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Anyone in the Fox Valley, WI area who works on cars, want to help me out??!



the valve cover gaskets aren't too big of a deal at all, but word of advice, be sure it isn't your intake plenum or lower intake leaking the oil, been there lol, lower intake was kind of a pain in the butt.
 
its physically impossible for the upper intake to leak oil. or the lower intake for that matter.


on a side note if you do have oil in the intake you got bigger fish to fry then vc's. put them on the new used engine you'll need.
 
Did I really just read that? The lower intake most certainly CAN leak oil, the upper intake plenum CAN leak coolant (forgot to specify coolant for upper which can look grimy like oil if leaking down onto lower intake valley) between that and the throttle body. what do you think is under the lower intake? intake bolts down above block and between heads, there's oil in there. Or are the gaskets just for looks :confused: lol I don't mean to be a d*** but that doesn't make any sense.
 


it still cant leak oil, the lim bolt can seep oil and coolant, but still the lim cant leak oil. the upper cant leak oil either, cause theres no oil in it.

and those 2 hidden bolts could cause some oil in the intake, but only near those 2 bolts.


oil in the lifter valley cant leak out the sides either. its not like a oil pan and crank splashing oil all over. it runs down the head drain holes and back to the engine. some will run back down the push rods, thats about it.
 
If I'm not mistaken the entire reason for the end seal gaskets on between the LIM and the block are to keep oil from leaking. The same seals that were leaking oil on my finace's 06 that I replaced. There was oil all over from them, I replaced LIM (and plenum gskt) and there's no more oil leaking now. I don't want to start on the wrong foot here and be argumentative but the lower intake gasket actually can leak oil externally and look similar to an inside corner of the valve cover gaskets leaking. Best thing to do is degrease the area and check daily for any reappearing leaking going on.
 
that whole scenario is only for a n/a engine. dont know how the side gaskets could leak unless they were not installed right or the lim was never put on right or it was warped. its noting more then a slab of rubber. if the lim was messed up or installed wrong is the only way i see that leaking.

and those 2 corner inside lim bolts i suppose they could leak through the corner of the lim, highly unlikely id think tho. as the engine would eat it before it could leak out, gravity you know.

and the lim bolts are in the cooling jackets, so its more coolant leak thats dirty looking cause the engine is dirty. from the leaking valve covers lol
 
Kylie....like Scotty said...I've done some dirty work under my cars hood. It is scary, but you can't mess it up to bad. And I felt pretty good about myself that I could do something most girls wouldn't try. And I saved myself some major coin too. It's worth a shot.

The videos he posted are very good, watch them over and over and over again and you will be able to walk yourself thru it. Just take your time and have all your parts laid out and don't drop any bolts/tools into the engine bay...point of no return, lol.

I did my front VC not to long ago and didn't have to many problems, just fought with a couple bolts. Nothing a few profanities and elbow grease didn't take care of.
I also did my trans fluid and filter.....easy peasy. I'd do that again in a heart beat on a 3800.

Girl Power!! :th_peaceout:
 
The lower intake manifold gasket can most certainly leak to the exterior of the engine. I was actually blessed with both the valve cover leaking in the same area as the LIM. underneath the throttle body on head closest to the firewall. I went and fixed the valve covers just to find out after degreasing the engine I still had a leak. At this point its where I could see the oil coming down from on top of the tranny. The oil was getting through from where your supposed to RTV the corner. It did not look like it was seepage from the bolt but leakage from the heads oil return.
 


Thanks guys and danielle! I wish I could like that comment danielle. I'll have to review and practice or watch videos as I go. If you say I can do it I'll try and do it. I can't get more knowledge on a vehicle unless I actually get hands on work. Sounds like a fair deal. :)
 
I know this is gonna sound dumb but do the 05s not have an oil pan gasket? I can't remember when they changed the pans and just use rvt.
 
Slick2500 said:
I know this is gonna sound dumb but do the 05s not have an oil pan gasket? I can't remember when they changed the pans and just use rvt.
Click to expand...
I'm pretty sure in 04+ it/s a white "engine sealant" used in place of a gasket. it dries stronger than regular old rtv. more like a jb weld of sorts without the agression of actually using jb weld
 
its more 04.5+

only late production 04's had the alum pan and GM grey rtv sealant instead of the older windage tray/pan gasket.

ive pulled a steel pan/PM rod L32 from a 1/04 production date. and a steel pan cast rod L67/32 from a 10/03

some 04's were built in 12/02 as the pre production/test cars

change your valve cover gaskets.
if your boyfriend is worth anything he should be helping teach you
 


the front one is easy. the back one is a bit more involved but the front one just warmed you up for more.

the only thing you may have trouble with is the belt removal, i dont know how strong you are but its a strong spring you need to push on. im 6'6 and 250 lbs, and i use a 12 inch pipe on my ratchet for extra leverage. getting it back on is where this is really needed cause you'll have to hold it longer as you slip the belt in place.

so long pipe will make life easy no matter who you are lol
 
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