vyper144 Posted January 23, 2012 Report Share Posted January 23, 2012 Hey guys, my names David, I'm from Northern Illinois and I just (finally) acquired a W-Body. My brother said I needed to get on the forums so here I am. I own an 02 Impala LS, it has 136k miles on it. I bought it used at 132k miles and there is only one scratch on it, but it's less than the size of a dime, so the exterior car is in incredible condition. The [heated] leather seats have some wear on it, but that's expected. The overall interior is in excellent condition though. It's got the 3800 motor in it so I'm pretty much set. The only problems I've had in the 2 months I've had it is the catalytic converter collapsed on me, replaced that, and the wipers are stuck in the up position when they're off, most of everywhere I've read says its the metal park tab that's bent, so I'm working on that. The only thing that I cannot stand about GM overall and the car is the stock radio integrates so much, so it was a pain replacing that and spending the money on the component kit to store all the monitors and chimes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xtremerevolution Posted January 23, 2012 Report Share Posted January 23, 2012 Welcome. What's the date stamp on the upper intake manifold on that 3800? They like to crack and leak coolant into the intakes. I usually replace them as a preventative measure. The lower intake manifold gaskets, if plastic, also like to crack. You can tell if they're plastic or metal just by looking at the motor. I can get you some pictures if need be. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vyper144 Posted January 23, 2012 Author Report Share Posted January 23, 2012 Before I bought the car, I had my mechanic check it all out and inspect it. He called out the upper gasket and said it needed to be replaced. I brought the car back to the dealer and had them fix it before I paid for the car. My buddy owns a Lumina that he dropped a 3800 into and told me about the gaskets cracking and leaking too. I don't know if they did the lower though. And yeah, if you could, shoot some pictures my way and I'll check it out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
94 olds vert Posted January 23, 2012 Report Share Posted January 23, 2012 Welcome to the board. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xtremerevolution Posted January 23, 2012 Report Share Posted January 23, 2012 Before I bought the car, I had my mechanic check it all out and inspect it. He called out the upper gasket and said it needed to be replaced. I brought the car back to the dealer and had them fix it before I paid for the car. My buddy owns a Lumina that he dropped a 3800 into and told me about the gaskets cracking and leaking too. I don't know if they did the lower though. And yeah, if you could, shoot some pictures my way and I'll check it out. Its not a gasket, its the entire plastic intake that cracks near the EGR pipe. That upper intake gasket rarely fails. Its the lower intake manifold gasket and the upper intake plenum that can fail. I'll shoot a picture if I get a chance. Here's a plastic gasket and how it failed: http://i619.photobucket.com/albums/tt273/dahepcat/Bonneville/LIM2.jpg And here's what a metal gasket looks like on a car with the lower intake manifold off http://i675.photobucket.com/albums/vv113/bon2k2k/misc1/IMG_8622.jpg Its sandwiched between the lower intake manifold and the cylinder head. Because its fairly thick (1/4" I believe), you can look at your engine right above your valve cover and right below your fuel injectors (which go into the lower intake manifold), and see which gasket you have, whether its metal or plastic. When you have a metal gasket, it will be very obvious. Here's a picture where you can clearly see the metal gasket on the supercharged version of your motor (which uses the same gasket) http://www.nastyz28.com/~madmike/booh/l67-fixed.jpg I've uploaded another image with the metal gasket outlined in red. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Euro Posted January 23, 2012 Report Share Posted January 23, 2012 Oh hey, what's up David!?!?! Welcome to the site, a pretty good time here. Brian and Rich aren't on this one much however. But lots of info, and cool people. You get that downpipe yet?? If not you can have mine when it's off Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vyper144 Posted January 24, 2012 Author Report Share Posted January 24, 2012 Really?! You had a downpipe this entire time! Brian and Rich said you didn't! Yeah, I got a new one already, its probably going on tonight... Any idea what size the bolts are? I want to put some stainless steel bolts on because I know its going to be brutal getting them off... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Euro Posted January 25, 2012 Report Share Posted January 25, 2012 Yeah, it's a 3" from ZZP, but it's catless. Probably why they didn't say anything. But mine won't be coming out for a month or two once we put my headers on Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cully77 Posted January 25, 2012 Report Share Posted January 25, 2012 welcome! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vyper144 Posted January 25, 2012 Author Report Share Posted January 25, 2012 Yeah, it's a 3" from ZZP, but it's catless. Probably why they didn't say anything. But mine won't be coming out for a month or two once we put my headers on Wellllllll, that still would've saved me a bit of money buying it from ZZP, I could've just bought it off you. Oh well, I got a catted downpipe. I probably wouldn't have been doing it til February anyways. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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