Intake manifold gasket replacement help!

[speg80]

Hello,

I am trying to get all info needed to change my gasket myself, can anyone help.

What else should I change while I have everything apart and what is the difference between lower and upper intake manifold gaskets.

Thank you

[GTP Dad]

It would help a lot if you would post the size engine and year of the vehicle. That way specific instructions can be given.

[speg80]

Soory,

It is a 1999 olds. Alero 3.4L V6

[pistonring]

The manifold is divided into a upper and lower manifold. The blown gasket is usually the one under the lower manifold. If your engine is in good shape, there is really no reason to change anything else unless you break something when you disassemble it. Be prepared this is no job for beginners. It is more time consuming than many think. This is why it is so expensive at a shop. Take lots of pictures. Tag stuff when you pull it. Good Luck.

Pulling the manifold requires removing pushrods and rocker arms, if you are not comfortable doing this then ???

[skrizan]

You don't actually have to remove the rocker arms, just loosen them enough to get the pushrods out. Also, the pushrods need to go back in the holes the came from, I took a box and poked holes in it and numbered them to store them until assembly.
Another issue that people run into is getting the gas lines disconnected from the fuel injector rail. I never did get the right tool for the job, and talked to a local mechanic shop, and found that they leave the lines attached and simply tie the fuel rail out of the way during the rest of the job. This is what I did and it worked fine.
I'm not sure your a candidate to try this on your own since you didn't know the difference between a head gasket and LIM gasket, but if you decide to, you will need to search this forum for some of posts that contain instructions and you need a Haynes manual for torque specs and reference.
I spent Firday night, all day Saturday, and a couple of hours on Sunday to get the job done. I wrote down the steps as I removed things, taped and labeled all connectors, had several boxes to store parts in, (numbered for reference during assembly) and took a bunch of digital pictures just in case.
It really wasn't too bad, but it takes time, so if your on a schedule, you might want consider that also. I had another car to use while I fixed this one. Good luck if you try it, and replace the o-ring on the heater pipe that inserts into thermostat housing, thermostat, plugs if you haven't in a while, since this is easy to do when you have the car ripped apart this far. (I removed the hood also, gives you a lot more room to work.