Intake gasket

[Phillip Cross]

My 2000 2 door with 75K has been losing a little coolant over the past months. I now notice a slight drip down the front of the engine starting where the intake meets the head. Is it impotant to replace the gasket ASAP or can I continue to add coolant. I currenty add a quart or so every couple of weeks.

I have also seen a drop in gas mileage in the recent past and did a full tune as recommended here --(plugs rotor cap and wires) but no positvie results. I used to get 22 on the highway and 19 on my mixed commute. I now get 17 on the mixed commute and only 19 at best on the highway. I have been told that the leaky intake might have caused the O2 sensors to go bad. Could this be true???

Is this (intake gasket) another of the things wrong with these vehicles. Is there an aftermarket gasket I should look for to correct the GM low quality problem. I have already replaced front wheel bearings, defective oil cooler hoses, drivers door hinge pins and bushings, broken seat back lever, and the gas gauge does not work. I think all these things are GM's fault, not normal wear and tear

Lucky for this forum for help with DYI advice and also info to help the garage get it right. But Why do you guys love these beasts so much?

[blazee]

Yes, you need to replace the gasket ASAP. GM does have an updated gasket, but I would still go with a FEL-PRO.

The decrease in economy could be caused by the leak.

The leak is common with a newer GM engines.

If you would have oiled your hinges like you were supposed to, they wouldn't have worn out so soon.

The broken seat recline shaft is another common problem. It was caused by GM using oversized screws to secure the lever to the shaft.The oversized screw weakens the shaft. Autozone sells replacement handles in their "HELP" section. They cost about $8 for the set. I recommend everyone replacing theirs now instead of waiting for them to break. If they break in a bad way, the replacement handles won't fix it and you will have to replace the whole thing.

[Phillip Cross]

Thanks for the response.
I have been shopping for repair prices. So far 700 at the local garage, and 800 at a local tire chain/ repair shop. Seems kind of steep considering the FelPro gasket set is 40 bucks. Thats like 80 per hour if it takes all day. Prices here (DC-Northern Virginia area) are high for all types of services.

[BlazerLT]

You sure it is the intake gasket? It could be the water pump gasket.....

Also, what temperature is your gauge when the engine is completely filled up.

Is it at a 1/4 or higher?

[BlazerBoyLT98]

Originally Posted by BlazerLT

You sure it is the intake gasket? It could be the water pump gasket.....

Also, what temperature is your gauge when the engine is completely filled up.

Is it at a 1/4 or higher?

I had the water pump, intake gasket, and radiator let go at the same time! Thank god I bought an extended warranty that everyone said not too!!!! I had the dealer do all the work so I wish I could help a little more. And that damn seat recline thing, my buddy broke my mothers off her blazer, then two weeks later, breaks it off of my blazer! The dealer charged my mother almost $300 to fix it. So I did the smart thing, puit a pair of vise grips on it hahahaha!

[blazee]

The ones from autozone will fix most of the ones that break off.

[Phillip Cross]

Originally Posted by BlazerLT

You sure it is the intake gasket? It could be the water pump gasket.....

Also, what temperature is your gauge when the engine is completely filled up.

Is it at a 1/4 or higher?

The leak seems higher than the water pump, but now that you mention it I will have the tech pressue test the cooling system before he starts. The Temp guage is same as always been -- just below the 195 mark -- I guess that is about 1/4 of the way on mine. why/

[Rick Norwood]

Originally Posted by Phillip Cross

The leak seems higher than the water pump, but now that you mention it I will have the tech pressue test the cooling system before he starts. The Temp guage is same as always been -- just below the 195 mark -- I guess that is about 1/4 of the way on mine. why/

Just went through this with my 2000 Jimmy SLE last week. If you borrow or rent a pressure tester from AutoZone you can quickly and safely pressurize your system and probably pin point the leak. Just for comparison, The Chevy Dealership just outside of Phoenix charged approx. $500.00 US dollars to R&R the intake manifold gasket which included all parts, labor and fresh Dexcool. The service advisor told me that this particular job was rated at 7.5 shop hours, but was finished in approx. 5 hours. So if a Chevy Dealership can do it for $500 bucks, I'd suspect a non-denominational shop would do it for less. The big problem is not the external leaks, it is the internal leaks that you cannot see. If the coolant is leaking into the oil you'll have much bigger problems down the road. So I wouldn't just keep adding and driving it, get it fixed!

[tubjub]

i used to live with a friend whose grandmother had a 99 blazer LS ...

we noticed the gas mileage dipping terribly into the single digits, and it running very poorly. pulled out the dipstick and it was sludge.

turns out, the intake manifold gasket was leaking and leaked coolant into the crankcase and when etheleyne glycol (what's in anti-freeze) mixes with oil, it turns into a black sludge.

anywho, tore off the lower intake, replaced gasket, flushed engine multiple times, seems to run fine and fuel mileage has returned!

just a word of caution.

[tom3]

Our 01 Blazer started leaking internally at 12K miles. Dealer fix was their magic sawdust pills, under warranty. (insert dealer rant here) These engines will run just about forever if maintained so I'd sure recommend getting it fixed right away. The hard part is the accessory bracket in front on the engne that blocks access to a couple intake bolts and the distributor removal and re-timing. I'd also recommend the FelPro gaskets, a couple notches above the others. GM is sure padding mechanic's bank accounts with this intake/gasket design it seems.

[Phillip Cross]

Thanks guys for all the help. I will have the gasket replaced next week (payday) Is there any other work I should think about doing while the intake is being replaced. Like a new water pump??? The 2000 had almost 80k on it.