My girlfriend recently went to have her oil changed at a local Chevy dealership today. It's a 2002 Monte Carlo, 3400 engine series, about 90,000 on the clock. The engine burns oil quite a bit, I'd say at least 2 quarts per 3,000 miles at least. The coolant has been flushed twice, but has always been more of a brown sludge thanks to Dex-cool.
At any rate, they called her back saying that the intake is leaking, and it will cost just north of $1,000 to fix. A few pictures...
An engine shot of the Monte Carlo...
Shot of the leak, center in picture..
Closer shot of the leak...
The mechanic who changed the oil said that the oil he drained was fine, no sign of coolant, and while not promising anything he thought the problem had just developed recently. The coolant hoses were just changed on her last service, which is right by that area, and nothing was mentioned at that time.
Upon coming home and snapping some pictures, I took this picture of the left side of the engine...
While not as bad as the right side, which the mechanic showed us, it still seems that side could be bad as well.
The question I have for the community, how long is it possible to go before this becomes a serious issue? I have been told these intakes are notorious leakers, and the mechanic agreed with that statement, saying he has seen leaks on cars with much less than 90k on the clock. Ideally, my girlfriend is looking to drive the car over the winter and dump it for something new. It certainly doesn't make sense to dump over $1,000 into it, although having a blown engine is not a great idea either. What do you think, please give your opinion!
At any rate, they called her back saying that the intake is leaking, and it will cost just north of $1,000 to fix. A few pictures...
An engine shot of the Monte Carlo...
![engineshote.jpg](http://img704.imageshack.us/img704/4534/engineshote.jpg)
Shot of the leak, center in picture..
![rightsidefar.jpg](http://img295.imageshack.us/img295/7638/rightsidefar.jpg)
Closer shot of the leak...
![rightsideclose.jpg](http://img521.imageshack.us/img521/9540/rightsideclose.jpg)
The mechanic who changed the oil said that the oil he drained was fine, no sign of coolant, and while not promising anything he thought the problem had just developed recently. The coolant hoses were just changed on her last service, which is right by that area, and nothing was mentioned at that time.
Upon coming home and snapping some pictures, I took this picture of the left side of the engine...
![leftsidel.jpg](http://img808.imageshack.us/img808/5022/leftsidel.jpg)
While not as bad as the right side, which the mechanic showed us, it still seems that side could be bad as well.
The question I have for the community, how long is it possible to go before this becomes a serious issue? I have been told these intakes are notorious leakers, and the mechanic agreed with that statement, saying he has seen leaks on cars with much less than 90k on the clock. Ideally, my girlfriend is looking to drive the car over the winter and dump it for something new. It certainly doesn't make sense to dump over $1,000 into it, although having a blown engine is not a great idea either. What do you think, please give your opinion!
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