Intake gasket fixed by '04?

[Brad_Olson]

I'm looking at a 2004 Grand Am and am concerned about the lower intake manifold gasket. I'll be looking at the car for the first time later today so I don't know if it has the 3100 or the 3400, or whether the Dex-Cool has been flushed and replaced with traditional coolant. The car has 29,000 miles on the odometer so I'm looking at owning it for many years and miles if I buy it.

I did some checking on the Web and it seems that the lawsuits and general complaints cover the 1995-2003 span but I figure it can't hurt to ask if '04 models are susceptible to the problem as well. My '95 Lumina (3100) hasn't had the problem but my '01 Impala (3400) has.

Regardless of whether or not it's an issue, if I buy this Grand Am a flush and fill with the green stuff will happen right away.

Thanks!

Brad

[IsaacHayes]

It's low mileage enough that the motor should be in good shape. It still has the plastic gaskets though, which I do not trust. The metal felpro ones are what I put on cars when they need them.

[19Cutlass94]

The 3400 that I bought ( also from a GA ) had plastic gaskets in it. I rebuilt it and used the felpro metal gaskets.

[geldartb]

they fixed it 03 when they started using the plastic gaskets with the metal tabs around the outer holes.

[IsaacHayes]

Eh, fixed one aspect of it. Won't crush from over torqing when they put it on... Plastic can still warp out of place and then the silicone port seals moves and leaks..

[SappySE107]

Is that all they did? I thought they actually got metal in 05.

[IsaacHayes]

Nooope.

[SappySE107]

Well thats freakin lame.

[IsaacHayes]

The 3500 isn't full metal either.... so it wouldn't make sense if the 3400 was. Felpro will have those out soon though!

The 3500 upper is, but who cares about the upper! :P

[talon2swords]

I know this is a 60 degree forum, but in addition to my two 3.1L cars, I have a 2002 S-10 with the 4.3L 90 degree engine.

I am thinking it too has an infamous plastic intake manifold gasket. I will be getting the dex cool outta it when I can get to it, but I don't know how long that thing is gonna last. Anyone here know if they go out too on the 4.3L like they do on the 60 degree engines?

[tractorman]

Yes, they do. My dad's '99 s-10 blazer developed an external leak from the plastic intake gaskets. I don't know if they can put coolant in the oil like in the 60-degree V6... but they can definitely leak.

Plastic gaskets or not, I'd lose the Dexcool ASAP. I prefer G-05, which is what both Ford and Mopar use... but just about anything is better than Dexcool.

[geldartb]

in all regards i had one with the metal tabs develop the famous leak after 10k miles which in turn took the bearings with it, and this was with me driving normal back and forth to work.
by the time the low coolant light came on and the time i found the sticky icky in my valve cover it had already done the damage. plus for some unforeseen reason i had oil in my antifreeze too.
oh well i got a brand new engine in the end. mmm i love finding engines that have 300 miles on them. now i gotta get the trans to go with it.

i can say for damn sure when the cam goes in im goin metal on the gasket.

[19Cutlass94]

Its not the dexcool that leads to the failure of intake gaskets. I was running prestone anti-freeze with distilled water and mine went after about 80k miles.

when I built my 3400... I used the felpro metal gasket. It is a very nice design!

[ssdurango]

Are the plastic gaskets re-usable?

My friend has a 99 Grand-am with a 3400 and the lower intake gaskets are leaking. He wants to take the lower intake gaskets from an other engine that is has a cracked block. He just put the intake gaskets in this cracked engine thinking it would be the fix. I told him it's a bad idea. Is he doomed or what?? (They are the plastic gaskets BTW)

Thanks,
Tom

[geldartb]

how would intake gaskets fix a cracked block.

oh and dude slow down when you type it makes things easier to understand