Lower Intake Manifold Gasket 3.4L V6 GM 03 Alero

[James]

Someone has offered to repair it for a really low price, and said they are fully licensed with a fully loaded shop.

They are warning of possible issues with the Heads warping(car has never been overheated), and them needing to be machined. I know this would make the bill even more, and I feel like this is not the right.

“The engine might just explode if the heads are warped, and the work would be pointless. You should consider finding a low KM engine to replace”

The engine runs like a freaking champ, and the only issue that I currently see is leaking from the lower intake manifold just over the transmission(known issue).

Any advice would be helpful.

Topic

[Its me]

Get a second opinion.

However, if I think that that something may go wrong when I am going to do something, the best thing to do is exactly what he is telling you…. Let the owner know how bad things can be…

Things can get worse, and he is trying to manage expectations for you to make an informed decision. How would you feel if he went in to work and told you it was going to be triple the cost and never warned you….

The tech may be telling you want you NEED to hear, not what you WANT to hear…. Whether he is being honest and trustworthy is the part you need to decide.

Good luck..

-Karl

[Richard Kirshy]

JMHO here:
I did a lower and upper intake on a 2001 Monte Carlo 3400 in October.
Just before doing the work, I suggested to my brother that we pull the heads considering that it would only take an additional 20 minutes of work.
In doing so, we were able to inspect and clean the heads and block to ensure that there wasn’t any issues with warping.
Knowing that the engine never overheated was a good sign that the chances of anything being warped was minimal, but we double checked the block and heads just in case.
We did take comfort in replacing the head gaskets ( which are know to cause issue(s) as well ) and head bolts.
Also we did manage to internally clean up a bunch of gunk that was built up on the heads, pistons and cooling jacket.
The car has been running like a top since the upper rebuild.

My take away from your situation is this:
possible issues with the Heads warping
If they are warped, they need to be serviced.
If they are not, your looking at the cost of a set of head gaskets and head bolts. (which may be a good thing to replace considering the factory gaskets are a known sore spot )

That is unless your mechanic in one who insists on machining heads no matter what the condition.
In which case that is something you need to discuss with him.

[Justin]

When I worked for GM very rarely did we have a set of heads that were warped. The job pays good money though, and as a tech good money can be made after you have done a few.

But that said, like nightflyr stated your only another half an hour to removing the heads for a piece of mind. And at best your only out a few more dollars for head bolts and gaskets. It could save you some headache down the road if they really are warped.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[James]

I know these cars to be faulty on the intake gaskets. I have heard here and there of head gasket issues yet have not seen that in a car that has not been over heated. Are you running warmer than usual, losing coolant or any other signs of a bad head. Due a leak down test, compression test or liquod block test. Best of luck

[James]

I’m reading the thread about Common problems on these engines, and it’s saying that the only reason to do heads/head gaskets are because the engine overheats

We have not overheated the car, so we should not have this issue. Did GM use the same plastic type gaskets on these engines though?

Edit: We are loosing coolant from the lower intake manifold just over the transmission

Second edit: Apparently someone piggy backed off the post on Facebook about asking for people if they needed repairs done, and the person who said that the heads would need machined and should be done is NOT licensed. There was a second person who messaged about it, that IS licensed and he has suggested only fixing what is broken.

Not sure if that helps.

I keep reading that as long as the car has kept cool and has not over-heated. The heads and head gaskets should be fine. That the gaskets and the heads only get damaged when the engine is over heated

[Richard Kirshy]

Your free to do as you please…
But in this case…
You really need to weigh out the time/labor investment
To put it in context here:

To R&R the lower intake gaskests:

You’ll have to remove all the push rods:

Which leaves removing 16 head bolts to remove the heads.
Which BTW, Both can be removed as a single assembly by leaving the exhaust cross over pipe in place.

The choice is yours.
But much like doing a timing belt on many models..
Most decide to replace the water pump, followers and tensioners while in that far.
The thought being “Your that far in to it, may as well.”
Because you’ll need to invest the same time and $$$ to get into the engine to the same point to replace a faulty water pump 6 months down the road.

As I stated:
Your call.
But I know what I would do without thinking twice about it.

Attachments:

• LI.jpg
• Pushrods.jpeg
• HR.jpg
• HA.JPG

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