Fix It Right! – Intake Manifold Gasket Replacement
Fix It Right! – Intake Manifold Gasket Replacement (S1E4) Demonstrated on a 2004 Buick Century 3.1L V6 FWD. In this video, we demonstrate how to perform an intake manifold gasket replacement on a front-wheel-drive 3.1L V6 engine, in this case in a 2004 Buick Century. This is a common point of failure on General Motors’ 3.1L, 3.4L, and 3.8L V6 engines, which are used in a large number of passenger cars across most of GM’s model lines. *** DIY POSSIBLE, BUT TOUGH *** This repair task should only be attempted by advanced DIYers. IMPORTANT NOTE: Please read the disclaimer text at the start of the video before attempting anything shown therein. Take your time, take care, and be safe! About the “Fix It Right!” video series: “Fix It Right!” is a series of how-to videos intended to give do-it-yourselfers basic instructions on proper vehicle repair and maintenance. All of our videos show real repairs being performed on real vehicles by real technicians in a real auto shop. (Repairs are filmed and shown with the permission of the vehicles’ owners.) Although there may be more than one way to perform any particular repair (and in many cases there are lots of ways!) we try to focus on the methods that will be safest and most expedient for DIYers with limited access to tooling and equipment. We will also occasionally be showing repair processes that are too complex or dangerous for DIY, or require specialized tooling, expertise, equipment, and/or certifications. Those episodes will …
Changed 3 sets so far (rendezvous, malibu now century). With the Century, I after changing the LIM, I can’t get it to stay running! It back fires thru the intake, and has code for cyl 6 missfire. Could you give me possible answers on why this is? With two previous LIM changes that were successful, I can’t understand where I messed up here. Thank you
yes i notice he didnt use a torque wrench unprofessional i bet 1000 that one will b a come back
We leave it text base so people can pause it while they work. If we explain in via voice you won’t get that option.
YOUR MUSIC MAKE ME CRAZY. WE REALLY JUST PREFER TO HEAR YOU, EXPLANATION, RECOMENDATION,ETC,ETC, NO THAT TERRIBLE MUSIC.
no sealer, the bolts should be installed dry
could by chance it be an intake manifold gasket leak being that GM made those 2004 Chevy Impala’s with plastic gaskets? and thanks so much for your help man really.
Bank 1 Sensor 1, and lean? Can be a bad o2, can be a vacuum leak, most likely a vacuum leak though so check all the vacuum lines.
I drive a Chevy Impala 3.4 engine and I think I have an intake manifol gasket leak. There is no coolant in my oil as of yet but ive been getting hesitation when car is cold and accelerating. When car is heated up the hesitation cease. I have a check engine light which i scanned and its senor 1 bank 1 02 sensor lean. What shall I do? Can I drive it like this? money is an issue.
Incase there is somebody who accidently mixes up the push rods, there are only 2 different sizes and the exhaust is longer than the intake. My question is do you have to put sealant on the lower intake bolts?
Thank so much for the post .It helped me out so much doing the lower intake on my grandmothers 3.1. Once again thanks
alright I’ll start off with a compression test, thanks.
If it inhaled any significant amount of water, e.g., you drove through a deep puddle that sloshed up onto the hood, you may well have bent a rod, and if it cracked the cylinder wall in the process of bending you’ll experience coolant loss. Your best bet is to have someone perform a compression test with a coolant pressure gauge also connected – if the compression doesn’t come up much but the cooling system pressure does, you have a cracked block.
Labor times usually jump up by two to four hours for minivans since it’s much more of a pain to work around having half the engine recessed under a cowl.
As for replacing the head gaskets, that roughly dobles the job so I’d not suggest it unless there are warning signs for head gasket failure (e.g., cooling system pressure increases over time with engine running) or the vehicle was overheated at all before fixing the intake leaks.
We have left out torque checks in the videos since it’s considered a “given” that pretty much every bolt in an engine has a torque spec. We’ll make mention of this in future videos though for the sake of being reasonably complete with what we’re posting.
I recently drove my 3.8L Grand Prix through some very heavy rain, and upon going on the highway I started getting misfires and very rough acceleration. I went out to start my car this morning and all the coolant was gone, and plumes of white smoke were coming out the tailpipe. Also there was a puddle of coolant on the ground but no external leaks around the upper manifold. Do you think this is a manifold issue or a headgasket that failed?
I didn’t see him torque rocker arm’s, did anyone else? or the lower instake, i think its 115 inch pounds or you can crack or bent the new gasket which can cause a crease and a leak later on.
thisn job is easy to do on a car like this, try doing it on a van, aztech, or lumina APV is the worst, and in my opinion your going that deep to do this, replace the head gaskets as well, WITH new head bolts
GM says not to reuse the intake bolts for the 3400s and 3100s.Dorman makes the kit used metal intake gaskets.Also don’t mix up the push rods,they are two differant lengths called long and short.Will bend the valves if put in the wrong spot.
I’m doing this right now and I have the victor reinz kit with the gold rtv but my vehicle was fixed before because of the gm gasket but now I have to replace it for the gold rtv leaking. I plan on using indian head sealant a whole bunch of it do you think that will hold?
Those are good tunes to work to. What’s the mucic playing?? I really like the song towards the middle.
This car’s not even fun to want to work on, let alone fun to work on. If you like and want/need this car that much, and this job needs to be done, you may as well pay somebody. You’ll otherwise annoy yourself to tears.
The mechanic s charging $350 to do the job, which seems fair since over the last 12 years ive spent 10′s of thousands with his family and his boneyard.. Thanks in advance for the comments/help, im gonna have it done next week.
IF ANYONE OWNS A NEW GeNERATION NEON AND THE CAR THROWS A BUNCH OF TRANNY CODES AND WILL MAKE A WHINING SOUND AND WILL MOVE BUT JERK, or will drive in all gears when you start it up.. It needs tranny servicing, you will save potentially thousands of dollars, the car runs like a champ… back to the Monte, im curious to know what are the best seals to use, I believe in preventitive maintinence when possible.
What is the best kind of seal set to use metal ?, Im having my 2002 Monte done, I have a small leak, but this is the engine that was replaced 1200 miles ago and around 3 years ago… I dont ever drive this car but since fuel is so farhhin high, ive been driving it instead of my 2002 Silverado ext. I figured I would spend the money since my 03 neon had a clogged tranny filter stopped driving and the people at the tranny shop were honest and saved me 1300 or so bucks,
Quit being lazy seriously and start going to CD Warehouse take some photos and film where people listen to new releases with the headphones
But in Ottawa, Canada on Clyde though and when you done come back to the internet post that on youtube or flickr for me to see.
I haven’t been there since 2000. I really need to see what it looks like in 2012.
The internet and blackberry is making people lazy to leave the house it’s too hard sorry
Get off your lazyballs hurry up seriously I mean it