jamesmetairie

around intake manifold on passenger side.mechanic pressure tested today and could actually see it. he,ll start the replacement job soon.is a metal fel-pro gasket the way to go ? also what other parts needed? any advice about what to watch out for will be appreciated. i,ll update later on.(fingers crossed)

maxwedge

I'd repl. the upper intake with the updated Dorman replacement.

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jamesmetairie

already bought felpro.

richtazz

Hey Max, that updated plenum is for the 3.8. The updated Fel-Pro gasket set is the way to fly on these engines. The only other thing I can think of is the coolant pipe o-ring where the heater pipe goes into the lower plenum.

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maxwedge

Rich, didn't even see the 3.1 in the header, what a knucklehead!

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jamesmetairie

does that dorman come with the torque specs in the box? where do you buy dorman gasket sets ?

jamesmetairie

sorry about that.i missed your post rich.

jamesmetairie

update= the shady tree guy finished the job. about 2 days later i noticed some oil drips on the car port floor. bottom of the engine is wet with oil just forward of the oil drain plug area. mechanic said he changed recommened oil rings. before the job started i bought a couple at the dealer and it was the wrong one,s. i,m on the waiting list now for the mechanic. what do you guys think it,ll be?

richtazz

Depends on where the oil is coming from. While he had it torn down, did he replace the oil pump drive o-ring? (Fel-Pro #70800). I also install a paper S/B Chevy distributor gasket (Fel-Pro #70194) between the block and the oil pump drive as added insurance against future leaks. This is located beneath the throttle body on the drivers side. It will usually cause an oil leak down the back side of the block and will appear to be either a rear main area leak or oil pan gasket.

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jamesmetairie

oil ring labor cost=what,s approximate labor time to get back in to the oil "o" rings,etc. this is a killer. a good motto to live by = "do it right the first time. it,s easier that way".

richtazz

The throttle body will have to be removed to gain access. The oil pump drive is basically a distributor shaft with the top cut off. It's located in the center of the "V" of the block. It is held in place by a forked bracket retained by a 13mm headed bolt. It would have taken your mechanic less than 5-minutes to replace while the intake was off, but now it's gonna take a good hour because you have to remove the T/Body. Not seeing the leak I cannot say for sure that is the source of yours, but it's a common leak spot in these engines.

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