Post links to faqs, parts dealers, whatever. I need help.

Mamadukes car wont hold coolant. It's spraying it out all over the passenger side of the engine......right above the water pump but it's not the water pump. It's comming from right where the lower intake manifold meets the block between where the alternator is and the coils. We thought it was the plastic L shaped tube that's connected to the thermostat i guess. I have no clue what it is. It's the only thing with an electrical plug on it on the passenger side of the intake......

Lets just say i hate this car. It's tried to kill me before. For some reason, the preference settings reset themselves once and pressed the seat (with me in it) as far towards the steering wheel as it will slide.

Thanks in advance.

I've got to put the eclipse back together so it's drivable. So much for leaving it on the jackstands for a little while....

Fucking buick park ave......gross. I told her she should have bought a honda. Atleast i can fix those.....

yikes man.

This task is a FUCKING BITCH AND A HALF! here you go...this is the TSB information from GM.

Engine Oil or Coolant Leak (Install New Intake
Manifold Gasket) # 03-06-01-010B - (10/24/2003)

Engine Oil or Coolant Leak (Install New Intake Manifold Gasket)

2000-2003 Buick Century

2002-2003 Buick Rendezvous

1996 Chevrolet Lumina APV

1997-2003 Chevrolet Venture

1999-2001 Chevrolet Lumina

1999-2003 Chevrolet Malibu, Monte Carlo

2000-2003 Chevrolet Impala

1996-2003 Oldsmobile Silhouette

1999 Oldsmobile Cutlass

1999-2003 Oldsmobile Alero

1996-1999 Pontiac Trans Sport

1999-2003 Pontiac Grand Am, Montana

2000-2003 Pontiac Grand Prix

2001-2003 Pontiac Aztek

with 3.1L or 3.4L V-6 Engine (VINs J, E - RPOs LG8, LA1)

This bulletin is being revised to change the model Information. Please discard Corporate Bulletin Number 03-06-01-O10A (Section 06 - Engine).

Condition

Some owners may comment on an apparent oil or coolant leak. Additionally, the comments may range from spots on the driveway to having to add fluids.

Cause

Intake manifold may be leaking allowing coolant, oil or both to leak from the engine.

Correction







Install a new design intake manifold gasket. The material used in the gasket has been changed in order to improve the sealing qualities of the gasket. When replacing the gasket, the intake manifold bolts must also be replaced and torqued to a revised specification. The new bolts will come with a pre-applied threadlocker on them.

Notice An oil leak may result if the vertical bolts are not tightened before the diagonal bolts.

Diagonal bolts may require a crows foot to tighten.

Tighten

1. Tighten the vertical lower intake manifold bolts (1) to 7 N.m (62 lb in).

2. Tighten the diagonal lower intake manifold bolts (2) to 7 N.m (62 lb in).

3. Tighten the vertical lower intake manifold bolts (1) to 13 N.m (115 lb in).

4. Tighten the diagonal lower intake manifold bolts (2) to 25 N.m (18 lb ft).


matter of fact, mechanic right next to me is working on one right now. Ive been down this road before and I dont want to go down it again. Good luck. If you decide to tackle it, remove the front supports on the motor and ROCK THE MOTOR FORWARD otherwise its going to piss you off for days.


edit:

p.s- fuck that car.

Originally posted by turbo8u
p.s- fuck that car.

Josh is right about the motor and "fuck that car". Common problem with that motor. I've personally done two and it pretty much killed any joy I used to have when working on cars. Ugh. Follow his post.

Originally posted by 2GeclipseRS
Post links to faqs, parts dealers, whatever. I need help. Mamadukes car wont hold coolant. It's spraying it out all over the passenger side of the engine......right above the water pump but it's not the water pump. It's comming from right where the lower intake manifold meets the block between where the alternator is and the coils. We thought it was the plastic L shaped tube that's connected to the thermostat i guess. I have no clue what it is. It's the only thing with an electrical plug on it on the passenger side of the intake...... Lets just say i hate this car. It's tried to kill me before. For some reason, the preference settings reset themselves once and pressed the seat (with me in it) as far towards the steering wheel as it will slide. Thanks in advance. I've got to put the eclipse back together so it's drivable. So much for leaving it on the jackstands for a little while.... Fucking buick park ave......gross. I told her she should have bought a honda. Atleast i can fix those.....

Guaranteed it's a fitting right under the Alternator. It's a 10...15 dollar part and a 10 minute fix...if you have a big easy out. The old is plastic and the replacement is metal.

Good luck.

*edit*

err...maybe not...what year is the park ave?

The intake mani leaks were not very common on the 3800 engines, but more with the 3100 and 3400 series(i've done quite a few at the shop, and they are almost always going to leak past 80-100k miles). The 3800 series has that L shaped coolant connector, that will crack and leak, its a fairly simiple fix and cheap part, just like Kent mentioned..These cause a pretty large leak, while the intake gaskets will leak much more slowly..pretty hard to diagnose without actually looking at it..I really hate GM's lol..I pretty much fix these cars every day, and i'll tell you they do some pretty retarded shit with their cars. Ehh, keeps the economy going i guess! I'd own a Kia over a GM car anyday haha

Originally posted by XtremeRS
The intake mani leaks were not very common on the 3800 engines, but more with the 3100 and 3400 series.

That's what I was thinking as well. I've got a 3800 in my 04 Impala and I've heard great things about the 3800 over any of the other lower GM engines. My girlfriends 01 Grand Am GT (3400 series) blew the intake manifold gasket as well and she had some nice coolant/oil sludge in the crankcase. Cost about 1100 dollars from the dealer to get fixed. That fucking sucked.

Ok fellas. It's leaking where the lower intake manifold (metal) meets the block.

The car wont hold any coolant. It's not leaking from the valve under the alt. That's what i thought it was at first. Nope. It bleeds with the car shut off. I filled up the coolant res to see where the leak was. Well, it's a pretty big leak now. All the coolant runs out even after the car is shut off. ALL OF THE COOLANT!

Fucking gasket is blown to shit. So what we're going to do, since the car is in great shape is rtv over the fucker and sell it for $4k telling the buyer they'll need to get a replacement gasket. The car has more plastic in it than any rice rocket i've ever seen or worked on. Plastic pulleys.....plastic engine parts.....bleh. Motor is garbage and the car tried to kill me with it's stupid comfort presets by pushing my chest into the steering wheel. I hate that thing. I told my mom we should sell it.


My mom is picking up a 1987 acura integra that's been rebuilt and cleaned up. She's paying $1100 for it and the money we get for selling the buick is going back into my 2gnt and the integra. I was looking at the same car on auto trader a while back and passed it up when i found the 2gnt on craigslist. It's sound as a pound. So now i have 2 projects to work on and we can get this stupid gm the fuck out of our driveway.

Yes indeed "fuck that car".

Oh yeah, the park ave is a 1997. Interior is great, exterior is good for it's age. Engine has been shitting on us for a while now. Broken plastic pulleys, fucked up iac, torque converter went out, and now this shit.....