96 Cierra Intake Gasket

[1Bradymichael]

Anyone here ever had the intake cause an oil leak, instead of a coolant leak?

At first I thought the rear main was leaking, which it is just a little, but after looking it over better, I can see oil all of the way down the bell housing coming from the intake area by the thermostat. It seems to be pooling there and running down the tranny. I don't think it could be a head gasket, but I did not remember if there were oil passages in the intake.

Anyone have any thoughts, good, bad or otherwise?

This is the 3.1 by the way.

[maxwedge]

Look at the dist gear adapter under the throttle body, common area for an oil leak.

[1Bradymichael]

Originally Posted by maxwedge

Look at the dist gear adapter under the throttle body, common area for an oil leak.

I'll check it out. Seems to me when I did the intake on my Montana, the parts guy told me to replace the o-ring on the oil pump drive gear, which looks the same on the Olds.
I would assume you are talking about this. I would guess the o-ring is leaking

thanks for the tip

Update----I just checked and it is the cover for the adapter/oil pump drive.
Cheap fix, though a little time consuming.
Does anyone have the torque specs and sequence for the top intake?
Or can I get it by just taking off the throttle body?

Thanks for any help

[maxwedge]

TB alone should clear. Also use some RTV around it for insurance, tricky re-engaging the gear to the cam and oil pump, mark every thing before removing and note the position it is in as you remove it and reverse the procedure exactly, do not crank the engine for any reason during this procedure.

[1Bradymichael]

Originally Posted by maxwedge

TB alone should clear. Also use some RTV around it for insurance, tricky re-engaging the gear to the cam and oil pump, mark every thing before removing and note the position it is in as you remove it and reverse the procedure exactly, do not crank the engine for any reason during this procedure.

After fixing this problem, I will add a few helpful tips.
The entire upper plenum has to come off, in order to gain access to the oil pump drive. Just leave the TB on so you have one less gasket to buy, as it is a spendy one.

Also there is the heater bypass hose that comes off of the lower intake/thermostat housing. You might have to turn the nut slightly to get the bolt out that holds the drive asm clamp down. I would recomend replacing the o-rings that are used in this heater hose asm. I had a slow drip after putting it all back together because I moved the heater hose nut, which in turn probably moved the old, brittle o-rings contained inside the fitting.
I stuck some Mendtite in the radiator and the drip stopped, but only as I did not feel like ripping it all apart again as it is the ONLY way to get at the heater bypass.

If it acts up again I will have to deal with it I guess.
But at least no more oil leaks. The old o-ring was very dry and brittle, and cracked easliy.

There is no need to mark any thing on the drive asm though, as all it does is connect the cam to the oil pump. There is not a wrong way to install it, but it does take a little patience getting the gears to mesh.

[maxwedge]

Originally Posted by 1Bradymichael

After fixing this problem, I will add a few helpful tips.
The entire upper plenum has to come off, in order to gain access to the oil pump drive. Just leave the TB on so you have one less gasket to buy, as it is a spendy one.

Also there is the heater bypass hose that comes off of the lower intake/thermostat housing. You might have to turn the nut slightly to get the bolt out that holds the drive asm clamp down. I would recomend replacing the o-rings that are used in this heater hose asm. I had a slow drip after putting it all back together because I moved the heater hose nut, which in turn probably moved the old, brittle o-rings contained inside the fitting.
I stuck some Mendtite in the radiator and the drip stopped, but only as I did not feel like ripping it all apart again as it is the ONLY way to get at the heater bypass.

If it acts up again I will have to deal with it I guess.
But at least no more oil leaks. The old o-ring was very dry and brittle, and cracked easliy.

There is no need to mark any thing on the drive asm though, as all it does is connect the cam to the oil pump. There is not a wrong way to install it, but it does take a little patience getting the gears to mesh.

Right that's why you mark it so the engagement of the pump drive and cam gear are in synch without torturing yourself starting from scratch.

[richtazz]

For added insurance against future leaks, I always install an old style small block chevy distributor gasket (fel-pro #70194) between the top of the block and the oil pump drive housing in addition to the new o-ring (fel-pro #70800).