Thread: Intake manifold & Water pump help

I have a 2000 GT with ~140k miles on it. I really like this car and I'm happy with it overall, but I'm posting all the issues I have in hopes I can get help, so it might sound like I'm complaining, but I'm asking for help.

I live in an apartment and I don't own any tools, so I took it to a dealer to have them change the oil & do the recall work. They told me that their mechanic observed antifreeze leaking from the water pump and lower intake manifold.

I know my car is leaking antifreeze and using some oil and I also have observed when I'm idling that I can smell exhaust (not sure if that's related or not) and every once in awhile it will idle like it's missing (maybe a spark plug issue?). Finally, I also observe the car whines really high-pitched when it accelerates. (That could be just how the car is made however, nobody else has remarked that it's sounding strange).

The dealer told me they will do the lower intake manifold for $600-$1000 parts and labor and the water pump for ~$400 parts and labor. They suggested that they do a diagnostic ($65) to make sure of what repairs I need. I looked up the repairs in Alldata and it looks like the intake manifolds are pretty involved compared to the water pump. I called a couple other shops and they said their prices are similar.

I realize a dealer may charge a higher price for repairs than a "local mechanic" but I don't have a mechanic that I trust, so I am okay paying a little more for that peace of mind, but I don't want to throw my money away.

My understanding is that if the water pump is leaking my drive belt can get eaten up by the coolant and I need to keep buying coolant to replace the leakage. I believe the intake issue may cause coolant to get into my engine which would be a larger issue, so I'm thinking I should just get both issues take care of.

My girlfriend's father has a garage and some tools and he said he would be willing to help me with the waterpump, but we looked at a Hanes manual and it looks like you need to remove the power steering pump and I don't know if that is a big deal or not. This is my only car, so if I took him up on his offer, I'd want to make sure we could complete the repair in a single day. I think the intake manifold is beyond the scope of what I am capable of at this point, especially only having the one car in case something takes longer or goes wrong.

If anyone can offer me any feedback, knowledge or suggestions, that would be great. Even just telling me these issues are typical and just take it to the dealer would be great, I just would like to get any more information before I decide to lay down a thousand dollars or more in repairs.

So maybe I can do the water pump, but the intake manifold sounds a bit daunting - maybe it's because I don't have the skills and experience the others on this forum seem to have.

If I had my own tools and garage and a second car or truck that would be one thing, since I am borrowing someone else's tools and space and they don't live within walking distance, I'm leaning towards doing the water pump myself maybe and having them do the LIM.

Is there a good way to check to see if the upper, lower or both manifolds are the problem and if the water pump is the problem? The dealer said they will do a diagnostic on it, but I'd feel a lot better if I could know what to look for.

It was suggested to me to fill the coolant, drive around and then put newspaper down on the ground where I park it and see if I can see leaks from the water pump with the newspaper.

If you can link pictures that would be most helpful as I'm very limited in car repair skills.

Thank you.