely be checking out the UP too. Ive been getting a ton of recommendations at work. Also, Ive just been getting my parts from the local autozone/napa/advanced. One of the biggest things I hate about moving somewhere, is trying to find a good honest mechanic/help/. Too many places trying to screw you. And yeah it seems like most things in Ann Arbor are more spendy. Pain in the ***.

 

Well got everything pulled apart and decided to give everything a good cleaning. Got out the toothbrush and wire brush and got to it. Including the entire throttle body.

Did a pressure test abd found some leaks in my hoses, so good thing I got new ones. even tho the lower rad hose was a pain because of some extra length in the bend in the new one.

anyway, got everything on and installed without any major hold ups. Everything looked great. Filled it up with coolant and was going to burp out the air in the system and when I started the engine I instantly had a leak at the new thermostat. It wasn't a crack in the housing or anything, but right at the seal.

So I spent a ton of time trying everything. I made sure that all surfaces were completely cleaned with no gasket residue left over. I flipped the gasket, twisted the thermostat. The only thing I'm thinking is that the new gasket has a little bit of a ridge on it. When I asked the shop about that, he said that's how they are now. I don't know about that. So tonight I will try to use the old gasket with some permatex and see what happens. So frustrating. Let me know if you have any ideas on solutions.