Hey guys, I just took my 88 5.7 to the local Chevrolet dealer to have a oil change and to have a leak looked at. The tech said my intake was leaking oil..(my father works at the dealer by the way)...he said it would be approx. $250 in parts alone...does that sound right? Can the intake be removed as a whole or does the TPI have to be disassembled? Any info will be greatly appreciated.

Drew

$250 in parts ? Yea, that sounds high...

$250 in parts alone!!! mabe to re-build the entire TPI sys, I've never taken a TPI intake off, but I know how it goes togeather, and it would be about $10-$15 for the intake gasket set, and another $10 dolars or so for the upper to lower plenim gaskets, and like $2.50 for the permatex to put on the "china wall", I'd say do it yourself, it would probably take me about 45 min to do, and someone brand new could have it done in 3-4 hrs....just remember to drain the coolent, remember to mark where the rotor is pointing on the distributor cap, and DO NOT use the rubber/cork "china wall" gaskets, on the front and back of the intake, they alaways leak, use a 1/8" bead of permatex insted, and do not put permatex near the intake runners the fuel will eat it away and cause a vacume leak, I uasally overlap the bead on the "china walls" onto the intake gasket by about 1/16" or so and install the rest of the gasket dry, and make sure you put the intake straight down so the gaskets don't slip.

A good place to start, would be to LOOK AT THE MOTOR, before getting all wrapped around the axle over what the tech said.

Is it really leaking oil, or what?

Appreciate the advice guys...sounds like something I could tackle. Yeah its leaking oil...fair amount too

Drew

If the leak is at the back, check the oil pressure sending unit. They're notorious for failing by starting to leak.

Take the car to the quarter car wash. If you have some ramps, take them with you. Stop off at the parts store on the way, and buy a couple of cans of engine cleaner that's diesel fuel in a spray can (the Vato Zone and Advance store brands, or Gunk Engine Bright, for example). Park the car in the bay on the ramps and let it cool down for 10 or 15 minutes, so you don't start a fire by squirting it on the exhaust manifolds, and hose the whole motor off with one whole can of the engine degreaser. Wait another couple of minutes, and dose it again with the second can. Then blast it with Wash. Get it from both above and from underneath; from both sides, from the front, from the rear, basically try to blast off every surface of everything. AVOID SQUIRTING THE DISTRIBUTOR DIRECTLY, and any of the other sensors and connectors like up around the throttle body.

It's a whole lot easier to tell where the leaks are, when you've got a nice clean motor with A SINGLE leak somewhere; as opposed to some funky pile of schmutz that has the funk of 200,000 miles all built up all over it. It's also a whole lot less unpleasant to work on clean stuff, as opposed to the other kind.

You may also find that the valve cover gaskets are leaking; another extremely common situation on these motors.

Why does everyone say that?

They work GREAT if installed correctly. Heck, I've never had a vacuum leak and know I've installed 20 intakes over the years.

Not saying that using just silicone RTV won't work, again, if done correctly - WITH the right RTV....I've seen more intake leaks on other people's cars when they decided to ditch the rubber/cork gaskets if favor of the wrong type of sealer that doesn't play well with oil.