Intake manifold gasket problem?

[CBurt]

Anyone ever have to change these? I believe mine have finally gone at 165k miles and I'm hoping its this and not a more serious problem like a head...I am getting coolant into my oil with no signs of any overheating. . It also has a sticky lifter under the left bank. I've read that that also happens to be the side of the gaskets that usually goes first. . I haven't tore into it yet, just wondering if anyone has some suggestions or has already done this

 

[ProShoCustoms]

Yeah, I changed them out on my 5.7 Vortec a few weeks ago...actually changed the whole lower portion of the mainfold. Took a couple days work just getting in there and getting everything removed and to where I could get to the manifold, then taking it off, cleaning it up, and putting it back on was several more hours invested in it. Definitely not a light project. I had oil and coolant leaks before, changed all of those gaskets and I don't have a single leak now.

 

[CBurt]

Sweet that's awesome. . I'm hoping that will solve my problem. I need to get the gaskets and then get crackin it apart.. did you need any special tools for this job?

 

[02Beast]

I've had to do my knock sensors and while I was under there I went ahead and got some perma dry fel pro gaskets I would defntly get these over oem :imo: and while your under there you might should one go ahead and get that knock sensor problem you will have to deal with if you haven't already with rtv gasket glue around the plugs and check the sensors while your at it because once you get this gasket job done you won't want to get back in there later. Btw make sure before your taking the intake off and you have to remove the fuel lines don't lose those fucking o rings on your fuel system TRUST ME you'll figure out exactly what I mean if you do hahahaha

 

[ProShoCustoms]

Sweet that's awesome. . I'm hoping that will solve my problem. I need to get the gaskets and then get crackin it apart.. did you need any special tools for this job?

Nope. Just used all typical tools that you have. Mostly a ratchet and socket, fortunately GM made the majority of them the same size. Large flathead screw driver to pry at the manifold, and patience. Lol

 

[2003tahoe]

When we did ours on my dads 05 silverado 5.3 it was easy just need a tool for the fuel the $24 one at autozone worked great or get a highlighter cap thats thin to go in it replace the knock sensors while ur in there the wires looked good on ours but when you touch them they cracked

 

[CBurt]

Ok sounds pretty straight forward. Ill definitely get the knock sensors taken care of as well when I do it, no sense in going in twice. And ill be extra careful not to lose anything haha

 

[bucket]

Intake gaskets won't solve this problem. LS motors have a "dry" intake, there's no coolant flowing from the heads to the intake. When the gaskets go bad (and they do), you just get vacuum leaks that cause driveability issues especially on a cold start.

Coolant in the oil is from something else, perhaps you have an oil cooler in the radiator? If that leaks internally, you get fluids trading places.

And sure it's coolant in the oil, not fuel?

 

[bucket]

Oh wait, is this a 4.3? If so, yes, you need intake gaskets.

 

[2003tahoe]

how did we all miss this lol yea ur hopes are most likely lost since we had the same problem on the 05 and it has castech heads that are prone to cracking we use blue devil head sealant from autozone , no signs of oil 5 months later

 

[CBurt]

Yea its a 4.3 sorry haha. . I'm hoping it isn't a head, but I'm preparing for the worst. . Only one way to find out tho, I need to tear it apart and look

 

[2003tahoe]

On v8s you pull the valve cover to see the battery(castech) emblem but not sure on a v6

 

[CBurt]

I'm hoping to pull the intake next weekend (17-18) and go from there.. if it looks like the gaskets were leaking ill buy new ones (fel-pro) and ill do the knock sensors as well. ..if they don't appear to be the source of my problem then ill have to dig deeper.

 

[02Beast]

Like I said earlier after you change them and you put the plug cover back on go around them once or twice with black rtv gasket glue so you won't ever have to worry about them again

 

[bucket]

Intake gasket failures are extremely common on the 4.3 motors. Look for signs of wetness and general goo at the front of the intake, where it meets the heads. Kinda hard to see when everything is together, but you can see it. When you do pull the intake, make sure you mark the distributor and rotor before you pull it, and also make a mark on the firewall that the rotor points to. That way you can put it back exactly how it was and not have issues.

 

[CBurt]

Intake gasket failures are extremely common on the 4.3 motors. Look for signs of wetness and general goo at the front of the intake, where it meets the heads. Kinda hard to see when everything is together, but you can see it. When you do pull the intake, make sure you mark the distributor and rotor before you pull it, and also make a mark on the firewall that the rotor points to. That way you can put it back exactly how it was and not have issues.

Glad you mentioned that, cause I probly wouldn't have thought of it until it was too late. Andthere will be eenough rtv to do it all. Thanks guys!

 

[CBurt]

So this past weekend I went ahead and did the gaskets. In my haste to get it done I forgot to mark my distributer
Luckily setting the timing on these is pretty straightforward. Also my battery was absolutely fried so ill need a new one. Ill follow up on here as to whether or not the gasket change was a success or not when I get the battery and timing taken care of. . Hopefully everything is good and its not a head gasket or something.