GM Intake Manifold Repair Kit.

[JohnBrowning]

I found a company that makes a repair kit for they 3.1,3.4 and 3.8 leaking upper intake manifold. The name of the company that makes it is Ken-Co. It is a really simple fix but they only sell to jobbers! It saves alot of time and money. If you google the companys name it will show the kit. I thought I would share this.

When I replace my upper intake manifold and replace my lower intake manifold gaskets I am going to take photos the inside. I am also going to get a sample of the oil to send out. I am woundering how much of a coolant isue this is!

 

[sbc350gearhead]

I would like to see the pics.

 

[JohnBrowning]

I do not know! I am not useing it. I already ordered the upper intake manifold from Doorman so I am going to fix it the old fashioned way. I will be replaceing the lower intake gaskets just to make sure. I do not have a leaking lower just my upper is leaking!

The GM TSB wants you to replace the upper and lower. GM has redesigned the lower to replicate much the same fix as the kit provides. The upper always has to be replaced due to errosion of the nylon and glass material.

The Doorman after market upper intake manifold has been designed to allow you to reuse the lower intake. Doorman has reinforced that failure prone areas and made other modifactions to try to prevent future failures. I was able to purchase the Doorman upper intake manifold from Northen Auto Parts for $123.00 and ithas all the gaskets you need to do the upper are included. I ordered the lower gasket kit, egr gasket and a fuel injector o-ring kit. I picked up various sealants,locking compaounds and a bag of Real bit ritzs crakers all parts totaled equal $220.00 out the door!

I should pick up a new belt and two rad. hoses but I wanted to do the check book first!

I will probably have to send the pictures to someone on the site to post for me. I am not to good at that type of thing!

 

[Drew99GT]

Looks like a great product! Don't you still have to replace the lower intake gasket though, as that is where the internal leakage of coolent directly into the lifter valley occurs?

 

[Drew99GT]

Looks like a great product! Don't you still have to replace the lower intake gasket though, as that is where the internal leakage of coolent directly into the lifter valley occurs?

 

[got boost?]

what is the doorman intake kit?

 

[JohnBrowning]

THe kit is made by Ken-Co. It allows you to reuse your old damaged upper and lower intake manifold on 3.1,3.4,3.8 GM V6 engines. It adds a sleave to the lower and a steeped sleve top the upper.

Doorman is a company that makes among other things upper intake manifolds. Doorman has improved on the OEM upper intake manifold fixing all of the failure prone areas(thicker walls)! Because they have redesigned the upper intake manifold you can simply use their upper in place of the OEM upper and do not need to replace the lower. The Doorman upper is $123.00. THe OEM upper is $295.00 and if you replace with the new OEM upper you also need to replace the lower at $270-$300 because the redesigned OEM upper will not work with the exsisting lower.

The new OEM lower gaskets are graphite and teflon to try to prevent damage caused by instalation of the lower(friction). The after market Felpro design is a crushable plastic with their orange sealant on the sealing edges around the intake ports and water jacket ports.

Round this all out with a revised torque sequence and white high temp thread sealant on all repeat all bolts and you should not have any leak issues. Their are other little o-rings and seal that are also in the lower kit that you should replace!

 

[doitmyself]

About 6 months ago, a lemon law lawyer in Ann Arbor, MI told me there was a chance that a class action lawsuit might be filed regarding this very common GM engine defect.

Has anyone here heard about this?