My IROC's been leaking a little coolant off and on for months now, but just two days ago it turned into a waterfall, so I took it into a shop here. They said it is a bad intake manifold gasket which I heard is a common place for coolant to leak. Anyways, they are charging me $415 for parts and labor. Does this sound reasonable? I know it is possible to do it yourself, despite a lot of monkey-work taking the intake off, but I don't have the time to do it.

 

for that money i would definitely try it myself first!!!

should take no more than a day, with hand tools..

i never had to change one yet..

 

for that money buy a new intake and put it on yourself and save 200+ dollars

 

I agree. For that much money, you are better off doing the work yourself. When I did mine for the first time, I think I only spent about $50 for the gasket set and some rtv. It also took me 2 days to do it because it was my first time doing that repair and I didn't want to screw anything up. It's pretty straight forward but I do recommend you get a timing light. It makes checking and adjusting the timing much easier after you reinstall the distributor. You might as well replace the distributor gasket as well. So, save your money and do the work yourself and you'll have a better appreciation for the inner workings of your car. Good luck and if you have any problems, just post them here and I'm sure people here would be more than happy to guide you.

Rene
91 RS 305

 

The FelPro gasket kit for TPI engines is only like 20 bucks and it comes with all the gaskets you will need. Even the distributor gasket. And yeah do get a timing light so you can adjust the timing. I've done this twice on two different cars already and it's no biggie. Make some time and try it out yourself first!

 

Thanx guys.
If all else fails, i got a 10% off coupon they sent me in the mail.