Leaking coolant

motzmaniac · Post by **motzmaniac** » Wed Feb 20, 2002 8:53 pm

OK, i check previous posts, and it seems that leaking coolant from the intake manifold is a common problem on the 3100. I used stop leak, which worked for several months. Now i come out to find a small puddle in the driveway. Its not reading low coolant yet. I really dont have alot of money, but will do what it takes. Can anyone tell me what can be done. Possibly new gaskets? About how much does that run? Thanks.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Wed Feb 20, 2002 11:55 pm

One person got it done on this board by his mechanic for 400 bucks and he says that's the cheapest price he could find I guess. Look around for some reputable mechanics in your area and see if you can get it done for around 400. I'm also looking around because mine is doing the same thing.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Thu Feb 21, 2002 5:10 pm

got same problem 83000 miles on it leaking intake gasket mech says if your going to rip it down that far change the head gaskets. dont let something else grab ya iam going to atemp to do it this weekend. and use all gm gaskets hey yall i will post degital pics on hear while i do it and will tell yall if its really hard

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Fri Feb 22, 2002 11:55 am

If its GM gaskets that did this maybe you shouldnt all use them again if its just going to happen in 5 years. Unless of course you dont plan on having the car then =)

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Fri Feb 22, 2002 7:24 pm

well what i ment by what i said i bought the last gasket set at pepboys and now iam taking it back apart so for the last post this is why you use factory parts . or napa or felpro so if you dont have a good post dont post at!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Tue Feb 26, 2002 12:50 pm

that is a common problem on all of the GM 60 degree V6's.
If you have some mechanical experience these are not that hard to do at all. just make sure you seal the valley between the heads real good, that is where they leak at. I would'nt recommend changing the head gaskets on it too unless you have a problem with them. One thing you do want to do is change that distributor (where it used to be) O-ring, those tend to leak oil too. You can check and see if GM has revised these gaskets from the originals but I just used Fel-pro and they seemed to work fine. Hope I helped .
-Cory

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Tue Feb 26, 2002 2:13 pm

I agree with cory--I would not change the head gaskets if they are fine. This is a relatively simple but time consuming job. I have done it probably 100 times --did mine and my brothers on his 3.1 beretta--started at 7:30 am and was done both cars by noon--it should realistically take about 3-4 hrs for someone who has not done it yet--piece of advice--use the drak grey silicone to seal the sides of the intake where there is no metal gasket and don't be stingy with it. I used fel pro on my car and that was 7 years ago--still no leak. just don't use the silicone on the actual gaskets--just the side rails of the block that the intake seals to--use weatherstrip adhesive ( a few dabs ) to hold the gasket in place.

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