3800 intake manifold
 

hi guys,, i'm new here,,and i have searched some for this but i am not having much luck so i'm gona throw this out see what you all think,, so here we go

i just recently bought a 99 lesabre with 63000 and some change miles,,,nice old car,, i took it to my mechanic and had it gone over and the antifreeze changed out for new,,and my guy told me that these series11 motors have a upper intake problem,,ok,,so i did some research,,and here is where the question is

i have been looking at manifolds and my mechanic likes the Doorman manifold and i have read that the ATP Greywerks manifold is also a good manifold,, i guess these two are the best ones out there

SO,,i only want to do this once and fix this problem,,i might say this is a preventive step,,right now this motor isn't leaking,,and i don't want to let it start,,,it really runs good

OK,, which one do you guys like??? pro's ,, con's,,,, Doorman,,, OR ATP by Greywerks

Thanks,,,OK guys lets hear it

ocharry

If I were you, I would wait until it actually starts showing signs of getting bad/leaking. You might not even have that problem until a long time from now. Just keep an eye on your oil, and the outside of your block for leaks.

If you're intent on changing it, I would go with the dorman brand. I don't have a lot of experience in this field, but I have heard some good things about them. I don't think I've ever heard anything about Greywerks.

Hi ocharry!
You are correct regarding the intake plenum problem.
There was and probably still is, a problem with the Dexcool anti freeze attacking the composite material of the plenum.
There was a very close relative that purchased a 97 Buick with the 3800 engine..
He saw green anti freeze in the recovery bottle and decided to do what the instructions said and use only Dexcool. Well he did and approx one year later could not find a coolant leak because it was going into the cylinders. Try googling the Buick intake problems and you will get the whole story. If the car has green anti freeze in it I would stay with that type. If it has Dexcool in it (orange color) I would get rid of it.
The answer to your question may also show up in the googled info as to which brand plenum is better.

thanx guys,,and yes hanky i know about that orange shhh stuff,,that was one of the first things i did,,flush and put in new green stuff

i will try the search you recommended and see what comes up

i'm not to worried about it right at this moment,,just looking ahead,,i put a lot of miles on a car,,the car i traded for this lesabre was a 98 century with 252000 on it ,,3100,,very little trouble from drive train,,one water pump,,thats it

i will probably buy a manifold and sit on it for awhile

this motor is strong and in great shape,, i don't want to wait until it is loosing antifreeze and then react,,,i like being out in front of a potential problem and head off anything that could turn into a disaster

thanks again guys

anybody else

ocharry

3800 manifold
 

Change the intake ASAP. I used Dorman and felpro upper and lower gaskets. The hot egr is routed through the plastic manifold and it melts causing water to enter the engine. Good luck trusting the car even after the fix.