Do GM dealers intake gasket fixes work?

[onion]

Originally Posted By: benjamming
Originally Posted By: onion
They also revised the bolt torque spec and have come out with some new pre-locktited bolts that they'll happily sell you for $4 PER BOLT (or you can just clean up your old bolts and squirt a little locktite on them).


The torque values that came with my Fel-Pro problem solver kit had the same torque values as my '94 factory service manual. What torque value are you using?

What "flavor" Loctite?


I use the torque specs that come with the gasket set. I should revise my previous post to say that *I've been told* that torque specs have been revised for the new GM gaskets- I've never actually installed the GM version or verified that the specs have changed. I always use the Felpro 'problem saver' gasket set, which includes a paper with Felpro's recommended specs. \

It's just a matter of preference, but I use red loctite. Don't remember the number. I imagine that blue would work ok, too. Just don't use green. I've seen bolts snap when trying to remove them after green loctite was applied.

 

[George7941]

Originally Posted By: SilverC6
Originally Posted By: George7941
" Thanks Pres. Clinton for NAFTA!!!!! "

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.


The US and Canadian workers pose no problem to each other. These labor markets have already equalized in the past.

The problem occurs when you introduce a third world economy like Mexico into this labor supply.

From economics, disparate labor markets producing to a single market will equalize in the long run.

For the US and Canadian worker, this means a greatly reduced wage. For the Mexican worker, it means an improved wage.

In the short run, maybe a generation or two, jobs relocate to the lesser labor market. That's what we are seeing right now.

When the markets finally stabilize, it will not be at a "living wage" for workers in the US and Canada. The US and Canadian standard of living that we currently enjoy will necessarily be reduced.

40 years ago, US and Canadian workers competed with the world with with machinery and advanced technology. Today, multinational corporations are busily exporting our coveted technology to emerging labor markets like China and Mexico. We no longer possess the advantages we had in the 1960's.

The Japanese are protectionists. It seems to be working just fine for them.

My apologies to the OP for being so far off-topic.



Emerging markets now have the same technology that we do. Can we do anything about it? Can we close off our universities to students from third world countries so that they do not learn about current technologies? And, even if we did that, do you think the universities in India and Brazil and China will not eventually develop these technologies anyway? It is a fact of life that the Western countries no longer have the technological advantages that they once had and we will have to adjust accordingly.

Protectionism has not worked too well for Japan in the last couple of decades. Protectionism did not work for India from 1947, when the country gained its independence from Britain, till th early nineties. Its economy stagnated until its markets were opened up and then its economy really took off. Protectionism, like Socialism, works for a while but eventually it will always fail.

The Canadian Auto Workers are now being forced to give up spa days (yes, spa days were actually in their contract), free tuition for their dependents, some of their very generous paid vacation, free legal fees etc. etc. These were unsubstainable in the long run anyway and they had to go.

The UAW bears responsibility for GM now being primarily a health care provider and secondarily a automobile manufacturer. I have no sympathy for the UAW/CAW. For the individual worker, yes, but they also bear responsibility for having supported their Union in its outrageous demands.

 

[occupant]

A friend of mine finally retired her 1990 Trans Sport minivan with 300K on it (she calls it The Leper, because stuff keeps falling off, plastic cladding, door handles, mirrors, badges, etc). She got a 2001 Montana with this 3400 engine and the first thing I told her to do was get the coolant flushed and make sure the cooling system isn't all sludged up. According to her, the intake gasket repair was performed in 2006 and there is green coolant in there, no mud that she or her husband can see in the usual suspect places. I hope it was done right. She had such a horrible time with the '90 all these years (she bought it back in '92) that I'd hate to see her have another lemon.

Good news is for $300 I can have The Leper. You have to get in through the hatchback and out through the driver's door. All other inside and outside handles are broken and none of the windows roll down. The AC works great, though. I'll have to change out some door handles when/if I get it and see about picking up two more of those modular seats (two of them broke through the years). It has other interesting electrical issues. The LOW FUEL light is on regardless of fuel gauge reading. The speedometer does not work but the odometer does. The radio only works on the right side speakers. The power door locks lock but don't unlock. And finally, the windshield wipers only work after hitting the wiper motor with a rubber mallet. Hooray for 90s GM tech!

 

[KilgoreBass]

Originally Posted By: onion
The "new-style" 3100/3400 lower intake gaskets from GM are still plastic-framed, but they've added some metal inserts that prevent excessive crush, and I THINK they also changed the seal bead material. They also revised the bolt torque spec and have come out with some new pre-locktited bolts that they'll happily sell you for $4 PER BOLT (or you can just clean up your old bolts and squirt a little locktite on them). IMO, it's a marginal improvement over the original design, but doesn't address the main problem: The gaskets are still PLASTIC. Don't know what kind of rocket scientists they have running that operation... but they've apparently overlooked a problem that your average high-school kid could've pointed out.

Or perhaps they didn't 'overlook' it. Those gaskets often (but certainly not 'always') hold together for roughly 100k miles... maybe even a little more. Then they promptly fall apart and quite possibly ruin the engine if the problem isn't caught in time. It's a pretty good design if planned obsolescence is the goal- i.e. if they want to sell you another car/engine after 120k miles.


Its a pretty BAD design when a person like me, a lifetime GM owner, with $3500 in GM card earnings, still turns their back on GM during their next vehicle purchase.....

Gee, I wonder why GM is now headed towards bankruptcy??

 

[pbm]

Originally Posted By: KilgoreBass

Its a pretty BAD design when a person like me, a lifetime GM owner, with $3500 in GM card earnings, still turns their back on GM during their next vehicle purchase.....

Gee, I wonder why GM is now headed towards bankruptcy??


I also have a lot of GM earnings (>$4000) but probably won't use them. GM committed suicide with their poor gasket designs and stubborn refusal to walk away from Dexcool. It's really a shame since GM makes excellent A/T's, a/c systems, brake systems etc... Too many owners were left with a bad taste when their anti-freeze and oil started to mix due to BAD ENGINEERING.

 

[edwardh1]

Do the intake manifold leaks occur usually externally , so you can see them with a flashlight or is it an internal type leak??

 

[Drew99GT]

They leak both internally and externally. If they leak externally, you can usually see seepage and a puddle under the thermostat housing. My Grand Am 3.4L had a puddle under there.