Noisy engine

Something I have noticed with my 97 blazer LT is the engine while driving and minor pulling, (hills), seems to have lifter noise, or at least that's what it sounds like, but when I hear my wife drive it,me not in the vehicle, it sounds pretty normal. Am I just being paranoid or is the engine just a little noisy?

Somewhat unusual, but it could be the gas formulation in your area or something. Might also try an oil change and see if you get any improvement.

Detonation. Not good.

changed your fuel filter lately?

So where is the fuel filter?

Inside of the driver's side frame half way back.

is it cold out and is the engine not warmed up to speed?
i had cylinder detonation on 3 of mine 2 weeks ago by gettin on the gas at the red light with an engine not really warmed up to speed not a cool feeling

detonation is not caused by a cold engine, it is caused by a HOT engine.

4 real what happen to u was a cold start not a detonation i prob siezed huh

4 real what happen to u was a cold start not a detonation i prob siezed huh

Should i ask if anyone cares to translate?

Something I have noticed with my 97 blazer LT is the engine while driving and minor pulling, (hills), seems to have lifter noise, or at least that's what it sounds like, but when I hear my wife drive it,me not in the vehicle, it sounds pretty normal. Am I just being paranoid or is the engine just a little noisy?

what fuel grade are you using?

what fuel grade are you using?

Doesn't matter, the 4.3L is tuned for 87 octane and has knock sensors.

Doesn't matter, the 4.3L is tuned for 87 octane and has knock sensors.


funny, my owners manual tells me 89 minimum, 93 if hauling or towing.


and yes it does matter, if its pinging that hes hearing, then the knock sensors arent doing their job. if using a higher fuel grade eliminates it, then he knows what his problem is.

Oh it does does it?

89 Octane......in a 4.3L......

Please scan that page and post it up here, I would love to see it.

Our engines are made for 87 octane.

funny, my owners manual tells me 89 minimum, 93 if hauling or towing.


and yes it does matter, if its pinging that hes hearing, then the knock sensors arent doing their job. if using a higher fuel grade eliminates it, then he knows what his problem is.


yeah-you better post a page or link or something. I damn sure know my owners manual says 87 octane (2000 LS).

Really, saying that a blazer would be tuned for anything but the lowest grade available is baloney. It's not a performance vehicle. It was made for the masses who slave for a dime and aren't going to be affording $2+ for 93.

Yea, true, this is not caused by low octane fuel because our trucks are made for 87 octane seeing it has knock sensors and timing retard.

I think in this case there isn't enough fuel pressure or maybe even the fuel filter is clogged and isn't allowing enough fuel to get to the engine.

So why does everyone dis BlazerLT? He has given me very sound advice in the past. I think you are right about the fuel filter; at least that's a good and inexpensive place to start.
I have used a higher grade of fuel 91 or 93, who can really say what is is for sure. I used to hall fuel for a living and believe me when I say this, "You put the gas in the hole they tell you to put it." Nugh said. By the way BlazerLT I haven't replaced the fuel filter yet and it is still pining away. SO the upgrade on gas octane didn't do a thing. The oil pressure is around <50 when cold and around 40> when warm. Goes up and down on acceleration & deceleration.

So why does everyone dis BlazerLT? He has given me very sound advice in the past. I think you are right about the fuel filter; at least that's a good and inexpensive place to start.
I have used a higher grade of fuel 91 or 93, who can really say what is is for sure. I used to hall fuel for a living and believe me when I say this, "You put the gas in the hole they tell you to put it." Nugh said. By the way BlazerLT I haven't replaced the fuel filter yet and it is still pining away. SO the upgrade on gas octane didn't do a thing. The oil pressure is around <50 when cold and around 40> when warm. Goes up and down on acceleration & deceleration.

I would change the fuel filter soon, a lean mixture will cause detonation and higher combustion temperatures. This could lead to damage over time.

The filter change is a bitch, but it is worth it.

Also, your oil pressure is perfectly normal and is nothing to worry about.

BTW, just to recap, do you have any check engine lights?

BlazerLt
I have seen a lot on s-10 Blazers with the ping he is talking about and most times it was do to carbon build up on the pistons causing a hot spot.
We used GM Top Engine Cleaner to help clean off the pistons and boy did it work. You guys talk about seafoam doing the samething so That is waht I would do right after the fuel filter change

Change your oil soon after the treatment with Seafoam. I use a 3 foot length of aquarium tubing to extend the PVC line going to the intake manifold over the front of the engine, or off to the side of the fender.

After the truck is warm and up at operating temperature, (Take it for a 10-15 minute ride down the highway) pop the PVC boot off the valve itself and stick the hose into the boot and then let the truck suck up the Seafoam from the bottle *slowly*. Too much and it will hydrolock your engine and make it stall....permanently. Allow only a fine, trickling mist be drawn up through the aquarium tubing. When half of the bottle is gone, you should see a cloud of white smoke that smells *awful* coming out of your exhaust. If you are doing this correctly, there will be no reason for you to advance the idle of the engine manually. If you are drawing up too much, you will hear the engine start to stumble and missfire. Reattach your PVC and shut the engine off for 5 minutes.

Restart it and be on your way..... to the automotive supply store. Pick up what you need to do a complete oil change. (Oil, filter, etc.) Once you get it home, it should have quit smoking, and blown all of the crud and seafoam out of your exhaust. Once home, dump the other half of the bottle of Seafoam into your engine oil after removing and draining your old filter for a few minutes. Re-attach the old filter and start the engine. Let it *IDLE* in the driveway for 20~30 minutes. Perform your oil change. Sit back and relax now, enjoying that purring motor - you're done. ;)

If you are as sensitive to vibrations and any engine noise as I am, it could just be a faint pinging caused by an inferior oil filter. Do you use Fram? If so that is your problem try NAPA Gold. Fram filters are junk. From personal experience NAPA gold is the best...even better than AC Delco.

Excellent point! It may take some time for a lifter that got a bit of air into it to work properly again. A filter with a bad/faulty anti-drainback could allow air up into the system at start up and make one heck of a racket. Changing the Penzoil filter for a regular AC Delco when I first bought my truck used cleared up a "sticky lifter" noise I was getting at startup. It would grow faint over half an hour of driving, but would not go away completely. A day after I swapped the filter, it silenced right up.

Detonation can also be caused by a lean condition, like a vacuum leak. The engine doesn't have to be hot, just the combustion chamber. Put a scanner on it and stop guessing. Too much detonation can cause internal engine damage like broken pistons and rings.

BlazerLt
I have seen a lot on s-10 Blazers with the ping he is talking about and most times it was do to carbon build up on the pistons causing a hot spot.
We used GM Top Engine Cleaner to help clean off the pistons and boy did it work. You guys talk about seafoam doing the samething so That is waht I would do right after the fuel filter change

I too used the top end cleaner and will NEVER do it again.

hat I was left with was a completely fouled engine with all sparkplugs fouled SO bad the engine ran worse after the cleaning.

I will stick to my Water Decarbonization which does the same job without the oily residue ruining my ignition system.

If you use GM's Top Engine Cleaner, you won't have any problem if you follow these directions exactly.

With the engine running at a higher idle slowly pour about half of the can through the Carb or throttle body. When half the can is done, quickly pour the rest. The engine will stall. Turn the key off and let it sit overnight. The next day when you start it up, it will pour out lots of black smoke for a few minutes, but the carbon in the engine will be gone.

With the 4.3L "W" engine it's a lot tougher because of the way the intake is designed. I have an adaptor that plugs into the PCV valve which will basiclly do the same thing just slower and unfortunately not as well.

I have used GM Top Engine cleaner on hundreds on cars and trucks and NEVER had a problem with any of them. If done correctly it cleans the heads and pistons real good. BY-BY Ping

I did use it correctly and right to the letter.

After I pulled the plugs and they were all badly fouled.

Just stating my experience.

OOOPs did not mean to imply you did anything wrong. It sounds like the cleaner did its job.

Hehe, maybe the carbon fouled my plugs.

Would make sense.