1997 Chevy Blazer White Smoke from Engine

JDAVIS0221

MEMBER
1997 CHEVROLET BLAZER
6 CYL
4WD
AUTOMATIC
86,780 MILES

My car was running a bit hot this morning on my drive to work but wasn't overheating. When I got to work I noticed white smoke coming from my engine and it smelled hot. My coolant level looks fine although the coolant itself looks like it needs to be replaced. What could be causing the smoke and the smell and increase in temparature? How do I go about replacing my coolant and flushing my radiator? I was told by my mechanic that the previous owner had put stop leak in the radiator and if I were to flush it it would remove the stop leak. If I do this how/when do I replace the stop leak? I would prefer to do the work myself if I can.

1 Reply

MIKE H R

MECHANIC
3,094 POSTS

What I would do is drain all the antifreeze in a container. When system is empty and safe then with the engine cold disconnect the bottom hose of the radiator. If its warm enough where you are above freezing I would flush out the radiator by putting a garden hose where the cap goes and let if run. You might want to do the same to the engine. With stopleak it gets on everything inside. After you have flushed the system really good, then replace the thermastat. You can use a 160 themastat. Reattach all the hoses then before starting the engine fill with water. Start the Blazer run a little while then check the temp. If the blazer temp is ok, drive the car for a day to make sure that is the problem. If everthing is ok after a day then drain the system again and fill with coolant. Make sure to check the leak that someone said was in the radiator is not leaking. Stopleak could make a themastat stick and cause overheating. Another thing is you might want to back flush the heater core. I think prestone has a kit that one can put in line so someone could flush the sytem easier.

Thing to remember that antifreeze is dangerious to animals and people if injested. So be careful not to spill it.