My wife had a 96 blazer for 6 years. Had that orange antifreeze in it which was a nightmare. At first it started overheating. So we kept adding coolant mix. Problem goes away. (no visible leaks) Then it starts again. I took off the radiator cap and it looked like someone had packed mud in the radiator. Literally dry brown crud. Took it to the dealership and they flushed it out, replaced radiator and thermostat. Most of it was covered by warrantee. A couple of years go by and it starts again. Bring it to my local mechanic and he flushes it out again and switches over to regular antifreeze. Everything goes fine for 2 or 3 more years when it starts overheating. This time the water pump is leaking (or so I thought)> I replaced the waterpump, thermostat and hoses. Seems fine for a while them overheating comes back. No leaks that I can see so she drives it adding antifreeze as needed. Well after a few months of this I take it to the mechanic and he looks at it. "plenum is leaking" I say ok how much to fix it. "around 800 bux"
Needless to say I traded it in and got her another vehicle.
The mechanic told me the plenum is made of plastic and they tend to develop leaks after a few years. Most of the price is do to labor as they have to remove all the crap that is bolted on above it. He also said the antifreeze turning brown was quite common on these motors when air gets into the system causing it to be contaminated.
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