Lower Intake Manifold Gasket- '97

I took my car to a shop (Pep Boys) for the CEL problem and they fixed it, but told me I needed to replace my lower intake manifold gasket due to coolant leaks on both sides. They quoted me $1100, said they'd replace everything that was due to be replaced. I'll get the list from my car tomorrow and post the part list. Labor is $72/hr (despite the mechanics making much less). I've done some pretty complex work on previous cars, including a gas tank swap, full brake system rebuilds, and a radiator swap in under 30 minutes, in the rain, at night, with a flashlight. How long would it take, on average, to change this gasket, if I were to do it myself? Any special tools needed? I've removed valve covers and oil pans before, but this'll be the deepest I've had to go in an engine (though probably not most complex). Any advice before I start? I'm not paying a grand for something I can do myself in a day that'll only cost me $300 in parts at most (I know I need to replace distributor o-ring, gasket, oil, coolant, spark plugs, wires, hoses- other than that not sure, but I have the list).

You didn't say which engine you had, but I did this recently on a 95 with the 3.1. I actually had the engine out of the car and no time pressure so it was really easy. If it's your first time on this kind of thing, you might want to budget an entire weekend. You don't need to change the plugs, wires or hoses to do this. I'm not familiar with the 3.8 engine, but the 3.1 doesn't have a distributor, so if you have that, then no o-ring either. Do get the Haynes manual and you really want to use a torque wrench on the gasket. Label everything you remove.

$300 in parts is high. I think the gasket was like $60. If the coolant is getting in the oil, change the oil, wait a week and change it again. Some people add 1 quart of auto tranny fluid mixed in as a motor flush and let it run for 15 minutes before changing.

Good luck!

Once you get the top head off your will see the plenum gasket that one needs to be changed also. Then you must move the fuel injector out off the way to get to the plate which houses the intake gaskets. be careful not to break the injectors and make sure that you take the clips off the injectors before moving . They are like C-clamps located @ the top of the injectors. Move the injectors over and remove the plate underneath it. Take the old gaskets out clean the head with carburater cleaner and mild sand paper install new gaskets with some permanex on the casing. put everything back.

I have the intake job down to about 4 hours. The first one I did took me about 6. Add about an hour for the tune-up (which if it's due you'd be stupid not to do while it's torn down). Growe58, "Technically" it's not a distributor, it's called an oil pump drive shaft (which is essentially a distributor without the top on it) and it can't be accessed to change the seal without removing the throttle body. Again, it's a common oil leak on these engines and it's right there, takes 5 minutes to change and only costs $1. Change the t-stat and inspect and change any coolant hoses that look suspect so you only have to bleed the cooling system (a true pain in the ass) once. Clean the old threadlock off the intake bolts and apply new medium-strength threadlock to the threads .

if your gonna replace the intake gaskets , replace the head gaskets while you have it apart, get a torque wrench, head gasket kit runs around 260. the kit comes with all the gaskets you need to put it back together from the heads up.

Keep your bills and seek reimbursement from GM as this is a well documented problem...
http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20060330/whistleblower_gm_060406/20060406/