Do GM dealers intake gasket fixes work?

[edwardh1]

My moms 98 buick had the dreaded leaking intake manifold gasket problem caused by dexcool and the Buick dealer fixed it at a big cost ($1500). This was in 04 i think at 40,000 miles (she does not drive much).
Do these dealers use revised GM parts and has GM revised the gaskets material or design to stop the dexcool/gasket leak problem>???

 

[John_K]

Anyone I know who had it fixed in that timeframe had it happen again. Supposedly these days they have improved the gasket design.

John

 

[tmorris1]

If they did it correctly they should have used the revised gaskets. $1500 sounds pretty steep, I had my dealer do it for $550 on our 3.4L van.
It wasn't the Dex-Cool that is the problem, just a [censored] gasket design.

 

[opus1]

$1500...

wow.

I thought $700 for mine in the Malibu was bad, and I got a $200 instant discount from the dealer when I said "this is a known problem with this engine, isn't it?"

Had mine done in 2006, so far so good.

 

[pbm]

The Fel-Pro Problem Solver gasket is the one to use when replacing the IMG on a GM 3.1 or 3.4. I am not sure if the updated GM gasket is metal framed like the Fel-Pro but I don't
think it is. I have read that even with the Fel-Pro it may leak
again after 100-150K. The design is the problem. GM should have changed it as soon as they knew there was a problem. It is one of the main resons GM is going bankrupt IMO. It's another example of accountants making decisions that engineers should make.

 

[Kruse]

Originally Posted By: edwardh1
Do these dealers use revised GM parts and has GM revised the gaskets material or design to stop the dexcool/gasket leak problem>???


I think I posted this in this section earlier, but maybe not. A couple of months ago a co-worker gave me a '98 Monte Carlo with the 3.1 engine. Gave, as in free. He had taken it to a dealer a few years ago to have the intake gaskets replaced and they are now leaking again. He simply wanted to get rid of it because the engine has been a money pit for him. I've ordered some Fel-Pro replacements and I hope to start on it this weekend. At first I wanted to post some pix of all the crud in the cooling system, but I think that has already been done enough by a few posters here.
I also replaced a couple of these when I was a Ford tech. The customers that I had talked to were tired of having GM do it again so they took it to a Ford dealership. I don't know if it was the gaskets or the Dex-Cool's fault, but I'm not going to use either on this car.

 

[Drew99GT]

I believe the newest super duper metal framed GM gasket was not out by 04 (but the Fel Pro Problem Solver kit was), like John K eluded to. So keep an eye on your mom's Buick - it might leak again. Is this a 3.8, or a 3.1L?

 

[sciphi]

If it's a 3.8 the metal framed gaskets have only come out in the past few years. The last 3800's rolling off the line had them, but not many previously. Otherwise it was the same gasket that failed earlier.

 

[Drew99GT]

Originally Posted By: sciphi
If it's a 3.8 the metal framed gaskets have only come out in the past few years. The last 3800's rolling off the line had them, but not many previously. Otherwise it was the same gasket that failed earlier.


And the Series II engines have the stupid weak EGR stovepipe that leaks in the plastic upper manifold. If it's a 3.8, that will need fixing as well.

 

[Shovel Head Ted]

I replaced the gaskets in my Gmc 4.3 with the new felpro ones about two years ago. So far so good. My dealer wanted $1500.00, so I ended up doing it myself for $80.00in parts. The original gaskets were totally desintigrated. The dexcool had partially plugged up one of the coolant passages in the intake. It cleaned out pretty easy. It was almost like it had turned into wax.I chucked the dexcool and installed Amsoil coolant. We will see how it goes.

 

[edwardh1]

you wonder where GMs learning curve and memory was in making engines between 1920 and 1998. They lost all that somewhere.
Maybe it was accountants. They will miss the big pix frequently.

 

[SilverC6]

I own one of the Chevy 3.1's and just recently had the intake gasket repair performed.

GM has a lot of great cars on the roads.

Certainly GM has built a very few problem cars in their history.

But far fewer than Ford and Chrysler.

Let's hope GM survives the current problems with the US economy.

If they don't, we are all doomed. Welcome to the third world guys. I'll have the rice with meat. Thanks Pres. Clinton for NAFTA!!!!!

 

[George7941]

" Thanks Pres. Clinton for NAFTA!!!!! "

This statement is indicative of the mentality that the way to prosperity is to just insulate ourselves from the rest of the world and just pay each other more. We could just have the government legislate doubling of everybodys pay and, voila! we have just doubled our standard of living.

I believe that Canada, and the States, are fully capable of competing with the rest of the world, because of our superior productivity and skills and infrastructure.

 

[daman]

Originally Posted By: tmorris1
If they did it correctly they should have used the revised gaskets.

Yea thats a big IF,alot of times these places just put back in the stock plastic base gasket and call it a day,it will re leak to do it right and only once you need to use Fel-Pro's perma-dry Problem solver gasket is the one of the best,it's a steel base gasket that will not crack or fail over time.

 

[Kruse]

I also think that North America can compete against the world. But once you figure all the extras that North America has to pay for that third world countries ignore, (health care, EPA, regulations, medicare, social security) it makes it hard for North America to compete.
Hit a clothing rack at any store and look at the country of origin labels. How labels say that they are made in USA or Canada?

 

[tmorris1]

Whether or not they were manufactured in Mexico, they were still designed by engineers in the USA that designed a poor intake design.

 

[daman]

Originally Posted By: tmorris1
Whether or not they were manufactured in Mexico, they were still designed by engineers in the USA that designed a poor intake design.

Right,it's the bad designed gaskets that fail, NOT the designe of the engine.

 

[Drew99GT]

Originally Posted By: daman
Originally Posted By: tmorris1
Whether or not they were manufactured in Mexico, they were still designed by engineers in the USA that designed a poor intake design.

Right,it's the bad designed gaskets that fail, NOT the designe of the engine.


It's a combination of a plastic framed gasket, and a lack of fasteners for the intake manifold.

 

[edwardh1]

I always wonder when they make changes why someone does not ask- "whats wrong with last years proven way?
and then you wonder why the "new" stuff is not tested like on the road in real cars.

 

[Propflux01]

i have done the gaskets on mine twice, and still leaks...