Intake manifold repair help.

[Kenny D]

I will explain exactly what I did to my intake manifold.
When I went to install the gaskets, even though it said not to, I applied RTV around all water ports on the heads and RTV where specified. I used a liberal amount. I applied gaskets after letting the RTV sit for about 5 minutes. Then I put RTV around the water ports on the gasket itself. I let the silicone sit for 5 minutes again then installed the intake. That is probably why I had to do the torque sequence so many times. I was setting the silicone. In the 3 or 4 years after I did this and sold the burb, I never had any other issues with coolant leaking, overheating, or steaming.

EDIT: I had the exact same manifold gaskets as you.

 

[unabashedpraise]

Couple of questions...

Did you put a small bead (4mm) of adhesive between the gasket tab and block at all four corners...



Spec calls for the sealant bead along the block to overlap the top of the intake gasket by 1/2".








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I put some sealant under the gasket up to the tab, but not on top.


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[unabashedpraise]

OK, let's review my symptoms chronologically, without rose colored glasses on.

-oil leak from front of intake
-may have lost coolant internally, really unsure since it was new to me.
- seemed under powered
- no overheating. In fact I always thought the temp seemed low.
- used my Lisle combustion detector, twice. No sign of exhaust gases in coolant.

-plugs:

Then I "repaired" the leaking intake gasket and replaced distributor, plugs, wires, and spider fuel injectors.
Symptoms afterwards were:
- billowing white steam from tailpipe (none previously)
- coolant in oil
- air bubbling in radiator (thought it must have been burping itself)
- no overheating

Replaced intake gasket again and current symptoms are the same as above.

Did a dry compression test which showed cylinder 4 was low, about 130. Wet test showed 135.

Gathering all my Google knowledge and brain power, I have narrowed it down to three probable options. 1- blown head gasket. 2- cracked/warped head. 3- cracked cylinder.

Options?



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[unabashedpraise]

OK, let's review my symptoms chronologically, without rose colored glasses on.

-oil leak from front of intake
-may have lost coolant internally, really unsure since it was new to me.
- seemed under powered
- no overheating. In fact I always thought the tempo seemed low.
-

Then I "repaired" the leaking intake gasket and replaced distributor, plugs, wires, and spider fuel injectors.
Symptoms afterwards were:
- billowing white steam from tailpipe (none previously)
- coolant in oil
- air bubbling in radiator (thought it must have been burping itself)
- no overheating

Replaced intake gasket again and current symptoms are the same as above.

Did a dry compression test which showed cylinder 4 was low, about 130. Wet test showed 135.

Gathering all my Google knowledge and brain power I have narrowed it down to the options. 1- blown head gasket. 2- cracked/warped head. 3- cracked cylinder.

Options?



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[Cattivo]

Sounds to me like a blown head gasket...I had an older Jeep with a blown head gasket and white smoke(steam) would constantly exit through the exhaust along with that nasty smell of antifreeze mixing with the oil.

Easiest way to tell is open the radiator cap first thing in the morning when the engine is cold, start the engine and see if there are any bubbles inside the radiator...if their are, you have a blown head gasket

 

[east302]

The second time you did the intake gasket, did you put the gasket sealer on top of the intake gasket as shown in that diagram a few posts up?

I would think that a blown head gasket would show a zero psi on two adjacent cylinders. There's a test that a shop can do to see if combustion gases are mixed with the coolant. The kit goes on top of the radiator and uses some chemical that changes color if there are gases in the coolant.

Like Cattivo said, another good way to check is to let the engine cool, open the radiator cap, stand back and start it. If coolant overflows out, then that's a head gasket.

Has the truck ever overheated to your knowledge?


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[unabashedpraise]

The second time you did the intake gasket, did you put the gasket sealer on top of the intake gasket as shown in that diagram a few posts up?

I would think that a blown head gasket would show a zero psi on two adjacent cylinders. There's a test that a shop can do to see if combustion gases are mixed with the coolant. The kit goes on top of the radiator and uses some chemical that changes color if there are gases in the coolant.

Like Cattivo said, another good way to check is to let the engine cool, open the radiator cap, stand back and start it. If coolant overflows out, then that's a head gasket.

Has the truck ever overheated to your knowledge?


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To my knowledge it hasn't, but I've only driven it a couple hundred miles.

From what I've read, putting gasket sealer on top of the gasket was before the FEL pro metal and rubber gaskets were used. I did put some a half inch up the the top as directed.

Before I started the repair I checked for combustion gases, twice. Negative results each time.


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[Kenny D]

If you are sure you correctly followed procedure on your intake gasket, then you are looking at a blown head gasket.
The first time I did an intake gasket on my 99, I followed the book word for word and I had a failure and within 20 miles ruined two heads due to overheating. $1200 later and the procedure I stated several posts above, I had 50,000 trouble free miles before trading it in. Good luck.

 

[unabashedpraise]

Pressure test revealed..........??







I need a new radiator. [emoji35]





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[unabashedpraise]

Was at the Wal-Mart buying carb cleaner, when I saw a bottle of k-seal. Figured, why not?!

Started up the burb, waited to make sure a wandering car repair magician didn't happen to stop by and fix it while I was asleep (waited for it to start steaming out the tailpipe), and poured in the k seal. Few minutes later, there was a dramatically reduced amount of steam. Drove it awhile, realized it was missing due to the map sensor being unplugged. Drove it some more. No smoke. No leaks.

Going to check it again in the morning...

https://www.kseal.com/products/k-seal



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