So as I pull into my driveway today I see steam coming out of the engine. Pop the hood and see my intake manifold is covered with steaming coolant around the drivers side up front, from near the water neck area all the way back to the distributor area. Only on the drivers side though. So I check all the hoses, everythings good. Check the radiator- EMPTY! So I clean up the intake and refill the radiator with antifreeze/water. Start her up to see if we have a leak- and coolant immedietly starts oozing out of the intake manifold right around the alternator mounting bracket. So I turn it off, clean off the intake check all the bolts. Nothing was loose.

So my question is- do I need a new intake manifold or can I get away with just a gasket? I can't see a hole anywhere, it's leaking from the alternator bracket area. Any recomendations for replacement LG4 intake????

Car is 84 firebird, 5.0 LG4, motor is all factory including intake. Just turned 100k. I replaced the thermostat a few months ago but I don't see how this could be related since the water neck isn't the source of the leak.

Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

I should add that I check the coolant level along with all other fluids at least every week and it was full on last check, as it always is, so I lost all that coolant on a 20 minute drive home from work.

 

If the intake manifold isn't cracked, you'll just need gaskets. I'd pull it off, clean it up and inspect it for cracks. If you don't find any, you're good to go. Get a set of good fel-pro gaskets, some rtv sealant, and some form of gasga-cinch. Put the gasga-cinch around the water jacket ports on the heads and the manifold and but the rtv (a decent bead too) on the front and back of the block on the thin wall (don't use the gaskets that may be provided). Then make sure all the bolts are torqued to spec.

 

ok thanks... todays the day wish me luck...

I may get a used L69 intake manifold, I'm almost certain they bolt up and there's one at the local scrapyard. If not I guess I have a good reason to get a performer rpm.....

 

The L69 manifold should fit, but it just might not look right... In that case I'd go with the performer rpm. I'm always looking for an excuse to replace parts, lol.

 

There's a difference between LG4 & L69 manifolds? Not that I'm aware.

With about 140k miles, my original factory manifold gasket was leaking between the intake & head, but not squirting out. When I went to fix it, I went ahead and put on a ZZ4 crate take-off manifold. If I hadn't had that manifold, I would have gone with a Weiand Action+ (the RPM doesn't have EGR provision).

 

I'm pretty sure the LG4 manifold is much more restrictive, that is one of the differences between the engines. I read that on here somewhere.......

I just replaced the gasket for now, can't really afford a good intake yet (college!!!) and there were no L69's at the local scrapyard.

Wanna hear something funny? There was a tube of silicone gasket maker pinned between the block and the intake, that's what caused the leak. Apparently the previous owner was a terrible mechanic. I mean seriously, how does that happen??!!

 

Wanna hear something funny? There was a tube of silicone gasket maker pinned between the block and the intake, that's what caused the leak. Apparently the previous owner was a terrible mechanic. I mean seriously, how does that happen??!!



i had worse happen i had a 15mm rench left in a cylender when a head was being replaced at a shop... i got a nice fresh 350 with tpi out of it

 

had worse happen i had a 15mm rench left in a cylender when a head was being replaced at a shop... i got a nice fresh 350 with tpi out of it


sorry about note quoteing you
the first time