Brian P Posted June 19, 2006 Report Share Posted June 19, 2006 So last night I serviced the '02 GP SE 3100 v6 that my sister drives. I put in Delco Iridiums, new wires, cleaned the TB and IAC, flushed the radiator, replaced some interior pieces, and aimed the headlights. Would you believe I just on a whim took my flashlight to check if the intake gaskets were leaking (particularly under the TB) and they, lo and behold, are seeping externally! :willynilly: :willynilly: So with 75k this car needs intake gaskets. I am just thoroughly amazed that these gaskets were NOT recalled by GM. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
R Dubya Posted June 19, 2006 Report Share Posted June 19, 2006 It is a bit of a surprise, but then again we aren't talking about Toyota here or something of the like. You would shit your pants at how many of those intakes/head jobs I sold at my job at the dealer. I swear in my 9 months doing the parts tech counter I handed out at least 100 if not more for 3.1s, 3.4s, and even the 3.8s. The worst part is that they really didnt improve on them a whole lot and still are prone to failure. I wouldn't be the least bit surprised to find that the Felpro gaskets are not only cheaper but superiorly designed to GM's. Good luck its a fun job if you know what you're doing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian P Posted June 19, 2006 Author Report Share Posted June 19, 2006 yeah at my old job at the service department, I was a part timer, working about 15-25 hrs per week, and I usually would take in an average of one per week. The new GM gaskets seem good, but I am tempted to try the new metal felpro's this time. Being an '02 it still was built with the OLD style gasket. I also wouldn't be surprised if the problems were more caused by overtorquing the intake manifold bolts at the factory. This car would make it the third time I've done this job on family vehicles, and oh, #8 including other jobs I've done, at work or on the side. The good thing is this car has more space between the rear of the engine and the firewall, vs my car. Made the tuneup a lot easier to say the least. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
R Dubya Posted June 19, 2006 Report Share Posted June 19, 2006 yeah the new GM part is metal impregnated, but I think they were to begin with, but either way they still fail. Kind of disheartening. My Blazer always leaked coolant, from the water pump then I fixed it, from the intakes, then I fixed it. I think the heater core was the next to go I could smell it but didn't lost more than the expansion tank over 3 months. Still a pain in the ass, I hate that feeling. There was no way I was changing that heater core though. No way! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GnatGoSplat Posted June 19, 2006 Report Share Posted June 19, 2006 Funny thing is I've never had problems with GM's old paper(?) intake gaskets that they used on the old 2.8/3.1. Every car I've had with the plastic+rubber intake gaskets (okay, both of them) have had leaking problems. A LOT of people blame Dex-cool for this, but I think every 92-95 3.4 DOHC has the same intake gasket leaks and those were factory-filled with conventional green coolant. What's the difference with the newer style gaskets? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
THe_DeTAiL3R Posted June 19, 2006 Report Share Posted June 19, 2006 I changed mine at 140k and they were TOAST. The car has never had dexcool... it's definatly not the coolant causing the problems. The ones I replaced it with looked identical to the ones that failed... I hope those bastards didn't sell me old ones. Although I see them do soooo many intake (and HG on the 3.4s) that I would think all the old ones would have been used up by now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
patgizz Posted June 19, 2006 Report Share Posted June 19, 2006 i always use the felpro replacements... never had problems there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
turby Posted June 19, 2006 Report Share Posted June 19, 2006 There was no way I was changing that heater core though. No way! Believe me, be glad you didn't try. I did the one in firefighters jimmy before he sold it. The guys at GM that design this crap should be shot. Although, it was a tad easier since one of the previous owners tried doing it and smashed everything plastic under the dash. Must've got a little frustrated. What a mess the heater box was. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian P Posted June 19, 2006 Author Report Share Posted June 19, 2006 Yeah the paper gaskets are pretty much fine, much lesser failure rate. A mechanic at my old job did a Blazer heater core, I think it was around 7 hours labor. Everything came out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
R Dubya Posted June 20, 2006 Report Share Posted June 20, 2006 We had a 03 or 04 Sierra with the 8100 in it in for heater core R&R and it was booked at 20 hours or something like that. The entire interior of the truck came out, dash and everything. That must be a bitch. Turby- when I changed the engine in my truck I backflushed the heater core and a lot of shit came out. It always bubbled and and gurgled on acceleration, and it was impossible to get the air out. They (GM) make some sort of additive for those trucks, they had a lot of problems with inneffective heater cores and and sludge. Those engines get so dirty, something with the aluminum and the dexcool, maybe the sugar in it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GnatGoSplat Posted June 20, 2006 Report Share Posted June 20, 2006 We had a 03 or 04 Sierra with the 8100 in it in for heater core R&R and it was booked at 20 hours or something like that. The entire interior of the truck came out, dash and everything. That must be a bitch. Actually, those are the among the easiest vehicles to pull the dash out of. 20-hours is pretty generous. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RJansen658 Posted June 20, 2006 Report Share Posted June 20, 2006 Fel-Pro's version of the gasket is supposed to be completely redesigned. Actually it is at its second revision. I am a Mechanic, and all we ever use is fel-pro. The absolute worst, garbage gasket you can every buy is a victor-reinz. The fel-pro website used to have articles about it, detailing all the thermal expansion specs vs. old and new desing...its gone now.... but heres this article: http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m3102/is_6_124/ai_n14890677 it covers all the 3.1L and 3.4L Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
R Dubya Posted June 20, 2006 Report Share Posted June 20, 2006 We had a 03 or 04 Sierra with the 8100 in it in for heater core R&R and it was booked at 20 hours or something like that. The entire interior of the truck came out, dash and everything. That must be a bitch. Actually, those are the among the easiest vehicles to pull the dash out of. 20-hours is pretty generous. Something about those trucks with the 8100, it was a very involved job and it was in the shop for 2 full days and then out by noon on the third. Really big job from what I remember. It was completely gutted in the interior in order to get it out. The only thing the left in was the rear seats. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian P Posted June 26, 2006 Author Report Share Posted June 26, 2006 Well I ordered a set of intake gaskets from rockauto.com, I got the redesigned FelPro's. Just having to deal with this, at a relatively low mileage, you know what, I didn't even want to give GM more money for their "revised" design when if anything this should have been addressed LONG ago. $66 for the steel FelPro gaskets. I was going to work on the car yesterday but the driver of this car is ignorant and decides to run errands with it in the morning thru the middle of the day. Yeah, like I'll work on a hot engine. So assuming the gasket doesn't leak coolant into the engine before the driver finds a *convenient* time to give me the car for the day, I'll be doing that a later day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian P Posted July 23, 2006 Author Report Share Posted July 23, 2006 Went ahead and did the job last saturday. The gaskets aren't visibly bad, but the one's leaking at the rear head's coolant port. I also changed both valve cover gaskets, cleaned the shit out of the lower intake ports, upper plenum, hot tanked the valve covers. From start to finish, including torquing everything to spec, refilling and bleeding the cooling system, and changing the oil, almost 5 hours. I just checked everything over tonight and it's doing great. Coolant was at the top of the radiator neck for the first time in a while (cold) I went ahead and serviced the tranny tonight too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
THe_DeTAiL3R Posted July 23, 2006 Report Share Posted July 23, 2006 Those the new Fel-pro gaskets? Damn... side by side they sure look a hell of alot better inside the engine! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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