Missing tubes?
 

Hey, please have a look at the pictures. I see couple of places in the car that look like some components or tubes are missing. Would you help me identify these?
1 some disconnected cable?
2 hole in plastic casing, what is that whole plastic thing? And what should be in that hole?
3 hole in metal pipe, seems it belongs to the engine
4 I think that metal tube end belongs to carburetor, is that right? What should be connected there?
5 another missing tube?

I just got the car, I want to learn about it and I want to fix mandatory items as soon as possible.

1 - Could be some wiring for the AC system that seems to be missing.
2 - That hole is where the AC line should go, but it looks like someone took out the air conditioning stuff.
3 - This should have a flexible metal pipe connecting it to a corresponding location on the underside of the air intake pipe which originally was there to allow the engine to pull heated air from around the exhaust manifold during cold start conditions.
4 - That's a vacuum port that should be plugged off until you find whatever was originally connected to it.
5 - This is a coolant temperature sensor. There is another, single wire type sending unit where the upper radiator hose attaches. Whether the other, two wire sensor is used in your vehicle depends on what it is you're driving. It does look like you have a lot of electrical connectors just dangling behind the water pump and some of those could be for the AC system high pressure switch and the compressor clutch. I can't really tell what else might be in that harness.

@swartlkk
Thanks a lot for detailed description. Attaching one more picture, I believe this one is 'Vapor Canister'. Should it be connected to 4?
Previous owner told me he replaced original carburetor with aftermarket one that lacks electronic control. Not sure if that matters.

It is very possible that the vapor canister port connected to that port on the carb. It also could have run to the vacuum valve on the thermostat housing (where the upper radiator hose connects). This valve was originally used to control the EGR valve. If you don't have an emissions label with the vacuum diagram on it on the core support above the radiator, you can probably find a vacuum diagram on the net somewhere.

Quite frankly, unless you need that stuff connected for inspections, I'd plug off the port in the carb & forget about the rest of it. More trouble than it's worth.

You are also missing the fresh air return hose from the passenger side valve cover up to the air cleaner housing just behind the alternator. It looks like someone has just put a small valve cover filter on instead which works, but tends to lead to oil dripping down onto the valve cover and, eventually, the exhaust. Not enough to cause anything bad, but is visually annoying.

I found that diagram, apparently it's for 1985 Chevrolet Blazer K5 350 engine. I should browse this forum more to see pictures of other cars and understand how it's all wired.

If you're in California, there's no way that thing will pass a smog inspection the way it is now. Everything will need to be hooked up, including a feedback (computer-controlled) carburetor. It may end up being pretty expensive.

Ouch. Just saw where he was. That sucks!

Take off the air cleaner and send us a picture of the carb. Have you been able to find the emissions label that should be on the core support? If its there, upload a picture of that as well.

I did see a 2 part youtube video detailing someone's 84 K5. I didn't watch all of it, but it should help you out as this guy traced every vacuum line on his truck to make sure it was all hooked up properly. It also shows what the emissions label looks like so you know what you're looking for.

Attaching 4 different shots of original carburetor. Previous owner said he SMOGged first on that carb, but it was 'running rough' so after SMOG he replaced that + couple other parts. That's what I was told. Current SMOG is valid for 2 years, so I have time to fix everything. That's my plan anyway.

He told me current carburetor is mechanical only which causes Check Engine Light. I will take air filter off and take some more pictures.

From the looks of it, the original carb was leaking at the well plugs (peened plugs located at the bottom of the fuel well - just in front of the primaries). This very well could be the reason for the engine running rough if they were leaking badly. Depending on your skill level, I could walk you through getting them sealed back up, but it requires some mechanical modification of the carb. There are quite a few good youtube videos on this subject as well. I have done quite a few over the years.

Looks like your truck is new enough to have an electronic EGR solenoid instead of the EGR TVS controls which simplifies the vacuum hose situation somewhat.

Having the check engine light on will cause you to fail smog the next time around. Hopefully it is just the missing carb items that is causing the CEL. Time will tell though. Just have to get into it and start getting everything reconnected properly. Hopefully that wiring harness is not damaged.

I unscrewed the butterfly bolt on top of air filter enclosure and it allowed me to take top, air filter and whole bottom plastic casing off. Should it come apart so easily? Attached are pictures of carburetor that's currently on my Blazer. Previous owner didn't lie about that one, he indeed changed it. Also, that red part deep there also looks new, what is that? Ignition coil? Some part of ignition system?

The red cap in the back is an the distributor; the ignition system component that sends spark to the spark plugs. I'm not sure that this is correct for your application either, but do not know for sure.

Makes me wonder what else has been changed... Does the truck still have catalytic converters installed? Is the exhaust valve still on the passenger side down pipe (just off the end of the exhaust manifold)?

Attaching couple of pictures of the exhaust. Not sure what's standard and what not, I want to figure all that out.

Looks like the cat has been removed, just like the rest of the smog equipment. To be honest, if I were you, I would go demand my money back from the seller. Whoever smogged that thing should lose their license.

Is it difficult/expensive to make it right? I really like the car.

Here's short video right after I started the car. There is some smoke coming from exhaust, is that normal? Is it related to cat/vacuum stuff?

I think it's valve cover gasket leaking and oil drips on exhaust pipe then burns causing smoke. I cleaned the engine to see over next days where it gets wet.
@swartlkk how do I go about rebuilding original carburetor? Should I get rebuild kit from rockauto?

The well plugs are not something that a rebuild kit will fix. If the well plugs are leaking, you have to ask yourself if you are up to the task of resealing them. If the answer is no, then just buy a refurbished E4ME carb and install it. I believe that your truck originally came with the E4ME model number Rochester Quadrajet, but to be sure, there should be some numbers on the original carb. If you could post a picture of these numbers we can nail down the model number for you. THIS SITE shows where the numbers are.

However you decide to go about it, you have A LOT of work to do in order to get that thing to pass CA inspection.

@swartlkk, the original carb is 17083526 0545FKW. However, we can only speculate that this is the RIGHT carb for this car/engine. Engine has a big sticker with 350 on it. I don't know how else I can check the fit.

That number comes up as the E4ME carb so that should be what originally came on the UJH emissions equipped trucks.

The distributor has been changed as well seeing as you now have a vacuum advance HEI distributor in there now.

The more I look at these pictures, the more I see wrong with this truck and the more of a hassle it is going to be for whoever ends up bringing it back into compliance with CA emissions.

As far as your video, it looks like the cross-over pipe has a crack that is leaking exhaust. The faint ticking is a dead giveaway. It likely is rusted out where the two pipes are slid over each other and what you are noticing is moisture boiling out of that joint at the crack. Man that thing idles high!

That's exciting! My 5 year old son is stoked about Blazer. I called that shop:
Carburetors
they are nearby from where I live. Guy said they could rebuild my existing carb for $280. I think I will drive my Blazer there on Friday and ask about rebuilding that carb and also other items on the car. I want to do light jobs myself with my son and have shop do difficult/heavy items. Let's see how that goes.

Is $280 for carburetor rebuild job a fair price?

Regarding the exhaust leak, can I have a friend just weld it as a quick fix for now? Seems like once carburetor problem is solved I will have to focus on the whole exhaust anyway.

I'd just let the exhaust leak go for now. If it is rusted inside, you would likely blow through if trying to weld it up.

As far as the carb rebuild goes, as long as everything gets fixed properly, that isn't a bad price. You can get a remanufactured carb for just over $300 that will look new at various different places online from what I was able to see in a quick search.

I took my carb today to the shop and they said $600 to rebuild it. Apparently the quote I got over the phone ($280) was for old-school no computer / no SMOG ones. In that case I think it makes more sense to buy new one from rockauto.com, what do you think? Also, I run some estimate and other than the carb I think I will need:
- EGR valve ~$80
- SMOG pump ~$160
- Distributor ~$200
- all of the vacuum tubing ~$30

Does that sound about right?

Also, I noticed I have a frame cracked on steering wheel gearbox, when I move the steering wheel, whole gearbox moves slightly. I keep uncovering more and more stuff. Will have to deal with all that.

I'm not sure how good this site is, but I-5 Automotive has a reman E4ME for $325 plus the ride I'm sure.

Concerning the frame cracked behind the steering gear box, this is a fairly common issue. There are a number of kits available for addressing this ranging from a reinforcement bracket that bolts in to a weld in reinforcement. The weld in reinforcement is pretty much necessary now that your's is cracked. The bolt in one can strengthen things enough to limit the possibility of the frame cracking. OffRoadDesign has both options covered. I'll likely do both to my K5 when I get it down to the bare frame. I do not have any cracks, but I also do not want to ever have cracks.

Your parts list looks fairly good. Hopefully all of the wiring is intact and still functional. If not, that is going to be another twist that'll cause you to pull your hair out. A FSM set will give you A TON of information into how everything goes together including wiring diagrams which you may end up needing.

You may want to look at getting a FSM (factory service manual) set. They pop up on eBay from time to time.

@swartlkk, thanks a lot for your help. I'm going for shoulder surgery tomorrow (torn labrum / SLAP), so will be out of the game for couple weeks. I will try to educate more in the meantime and potentially source some parts and manual.

I'm getting back on my feet after the surgery! I recorded a video of steering gearbox

worth noting is that:
- whole box moves
- it hisses on both extremes - turning all the way left or right causes weird noise

Is that at least stock 4WD Blazer 85 steering gearbox? If so I will order these kits to fix it. Also - if I put extra plate between frame and steering gearbox, will it not change whole geometry of the steering system?
[attached pictures got rotated 180 degrees, no idea why]