Any 4.3 guru's here?

[SMWS6TA]

Well got the paperwork cleared up on the 02 "Free" Blazer, so I can work on it. Has a head gasket leak. Bad would be an understatement. Had to scrape the sludge out of one of the top of the cylinder head to find the head bolts. It's been sitting for 21 months. It did turn over and started before I tore into it so, so far no major problems.

I got the drivers head free, but there seems to be a bolt holding the fuel lines to the head that I can't get a wrench or socket on. The fuel lines are metal so no much give or movement. How do I get the damn thing off?

[SMWS6TA]

Just got some good news. My son was able to get that damn bolt off and pull the head. He's now working on the passenger side. Which makes me happy & nervous.

Happy because he has finally taken the initiative (it will be his car, told him he must work on it with me if he wants to have it) and work on it by himself (without me) and is doing well at it. Nervous because like his Dad, sometimes temper flares up when something doesn't do what it's suppose to do. Hope he learn to stop and take a break before he breaks something.



<<wondering if he'll have the passenger head pulled by the time I get home (so I don't have to deal with it )

[98TransAmWs-6]

Just got some good news. My son was able to get that damn bolt off and pull the head. He's now working on the passenger side. Which makes me happy & nervous.

Happy because he has finally taken the initiative (it will be his car, told him he must work on it with me if he wants to have it) and work on it by himself (without me) and is doing well at it. Nervous because like his Dad, sometimes temper flares up when something doesn't do what it's suppose to do. Hope he learn to stop and take a break before he breaks something.



<<wondering if he'll have the passenger head pulled by the time I get home (so I don't have to deal with it )

Awesome that he got it off. I wish my son was old enough to help me lol. He's only 5 though.

[tatertot91]

Glad to hear he's jumping into it on his own. I think I used to get a lot more frustrated when things didn't always go as planned but now I take a quick break and think things over before I end up with bigger problems. Post up some pictures, would love to see some progress pics.

[initechpeter]

4.3 vortex is a very good motor. Decent on gas and plenty of power a for teenager.

[SMWS6TA]

Took this last night, after I scraped the sludge out to find the head bolts


He sent me this mission accomplished.




Here his first vehicle. If the block dies I plan on finding a GEN III block and updating it. Screw having a 4.3.

[tatertot91]

Nice, should be a great little truck. Someone I know swapped in a 5.3 and it was a pretty straight forward install. Would be a great future project as well.

[98TransAmWs-6]

A ls family engine in that would be pretty cool. You could get a 5.3 for dirt cheap and have it bored out to 5.7 if the 4.3 dies.

[SMWS6TA]

From what I researched no need to change the 4L60 and drive shaft, except in the case of upgrading the stall convertor to handle the new block.

I know I'll need a wire harness but not sure about if I can reuse the PCM. I think I should because they are pretty universal and it's an 02'.

[Zinergy]

4.3 vortex is a very good motor. Decent on gas and plenty of power a for teenager.

The 4.3 is a good motor because they are generally reliable. Power and gas... not so much. You can hit 20mpg with the 4.3 4x4 on the freeway but that is about it and full size silverados with the 5.3 can do that. 190hp ain't really anything to write home about especially with the 4500-4700lbs weight. But the biggest issues with blazers and jimmys from those years is how tall yet narrow they are. Rollovers happen pretty easily. I was in a 98/99 blazer when it rolled 3 times. But hey we both lived without any major injuries. Just sore necks as the roof was a bit lower after the rolls and I am 6'3" and the driver is 6'5". He missed it so much he bought a 200X GMC jimmy with the insurance money.

[67CamaroRSSS]

Took this last night, after I scraped the sludge out to find the head bolts


He sent me this mission accomplished.




Here his first vehicle. If the block dies I plan on finding a GEN III block and updating it. Screw having a 4.3.

Ah yes, the dreaded Pennzoil peanut butter...

[SMWS6TA]

Awesome that he got it off. I wish my son was old enough to help me lol. He's only 5 though.

Last night my daughter (10) sat beside us and wrote on the zip bags for nuts & bolts and started learning how to pick out the tools when we called them out. Never to young to start, it's keeping them interested between the easy & hard stuff and remember to not teach them new colorful words every time you bust your knuckles that I have a problem with.

[0rion]

when you put it back together put some gasket maker on the front and rear of the manifold running between the heads. They like to leak from there. Go ahead and buy a fuel pump to keep around too. Other than that it won't be a bad first car for him. Throw a little lift kit on it and some nice wheels and tires and he'll be getting tail in that thing on a regular basis.

[SMWS6TA]

Success!!! both heads off, I take to the shop tomorrow. I think whoever wrenched on it previously is an incompetent asshole. I know it wasn't the previous owner. She can't identify what the battery is.


The passenger side came off way to easy, like the head bolts were not tq to spec. Once the head was off it had oil and sludge all down the back side of the block. Too dark to take a pic, I'll try before I drop off at the shop in the am.

[SMWS6TA]

It's nice to have a good relationship with a shop sometimes. Friday morning I dropped the heads off, at first he told me it would be late Tuesday to get them back. He must have saw my heart sank because he then ask what was I doing. Gave him the story that I need the Blazer back up ASAP because my kid starts college this week and he needs it. He then tells me tell you what, skip the media blast (to make them look new) and if all the valves and guides are good you can get them back this afternoon. It parts are needed he couldn't help it.

Deal, don't care if the heads look pretty, I want function. Not a show car. Got them back and was able to start putting the Blazer back together. 1 trip to P-cola Naval Base to use the car shop to clean up the intake manifold, rockers (damn things were nasty), push rods, and other parts & 3 trips to the parts store. I wasted a set of head bolts because I forgot to put the drivers side exhaust manifold in place before the head was tighten down. Spent half of Saturday and all of Sunday wrenching between rain showers. If not for the damn rain at times I feel it would have been done last night. Got it about 80% back together last night.

Still need to install the power steering pulley, fix the radiator (Drain peacock broke), & attach the y pipe.

[SMWS6TA]

oh and I feel like I my ass got kicked by a pissed off bull. For those that forgotten, still recovering from rotator cuff surgery. My son seems to have been paying more attention then I gave him credit for all those times I had him watch me working on other vehicles. He picked up things very quickly and it was nice to have someone do things without being told how to or hover over to make sure they are doing it correct. Nice change of pace.

[Zinergy]

oh and I feel like I my ass got kicked by a pissed off bull. For those that forgotten, still recovering from rotator cuff surgery. My son seems to have been paying more attention then I gave him credit for all those times I had him watch me working on other vehicles. He picked up things very quickly and it was nice to have someone do things without being told how to or hover over to make sure they are doing it correct. Nice change of pace.

Must be nice to have them doing things correctly without the need of directions. Sucks to be wrenching with an injury like that. Hell I have been sore after long days of wrenching without being injured. The tranny swap on my dakota was pretty bad. Spent all day on a concrete floor in trans flud. I washed my hair 3 times that night.

[0rion]

Must be nice to have them doing things correctly without the need of directions. Sucks to be wrenching with an injury like that. Hell I have been sore after long days of wrenching without being injured. The tranny swap on my dakota was pretty bad. Spent all day on a concrete floor in trans flud. I washed my hair 3 times that night.

tranny fluid is right up there with gear oil....bitch to get out of your hair and sticks like ass. I helped my buddy work on his son's POS ford last week. He calls me asking if I'll help him swap a broke leaf spring. He shows up and I get under it and look and it's not the leaf spring that's broke but the rear mount. Had to remove the bed so a 1 hour job turned into about 5. I was sore as hell the next day from crawling around on the floor. Getting too old for that shit.

[SMWS6TA]

Getting too old for that shit.

My dad now 63, hasn't been able to lay on his back with out getting violently sick (get's sever vertigo) tells me "Son, one day you'll realize that what you use to do for fun and enjoy will turn into hell and misery. Enjoy working on cars while you can, because soon you'll get to a point that you'll want to take it to the shop so you don't have to deal with it."

I see that day coming soon.

[Zinergy]

tranny fluid is right up there with gear oil....bitch to get out of your hair and sticks like ass. I helped my buddy work on his son's POS ford last week. He calls me asking if I'll help him swap a broke leaf spring. He shows up and I get under it and look and it's not the leaf spring that's broke but the rear mount. Had to remove the bed so a 1 hour job turned into about 5. I was sore as hell the next day from crawling around on the floor. Getting too old for that shit.

Was doing the trans on an exploder one time. My friend had a slight jew-fro, cury hair and what not. After having trans fluid in it and moving his head around on the floor that spot turned into a massive dreadlock. Like 3-4 inches long and and inch or two thick of transfluid dreadlock. I laughed my ass off. The lesson here is if you want dreads fast roll around in trans fluid for a few hours.