Thought I was just having COP problems... Bought a box of COP's and new plugs, dropped her off at the mech for what I thought was a $200 & 3 hour job & I'd have her back this afternoon...

Mech calls me a few min. ago and says my intake is leaking, and that's what's causing the plugs to foul...

Quotes me $1100, says they will have to pull the top off and put a new gasket on... Gaskets arent that much, so unless they are replacing the whole intake, rekon where that other $1000 is coming from b/c surely it isnt all labor.... ?????

Truck is in signature.

 

intake gaskets only cost $40.

take a weekend and change it yourself. it isnt hard at all.

 

pulling the whole top off isnt that hard? What all has to come off? Air intake, throttle body, injector rails? Injectors?

 

look at my how to in the supercharger section.

 

yeah I dont have the time or space or tools to undertake that...

 

the only things you need is a tool set and fuel filter removal tool.

a little wrenching to save $1060 is worth it.

but back to the subject, how is a intake leak causing plugs to foul? your truck should be idleing like crap.

 

Yes it idles and runs like crap... like it's only hitting on 4 cyl's.

He said the intake gasket was leaking and letting fuel into the cylinders. Fouling the plugs. Then he added the coolant would need to be drained and replaced to get the gas out of the system. I just know enough about motors to be dangerous, but Im no mechanic. Use to always do my own work but that slacked when I sold my 93 w/ the 5.0 and went to he 97, and even more so now w/ this one. That 93 was easy to work on. Maybe I shoulda kept the dern thing lol

I have fuel filter removal tools, as well as plenty of hand tools.

 

and i have all the gaskets you need

 

ive heard of taking engine start and spraying it along the gasket, if the engine rpm's increase, then you have a leak.

the biggest thing you would need is a wrench to take off the EGR tube on the drivers side manifold. i think it is 1 1/8" or close to that.

 

this cant be right, the injectors are controlled by the computer, they dont just spray fuel everywhere. also, the injectors are above the gasket and spray directly down on the valve to mix with air.

you would be loosing coolant if gas was in the coolant system, which i dont see how it is possible. the closest places that the injectors and coolant passagers are together is on the #1 and #8 cylinders.

and the only place that coolant flows into the intake manifold is on the front, by the #1 and #5 cylinders. where that metal crossover is that holds the thermostat and the exit to the heater core on the passenger side.

 

could the intake itself be leaking somewhere other than the gasket?

He kept saying "the intake is leaking." and "that's what's casuing your problems, jsut replacing the plugs/COP's wont solve the misfire issue, b/c after a while these new ones will end up fouled as well."

I Said the intake or the intake gasket? And he said "yeah the intake gasket"

So I dunno.... I can only regurgitate what he said on the phone. I'm going to get him to point it out better for me when I pick it up this afternoon and take it home until I can figure out what to do, either fix it myself or find someone who will do it for a little less.

 

the manifold could have cracked, but i doubt it.

take some motor start with you. if he points to a spot, get it out of your truck and spray that spot, it will rev up if its leaking.

if you decide to do it yourself, change the plugs too while you are at it. might want to replace or clean the IAC too!

have you checked all your vacuum lines to make sure they arent leaking?

 

I have new COP's and Plugs sitting in the back seat lol, already had the parts for him to replace them.

I had a leaky vac line a few weeks ago, had a hole in it. I replaced it. I didnt see any others that looked bad. I called myself checking that hose again to make sure it was ok (the new one) while I had the hood up replacing the #2 COP on friday (thought I just had a Bad COP on #2, turns out was not the problem)

The guy at autozone hooked her up for me on friday and she threw

Missfire on #2
Multiple Missfire
Possible MAF malfunction
Possible O2 malfunction
Possible Injector malfunction

 

i cant believe the computer says "possible malfunction" either it is or it isnt

maybe try spraying the #2 area with the engine start fluid.

 

Like Str8 said, thats rediculous ...Tell him to put the COPs and plugs in and get the truck back. The intake gaskets are the last place I would look. If the gasket failed on that side than you would most likely get a #1 misfire as well. Get the truck back with the new COPs and plugs, clear the codes, and if it comes back then go to a different mech. Clean the EGR ports and MAF sensor while you have it.