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1989 K5 - Gradual Learning

First 4x4 - learning basic maintenance / upkeep and maybe some small mods.
Overview Gallery Discussion
The little black wire towards the front is also a ground wire. So that's the TBI ground ? I wasn't sure what that went to.

And yes, the entire stud wanted to come loose if the lower nut wasn't held with a wrench. Hoping the sealant on the stud and cleaned, anti seized threads on top will solve that. Actually, hope I don't have to find out for 20-30 more years!
 
I putzed around for a while last night and I think I got it all corrected.

First, I pulled out the driver's side stud and compared it with the passenger side stud. They were unfortunately the same length.

I didn't have any longer studs sitting around, but I did have this bolt. It turned out to be the same size and thread pitch as the studs.

image.jpg

I cut it down using a cutoff wheel and it ended up working out. The configuration now looks like this in the engine bay:

PXL_20250414_033942622.jpg

Also, I am trying to mentally convince myself that this thing is going to leak when I fire it up. I don't think that I used enough RTV, and I've over-tightened some of the intake manifold bolts... and I've removed the studs and reinstalled them... etc. etc. etc.

This way when I fire it up and it leaks I won't be as pissy about it. Also another silver lining is that I spent a lot of time replacing the electrical connectors and wire loom and whatnot... that stuff only needs to be done once. Doing the job a second time will hopefully be much faster.
 
The manifold had plenty of time to set up rtv, before you removed studs. It'll be fine in that respect.

SBC intake bolts are 3/8" 16tpi.
Not sure how the carriage bolt helped with bracket
 
Last night I got everything back together with the exception of the radiator. So many little things to remember lol. This job has definitely taught me a ton.

Don't mind the coolant on the passenger side. One of my radiator hoses was propped up and it fell to the side and spilled more coolant.

PXL_20250416_032936329.jpg

Speaking of little things to remember, there was only one(!) tiny bolt left over that I do not know where to put.

I had this thing set down next to the throttle cable bracket bolts, so I am thinking it came from the back of the intake near the firewall somewhere. If anyone out there has an idea, let me know.

PXL_20250416_032855583.jpg

Since I am guessing that I'll have to do this job a second time, I am going to fill the radiator with water when putting everything back together. Fingers are obviously crossed that it does not leak but even if that's the case I can replace it with coolant before the next freeze.
 
shima said:
Last night I got everything back together with the exception of the radiator. So many little things to remember lol. This job has definitely taught me a ton.

Don't mind the coolant on the passenger side. One of my radiator hoses was propped up and it fell to the side and spilled more coolant.

View attachment 502109

Speaking of little things to remember, there was only one(!) tiny bolt left over that I do not know where to put.

I had this thing set down next to the throttle cable bracket bolts, so I am thinking it came from the back of the intake near the firewall somewhere. If anyone out there has an idea, let me know.

View attachment 502108

Since I am guessing that I'll have to do this job a second time, I am going to fill the radiator with water when putting everything back together. Fingers are obviously crossed that it does not leak but even if that's the case I can replace it with coolant before the next freeze.
Click to expand...
This is definitely a sheet metal screw so I suspect a small ground or maybe a screw securing the plastic holding the wire looms on the firewall is my guess
 
There was a screw like that holding my map sensor in place on the bracket and one holding a clamp on the heater hose at the back of the block p-side
 
I didn't take any pictures tonight, but the Blazer is out of the garage!!

I got the radiator hooked up a few nights ago. I fired it up and it wouldn't stay running unless I had my foot on the throttle a little bit. I went ahead and just called it a night.

Tonight, I disconnected the EST wire... fired it up and had my foot on the throttle... and slowly let off over time. It stayed running and sounded pretty good. I let it warm up to operating temp and went ahead and attempted to time it. I had to put my crappy HF timing light to 40 degrees advanced in order to see the timing mark line up with the 0° mark. I had to call @ZooMad75 real quick because I wanted to ask if I could retard the timing back to zero just by turning the distributor. We don't think so. I am probably off by a tooth or two.

It was leaking coolant in three separate places (lol). Major leak at the upper radiator hose on the radiator side. Minor leaks at the upper radiator hose by the thermostat housing and on the passenger side at the bottom of the radiator. I tightened all three hose clamps a quarter of a turn and pulled that sumbitch out of the garage. It was still leaking at the upper radiator hose on the radiator side so I put a 5 gal bucket beneath it and called it a night.

I desperately need to do maintenance on my daily and my partner's daily. Once those jobs are done the Blazer is going right back into the garage... but it doesn't look like the intake leaks(?!). So in theory all it needs is the radiator hose leaks fixed and then I need to figure out the ignition timing. Probably should do an oil change and check all my other fluids... but then it's time to drive the damn thing.

Thanks for everyone's help on this job, I genuinely appreciate you all! I am calling this a win.
 
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Leaky hose should be an easy fix. I'd remove, inspect, clean, and reinstall. Or just toss a new one on, which are pretty cheap. Or even just tighten it up more to see if that stops the leak.
 
yep I vote new hoses. Once the seal is disturbed on old hoses chances of getting them to seal again are greatly reduced. Older the hose the less chance.

I say 1 tooth. Be sure to put #1 cyl on top dead center compression stroke before attempting to reset the dist.

Glad the intake sealed, good job :burnout:
 
I got the distributor and leaky hoses addressed last night and was able to go for a test drive. It felt great to get the Blazer moving again. It has been on-and-off dormant for a long time:
  • December 2023: Replaced the exhaust manifold-back with @mrk5
  • May 2024: Started working on replacing the exhaust manifolds
  • November 2024: Shackle flip with the circus (@mrk5 / @Raggedy_Ann / @doubletrouble)
  • January 2025: Driveshaft replacement with @ZooMad75
  • February 2025: Messed with TBI minimum air, cleaned grounds, caused the intake leak
  • May 2025: Intake manifold gaskets, electrical connectors, etc
I have driven it just about 2,000 miles in the past 1.5 years.

Anyhow, the test drive went alright overall. It still has a decent shake to it. I think at this point I am just going to ignore it.

Code 32 came back, so I should really try and figure out that test procedure in earnest. The TBI Trouble Codes thread here has all of the information I need... I just need to bring my laptop out to the garage and commit to going through the test one piece at a time.

Before I did the whole intake manifold job, @Raggedy_Ann suggested that my distributor ignition module could be wigging out and causing the shake. I have a new one sitting on the shelf. I know that the intake manifold job would have been the perfect time to replace it, but I decided against it in the spirit of doing just one thing at a time.

Just about the only other TBI sensor that I have yet to replace is TPS. I have one of those sitting on the shelf as well.

So I think for now I'm just going to drive the damn thing. Over time I'll take a stab at the EGR, then will try out the new ignition module, then might even do the new TPS.

I want to have a window of time where I am just not working on this thing and I can wheel it and use it for camping. Wish me luck guys (lol)!
 
Grats on test drive. Glad it mobile agian.

Do one thing before you ignore the shaking.

Double and triple check the firing order and spark plug wires.

You got this, Moab in Sept ?
 
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shima said:
I got the distributor and leaky hoses addressed last night and was able to go for a test drive. It felt great to get the Blazer moving again. It has been on-and-off dormant for a long time:
  • December 2023: Replaced the exhaust manifold-back with @mrk5
  • May 2024: Started working on replacing the exhaust manifolds
  • November 2024: Shackle flip with the circus (@mrk5 / @Raggedy_Ann / @doubletrouble)
  • January 2025: Driveshaft replacement with @ZooMad75
  • February 2025: Messed with TBI minimum air, cleaned grounds, caused the intake leak
  • May 2025: Intake manifold gaskets, electrical connectors, etc
I have driven it just about 2,000 miles in the past 1.5 years.

Anyhow, the test drive went alright overall. It still has a decent shake to it. I think at this point I am just going to ignore it.

Code 32 came back, so I should really try and figure out that test procedure in earnest. The TBI Trouble Codes thread here has all of the information I need... I just need to bring my laptop out to the garage and commit to going through the test one piece at a time.

Before I did the whole intake manifold job, @Raggedy_Ann suggested that my distributor ignition module could be wigging out and causing the shake. I have a new one sitting on the shelf. I know that the intake manifold job would have been the perfect time to replace it, but I decided against it in the spirit of doing just one thing at a time.

Just about the only other TBI sensor that I have yet to replace is TPS. I have one of those sitting on the shelf as well.

So I think for now I'm just going to drive the damn thing. Over time I'll take a stab at the EGR, then will try out the new ignition module, then might even do the new TPS.

I want to have a window of time where I am just not working on this thing and I can wheel it and use it for camping. Wish me luck guys (lol)!
Click to expand...
If you haven't driven it for a long time it means you have old fuel.
Did you add a bunch of new fuel to make it better or you still have old fuel ?
That causes erratic idle
 
shima said:
I got the distributor and leaky hoses addressed last night and was able to go for a test drive. It felt great to get the Blazer moving again. It has been on-and-off dormant for a long time:
  • December 2023: Replaced the exhaust manifold-back with @mrk5
  • May 2024: Started working on replacing the exhaust manifolds
  • November 2024: Shackle flip with the circus (@mrk5 / @Raggedy_Ann / @doubletrouble)
  • January 2025: Driveshaft replacement with @ZooMad75
  • February 2025: Messed with TBI minimum air, cleaned grounds, caused the intake leak
  • May 2025: Intake manifold gaskets, electrical connectors, etc
I have driven it just about 2,000 miles in the past 1.5 years.

Anyhow, the test drive went alright overall. It still has a decent shake to it. I think at this point I am just going to ignore it.

Code 32 came back, so I should really try and figure out that test procedure in earnest. The TBI Trouble Codes thread here has all of the information I need... I just need to bring my laptop out to the garage and commit to going through the test one piece at a time.

Before I did the whole intake manifold job, @Raggedy_Ann suggested that my distributor ignition module could be wigging out and causing the shake. I have a new one sitting on the shelf. I know that the intake manifold job would have been the perfect time to replace it, but I decided against it in the spirit of doing just one thing at a time.

Just about the only other TBI sensor that I have yet to replace is TPS. I have one of those sitting on the shelf as well.

So I think for now I'm just going to drive the damn thing. Over time I'll take a stab at the EGR, then will try out the new ignition module, then might even do the new TPS.

I want to have a window of time where I am just not working on this thing and I can wheel it and use it for camping. Wish me luck guys (lol)!
Click to expand...
Dude that’s great! I’d still say that rigs n brews overnighter trail ride would be a great test run for the truck and camping out of it. You got to Memorial Day weekend and if you need some help most of my weekends are open.

Keep in mind that deal will be mostly yota and jeep overland types so the trail should be pretty easy.
 
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