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Chevy truck intake manifold gasket leaking? Pics

B

Big 86

Member
I would appreciate thoughts and opinions from the mechanics on the board.

Pulled the spark plugs on my 97 Chevy truck (Vortec 350) and found a possible intake manifold gasket leak. Truck was loosing coolant and it looks like there is an external leak on the front of the intake manifold, but one of the plugs is colored red and I think it is leaking internally also. It doesn't appear to be leaking coolant into the engine oil. Before I spend $$$ on repairs, I would like some thoughts on this. Here are the pics of the spark plugs:

plugpics001.jpg

cyls 2,4,6,8

plugpics002.jpg

clys 1,3,5,7

plugpics004.jpg


plugpics005.jpg


Sorry that my pics aren't the best. The red colored plugs is from cylinder #1. Pretty sure it is burning coolant, and it looks like the intake gasket needs replaced. I know the gasket failures are common on these engines, and I don't think the intake gaskets have been replaced on this engine.

Okay mechanics, what do you make of this?? Thanks for taking the time to read my post, and all opinions and thoughts are welcome.
 
Your intake gasket has failed and is most likely sucking it to the intake port on cyl 1. Remove and replace the intake maifold gaskets asap before she goes completly and you have bigger problems. That is a very straight forward job and can be done in a few hours. If you do it yourself make sure the gasket mating surfaces are CLEAN CLEAN CLEAN. Torque the intake properly (most common problem with new gasket failures) and use a QUALITY gasket sealer to seal up the front and back of the intake. If you have any questions while you have it apart you can e-mail me. Have fun!
 
Bottom line is, the OP needs to fix it, and NOW.

Use the latest updated gasket from Fel-Pro, or you will be doing it AGAIN (and AGAIN)!
 
Use the felpro gasket kit, it is pretty much the standard when replacing the intake gaskets on the 350 vortec motors. Do it once and do it right.
 
When coolant gets into a cylinder it steam cleans everything , plugs are very clean ..unless you have enough to cause missfire .
 
Ive noticed on Chevys a lot of times the bolts are loose on the intake.I would say put a new intake gasket on after you get it all clean,torque it down,and run it until it gets to operating temperature and then retorque it.Also when you have it off,after you clean all of the old gasket off of it,set the intake on and look at the area where it seals and see if its even or more to the top or something.I read about where if the heads were surfaced the intake might need to be too.This is a case where you might want to use some sealer.
 
I've rebuilt a few 327s, and 350s, but never a Vortec. Is it still common practice to center punch the block at each end of the valley so the rubber gaskets will hold better?
 
If yuo have the plastic intake plenum warpage is a known problem. I just had mine replaced after 125,000 miles. Check the intake for warpage.
 
I did mine twice I enjoyed it so much.

The second time I ditched the torque wrench and snugged it down by hand.

You know it's leaking. Fix it.
 
The OEM-style plastic gaskets with silicon rubber inserts contain hard plastic or metal "blocks" around each of the 8 bolts, so that is what you are snugging down. Torque is (IIRC) only 11 foot pounds.

The improved (Fel-Pro) gaskets are a multi-layer steel and sort of rubber sheeting and FIX the problem, for GOOD.
 
We have had to change out the intake gaskets on two Vortecs... Lots of work...
The Felpro gasket is the way to go and ditch the crappy orange coolant (Dexcool) and go back to green (Prestone, etc.) and your gaskets will last....

denny-o
 
Theres nothing wrong with Dexcool. They put it in the Duramax and they don't have lots of cooling system issues. Ford has used it, so has Chrysler and Caterpillar. It was simply a lousy gasket design (plastic). Use or specify that the shop uses Fel Pro gaskets.
 
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