Thread: tips/tricks. list for upper/lower intake manifold gasket job..

yes you do. you cant get the lower intake off with the upper still on. and the upper gasket seems to fail on the N/A engines.

Or..you plug the coolant ports and run your UIM w/o replacing it.

Originally Posted by BillBoost37

Or..you plug the coolant ports and run your UIM w/o replacing it.

Running this way for over 2 months now. No problems.

If you plug the ports you don't need to replace it. Damaged or not. Unless it's like ridiculously warped or something. The coolant passages that would be leaking if you don't plug the ports can't anymore. They don't have access to coolant flow.
http://www.grandprixforums.net/97-03...ure-60667.html

yeah...^^^ check out that post. It'll show you the biggest problem area

Come to my house and we'll bang it out in an afternoon plugged coolant ports the works. Zip 07748

Don't be impressed until you give them a good test.. BTW, likely you over paid for them. Dorman 47065HP

On the aluminum elbows everyone is hailing them as the end of all elbow problems. I feel differently, mostly because I don't have problems with the plastic ones. I have had a problem or two, once I realized what caused the problem of the elbow becoming a 45 degree angle instead of a 90, the problem never occured again. The most common issue I find is people putting them in and bolting down the tensioner w/o wiggling the elbows and ensuring they are moving or cleaning out the holes before installing. Then Dorman had a bad batch or a few.

Now for a history lesson on elbows and why GM had them specificed to be plastic. In 1995-1999 (Bonneville, PA, Riv, LeSabre 1995-1999, GP, Impala, Monte, Regal 1997-1998) the lower elbow was a cast part of the tensioner assembly. GM later changed that, we ask ourselves why. They did it because mechanics were breaking the tiiming cover where the elbow heads into the cover. This is because the elbow had no give and would get crusted in there. By having no give, the timing cover (thin in that area) gave.

As far as an o-ring leaking. It can sure as heck leak on an aluminum elbow as well as it can leak on a plastic elbow. The o-ring is the same o-ring on either of the two types of elbows.

The 47065HP's are impossible to get at the usual parts stores. I got mine on Amazon, $18.62 shipped and got them in five days.

Dorman 47065HP HVAC Heater Hose Fittings Coolant Elbows GM : Amazon.com : Automotive

Originally Posted by 2004GrandPrixGT1

Anybody ever thought to go directly to GM. I have replaced four or,five sets of these, two on the side of the road. First time I bought the dormans. Then ended up doing another set, this time on my car, and used the GM ones. Been good ever since. The GM ones are made of a stronger plastic so they don't crack as easily. I was thinking about fabricating up some steel ones and welding two pieces together. But my GM ones haven't gone at all. Bill boost you said you solved the problem by a 45 instead of am90. What did you mean by that? A 45 degree plastic one?

^^^^^^F all of this ^^^^^ buy metal gaskets, dont even buy the plastic gaskets, thats just dumb.

i was sleepy and miss understood your post lol

Just seeing the elbow questions pointed to me.
2004 what I'm saying is ..when you install the elbow, specifically the upper elbow. If there is pressure on it, when the engine warms up it'll deform to whatever the pressure on it suggests. Therefore my writeup on installing them suggests you wiggle it to ensure it's not being pushed into a 45 degree angle instead of it's 90 degree original shape.

Chuck.. why would you put anything on a gasket that should be installed dry?

The place to put sealer is where the heads meet the block and LIM