so i just posted about replacing my water pump, turns out it wasnt the water pump that was leaking afterall...its the intake gasket.

after investigating today at the shop, the mechanic and i found the culprit to be the intake gasket. im certainly not about to tear everything on top of the engine off to attempt this repair, and he doesnt wanna do it either. he doesnt make enough money off silly things like this, he does hydraulics/trannies on rigs and stuff. so it makes sense that it wouldnt really be worth his time.

im worried about this one, im figuring that if i take it to any shop its gonna chalk up a few hundred easy on labor costs. the car and i have treated each other very well since i got it 2 years ago. but shes old, and i fear that this may be the beginning of the end...you know, where it starts to nickel and dime :want:

152k miles and id really hate to see this thing leave me. has anybody had the intake gasket replaced on their 4.5? im hoping this wont be any more than say $300

Why not do it yourself. It is a very straightforward repair that is easy to do and requires no special tools. The only real hitch to the job is taking the rocker arm assemblies off to remove the pushrods to allow the intake to be removed but that is pretty easy also. Take the complete rocker arm support bar off as one piece by removing the 5 large nuts in sequence gradtually that hold it down onto the cylinder head bolt studs.

If it is an external leak only...have you been dosing the system with the coolant supplement pellets..?? If the leak is a minor leak the coolant supplement should stop the leak very effectively. Try a fresh dose of them to stem the leak until you get around to doing the gaskets.

Had the same thing happen on my 87. Cost me 537 bucks all said and done. It was a external leak that was shooting back and hitting the master cylinder. I had the gm coolant tablets in there, but there was no stopping that leak. Mechanic that did it said it was pretty straightforward job. I would have done it myself but working 60-65 hours a week leaves very little time.

I got a quote to do mine in the 89 STS for $450. The dealer wants $700

very helpful information on all accounts. thanks guys.

and yes, there are 2 tubes of supplement in there, coolant well under a year old. i would love to do this myself, but i dont have enough experience. the biggest job ive done is the alternator. if i could get a garage and someone to watch over me i would love to learn. i would be fine on the disassembly, but im afraid i would get a little fouled up on the reverse. =[

I feel like I could do the job, no problem, but a.) I don't have a garage and I don't think that's something that should be done outside and b.) I don't have the time. The spader book says 9 hours on that.

So that's 3 days after work in the driveway, if the weathers good. Or an afternoon without a car and $450 and the liability is on someone else if it's wrong.

Put two more tubes of the BarsLeaks golden seal powder in it. It may have been stopping the leak for quite awhile without you knowing it and just depleted the sealant over time. It won't hurt anything and may stem the leak buying you some time.

thats actually a pretty good idea. i lost a pretty good amount of coolant in the last couple days. ill pick up a couple tubes while im at work tomorrow.