Ok..... I am a patient man...... well, ok...I lied.... I am impatient with stupid things. Anyone ...... or should I say everyone with a 3800 V6 have to put an intake gasket in? I have done so many of these piles of trash this year that it is rediculous. Why do these bumbling fools at GM insist on making an intake gasket that is made of 1/8 inch thick brittle plastic with a thin rubber bead around each port?! These things are the worst thing GM has ever done........ the only thing worse is the GM3400 Chevy engine...... same gasket, more labor. Sorry for the rant..... but, I hate cheap plastic crap like this. What's worse is the orange coolant actually accelerates the gasket failures........ I would love to get my hands on a GM rep and shove my boot up his....... tailpipe! :blast:
I agree, Mike. And God forbid you want to change a drive belt on the 3800 supercharged version. Seems like you have to take apart half the engine just to do the belt (unbolt from fromt motor mount, etc)! They seem to last a lot of miles, but they sure aren't too user friendly!:af:
Don't Remind Me!! I have to replace that gasket on the wife's LeSabre! I have been putting it off. I flushed that Dex-Cool crap out of it and replaced it with tried and true green anti-freeze and added some radiator stop leak that has stopped the weeping coolant, but I know I eventually have to fix it properly. I'll be doing it myself, any tips other than get a different car?
I gotta say, we put a smaller supercharger pulley onto my bosses '02 Park Ave Ultra the other day, and changing the belt did not require removal of the motor mount crap. Of course the battery had to come out, but Kudos to GM for fixing that act of stupidity. -Bob C.
You should try the water pump on that engine. Did the one in my Father's Park Ave. :af: :stmad: :af: :stmad: :af: I can see why shops get $600.00 + to do it.
V6 Intakes Gaskets Mike, its a same you can't use the same gasket I have in my 3.8 V6, in 1984 the gaskets were completely metal like the 455. AL
Mike - I hope this isn't a stupid question, but... what symptoms should we watch out for (other than coolant leaking or an obvious vacuum leak)??
Dale - I'll second that!!! I did the one on my Riv...what an AWFUL job that was!!!:stmad: ou: Also put the Gatorback belts on too...what a pain in the butt that front cradle was!!
Scott, I seem to remember it wasn't too bad until I got to 1 bolt that was behind a cast iron mount / cradle. Son of a #*&%!!! It's as if they built the car around that bolt. Which reminds me. One of my favorite Tom McAhill (sp?) quotes was in refering to a 1950 Jaguar, he said. "They would have done better if they had shoveled the loose parts into a bag and shipped them parcel post!":laugh:
Re: Don't Remind Me!! One good point in all of this..... you usually only have to do this once in the life of the car. Usually at about 80k. After you replace the coolant with ethyl-glycol based stuff and new gaskets it's good for another 100k! Mike
Usually you will notice a very light miss, and it's usually diagnosed as needing a tune up. Usually only under load in overdrive. Sometimes they will leak externally in the middle of the intake valley on the front of the engine.....but most of the time it's an internal only leak. There is also no such thing as a retorque on these gaskets....... it'll crush em and they will leak worse. Best way by far is a pressure test...... just don't run past 20 lbs though.... Mike
And dont forget the 95 and up plastic upper intake can melt from the egr port and create a leak. GM says that you have to replace both upper and lower intakes to fix the problem. Have fixed many of these, and they like the intake gaskets are a very poor idea. Pete
just trying to calm..... Well, this is what Ive seen and experienced.... With the 3800, they have gotten away from the plastic upper plenium, and gone to a metal upper intake. As for the others that leak, most do it within the warranty period. The change in weather normally brings them in. I would NEVER just replace the upper plenium base gasket. I would always replace the upper intake and gasket. The leaks are normally minor, but some leak so bad that it can hydo-lock the engine to the point it can not be turned over till you replace the upper intake, remove the plugs and push the coolant out.If you are loosing coolant and its not from the water pump, odds are its leaking from the upper intake. Alot are not detectable leaks either. (inner leak). As for the belt(s), almost all of the belts that have a front motor mount restriction, all you have to do is remove the bolt and torx stud, and the spacer can easily be removed, (most have one, some have 2) Only in rare cases (dont remember what year) do you have to lower the engine after loosening the mount to remove the bolt then stud. Hope this helps a little....
gm bite me our shop has done tons of the plenum and gaskets. our local buick dealer had 18 in stock! how many of you have had 1 or more fuel injectors go bad on your gm? out of all the fuel injectors we replace about 95 percent are gm.
I don't know if this has anything to do with this problem. I just recieved a recall notice from GM on my 00 LeSabre, something to do with a gasket that can leak coolant. I don't have it in front of me but if any one is interested e-mail me and I will post some info when I get home. I have not had a lick of problems with that little six in it and that car definately moves when you ask it to. Lou
Lou, Its a recall to replace the throttle body to upper plenium mounting nuts. They also install a sealer. Helps with some of the leaks, but my experience leans more towards the base upper plenium gasket.
If you talk to the GM tech guys, they will all tell you that they absoulutely hate working on 3.1s, 3.4s but will work on 3.8s all day long, still not the easiest to work on but better than the others, and if you talk to the customers, they like the 3.8 power etc. So what will my employer do, reduce the use of the 3800 for the other V6s, cause they are cheaper to make, not cause they are a better engine. Talk about stupid marketing, engineering and what ever else. The orange stuff aka as antifreeze is a disaster in disguise as you all have found out, it is cheaper than the green stuff, duh? 3.1s and 3.4 don't run well on some gasoline suppliers fuel, and some owners that found out the hard way were told not to use those vendors, that is also stupid on the part of my employer, but that's the way it is. Here's what I offer, email Bob Lutz your complaints as being GM tech's at bob.lutz@gm.com If he doesn't listen then I don't know where else to tell you to go for help!
3.1s and 3.4s have their intake leak issues as well. But its their lower intakes that leak on them. I just have a preference in the 3800 because of all it offers.(fuel economy,power, and reliablility). Only big 3800 drawback to me is the upper intake leak which I believe they have addressed with the elimination of the plastic plenum.JMHO.:bglasses:
