How common is it to find an intake manifold that is warped on a tpi car?

I have a couple differnt arrows that are pointing me in this direction with my car.

1 - Low/unsteady vacuum (it's at around 17", the engine is internally stock, and trust me I have looked for leaks elsewhere.)

2 - When I pulled my old engine it had oil in multiple intake ports on the heads. Looks as if it was coming from the manifold, but just as easily could of been from the intake to head gasket.

Is # 2 a sign of a warped intake? The 'old engine' used to overheat on the regular, couldn't this warp a manifold? My only concern is that I don't seem to be leaking any coolent.

Has anyone run into this before or just have any thoughts on the topic?

Thanks in advance!

 

How was the contact pattern on the intake gaskets? That might lend some clues.

Another source could be the intake bolts.

 

Waaaaaaay back, when my dealer was still taking care of my car, I had an overheating problem. At first, they attributed it to my fan relay being burned out. But replacing that didn't solve the problem. I was right back with overheating problems.

I'm like, yeah, the relay burned out cause the fans are on all the time. But why are they on all the time? Well, it supposedly turned out to be because my manifold was warped, and coolant was leaking into my block, or something like that. They supposedly "machined" my manifold.

Whatever they did, it cured the problem.

 

Thanks for the replies...

Unfourtuantly I threw out the gaskets without giving them much, if any, attention.

Would this be a source for a leak or a source for clues? Unless the manifold bolt holes in the head extend into the intake port (they don't do they?) I don't see how this could cause a leak. Would you expand on this for me.

I believe this would be evident in the oil, and mine looks fine now and before I switched engines (I had the same symptoms before and after the swap, which I think narrows down the possible culprits a bit).

My next question was going to be with regards to this. You can machine a warped manifold back to true? How much $? Also, if I pull this manifold off, would it be obvious by inspection with a straight edge that it either is or isn't warped?

Damn, I ask a lot of questions...

 

I wish I could help more than I have. I was mainly confirming your question that this can happen.

I knew NOTHING about engines back then(as if I know anything now, lol), so their explanation went right over my head. It was filled with a lot of typical dealer-gobblety-gook, so I just kind of accepted it and was happy that my car was fixed.

So as far as what was leaking into what, and what they did to repair it, I can't tell you exactly. Sorry.

But it was this kind of "suspect" thing and lack of understanding those long, complicated, full-of-bull explanations of "expensive" problems that made me learn to work on my own cars. I just couldn't take it anymore.

But like I said, it solved the problem, so apparently machining a warped manifold is possible. But it probably also depends on the degree of warping. It's probably best to check with a shop that you trust.