The week my GM 3.8L intake gasket finally let go

I got a 2002 Buick LeSabre with the 3800 Series II last year, thought I scored a deal. Last Tuesday I smelled coolant after a 20 minute drive to work in Phoenix. By Thursday the temp gauge was spiking at a stoplight and I saw that puddle of green under the passenger side. Turns out the plastic intake manifold gasket had been slowly failing for months, common issue on these. Anyone else deal with that plastic crap or find a fix that actually holds up past 60k miles?

2 comments

2 Comments

wright.michael10d ago

That plastic intake manifold is a known time bomb on the 3.8L, you're not alone there. The fix that actually works is swapping to the Dorman aluminum intake manifold, it replaces that crappy plastic with metal and solves the problem for good. Just make sure you use the updated metal gaskets with the new manifold and you won't have to worry about it again.

noran2110d ago

Known time bomb," huh? Guess that makes me the defusal expert after the third one cracked.