intake gasget

I would like to know how many people are having problems with the intake gasget going bad on the 2000 chevy malibu. I just found out that mine has gone bad, and it will cost around $500 to fix.

My 98, intake gasket leaked antifreeze on the outside of the manifold, and dripped down the side of the engine about a year ago.
I found every bolt was loose and had to be tightend, this fix finally ran out and now I need to change my gasket.
I plan on doing the job myself this spring, and while I'm inside I'm planning on replacing all lifters, hoses, gaskets ect.
I've had a tick tick during warmup, and I'm hoping changing the lifters solves my problem.

We'll see!

-Mike

I'd wouldn't recommend changing your lifters unless you change your camshaft at the same time.
The lifters wear to the cam lobes and they have to be replaced as a set. Even if you take them out to clean them make sure they go back in the original location. Same goes for your pushrods.

The tick-tick should last for about 1.5-2 minutes (on a cold start) according to GM and is normal for this engine (I'm assuming a 3.4L V6).

It should be a 3.1L in the malibu. The 3.4L is in the Olds Alero and Silouette, Pontiac Aztec, Montana, and Grand Am, Chevy Venture, Monte Carlo and Impala and Buick Rendevous I believe.

My '98 LS gaskets went last summer. Apparently, they all do on both the 3.1 and 3.4. Usually, around 5 years or 50,000 miles, whichever comes first.

Fortunately, GMPP is still in effect until late this coming Aug. (I've racked up over $3500 in covered repairs vs. the intial plan cost of $900).

That's one reason why GM now charges $2,000 for a similar plan these days.

Anyway, they told me that GMPP saved me approx. $750 on the gasket issue. Plus, the car was in the shop 3 days and they also covered the rental. At the time, they said that GM was doing 800-1,000 gasket replacements PER WEEK. Also, I've heard that as of last summer, a new design of gasket came out, which I apparently have. I think they have a metal-netting in the rubber to reinforce them better.

Most folks notice a leak of coolant on the ground or an unusually high temp guage reading. I was fortunate in that I noticed the coolant level in the reservoir being low one day when I was adding w/w fluid.

The "tick-tick" also is symptomatic of all prev-gen Malibus with relatively high mileage. I have yet to encounter that. I don't know what that fix is, if any.

this is a common problem to the gen 2 and gen 3 60degree v6 motors.

on the gen 2, using the proper felpro gasket and the proper rtv in the proper places and it stays fixed, the gen3 will keep on breaking...you can minimize this by tigthening the intake bolts on each side at the same time for the first step...

as for the tick tick - there really isnt a fix, dont worry about it until you drive over parts

I seem to have an intake manifold gasket leak on our 99 3.1 Grand Prix. (External coolant leak.)
Had an intake gasket leak on a 92 Olds Cutlass Supreme 3.4 as well. This caused the car to idle at high RPM's.

Follow up on the gasket. I purchased new upper and lower intake gaskets ($60) and replaced both of them. (used a GM manual) The lower gasket was the culprit. A fairly lengthy process, about 14 hours. Seems to be holding. GM would offer no assistance as the car is over the 5 year period and had not been serviced at a GM dealer.

my 2000 Maliby with only 34,000 miles had the coolent light alert and the intake gasket was leaking as was the water pump weaping.
Imagine, only after 34,000 miles

Our 99 Malibu is experiencing this very problem, along with everything else this forum discusses as a problem to this vehicle. The intake manifold gasket and water pump needs replacement, as the car has the same leak which appears to be coming from the coolant reservoir, but indeed is really the malfunctioning of the above cooling components. I recently read that GM knows about this gasket problem and is blaming it on a faulty design to the reservoir cap, and as is stated above, intake gaskets are blowing on many different models so GM is really, really busy fixing them! However, I also read that DEXCOOL (just search for “DEXCOOL” or “Malibu intake manifold gasket”) can be blamed as well, and there ARE class action suits already in progress with respect to the corrosiveness on cooling parts, most particularly gaskets, and the failure of product performance before the specified "change coolant" time specified in the owner's manual. Thanks for "quick fix" to the bolts ... I hope this helps keep our car running for a little while longer! As well, we were told to CHANGE that reservoir cap IMMEDIATELY ... so you might want to as well … because this job is a big one and will hit us up anywhere between $500 and $800, if not more! I got rid of a Durango because of repeated replacement of the ball joints and upper control arms and have always been of the ilk to buy "Made in America", but my gosh, how many American made cars can one buy before one realizes the standards of manufacturing are higher in the foriegn made vehicles?

My gasket is starting to leak again after only 1 month and 5,000 miles.

I see a puddle of stuff in the same location as the original one that was leaking. It is on the drivers side above the thermostat in that galley. It looks more like oil now then it does antifreeze.. However, neither the antifreeze or oil is low..

I washed the engine and I have been monitoring this location every week since I did the replacement. The residue above the area where I suspect the leak is coming from looks to be fresh oil or oil-vapor.

It's leakin on the driver side valley. The portion where you have to put RTV down between the heads. I can see oil residue on the intake above that spot... I'll continue to monitor it but I'm still pissed.

The passenger side looks great with no evidence of leakage.

What are the chances of me trying to spray some cleaner in the spot, then hosing it down to clean it more and then putting a crap load of RTV in that area to prevent this? I don't want to have to take it apart again..

The RTV was put down like they requested and I did the exact same thing on both passenger and drivers side yet it looks like the drivers side is leaking... I'll try and get some adapters so I can check the torque on the bolts without removing the upper intake as well.

My gasket is starting to leak again after only 1 month and 5,000 miles.

I see a puddle of stuff in the same location as the original one that was leaking. It is on the drivers side above the thermostat in that galley. It looks more like oil now then it does antifreeze.. However, neither the antifreeze or oil is low..

I washed the engine and I have been monitoring this location every week since I did the replacement. The residue above the area where I suspect the leak is coming from looks to be fresh oil or oil-vapor.

It's leakin on the driver side valley. The portion where you have to put RTV down between the heads. I can see oil residue on the intake above that spot... I'll continue to monitor it but I'm still pissed.

The passenger side looks great with no evidence of leakage.

What are the chances of me trying to spray some cleaner in the spot, then hosing it down to clean it more and then putting a crap load of RTV in that area to prevent this? I don't want to have to take it apart again..

The RTV was put down like they requested and I did the exact same thing on both passenger and drivers side yet it looks like the drivers side is leaking... I'll try and get some adapters so I can check the torque on the bolts without removing the upper intake as well.

Why are you keeping this car?

LOL..

It's my beater/daily-driver.... Just need something to get from A-B that is cheap..

Yes, the malibu is a POS but it's better then my old beater.

my girlfriends car had the same symptoms leaking gaskets and clicking sound during start up. I replaced the gaskets and fixed the clicking by using a 10-40w oil by using a thicker oil it last longer inside the lifters so they don't bleed down over night and maintain a smaller clearance between the rocker arms and the push rods