Wow I'm in a pickle. (Broke down truck) and a story.

Atlas · 2026-07-04T15:28:35Z

Ancillary parts to the lower intake and connections went together without issue.

There was a brief pause when I leak-tested the fuel lines and injection system. Fuel was spraying all over. Lovely. O-rings weren't sealing the fuel lines to the spider, and inbound line was leaking at schrader valve, leaks at both flange nuts. It's moments like those when you just want to set fire to the whole shop, and be done with it. I was mostly enjoying the project up until that point, and was tracking to an agenda of having a running Blazer and a cold beverage in hand by dinnertime.

I found some larger Viton o-rings for my spider and some grease to get them to seat. One leak solved. Swapped fuel line Schrader core for old core. Still leaked. Swapped entire valve for old valve. Leak solved. Nudged the flange nuts a little tighter on the connections. Another leak solved. I could cycle the key / prime the pump and the intake was staying dry.

Reassembled the upper intake, with 10,000 vacuum lines, and filled the cooling system with water* (this is temporary, I'm not done with the cooling system yet).

Showtime!!

Cranked it over and smoke billowed, it was running rough. CEL illuminated and began flashing. P0300 and I somehow tripped a code for the TPS sensor, voltage low.

There's nothing as unrewarding as a vehicle that won't run (and produces the same code/problem) after hours of research and work.

Clearly I was in over my head. Was the timing off, did I stab the distributor incorrectly? Is the new distributor bad? With my limited OBD 1.5 data stream I really don't have a lot of parameters to see. The engine was pulling mad timing again (flooding?).

Think, Atlas, think.

1-6-5-4-3-2. One, six, five.....four, three, ....two. Wait a second. That makes no sense. 1 is the forward cylinder on the driver's side, so 2 should be the forward cylinder on the passenger side, not 6.

I can't believe it, but I'm looking right at it. Swapped 2 and 6 on the distributor and turned the key over, and...

It fired, coughed and stumbled, smoked, and then settled into a smooth idle. The scanner showed no codes, no lights on the dash, and the throttle was nice and responsive to gentle revs while it warmed up.

It's working!!! IT'S WORKING!!!

I paused for a late dinner, no cold beverage yet. I was determined to do my shakedown run. Did a basic safety and fluids check one more time and then went out and put almost 70 miles on it last night. She's a runner, runs good.

Came home and did a post-trip, post-mortem. The underside is dry *except* for where the last owner RTV'd the snow out of the intersection of the timing cover and oil pan. He said he had replaced the timing cover seal, but, my dude had clearly done it incorrectly and then tried to hold back fate with black RTV. Never works.

Yesterday morning I replaced the broken driver's door mirror. As much as I hate cheap Chinese parts, thank goodness for cheap Chinese parts. I think an entire new power mirror assembly cost me like $30, and it works perfectly. Replacement tail lights (faded, and one was busted) ran me about $12/side. I have a door pin kit ready to go in because the driver's door sags just a little and I want to fix that because there's nothing sadder than a saggy door.

I don't know what's next for this rig. Half of me wants to take some nice photos (there's a park nearby with a HUGE American Flag that always seems to be catching wind) and throw it up on CL/Marketplace for a couple grand and see if it flies. The other half of me... I've got a sweet running S10 Blazer that's been keeping my mind off of whatever I'm going through right now, and it's bringing some joy, and is cheaper than therapy. Maybe I'll keep it around for a little while. However, this is my 5th vehicle, just for me. 4 is really my limit, but they are not junk, so need very little attention. I don't know...there's a point where it's just too much and I don't see owning this truck long term. But I solved its major problem, got it running, so I'm going to stick a feather in my cap for now.

Sometimes we just need to get our hands dirty and fix something in the physical world to gain some satisfaction.

Edited yesterday at 03:33 PM by Atlas

Grumpy Bear · 2026-07-04T15:57:53Z

What a wonderful result! Great story telling to. You are quite multifaceted sir. I'd keep it. Four is my limit too and yet we have five as well. One assigned the 'salt car' to do all those tasks you hate to ask of your 'Save for Good" crowd.

Don't forget the antifreeze.

The Iron 4.3 is a favorite of mine.

Atlas · 2026-07-05T03:15:37Z

Fix one problem and find another.

Truck didn't have a thermostat in it so I flushed out the system today and refilled with 50/50 Dexcool. This truck is so old (LOL) that it has a sticker under the hood alerting people to the fact that it contains such. There is also an orange supplement with the owner's manual alerting the owner that "Your vehicle is one of a number of late production 1995 General Motors vehicles that use a newly developed engine coolant in the cooling system..."

I was still a little flummoxed by what seemed like a rich condition (exhaust smell, and a puff of carbon with a punchy rev). While watching the coolant temperature and testing the thermostat with my scanner, I happened to notice the IAT (incoming air temperature) to the intake was -40F. I know the temp is below average today, but I can still feel my face, and I was wearing shorts.

D'oh!! I realized I had never plugged the IAT back in, and the airbox was out while I was doing coolant. So I paused, reinstalled the airbox and plugged in the IAT, and viola. Things cleared right up, and I watched the coolant temp climb to a reported 198 degrees on the scanner (195 thermostat) and then it dropped to 194 (open) and then back up to 198 and held. Let it cool, came back, checked the coolant level and was satisifed.

Victory lap?

It needed more than the couple of gallons of gas I put in it from almost bone dry, so I ran it up to the gas station. It had earned it, or, at least I was pretty certain I wouldn't be draining or removing the tank anytime soon.

CEL popped on just as I was cruising a nice steady 40mph, just after coasting down a slight downhill curve.. Of course, it did, because, why let me enjoy not having dash emojis for a little while.

I just happened to have the scanner plugged in. I don't text and drive but I might scan and drive. Don't tell the police.

P0401, EGR flow insufficient.

Well, hello, EGR... ...my old friend! Welcome to the party, now that the engine reaches the factory-programmed operating temperature. I'm sure it was gagging on hostile, rich exhaust and carbon this whole time so I'll take it off and look again.

At least it's easily accessible, and worst case, about $65 to replace.

To keep, or to sell... Hmm. I want it running correctly either way. It's easier to sell when there are no fault codes.

It needs tires (they're aged out and cracking)

It could probably use an oil pan seal, or maybe the timing cover gasket/ junction with the pan needs redone because I've got an issue there that leaves a drop of oil on the floor.

If I do tires I'm sure they'll say the ball joints could use freshening, and, and, and, and.... At some point I'll have to stop. I can't (shouldn't) make it perfect, that's not what this rig is.