Worried i may have to do it on my silverado. Its a 2003. Has anyone had to do it to thier similar truck. 4.3V6 91000 miles right now. I changed the coolant last year and its a little lower in the tank now. Not a lot like 1/4" lower. How many of you have had problems with this?
How many of you have replaced you Intake Gasket
- Thread starter Realtech214
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Is this one of the engines that had plastic as part of intake gasket and the DexCool would damage it?
If it's the same gasket design as the 2.8/3.1/3.4 v6 then you will have problems. I replaced it on my 97 Grand AM 3.1 with a new design from Felpro (Aluminum with rubber around the coolant ports). Much better design and pretty much eliminates the probability of having to do it again. If you're comfortable working on cars, then it isn't a huge job.
How do I tell which type of gasket was used? I don't know what GM used that year
I did both my 3.8 Gen II Just as preventive maintenance. The new GM gaskets for these engines use aluminum frames instead of the discontinued plastic.
No great shakes, just take your time its a relatively easy job.
I don't know if its the same style gasket on yours but ask a GM pars guy.
No great shakes, just take your time its a relatively easy job.
I don't know if its the same style gasket on yours but ask a GM pars guy.
it's probably not the latest version as I think it came out after 2003. My 98 chevy truck with the 5.7L that I bought new is on it's fourth intake manifold gasket in 126,000 miles.
I just looked at my service records for this truck and the last intake gasket replacement was done in 12/2005 with 90,500 miles on the truck and the second version of the gasket was used. So, I don't even have the most current version in my truck. I guess I can expect mine to leak again at some point. I'm not sure what year the second version like I have came out.
Your 4.3L is just a scaled down version of the 5.7L and I believe your engine got gasket revisions just like the 5.0 and 5.7L.
Wayne
I just looked at my service records for this truck and the last intake gasket replacement was done in 12/2005 with 90,500 miles on the truck and the second version of the gasket was used. So, I don't even have the most current version in my truck. I guess I can expect mine to leak again at some point. I'm not sure what year the second version like I have came out.
Your 4.3L is just a scaled down version of the 5.7L and I believe your engine got gasket revisions just like the 5.0 and 5.7L.
Wayne
Yea i see a Oil film in my coolant tank and I think I know what im doing this weekend
Originally Posted By: Realtech214
Worried i may have to do it on my silverado. Its a 2003. Has anyone had to do it to thier similar truck. 4.3V6 91000 miles right now. I changed the coolant last year and its a little lower in the tank now. Not a lot like 1/4" lower. How many of you have had problems with this?
As stated the 4.3 is a 6 cyl version of the small block V8 and has been a reliable engine .
Not sure what years they had intake gasket problems but with a small drop in the tank like that I wouldn't jump to any conclusions about leakage , I would continue to monitor it and see . By chance has this drop been recently with the cooler temps ?...if so it's likely related to that .
Worried i may have to do it on my silverado. Its a 2003. Has anyone had to do it to thier similar truck. 4.3V6 91000 miles right now. I changed the coolant last year and its a little lower in the tank now. Not a lot like 1/4" lower. How many of you have had problems with this?
As stated the 4.3 is a 6 cyl version of the small block V8 and has been a reliable engine .
Not sure what years they had intake gasket problems but with a small drop in the tank like that I wouldn't jump to any conclusions about leakage , I would continue to monitor it and see . By chance has this drop been recently with the cooler temps ?...if so it's likely related to that .
I just topped off my tank and marked the level w a black marker. Ill check again in a few days
Keep an eye for any small leaks too around hoses , bottom of water pump too . Often with the cooler weather this is when you see some seepage .
Hope it's OK , my old 97 GMC has been a great truck .
Hope it's OK , my old 97 GMC has been a great truck .
If/when you have to do the gasket, use a thin schmear of Hylomar® Universal Blue, especially around the bolt holes. Expensive but worth it.
http://www.hylomarsealant.com/_resources/_html/products.html
Follow torque specs in the service manual as closely as you can.
good luck,
Kevin
http://www.hylomarsealant.com/_resources/_html/products.html
Follow torque specs in the service manual as closely as you can.
good luck,
Kevin
we do a few of them but professionally speaking there are a lot of them with over 250,000 miles trouble free. there were so many built that some were problems but most wee not.
Same engine, different truck. My '98 S10 had it's intake gaskets done at 80K mi. I'm at 164,8XX miles now, so I'm sure I'll be doing it again... soon.
MS98002T is the Fel-Pro number for the steel backed gasket set. Doing this intake is pretty easy. If it comes down to it, I would only use the steel backed set, not the plastic set.
Tip: If you're going to do the job, an easy(er) way to remove it is to leave as much attached to the intake as possible. Leave the up half attached, leave the fuel lines attached to the upper. The ones that I've done have had a second fuel connection at the back of the intake. Take the lines loose there and remove the support bracket bolt from the bellhousing. You should only have to remove the coolant hoses and wire harness. You will have to remove the accessory drive bracket (a cast aluminum piece) to make room for the intake's removal and installation. It also partially obscures a manifold bolt.
Tip: If you're going to do the job, an easy(er) way to remove it is to leave as much attached to the intake as possible. Leave the up half attached, leave the fuel lines attached to the upper. The ones that I've done have had a second fuel connection at the back of the intake. Take the lines loose there and remove the support bracket bolt from the bellhousing. You should only have to remove the coolant hoses and wire harness. You will have to remove the accessory drive bracket (a cast aluminum piece) to make room for the intake's removal and installation. It also partially obscures a manifold bolt.
I changed the LIM gasket on my 1999 Alero with the V6 engine. I am not sure if the 2003 models would have the same issue, since I know it was fixed after a certain year. I was having coolant mix into the engine oil and leaking externally. The external leak was easy enough to find. I could see it with the engine idleing. The parts were cheap enough, and I bought some new tools to do this job as well (special tool to remove rods without removing rockers). It took me 3 weekends with 2 evenings per week after work. Most of that time I was cleaning. Putting everything back together took one weekend, but some of that was me waiting until the RTV to cure enough to put fluids back in (as in putting everything back to gather was relatively easy). I had never attempted anything like that before, so I took my time and took a lot of pictures.
Thinking about sending some of the current fill off to blackstone and see whats going on in there
No never done. Instead I just kept driving my Dodge K-car another ~200,000 miles. I upgraded to Mobil Delvac 1 for extra protection and the engine ran slightly hotter than normal, but it just kept rolling.
But make sure you get a 2nd car so if the current one croaks, you can just junk it and move to car #2.
But make sure you get a 2nd car so if the current one croaks, you can just junk it and move to car #2.
ls1mike
$50 Site Donor 2024
Intake gasket is easy on that. Very similar to any of the V-6, V-8 GM Family.
Is it a Vortec intake or a center spider CPI? Just curious.
I have done them on TBI trucks, TPI Camaros and Corvettes. a couple of 3.1's and Some of my 3800's.
First time might take you about 6 to 8 hours. After that you will bust it out like it is nothing.
They all use a similar gasket. Make sure you get the aluminum framed gasket.
Is it a Vortec intake or a center spider CPI? Just curious.
I have done them on TBI trucks, TPI Camaros and Corvettes. a couple of 3.1's and Some of my 3800's.
First time might take you about 6 to 8 hours. After that you will bust it out like it is nothing.
They all use a similar gasket. Make sure you get the aluminum framed gasket.
Did three GM V6's in the last year. 2 of the 3.4 liter, and one 3.8. First one was on a Chevy Venture minivan. Access was difficult. Other two were on midsize cars, much easier.
Not too difficult for a DIYer with a little experience.
Used FelPro Permadry on all of them. Hopefully will outlast the cars.
Not too difficult for a DIYer with a little experience.
Used FelPro Permadry on all of them. Hopefully will outlast the cars.
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