General Motor’s intake manifold gaskets have been a major headache for General Motor’s vehicle owners for the last 15 years.
All the problems seemed to have cropped up when General Motor’s switched to the plastic intake manifold to save engine weight and thus improve fuel economy. However, whatever money the consumer saved on fuel has been spent having the intake manifold gaskets and related engine damage repaired, sometimes to the extent of having the entire engine assembly replaced.
What’s The Cause of Intake Manifold Gasket Problems?
The major cause of the problem is the intake manifold gasket cannot be made strong enough to handle the temperature extremes in the engine and the pressures it has contain. In addition, the material the intake manifold itself is not strong enough to be torqued down to the point where it can help support the intake manifold gasket material and increase it’s strength and rigidity.
If the intake manifold is torqued to the point where it can help support the intake manifold gasket material, the intake manifold would seriously warp or crack causing an even more serious problem. Another problem is the aluminum head and the plastic intake manifold expands and contracts differently. This cause even more strain on the intake manifold gasket material.
There was a similar problem with head gaskets with the advent of the aluminum head being mated to a cast iron block. However, in this case modifying the head gasket and increasing the torque on the cylinder head solved this problem to a great extent.
Another Cause of Intake Manifold Gasket Issues?
The use of the Dexcool® type anti-freeze has also contributed to the failure of the intake manifold gasket. The manufacturer had used chemicals in the Dexcool® type anti-freeze that was later shown to be harmful to the material of the intake manifold gaskets and accelerated their degradation.
The manufacturer later claimed the harmful chemicals were removed from the formula making it safe. Regular glycol type anti-freezes and the Dexcool® type anti-freeze were incompatible with each other and the mixing of the two anti-freezes could lead to cooling system and engine failures. Even with a through flushing of the cooling system the Dexcool® type anti-freeze left behind residues that could still, eventually, lead to problems.
Since there was a great demand by General Motor’s vehicle owners to want to switch back to glycol type anti-freezes General Motors came up with a cooling system flush procedure to enable General Motor’s vehicle owners to use the standard glycol anti-freezes.
What’s The Cure for Genreal Motors Inkake Manifold Gasket Problems?
In the last 15 years General Motors has come out with several modified intake manifold gaskets and modified procedures for their installation. To some extent they were successful, but not to the extent that they have solved the problem. Fel-Pro, a leading aftermarket manufacturer of automotive gaskets, has made much more progress in improving their replacement intake manifold gaskets.
While not perfect, they are light years ahead of the replacement gaskets General Motors has to offer. Also they have been working on improving their gaskets coming out with a better one than the previous version every six months or so. So your best bet when it comes time to replace the intake manifold gaskets, the Fel-Pro gaskets would be the better replacement parts.
Do Owners Have Any Recourse?
General Motor’s vehicle owners, in an effort to recover the costs associated in the repairs to their vehicles, have filed a class action lawsuit against General Motors. The matter is still in the courts but until the matter is resolved it would be wise to keep any and all invoices documenting the costs incurred for repairs.
Vincent Ciulla - Vincent Ciulla has been a professional automotive technician for over 35 years and is a certified master technician with experience in ...
