1997 lesabre intake manifold repair kit

[kessler1492]

Hello, i'm new at this, I was refered to (Attention: 1995 and later Lesabre 3800 owners) a thread from April 28th, 2005. the gentleman who did all the research also said he was willing to sell the kit he made and for anyone interested to PM him. NOt sure how to do this, to get a hold of him. I do have a upper manifold leak and would like to solve to for good.

Aaron

[HotZ28]

If you plan to do the repair, rather than a replacement, I would go with the

Ken-Co Upper Plenum and Lower Intake Repair Kit

I ask a friend of mine that owns a high volume auto repair shop, what his experience has been with this UIM failure. He said they have replaced about 50 in the past five years using the Dorman part # 615-180. He also mentioned that he has not had one return with the Dorman units. I ask if he had seen any of the aftermarket UIM’s with the metal sleeve installed and he said yes, there are many available and it sounds like a good idea, however, NAPA & O’Reilly keep the Dorman in stock and when I call, they throw it on a truck and deliver it to his shop within 15 min.
He said when he needs one, he needs it now!

[BNaylor]

I don't know Bo. Personally I don't think it is worth the time and effort. I'm getting geared up do a friend's '98 Bonneville (L36 SII 3800) and we decided not to use the Ken-Co LIM repair kit or do anything homemade like in the thread mentioned. $80 and only a few suppliers sell it. The kits look tedious and in the end do you really save money and do the job right the first time? Plus supposedly it will not fit a Dorman UIM?

We are going with the Dorman UIM kit which has all gaskets and the revised GM lower intake manifold (LIM) which we got off a salvaged 2001 SII 3800 for $65.00.

Since GM came out with the revised aluminum LIM gaskets we're going to give that a try. GM part number 89017816.

The improved GM LIM part number is 24508923 just for reference.

IMO this is a better approach and remedy and in the end may be more cost effective. Another option is the revised GM UIM part number 89017272 and the revised GM UIM gasket part number 89017554 if you decide to stay GM.

Just my two cents worth.

[HotZ28]

Bob, you are absolutely right! I was trying to word my previous post in a way that I would discourage the OP from doing the sleeve kit! Maybe I did not make myself clear, so I will try again.

I totally agree, time is money and if you consider your time worth anything near the average hourly labor rate, the extra time involved preparing the old UIM to install the “sleeve epoxy” kit, would not be worth it! You could probably buy two of the Dorman UIM’s with the savings in time alone.

Personally, if I had one of these to do, I would install, a new UIM and LIM and more than likely, the Dorman UIM. It cost only 130 bucks here! (Only 50 bucks more than a little metal sleeve & a tube of epoxy)! 2+2=4 everytime!

BTW; Here is a pic of the new aluminum LIM gasket set part#89017816

HotZ28 out, getting ready for the

[BNaylor]

Originally Posted by HotZ28

Bob, you are absolutely right! I was trying to word my previous post in a way that I would discourage the OP from doing the sleeve kit! Maybe I did not make myself clear, so I will try again.

I totally agree, time is money and if you consider your time worth anything near the average hourly labor rate, the extra time involved preparing the old UIM to install the “sleeve epoxy” kit, would not be worth it! You could probably buy two of the Dorman UIM’s with the savings in time alone.

Personally, if I had one of these to do, I would install, a new UIM and LIM and more than likely, the Dorman UIM. It cost only 130 bucks here! (Only 50 bucks more than a little metal sleeve & a tube of epoxy)! 2+2=4 everytime!

BTW; Here is a pic of the new aluminum LIM gasket set part#89017816

HotZ28 out, getting ready for the

Hey no problem Bo. Your advice looked good to me and pointed out an alternative. I was just throwing in my 2 cents worth. Some people like doing things the hard way. Myself, I take the easy way out. Just saving money DIY on labor is satisfaction enough but getting the car operational in a timely manner and done properly or once and for all as the OP suggested.

BTW and FYI - Speaking of people in the the quest to resolve the UIM issues are you aware that some guy with a 97 LeSabre has supposedly successfully adapted an aluminum UIM from a SIII 3800 (L26) to the older SII 3800 (L36)? I understand it was a bolt on operation with minor mods like a block off plate and a throttle body adapter to get the throttle body to fit. Now that is food for thought.

Have a Happy New Year!!!!

[imidazol97]

[quote=HotZ28]Personally, if I had one of these to do, I would install, a new UIM and LIM and more than likely, the Dorman UIM. It cost only 130 bucks here! (Only 50 bucks more than a little metal sleeve & a tube of epoxy)! 2+2=4 everytime!
QUOTE]

Z28,

Do I understand correctly your are saying you'd replace the LIM, the metal part, also, not just the aluminum reinforced gasket?

I have a 98 3800 that had the upper replaced by the dealer at 75K miles almost 5 years ago and 75 K miles ago. I'm open to suggestions of how to do my own repair if the replacement fails on me.

Your recommendation of the Dorman is practical. Like the old adage, I'm too poor to afford to do things the cheap way; I can't afford not to buy right the first time and avoid having to redo it. I wish the dealer had replaced the metal LIM when they did mine--per the GM recommendation but not under warranty! So I'm waiting to see if the replacement fails.

[HotZ28]

If I remember correctly, GM's first solution for the UIM problem was a new LIM with a smaller diameter stovepipe that would not make contact the plastic in the UIM. About the same time, they recommended installing a new replacement design UIM with a larger diameter hole than the original had. In addition, a later TSB by GM, said to "only to replace the upper manifold, if no signs of deterioration due to heat".

The Dorman replacement UIM, still have the same size stovepipe hole as the original UIM and would make contact with the original stovepipe. From what I can gather, the new Dorman design simply increased the coolant passage wall thickness and strengthened the plastic manifold to withstand a backfire without fracturing.

Now again, I am not trying to sell the Ken-Co LIM & UIM Repair Kit idea to anyone, however, it would be an alternative and it would accomplish the same thing as the new style GM lower manifold, at a lower cost.


If you want to completely CYA, you could replace the LIM with the new design smaller diameter stovepipe, then replace both UIM & LIM gaskets with the redesigned ones and replace the UIM with a new Dorman unit.

One final thought; if you only replace the UIM and not LIM, you are somewhat gambling with the fact that you may have to do this repair again sometime in the future!

[ChemMan]

The Dorman kits for the series 2 comes with a reduced diameter stovepipe. The original is simply pressed in, so remove it (I used visegrips) and you either get lucky enough that the new one fits tight enough or you need to glue it in with high temp epoxy. I did have clearance problems with the original alternator and the Dorman intake. I had to remove some plastic so the alternator could bolt back into place.