Well I just found out that I have to replace my intake manifold gasket. It is leaking oil out the rear.about a quart in 2000 miles. They told me that it would cost $300 to get it replaced. Is this something I can do myself? I've never taken my engine apart like that before and it sure looks like alot of stuff to take off to get to it. Can someone tell me the steps I need to take to get the things like Plenum, runners and stuff off....thanks

Also what else can I do after I get all that off....

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wishmister@yahoo.com

1987 White IROC-Z
305 TPI LB9
700-R4 auto tranny
87,000 miles
Very Clean car
Performance Resource Chip
Flowmaster Muffler
Throttle Body Coolant bypass
TPIP air Foil
K&N's
Gutted air box
Accel 8.0 plug wires
Moroso Super Coil
Blue Streak Cap and Rotor
AC Delco Rapidfire plugs
Mobil 1 15/50 Synthetic motor oil
Mobil 1 synthetic Trans fluid.

 

it's not that bad a job, but it does involve removing the distributor. that seems to give some people lot of trouble when it's time to go back together. look at your repair manual to get a better idea of waht all has to be done, look at your engine. and the best bet is to find a friend to help you out.

 

you have to take off your plenum, runners fuel rails , distributor and then up comes the intake.. it will take you about 10 hours if you never did it before and a variety of extensions and bits..
its really not hard at all, just time consuming for the first time.
if you have the time do it yourself..
the gaskets cost 20$ use rtv blue silicone on the back and front of the intake. if you have any questions you can email me,, i did it like 3 times.

 

Im so glad this board is back up, you guys help alot...anymore input,please feel free.........thanks

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wishmister@yahoo.com

1987 White IROC-Z
305 TPI LB9
700-R4 auto tranny
87,000 miles
Very Clean car
Performance Resource Chip
Flowmaster Muffler
Throttle Body Coolant bypass
TPIP air Foil
K&N's
Gutted air box
Accel 8.0 plug wires
Moroso Super Coil
Blue Streak Cap and Rotor
AC Delco Rapidfire plugs
Mobil 1 15/50 Synthetic motor oil
Mobil 1 synthetic Trans fluid.

 

I recently put a new intake on my Z and it wasn't so bad. With some basic knowledge and a lot of time marking wires, it can be quite painless. I was petrified of removing the distributor and that wasn't bad either. Just make sure you are at TDC (top dead center), mark your firewall and pull it. If you are off by one tooth it is very obvious when you drop it back in.

If you have the time & tools, do it - you'll understand you car alot better!

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92 Z28 - 5.7 - Black/Grey Leather
Macewen White Faced Guages
SLP T-RAM, 24lb/h Injectors
Accell 52mm Throttle Body
SLP 1 3/4" Headers and Cat Back Sys.

 

If you do decide to do this yourself, your first step needs to be to start making certain you are familiar with the way all the wires, connectors, cables and vacuum lines are run to the various points on the motor. As you start to disconnect these, the best thing to do is get yourself a roll of duct tape and use it to write a label on each item you disconnect. Write down where it goes, or number them and put an identical number on the point where it was connected.

If you have a polaroid camera, it would also be a very useful thing to take some shots of the motor before you start unhooking things. You can't believe how helpful that will be when you get to the point where you're trying to button the whole assembly back together and can't remember which vacuum line went under the runners, and which cable went over them.

 

Just be happy you didn't leak coolent into the oil like mine did.

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Kevin S
10.9 @ 62.87 (1/8 mile)
89 RS 2.8(bored .030)
B&M shift Improver
B&M Mega Shifter
Perma Cool trans cooler
Accel Wires,
Ignition module,
Super coil
Streetrunner chip(for now)
Flowmaster
1.52 Roller rockers

Things You Will Never Hear a Man Say....

Damn, too bad this car isn't a four cylinder.

[This message has been edited by Kevin S (edited September 11, 2000).]

 

Wishmaster -- before going to the trouble of pulling the intake manifold, do yourself a favor and actually verify the oil leak ISN'T coming from the distributor shaft. Shoot some degreaser around the base of the shaft, then start the engine, shine a flashlight back there and watch to see if oil seeps out. My wife took one of our two 3rd Gens to a garage to have them check a serious oil leak from the top rear of the engine. They told her the rear intake seal was blown, $400 was their estimate to fix it. So I got ready to get my hands dirty pulling it myself. Luckily, a friend who used to work at a Chevy dealer stopped by and said it's quite rare for intake seals to develop leaks -- 99% of leaks in that area are caused by a distributor shaft o-ring that has hardened over the years and cracked. Sure enough, he was right and it only took a couple hours to pull the distributor, pop in some new parts, a cheap o-ring and retime it. Bingo -- no leak!


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Duck_Hawaii
Mint87IROC-Z5.7

 

Funny you should ask, my intake is sitting on my back porch even as I write this. Same thing, I think it was leaking.

I have TBI so all that runner/plenum work was nothing for me :-). Three bolts...

But once you get that all off, it's not too bad. Mostly it's just a matter of not forgetting where you got bolts and nuts from. I actually have 1 nut I'm not positive where it came from. Hopefully it will be obvious when I go to reassemble the thing. The hardest part for me (well, most work anyway) was cleaning the damn mating surfaces. The surfaces on the heads mainly. There is old gasket and oil and everything caked on and it took me probably two hours with sandpaper to get it all cleaned up (I used 220 grit, it worked OK, a little slow but I didn't want to abrade the metal too much).

Oh and when the instructions say drain cooling system, they MEAN it! I siphoned out coolant until I thought the level was below the intake... WRONG! So I'll be changing my oil ASAP when I'm done. I wound up dumping coolant into the top of the engine... I don't think I leaked MUCH, maybe a cup or so, but I'll still be having the oil changed immediately. In fact I may do it myself rather than driving the car anywhere with junk in the oil.

Oh also, you will get a ton of crap in the oil. I avoided the worst of it by taking a hand-towel-sized rag and laying it on top of the pushrods and pushing it tight all around the edges, so most of the junk would fall onto the rag instead of down into the oil passages. I then crumpled up shop towels (those tough blue paper towels) and stuffed them into the intake, exhaust, and water passages in the heads, so I would get as little crap as possible into the passages when cleaning the surface.

Good luck! I could probably have finished mine in a single day but I was also doing some other stuff. Since you have TPI I would plan on spending a weekend on it.

 

Drain the coolant from the radiator first, when that is done, unplug the engine block plugs and a ton more coolant will come out and be below the intake manifold level. These plugs (both sides of block) are about midway on the block and one side usually has the knock sensor in it. This way you will not get coolant in the oil.

I recommend changing the oil/filter anyway just in case you get some bits 'o stuff in the oil... Cheap insurance!