Need help! Might buy 96 Century Wagon with 3100 V6 -- need pointers!

[MerkurManPaul]

I am looking at purchasing a 1996 Buick Century Wagon with the 3100 Series V6. It has 106k miles on the clock and looks to be in very nice condition. My big concern here are the infamous intake manifold gaskets.

 

The dealer says he is unsure if the gaskets have ever been changed, but that they are not leaking.

 

I'm going to see the car in-person tomorrow and take it for a test drive. I'm wondering if anyone could give me some advice? Is there any way to tell if the gaskets have been replaced? If there are no leaks with this much mileage, is it likely they have been replaced or never had the leaking issues? What other things can I look at for evidence of problems?

 

Here's the link to the ad if this helps in any way...

 

http://scranton.craigslist.org/ctd/3701598030.html

 

If the car runs and drives well and checks out, I plan on buying this car tomorrow. But I want to make sure I'm not getting myself into problems with this car. I need it to be reliable and ready for work.

 

Thanks everyone!

[95LQ1VERT]

It could be likely they're the originals, we had a 96 cutlass ciera with 60k that had them go out though. Check oil cap for a brown mucas on it and check the coolant and oil levels before and after the test drive.

 

If it does happen to go out IF you purchase it, a few hours time and it could be fixed if you are good with a wrench!

[MerkurManPaul]

Thanks for the advice! Unfortunately I'm not too good working on major jobs like this, so it would probably be off to the mechanic if the IMG's went out.

[alec_b]

Well a mechanic would charge 6-900 to do the job.

 

I would guess at 106k they've been done. I hardly ever see them go longer than 75k, especially if the car still has dexcool in it. A quick check is to bring along a GOOD flashlight and shine it down under the throttle body and down behind the power steering pump. Look for any sign of wetness. Also, you can look at the mating surface between the heads and the lower intake. If the gap is black, it likely has the plastic gaskets. If the gap is silver, it has the updated metal gaskets.

[RobertISaar]

i'm at 204K on the original LIM gaskets in the 95MC.... no dexcool though, just the good old conventional green coolant.

 

that being said, i'm in the minority.

 

keep in mind that there are multiple versions of the crappy plastic LIM gaskets out there, all of them will fail again given enough time, the felpro permadry plus are the metal framed units that will likely outlive the car itself. there may be other metal versions out there, but no one mentions them.

[Crazy K]

that car had deathcool from the factory. I have seen enough circumstantial evidenct that deathcool makes these gaskets fail faster. On my ciera, 95 which has deathcool from the factory, the gaskets were not leaking yet, but were in the final stages of failure at 83,000 miles when bought. by comparison, my 94 sedan was at 165,000 miles when I finally did the intake, and the gaskets looked good.

 

the metal fel-pro gaskets are rubber capped at the ends. take and poke the gasket edge between the intake and head and see if it feels like plastic or rubber. Look under the oil cap for "cream" if present, taste, if sweet, gasket = fail Also watch for "chocolate milkshake" oil meaning the oil is contaminated.