Intake Manifold Gasket Leaking Should I?

[bendam1]

Hello, I have a '99 5.7 93K 1500, and just recently the intake manifold gasket has started to leak. Not bad but a constant drip, hasn't contaminated the oil yet, but I drive too many miles daily to let it go too long without doing anything. My question is this, is it worth the money to just get it done by a mechanic. FYI $550 @ one and $600 @ another. Money not being a concern, just with what looks like possibly a lot of work being the concern. Or from what I can see about $80.00 for gaskets, dist. gear, antifreeze, etc. + my time and beer. I have read pretty much every post that talks about the dist. gear and all say to change out the gear so I will either way. Just wanted to get opinions or input on the type of job it is to do. Never replaced the intake gasket before. Thanks for any input.

[Suburban-97]

bendam1, I don't know how soon you would like to do this job, but this weekend I will start changing the intake manifold gasket, valve cover gaskets and the distributor gear as well. I am a bloody beginner when it comes to this kind of stuff, but I will have some help from more experienced folks. I am very excited about this whole thing and at the end I will share my experiences with you guys. At least I hope I can start as I plan, since it looks like hurricane Dennis is going to pay me a visit this weekend too I am in SW Florida.

By the way, I can only recommend the same Fel-Pro gasket set I have been recommended by others here on this forum. I ordered it from RockAuto.com (Part# MS98000T) and it seems to be the best. This set has all intake manifold gaskets you need in it AND the valve cover gaskets. I paid $58.00 including shipping.

I'll keep you posted.. Check the thread "97-Suburban - Coolant weeping under thermostat housing.. [CHECK PICTURE!]" after this weekend.

[94century]

the biggest deal with the intake gasket change out is to make sure, absolutely positively sure you get that distributer back in the exact same spot as when you took it out. other than that it is not all that big a deal.

[Old Dave]

You will need a torque wrench to torque the manifold bolts when you reinstall it. I think the spec. is 11 Ft./Lbs and seems like the Felpro set that I bought had this in the instructions with the set. Good Luck.

[rzmx1x]

I have a 99 suburban 1500 with 150,000 miles and I had my intake gasket replace at about 75,000. I had it done by a professional, think I paid $450. One thing this guy recommended was changing from the GM DEX-COOL coolant to the Standard Green AntiFreeze. His claim is that most gm cars need to have the intake gaskets replaced between 75K to 100K and this did not occur before they started using the DEX-COOL. He changed mine to the Standard Green Antifreeze and is working so far but its only been about 75K since I last had the gasket replaced.

[94century]

This is only partial true. The original DEX-COOL was orange in color and it was EXTREMELY acidic, it did eat away at intake gaskets. It was NOT developed by GM and it took time to work out the problems. The newer formula is pink and is OK to use. Flush the engine out twice before putting anything back in.

[rdptrans]

There is updated gaskets that are only available threw gm.

[ssprint]

Hi there, My 99 developed a small leak at about 124K. I put bars leak in it and drove it with no leaks or anyother related problems untill now. 175K my radiator developed a hairline crack. I had it fixed and put new antifreeze & water in. Almost immediately the gasket began leaking and within minutes it was gushing. Have a friend who is a chevy mechanic so he'll fix it for $325.00. Usually, I wouldn't think of using something like bars leak but I was 2000 mles from home on an extended stay so I said what the hey. It worked for 50K. You might trade it off before there!

Mike

[nosefirst]

Ahaa!

My '98 has been mysteryiously loosing coolant. About as much as the resivoir contains between the hot and cold lines between oil changes. (3K). I can't see it leaking anywhere. I changed the oil & there was no evidence of it there. I'm wondering if its burning it?

If this is true I should be able to find exaust bubbles coming back thru the coolant right?

[CalessaSSracer]

Just brought mine in today after the daily oil & water checks I had enough!