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I’ve been there and I know how hard that is. My buddy’s pathfinder got pretty stuck on too. We secured it with jack stands very well, then my 400 lbs self had to kick the ever loving crap out of it for nearly 30 minutes. I focused on just one side. I know it seems like it won’t work, but it will. When it does come off, put a wire wheel in a drill and really grund the oxidation off the inner rim and the brake. Do not put it back on without putting a thin layer of high temp brake lube on the inner face of the rim. That will help next time you have to remove it. Remember, brace it on jack stands very well and don’t stop kicking it after just five minutes. I layed on my back to kick with the most force. Good luck, be persistent and stay safe man.
The annoying thing about this, is that this is the largest chain of new and used car lots in my area. They love to go on about how something has a clean Carfax.
The thing is, after doing auto body for more than a few years, I can spot a phoney. I also did some salvage rebuilds – both correctly and legally. I have been chased off their lot before for pointing out that the latest thing with the clean car fax has indeed been previously totaled. I’ve even offered to go to the auctions they buy from to try and steer them in the right direction so they can come back to home base and sell something honest, that only made them angrier.
At least for my friends sake, when I went there with him and they layer a lot of double talk on us, I made them trip over their words when I threw all that and tons more back at them. They would stop talking, ring their body shop and service department and the head of sales department to come in and verify what I corrected them on. In all cases they had to eat crow and were calmly deflated afterward. Its good to know what I know and use it for good and all in a calm voice that makes the crooks question the very bones of their reality. I only wished I could have recorded it all. Would have made great TV or something.Here is an update. After removing the cover around the column and under it, I discovered that my friend had been sold this car without knowing it had been stolen and wrecked. the wires leading to the ignition key had different colored wires patched in, and some looked burnt. I did various tests, they all were at least connected in the correct spots and insulated sufficiently.
The steering column is surprisingly easy to remove. After the electrical was disconnected, the two vertical bolts came out, then three horizontal screws came out around the middle of the column. It all slipped off a splined shaft and it only took 5 minutes to remove completely.
I took that to the dealership that sold him this car, found out there is a recall on the ignition switch and they failed to give him a key fob as well. I convinced them to remedy the key fob situation. The tech simply tapped on the end of the key lightly with a hammer, then it turned. It works for a few turns then has to be tapped on again. I’m told that will be remedied soon. The column went back in easily and the car now starts. Very strange.The noise only happened once, but not again. I had no means to pull a vacuum, so that didn’t happen. I did shake each can & tip in back and fourth a number of times. I noticed that if I leave the A/C on when turning off the car, then turning the car on again later in the day, the light does not blink. It still blows cold though. I wonder if I can just press in the schrader valve to release some of the extra? I hate to sound to red-neckish, but I don’t have a set of gauges to use either. I used a small connecter with a temp gauge to install the coolant.
Three tie rods were bad, so I replaced all for. All parts came from O’Reilly part store. I did the proper air bleed with the front wheels off the ground. The belt is properly routed. I may have to concede to a bad rebuilt pump. The old one had a large crack and was leaking like a siv.
Water damage is serious. Most insurance companies would write off the car because some things will get worse. If you have better than basic liability, then you would do well to make a claim. If your going to keep it, then there are some things you need to do TODAY before it gets very bad. Make sure all loose items are removed from the interior and trunk, then completely remove both front seats. Get a powerful shop vac and start sucking out any moisture you can from the carpet. Its even better if you can remove the carpet and padding completely, then finish removing and and all moisture from the bare surfaces. If the seats have any moisture they need it sucked out of them too. Leave windows down, get a powerful fan to leave running inside the car with an extension cord. ANY leftover moisture will make mold and that little car will turn into a GIANT stink factory in a few days. You live in a warm and humid area, so the mold issue will only be amplified. Tons of YouTube videos on removing seats and carpet safely. You will regret not removing all traces of moisture very soon, so do yourself a giant favor and tackle this NOW, or just file a claim like I mentioned above if you can. Also look at videos on how to avoid buying a flood damaged vehicle, it will enlighten you even more.
A bad crank sensor would usually prevent it from starting and running at all, and that would throw a code too.
The rust you can see is only what has poked thru the paint. If your lucky it may not have spread too far. Take a simple screwdriver, don’t stab the panel, but try to gently push into it. Test the rust that is visible, and several inches around the rust. If nothing flexes much, then sand it all down, fill any holes with polyester based body filler, then use a sealing primer with 2 coats, then a basic primer on top of that. Paint, then clear coat. Many vehicles have areas that trap water, like behind the rear door of SUV’s. After the repairs are done, you can search the cavity behind the previously rusted are and fill at least some of the area with a can of expanding foam like builders use in the walls near doors and windows of homes.
Am I to understand that this is the full sized blazer, or the s10 blazer that had a V8 conversion? Look for structural rust in the suspension and frame. If this was a V8 conversion from a V6, did you upgrade the front springs to handle the extra weight? A friend of mine with a 95 s10 pickup did the v8 conversion and had all the same sounds as yours do to not upgrading the front suspension for the extra poundage. Same thing happened to my 1994 s10 blazer after I went from the v6 to a 98 c5 v8 back in the day.
Egr systems information. There is a tube that feeds it exhaust gas to be reused again, that tube can become carbon filled. Late 90’s Toyota and possibly Honda cars have a small solenoid that partially controls the egr as well. Toyota calls is a vcv valve. Also, if you have any codes for o2 sensors, replace them. Trouble codes from that time period did not specify if the vcv valve was bad, it only said egr incificient egr flow. If the egr system is out of whack, it can cause a car to stall and not start again until its sat for a while. It appears that your egr work may not be done.
I know from experience that if any lubricant, grease, oil, automotive fluid gets on a brake pad, it can never be washed away completely. If these pads got greasy, even a little they will slip when they should grip.
Most vehicles have various blend door actuators. These are sort of a palm sized cassette type thing containing a servo motor and plastic gears that can get stripped. Most vehicles have more than one. In a quiet environment, have your head down low near the dash, adjust the directing of the air con, do you hear the sound of a slipping or grinding gear? That’s one indicator. They can be fun to change out, but Toyota does make most of their stuff very serviceable. I had to change two of them out in a cadilac once, the whole dash had to be removed to do it. Did I mention I hate Cadillacs?
The factory service manual (FSM) would show it. Specific model forums may have a PDF version to share for free. My local dealerships are good about printing off needed pages on that for free for me. Worst case scenario, go to a junk yard and pull apart one like yours, then make notes or take video or pics to reference.
I’m glad to hear you fixed it! As for the emissions thing, it won’t keep you from running but it might cost more for gas if you have to fill up more often. Aside from fixing the emissions thing, the best tips for saving gas money are changing the gas cap every 3 years, keep a clean air filter in it and never use any form of ethanol fuel ever under any circumstances. Have fun driving man.