3.1 intake replacement questions?

[Fishinguy40]

I plan on replacing the lower intake manifold gasket on my wife's 2000 Malibu this weekend, 3.1 liter.

I notice that GM sells a kit, gasket and new bolts with loctite already on them. Is this necessary? Is there an issue with the original bolts? If I buy a gasket kit from O'Reilly or another chain will it include the new bolts?

Any other tips or suggestions for doing this job? I'll be using Alldata for reference.

[Jeremy airjer W]

The bolts are not necessary and the only difference is the new bolts will have lock tite on them. Clean off the old bolts and put the lock tite on them and you good to go.

Get the fel-pro kit. It should have the lower steel/rubber gaskets, upper gaskets, valve cover gaskets, by-pass o-ring (the tube that goes into the water pump housing), distributor drive o-ring (its leaking! replace it since its a lot easier to do with the lower intake off!!)

Here's the optional parts

*T-stat - a lot easier to do with the intake on the bench

*heater pipe to intake o-ring (dealer only) its the pipe that goes into the lower intake near the t-stat housing.

*EGR gaskets

*Injector o-rings (just the ones that seal the injectors into the lower intake

*Volkswagen/Audi grey RTV - Use this in the lower intake valley between the two gaskets. This stuff will work a thousand times better than the stuff in the box and well worth the expense! Make sure you put a little dab under the intake gaskets in all four corners where the head meets the block.

*Get the Rocker arm tool from Lisle - Its $20 well spent. It will allow you to remove the pushrods without having to loosen the bolts. A huge time saver!!!!!

That should be about it.

[Fishinguy40]

Great advice airjer, thanks!

Just a couple more questions...

The Volkswagen/Audi grey RTV ...never heard of it. Can you get this at any auto store or is it something to get at a VW dealer?

Get the Rocker arm tool from Lisle ...where?

[Jeremy airjer W]

VW dealer is correct!

Anybody that sells lisle tools (part#48500). Tools and more, possibly sears, Any MAC/Snap-on/Matco/Cornwell dealer (if you see them at a shop feel free to stop in).

Do you have a good inch pound torque wrench?

[Fishinguy40]

I did find the push rod removal tool #48500...it's amazing and scary, what you can find on the internet.

I do have access to a variety of torque wrenches, including inch pound, at work.

Thanks again.

[Jeremy airjer W]

Sounds like your all set, Let us know how it went!!

Send me an email and I'll get you my cell phone number in case have any questions while your replacing it.

[email protected]

[Fishinguy40]

I did get the job done. Sorry it took so long to update this but been busy.

I started it on a Friday afternoon and finished Sunday afternoon. Took me awhile but for the most part it went smooth. Only a couple glitches. When I took the upper manifold off I had to clean all the dog food up. That's right, I said dog food. A couple years ago I cleaned a bunch of dog food from under the insulation on the hood. You could hear it rattle and tumble when you opened the hood. Seems the mice liked to get underneath between the upper and lower manifolds and hide food there. Luckily all I found was old dog food and no damage. Cleaned it real well before I pulled the injectors so nothing fell down inside.

The special tool for the rocker arms wasn't so special. It broke on the first rocker arm. It wasn't a Lisle tool but from car kwest. The welds weren't very good. I ended up using a large pair of channel locks to remove the rest and that worked pretty good, while my wife returned the broken one. The replacement one worked fine.

I had to take the upper manifold off after putting it back on. Seems an o-ring fell on the floor during disassenbly. So when I turned the key to start the fuel pump gas sprayed out across the garage.....ooops!

Before I started I took pictures from every angle so I would get the wiring harness' routed properly on assembly. When I was done I only had one wire clip left over....LOL. Not bad for me!

Other than that everything went good...no leaks yet.

[Scott K]

Mice do seem to love making their homes under intakes of engines. I am glad it worked out for you, see this mechanic stuff is easy, isn't it?

[Jeremy airjer W]

You could have left the fuel lines attached to the fuel rail and just swing the whole assembly out of the way.

when you've done enough of them you'll be able to get 2 done in an eight hour shift.

[Fishinguy40]

when you've done enough of them you'll be able to get 2 done in an eight hour shift.

When I had to pull the upper intake the second time to fix the fuel leak it went FAST