Intake manifold gaskets

[3taps]

Are the intake manifold gaskets reuseable? I just had the 60k completed along with new plugs wires, valve cover gaskets, water pump etc. spent over $1600.00 upon leaving the shop, the check engine light came on. went back, checked codes. 02sensor lean. reset computer. light came on again. was told that sometimes oil from the plug wells get into the combustion chamber causing the 02 sensors to act up drive it for awhile see what happens. Light has come on again once but goes off after shutting off the car. Also the vehicle is running hotter than before the 60k. Well all that for my simple question, Is the intake manifold reuseable? I was told they are and thats what they did to my car to save me money?

 

[cRaZySHO.]

It all depends on the condition of the gaskets. Sometimes they will be fine, other times they could tear or rip. You should have really asked the mechanics if you could look at them before re-using them.

 

[rangerj]

3taps,

The intake manifold gaskets can be reusable if the black coating on the gaskets surface is not chipped off, or otherwise broken.

However, you have a lean mixture situation as indicated by your o2 sensor, and the fact that you are running hotter than usual.

The shop that did the 60K work for you for $1600, should replace your intake gaskets for no more than the cost of the gaskets.

They were negligent. $1600 for a 60K should have included ALL gaskets. What else didn't they replace?

Your car should have never left their shop as it is! Their story is pure BS. They are either ignorant, or dishonest!

If this is a shop run by honorable people they will correct the problem they created for free, or at the maximum the cost of the gaskets.

If they will not correct the problem willingly, get the problem corrected somewhere else. I would not give them a second chance to screw me again!

Then tell everyone you know how you got screwed by this shop, and ask them to tell everyione they know. People need to be warned about this kind of shoddy workmanship. Good luck, rangerj

 

[sdpatt]

It could be a vacuum leak at the intake manifold gasket that is causing the lean condition. You didn't mention which O2 sensor was indicating lean. If it is the front bank, it could be a bad fit with the intake on the front three cylinders or the O2 sensor may be reading erroneously and would need to be replaced. If it is the rear bank sensor, there could be a missing vacuum line or a bad fit of the intake manifold on the back three cylinders. Because only one sensor is reading lean, this helps point you in a better direction to resolve the lean condition. If you didn't just have the intake removed, I would have said it was the sensor at fault. The intake manifold gaskets are about $12.50 each (2 required) from several sources, so campared to $1600, that is not too big a savings.

 

[3taps]

The Shop is a well known shop, that knows these vehicles that is the reason I took it there. I recall the code that was kicked out as being 176, and it also kicked out 177. As a side note, yesterday I started the car from cold and held onto the top radiater hose,(the one that the thermostat is connected to) when the stat opened I looked at the temp. gauge and it was on the bottom of the A "NORMAL" the car runs at about the top of the M on the highway, and the fan kicks on at the bottom of the O. the temp goes to the O very quickly when stopped.

 

[rangerj]

3taps,

This is an ammendment to my prior post.

The $1600 you paid is not necessicarily a bad price, depending on what parts were replaced.

However, the symptoms you describe indicate a vacuum leak. We know your intake manifold was removed, and that the gasket was not replaced.

This would lead us to suspect that the gasket is the cause of the vacuum leak.

If there are no other obvious causes of the vacuum leak, such as a vacuum hose that was not connected, or a broken vacuum hose connection, then the gasket would seem to be the most likely cause.

You can check the gasket for a leak by spraying some carb and injector cleaner around the intake manifold where it bolts to the head, that is the gasket area, with the engine running.

Look for the liquid to be "sucked" into the mating surfaces. This would be the area where the gasket surface is leaking.

The mechanic who did the 60K service should never have given you the **** and bull story about the check engine light being triggered by the O2 sensor, because of some oil getting into the cylinders while he did the 60K.

If he honestly believes this, he is not very knowledgable. If he knows better, and is just putting you off, then he is dishonest.

If the O2 sensors were replaced, as recommended for a 60K, then the mechanic had yet another reason to check into the "check engine" light. He should have checked into your complaint in order to determine if he put in a new sensor that was not fuctioning properly.

Having something go wrong immediately after a professional mechanic does work on a car is possible, and even more likely with an older car.

However, the mechanic should be professional about it by looking into the problem, and not just "blow off" the customer!

You need to determine what is wrong before you confront the mechanic. If the mechanic's work is faulty, give him a chance to correct it.

If the problem is not related to the work that was done, then get the problem fixed and go forward. rangerj