Changed out my lower intake manifold gasket

[shotgunphil]

Just wanted to say thanks to Wiswind and the members of this forum. I was able to diagnose and fix a potentially costly repair this weekend. Started belching white smoke from the tailpipe and the engine started running rough, smelled like coolant. So I searched throught the forum initially thinking it was my head gaskets but came across people saying it sometimes is the lower intake manifold, so I figured what do I have to lose and dug into the engine and found that my lower intake manifold was burst at one of the gasket areas.
Was able to get a new 3mm gasket set at ADvance auto and cleaned up the egr orifices in the intake also installed a new thermostat and changed the oil and filter while I was there.
Reinstalled everything and crossed my fingers when I went to start it. Unfortunately there was still smoke coming out of the muffler and I despaired that it was my head gaskets or I installed something wrong. But kept it running and it seemed to peak then subside till there was no smoke left at all. Ran it around town for an hour and she is purring like a kitten right now. I think it is running smoother than ever at acceleration and at idle -not sure why (perhaps cleaning those egr ports up? Or perhaps it was leaking for a while and I never noticed it.)

[northern piper]

nice! gotta love those fixes! I'd say that the egr clean made the diff. As they clog slowly you don't generally notice a bit change in performance, just a steady decline. Glad to hear it worked ok.

P