Just installed Ken-Co intake manifold repair kit

[ottoracefan]

I installed the Ken-Co Upper Plenum & Lower Intake Repair Kit on my '98 Lesabre, non-supercharged VIN K. The entire job took about four hours, taking my time to do things right. Here's the basic steps:

1. Disconnect negative battery cable.
2. Remove the plastic fuel injector sight shield and air intake duct.
3. Disconnect #2, 4 and 6 plug wires from coils and lay back to firewall.
4. Remove the manifold vacuum source on firewall side of plenum.
5. Depressurize fuel lines and remove fuel rail.
6. Remove EGR heat shield.
7. Remove throttle cable and throttle body support bracket.
8. Disconnect wiring connectors from throttle body.
9. Remove the upper intake manifold.

After you remove the plastic plenum, the Ken-Co kit will instruct you to remove the EGR tube from the lower manifold and tap the smaller replacement into place using a deep socket. The upper plenum is then cleaned and sanded so that the metal adapter bushing will slide into place. Quick setting epoxy supplied with the kit is used to secure the bushing permanently into the plenum.

Reinstallation of the plenum is the reverse of steps 1 - 9.


I had put this job off for a couple months, but was nervous that my plenum would give way while on a long trip. I felt better after finally installing the kit - - and felt even better about it today when a friend described his wife's car not starting due to coolant in the cylinders!

[tman]

Good tutorial!

I had to replace the lower intake gaskets and seals when I first got my 94 PA. It took all weekend, but I also replaced the tensioner, sparkplugs/wires, oil pan gasket, coolant, tranny pan and gasket, and the auto pulldown switch for the trunk.

[Jed Rule]

Ottoracefan, how many miles on your car?. Did you see any deformity of the upper intake around the EGR nipple? I too want to install the KenCo part for insurance. I only have 26000 on my 95 LOL (little old lady) car.

[redly1]

my mother inlaw has a 98 lesabre. I'd like a put your wisdom to memory in the event her car should develop a problem...

What are the symptoms of the intake manifold failure??
is there an approximate mileage they seem to fail?
Where is a good place to buy the replacement kit? ebay?


Thanks

[ottoracefan]

Originally Posted by redly1

What are the symptoms of the intake manifold failure??
is there an approximate mileage they seem to fail?
Where is a good place to buy the replacement kit? ebay?

My '98 has 70k miles on it, the plastic upper plenum had a little deformity around the EGR passage but it didn't look like it was near failure. I've heard of failures with less than 50k and other cars with no problems well over 100k.

One co-worker had a small, steady coolant leak on the outside of the plenum that left a small puddle of coolant each time they parked. As I said in my first post, another co-worker's wife's car wouldn't start one morning because coolant had leaked from the plenum through the intake valves into the cylinders. I've heard of catastrophic failures driving down the road where the burning coolant billows out of the exhaust in a huge white cloud. In other words, symptoms vary but the cause is the same.

I purchased my repair kit on eBay from Performance Auto Group. They will sell kits for $58 + 3.95 shipping if you mention the Automotive Forums.com Lesabre forum. Their website is www.performanceautogroup.net and their email address is [email protected]


Ottoracefan

[tapwon]

Originally Posted by ottoracefan

My '98 has 70k miles on it, the plastic upper plenum had a little deformity around the EGR passage but it didn't look like it was near failure. I've heard of failures with less than 50k and other cars with no problems well over 100k.

One co-worker had a small, steady coolant leak on the outside of the plenum that left a small puddle of coolant each time they parked. As I said in my first post, another co-worker's wife's car wouldn't start one morning because coolant had leaked from the plenum through the intake valves into the cylinders. I've heard of catastrophic failures driving down the road where the burning coolant billows out of the exhaust in a huge white cloud. In other words, symptoms vary but the cause is the same.

I purchased my repair kit on eBay from Performance Auto Group. They will sell kits for $58 + 3.95 shipping if you mention the Automotive Forums.com Lesabre forum. Their website is www.performanceautogroup.net and their email address is [email protected]


Ottoracefan

Very good instructions. Gave me a lot of confidence to tackle this job. I purchased a Danco Plenum from Murrays for $149 and it took me about 6 hrs on my 2001 Limited with 104k. I had been smelling coolant for many miles and noticed the puddles (also noticable drop in coolant overflow). It was also a great time to clean the injectors with throttle cleaner and a scotchbrite pad...ditto the throttle body. Biggest problem was getting fuel rail off. It was very tight and had to pry using more force than I was comfortable with. Cleaned injector ports with rotary wire brush with vacuum cleaner suction. Lubed o-rings on injectors with light film of dielectric grease and they popped in with a couple taps of a dead-blow hammer. Car starts and runs much better. Thanks for taking the time to help otto.

[ottoracefan]

Originally Posted by tapwon

Very good instructions. Gave me a lot of confidence to tackle this job. I purchased a Danco Plenum from Murrays for $149 and it took me about 6 hrs on my 2001 Limited with 104k. I had been smelling coolant for many miles and noticed the puddles (also noticable drop in coolant overflow). It was also a great time to clean the injectors with throttle cleaner and a scotchbrite pad...ditto the throttle body. Biggest problem was getting fuel rail off. It was very tight and had to pry using more force than I was comfortable with. Cleaned injector ports with rotary wire brush with vacuum cleaner suction. Lubed o-rings on injectors with light film of dielectric grease and they popped in with a couple taps of a dead-blow hammer. Car starts and runs much better. Thanks for taking the time to help otto.

Others have commented about difficulty in getting the fuel rail loose, but I guess I was lucky. I just wiggled it for awhile and it came out nicely. When reinstalling it, I also lubed the o-rings and everything slipped in by wiggling again. Congrats on doing this job.......isn't it great to save some big bucks while extending your car's lifetime?

[back2life]

can someone describe the plenum and the plastic parts so i will know what the heck im looking for?

[redly1]

well crap...guess what, since my post in Nov, my inlaw's gave the car to my sister in law, who is in college. I got the call the other night "I can't figure out what's wrong with my car...I had to put a bunch of coolant in it, and now it won't start..."

$800 later, with new coolant, oil, new plugs, new intake manifold, and a variety of other valid repairs, I am kicking myself for having not looked at the car over Christmas.

Worse yet is this girl has gone through at least 3 or 4 cars in the past five years, due to transmission, head gasket, and motor failures. At least the 98 lesabre is running like a champ again.

[Leadhead]

My '98 LeSabre had this same exact issue last fall, with about 150k miles. Since then, I've had a problem with the car stumbling or hesitating when accelerating from a dead stop or slow speed. In my case there was a LOT of antifreeze inside the plenum area and I was wondering if it's possible that some of it got into the EGR and maybe partially clogged it. Does this even make sense? My buddy is a mechanic and he did most of the work so I don't remember exactly how it looked.

Thanks for the great forum!