ok guys i have a little problem here and cant figure it out so i give it to you experts to help me out if you would be so kind

I have a 95 blazer 4 door 4x4 with the vortec engine

it has been getting low on antifreeze yet I cant seem to see it leaking anywhere which the fact that we have 10 inches of snow on the ground is keeping me from seeing it drip, when the antifreeze gets low the check engine light comes on and we have been trying to check it every day to avoid that.

So today when i drove it the check engine light started FLASHING which it has never done before so im kinda worried.

I have checked the oil and the oil is not milky nor is it over full so i dont think the antifreeze is going there and my wife said she did see it dripping but i think she could have overfilled the reserve and that is what she saw dripping

does anyone have any ideas of what this could be? I would have it hooked up to a computer to see why the light is on but the closest auto zone is 35 miles away and i dont want it to blow up before i get there


oh yeah and the oil pressure is about 40 so i dont think that has anything to do with the light and i have been keeping an eye on the temps and they never get above a quarter on the guage. I did get some bad gas a while back which made the light go on till i got the bad gas ran out and the fuel filter changed but that problem is fixed i think.

 

A blinking CEL is a sign of a misfire. The CEL should not be illuminated if you are low on antifreeze unless you are low enough to overheat the motor.

If you are loosing antifreeze fast enough that checking it once a day can't keep you ahead of it, you have a serious problem and should not be driving the truck. If you cannot find any exterior signs of leakage, then it is leaking internally, either through a failed lower intake manifold gasket (where it is leaking into the intake port, being sucked into the cylinder and sent out the exhaust) or through a failed head gasket.

I would start by pulling the plugs and looking for signs of coolant on them. Then run a compression check on each cylinder. If you find one that is significantly lower than the others and this same cylinder also showed signs of coolant on the plug, then you have a head gasket failure on your hands.

 

I had an almost identicle problem. You need to check that SES code. Order a cheap scanner off ebay if you don't want to drive (needs to be OBDII); it'll be cheaper too.

Definitely pull the plugs and do a compression check (it's quite easy). You can get the middle driver's side plug hole by screwing in the plug-hose adapter first, then *patiently* but firmly bend and press the rubber hose into it then screw the connection into it. It will work if you have a kit with a rubber hose of reasonable size. On the other hand, popping off the steering shaft would only take about 5 mins if you know what you're doing. The rest of it is simple. I did all of mine twice just to make sure (that is, do it, release the pressure and check it again).

If that doesn't help then here's another suggestion:

Get a small bottle of coolant dye (aka - radiator dye/block dye); it's red and won't fluoresce before being mixed with coolant

Get a UV light and some eye protection

Pull your oil dipstick and look at the oil under the UV light in a dark place. Remember what it looks like. Put dipstick back.

Put the dye in the radiator and run the engine up temp to circulate/mix the dye then turn engine off.

Pull the oil dipstick. Look at it in the dark with the UV light. If you see fluorescing you've gotten some of that dye, and consequently coolant, in there. Then check over the engine with the UV light (with other lights out) to see if you spot external leakage. This could indicate a lower intake manifold leak.

You may have a bad waterpump that's weeping, but the coolant can collect on the skid plates so you won't see it so easily. Check the front crank pulley; if it's all over there, look from under it toward the water pump.

Both the pepboys and napa near me keep the dye in-stock. Runs a couple of bucks.

 

how much does it cost to have the head gaskets replaced?

*Combining consecutive posts

also my wife said on her short trip home from work tonight the tach was going up and down and the car seemed to be driving weird in her words lol

is it possible that the cat. conv. is also going out and that is why the ses light is coming on?

Please use the edit function if no one has posted since your last entry, thanks. TBB

 

also my wife said on her short trip home from work tonight the tach was going up and down and the car seemed to be driving weird in her words lol

is it possible that the cat. conv. is also going out and that is why the ses light is coming on?

 

Does anyone know how much it would cost to get get the head gasket changed at a shop or is that something that can be done pretty easy?

 

look to be spending over a grand at a shop

 

is it pretty hard to change one yourself? i have actually changed a motor in an explorer but i just did a pull and install, i didnt actually have to tear into the engine

also what is the best repair manual i can buy if i decide to do this myself

 

If you had searched instead of asking the question again, you would have found very similar dollar amounts as c0a8l0v6i8n9 posted.

As far as the difficulty level, it really isn't that bad with these motors. You will need a torque wrench and a wide variety of sockets to get it done. However, if you overheated it, chances are you warped the head as well which may require machine work. The heads should atleast be checked to ensure they are flat before you slap them back on.

I don't know why I bother saying this again because you obviously didn't listen to me earlier... RUN A COMPRESSION CHECK! We can't do this work for you. You either run the tests we suggest or you don't. Without the results of the tests we suggest, further diagnosis is next to impossible. So you have two choices, run the tests suggested above or take it to a mechanic.

 

wow kyle that was harsh

Im merely looking for ideas here and im not a full time mechanic so excuse me for my ignorance, the reason I have not got a compression check done is that it has been raining and snowing and we have 10 inches of snow on the ground and with no garage it is impossible conditions to work in

The heat guage has never been above 1/4 of the guage so i doubt it overheated at all, I actually had a chance to look at it for a second yesterday when the rain let up and i made sure the antifreeze was good in the reservoire tank and when i started it the antifreeze started dripping under the engine and after running it for a minute there was a steady stream of antifreeze running out the bottom but i cant tell where it is coming from just yet because of that plastic guard on the front half of the engine

i did look around the water pump and it is a a bit corroded and the front of the engine was soaked so maybe my water pump is going out, im going to try that first. as for the occasional misfire that may have something to do with the water in the gas incident a month ago but im not sure, im getting alot of rattling from my catalytic converter so maybe its plugged too i will just have to check all of that tomorrow

I will check compression when the rain/snow clears up and until then it is parked