2004 GTP has coolant on top of intake manifold

**p coico** · 01-09-2019

My GP has a puddle of antifreeze on the intake manifold on the front toward the supercharger snoot end (passenger side).
Is this most likely the upper intake manifold gasket leaking ? I have no antifreeze in the oil.
If it is the uim gasket, can that be changed without changing the lower gaskets ?
Do you know of a ggod procedure write-up or video showing how to do this repair ?
Thanks....

**Scottydoggs** · 01-09-2019

pic of puddle? seems more like a coolant elbow is leaking. its right under the snout.

**p coico** · 01-09-2019

Originally Posted by Scottydoggs

pic of puddle? seems more like a coolant elbow is leaking. its right under the snout.

Good point. I will take a closer look. I did replace the elbows a few years ago,, but that is a possible leak point...
Car runs fine. Temp gauge stays in the normal range. I will try to take some photos... Thanks for the feedback!!!

**FriboRage** · 01-09-2019

Is the puddle resting in the pocket in the LIM, behind the valve cover, sort of between the passenger dogbone and the oil fill cap?

Like around where number 4 would be? That’s a pretty common pool that forms when coolant seeps up from that number 4 bolt.

**p coico** · 01-10-2019

Yeah. That looks like the location. The attached photo shows where the leak is on my engine.
What is the fix ? Can a re-torquing of that bolt possibly fix this or does it require LIM gasket replacement ?

**FriboRage** · 01-10-2019

Yep, that’s exactly what I’m talking about.

its probably not a fast leak, I stuck a paper towel in there and soaked it all up once and it took about a month or two to return.

Im pretty sure you’re gunna have a really hard time getting that bolt out with the supercharger still on, if it’s not impossible all together.

If your lim gaskets have never been done (as it seems like they haven’t, given this happening) you should really do them anyway. I let mine go to 150k and when I finally did it they were visibly coming apart. I’m glad I didn’t let it go much longer. It’s honestly not a difficult job to do.

**FriboRage** · 01-10-2019

Edit isn’t working for some reason...

I say “get that bolt out” in my last post because it’s probably not the issue that it’s come loose and needs to be torqued, it’s that it lost its seal. If you want to try, you can attempt to get it out and apply thread sealer, see if that helps, but I doubt it will.

But in the end, even if it does stop that seepage, you’re basically treating your acne while you’ve got an infected gunshot wound. It’s a problem that the gaskets are still failing down there.

**Scottydoggs** · 01-10-2019

the bolt valleys having coolant is the bolts seeping coolant. best to just do a lim job, mos of them bolts wont come out unless the blower is off.

**p coico** · 01-10-2019

Originally Posted by Scottydoggs

the bolt valleys having coolant is the bolts seeping coolant. best to just do a lim job, mos of them bolts wont come out unless the blower is off.

Thanks to both of you. I kind of figured it was either the sealer on the bolt threads or the LIM gasket going. I also have an LT-1 Corvette and those are known to leak along some of the waterpump bolts if the thread sealer goes bad. The GTP has 128K miles on it and the LIM gaskets have not been done yet. It's a great car with only minor other issues, but it runs great. That's what makes it so hard to justify pulling off the whole intake. The leak doesn't even get any coolant on the ground under the car. I do want to take it on a long trip in February, so I guess I should get the parts and get on that job.
Besides the gaskets, what other parts do I need to replace ?
Any pointers on what to do or avoid doing ?
Any good videos showing a GTP being put thru this procedure ?
Thanks again....

**FriboRage** · 01-10-2019

Definitely do the coolant elbow (get the aluminum ones, they won’t break on you like the plastic ones could), spark plugs are real easy while you have the blower off.

I did my lifters while I had the intake off since the lim has to come off to get at them, but most people would probably leave those alone if you’re not having problems.

I did new belts and the idler pulleys, tensioners. New thermostat. You could do the supercharger oil while it’s off, would be super easy. I cleaned up the entire lim while it was off, inside and out. You can clean the outside of the blower case but don’t touch the insides.

Clean up the throttle body and maf while they’re off.

My fuel rail was a biiiiitch to pop out of their holes, take it easy and pry a little bit at a time. Definitely clean out all the gunk around the holes before you disturb them so all that doesn’t fall into the engine when you pull em out. I blew them out with my air compressor.

Just take your time with it, don’t forget the dabs of rtv on the lim corners, don’t forget thread sealer on all the lim bolts, put some oil on the fuel injector orings and coolant elbow o rings so you don’t tear them reinserting... look up the thread on here cause it’s a pretty good guide.

Dump the oil when you’re done BEFORE you start it for the first time, refill it with some cheap stuff, start it and run it for a bit while you bleed the air from the cooling system, then dump and change oil + filter after. It’s likely you’ll spill some coolant down the lifter valley when you take the lim off, so this will help mitigate that.

What I did after I removed the lim was dab it out with some towels to mop any spilled coolant out, then dumped a quart of oil down the valley to wash it down into the pan.

Make sure you get the metal gaskets and not the plastic ones, they come both ways and the plastic ones are the reason we have this issue.

Even though it’s minor on top, it’s probably leaking down into the cylinders, and it could suddenly get worse, potentially into the oil which can be catastrophic.

Sorry for the book, I did a lot of stuff along with that job and I was pretty meticulous about it cause I didn’t wanna have to take it all apart again.

**p coico** · 01-11-2019

THANKS for all the great pointers. I will be doing the repair in the next week or two.
I ordered the UIM and LIM gaskets from RockAuto .... Felpro, metal ones.
I also ordered SP wires, plugs and valve cover gaskets.
I had put the metal coolant elbows in several years ago and will replace those too.
RockAuto has the plastic ones. I can't remember where I got the metal ones last time.
Is that a Dorman part ? And there are two right ? One under the massive support bracket.
I can't recall, but I know I did two..

**Scottydoggs** · 01-11-2019

most lim kits come with new o rings to re use the elbow. when doing a lim you only need to mess with the one you can see under the snout.

if it dont came with new o rings you can always buy some cheap plastic elbows and use the o rings on them.

**FriboRage** · 01-11-2019

You should tag each plug wire as you take it off, which cylinder it came from, then match it up with the same length new one so you’re not scratching your head trying to put them back later.

Maybe think about taking some strategic pictures before you start and at different steps in the process for when you get to that...”uhh, how did this go together again?” stage.

Check the valve cover gaskets before you tear down, they send me the L26/L36 vc gaskets at first which only have 2 U shaped grooves top and bottom, the L32 gaskets have the 5 U shapes grooves on top and 2 on the bottom cause of the different fuel injector placement from NA to SC.

Same for the supercharger gasket, the gen3 is different from gen5, you need gen5 which is like $30-$40. The gen3 one is only like $5.

I got the aluminum elbows from advance auto. They’re like $15.

**Scottydoggs** · 01-11-2019

my wires are clipped together in a flat row, with wire holder things, from the coils all the way to the rear of the engine, they are clipped so they go each plug middle middle, left left, right tight. the fronts are by length, so i can just flop them where i want to and they lay right back where they belong.

**p coico** · 01-12-2019

Originally Posted by Scottydoggs

my wires are clipped together in a flat row, with wire holder things, from the coils all the way to the rear of the engine, they are clipped so they go each plug middle middle, left left, right tight. the fronts are by length, so i can just flop them where i want to and they lay right back where they belong.

Thanks to both of you for all the info. I found the metal elbows on Amazon for $10. I will probably get to the job middle of this coming week.
BTW, both of you have great Avatars !!!!

**FriboRage** · 01-12-2019

Originally Posted by p coico

BTW, both of you have great Avatars !!!!

Thanks, I like mine cause it looks like he’s providing emphasis to whatever I say by pointing at it, lol

**Scottydoggs** · 01-12-2019

i like mine cause its how i really feel 99% of the time......lol

**p coico** · 01-21-2019

Finally got all the gaskets, etc and found the time to start this, tomorrow....
Are there any good procedure write-ups on this or other sites that you know of ? Thanks...

**Scottydoggs** · 01-21-2019

you just skip the lifter part.

**p coico** · 01-22-2019

Thanks for that video link. They are doing the lifters and valve covers too. I only need to do the Lim and uim and the rear valve cover,, I did the front one a couple of years ago and it is not leaking... I also replaced both coolant elbows with the aluminum ones a couple of years ago. And still no leaks on either. So for what I am doing do I have to remove the alternator and bracket or will I have a hard time getting the coolant elbow that goes on to the side of the Lim back on ? I have a new aluminum elbow for there. Can the back valve cover and Lim be removed with the alternator and bracket on the engine ? Should I remove any of the pulleys or the coil pack to do what I need to do ? And finally .... Is there a special tool to remove the fuel line from the fuel rail or should I just relieve the pressure and leave the fuel rail attached to the line and just flip it out of the way ? Thanks guys !!!!! Just trying to disturb as few parts as possible and since you have already been thru this... I few final tips would be a big help! 😀