regalman Posted August 23, 2011 Report Share Posted August 23, 2011 (edited) Lower intake seeping oil, no mix of oil and antifreeze in the crankcase though. I looked at excellent vidoes recommended from here on You Tube, repair looks pretty straight forward. I read that the plastic upper plenum doesnt need replacement maybe as the EGR is mounted differently than the VIN K motors. Is this true? I would like to fix without buying that plenum. Also, can i pull that manifold as one assembly?,not split the upper and lower to get it off? I will replace with good Fel Pro gaskets and also replace those coolant connectors that seem to go bad also. I love my 3800, and knew when I bought it, not to even look at ones with the 3100 This site is great with information for the DIY. You never have to try a repair wihout advice again. As always thanks for the advice on this Edited August 26, 2011 by regalman Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AL Posted August 25, 2011 Report Share Posted August 25, 2011 I dont think the Series 1 3800s had the plastic intake problem that the Series 2 ones did Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BS009 Posted August 26, 2011 Report Share Posted August 26, 2011 You can remove the manifold as one piece and you shouldn't have any issues with your plastic plenum. I've never seen one that leaked oil at the intake manifold but I'm sure it's possible. At least it's better than coolant, actually it's good that you're doing it now before you loose coolant. mine had gouges all around the coolant ports so I ended up replacing the LIM. While you've got it off you might also want to replace the coolant bypass gasket for the piece that is under the throttle body. You can find the gasket on rockauto for like 5 bucks, I couldn't find it at AZ, napa, or Adv auto. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xtremerevolution Posted August 26, 2011 Report Share Posted August 26, 2011 I dont think the Series 1 3800s had the plastic intake problem that the Series 2 ones did They don't have the same problem, but they have been known to warp after a long time. This combined with a stuck thermostat is what killed the L27 in my regal at 212k miles. By 217k miles, the exploded lifer had done enough damage to need a new engine put in. Mine warped right below the thermostat and was leaking coolant around that area. Granted, this was after I put over 200k miles on the engine. You can remove the manifold as one piece and you shouldn't have any issues with your plastic plenum.I've never seen one that leaked oil at the intake manifold but I'm sure it's possible. At least it's better than coolant, actually it's good that you're doing it now before you loose coolant. mine had gouges all around the coolant ports so I ended up replacing the LIM. While you've got it off you might also want to replace the coolant bypass gasket for the piece that is under the throttle body. You can find the gasket on rockauto for like 5 bucks, I couldn't find it at AZ, napa, or Adv auto. The LIM gaskets on the L27s last a pretty long time. I remember replacing mine at 183k miles and it still looked like it could give another 25k miles easily. It wasn't even leaking; I just wanted to replace it preventatively. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
regalman Posted August 26, 2011 Author Report Share Posted August 26, 2011 Thanks Guys, I appreciate your inputs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oilpatch197 Posted August 27, 2011 Report Share Posted August 27, 2011 When did the Series 1 changed to plastic intake? Mine is Aluminum.... and are they interchangable? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BS009 Posted August 27, 2011 Report Share Posted August 27, 2011 93 was the first year for the plastic plenum. Even though everything bolts together, they're not interchangeable because the plastic one has an EGR port built into it; the L27's with the aluminum UIM don't even have EGR. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xtremerevolution Posted August 27, 2011 Report Share Posted August 27, 2011 What he said. So long as you don't overheat the engine, you should be fine for quite a while. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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