On my 2000 Camaro 3.8 with almost 100,000 miles I have a coolant leak in which a small amount of coolant puddles up in the intake manifold crevice located by fuel injector #3 (center on the driver's side). I've been reading up on it and apparently this is a common problem caused by a bad lower intake manifold gasket, see reference:

Coolant leaking from upper engine? - Camaro Zone

My leak is in the same general area as the picture in my reference, however in comparison mine seems to be a smaller leak confined to a specific area. This is evidenced by the Dex-Cool puddle in my picture below. I'm looking for thoughts and suggestions on the topic but more importantly some guidelines on this repair. Thanks.

 

If the 2000 3.8 is like the one in my 97 LeSabre, those lower intake gaskets are a thick piece of hard plastic with thin ribbons of silicone spaghetti attached at the coolant and air passages.

The spaghetti loses its resiliency and flattens out plus the hard plastic base cracks.

I chased a coolant consumption problem on my LeSabre for months before finally biting the bullet and pulling the lower intake to fix the problem. I probably should have changed the head gaskets then but I had decided to sell the car.

Here's what you're up against; it's a fairly involved job.

 

Are you looking for a step by step on how to replace the gaskets? I am sure there is one out there but most of us just buy the manuals for the cars we own.

FYI intake gasket failure is the main reason for major engine failure on these 3800's. Any coolant leak is bad but if the leak gets into the motor the cost of repairing the engine will be greater then then the cost of a new engine. Since there is no way to tell when the leak will start leaking into the engine oil you should not drive this car until the issue is fixed. If you check your oil and it does not milky you should be happy, you just dodged a bullit, It is a bullet many of our members did not dodge.

 

I 2nd that notion... my engines in poor shape do to an intake leak... thank god I leak so much oil it doesnt have time to accumulate water... haha

 

Thanks for the responses guys. From what I was looking at it seemed like the LIM gasket was the problem, glad I could get some confirmation. Looks like I'll be doing this job pretty soon to avert a costly fix. I've been DDing it for a about 3 months like this and was hoping to continue doing so for a couple months until I had the time to do the repair. Is this the type of job that can be done in a weekend or less? I made a post on the v6 camaro forum and a member mentioned a Felpro problem solver gasket set which has a metal LIM and a UIM gasket. I can't see to find this set in the usual places I get parts from. I've only managed to find two Felpro LIM gasket sets which I can't tell the difference between.

More Information for FEL-PRO MS958091

and

More Information for FEL-PRO MS98014T

I'd appreciate it if anyone can steer me towards a place that sells the Felpro problem solver set.

 

The problem was just the original GM gasket. I am unaware of a problem Felpro Gasket. I just got the felpro one from Autozone when I did mine. You are a luck guy, 3 months and no coolant in the oil.

The factory intake gasket was suck common problem GM got sued. Even as late as 2009 you could get the gasket replaced by GM

 

Don't I know it Gorn. Wish I knew about this 3 years ago. Funny thing is that I'm going to have to DD it a few hundred miles this week before I can tear into it next weekend, hope my luck holds up *knock on wood. This looks like it will be a helluva job, probably the biggest job I've done on this car. Did a little more looking and found the good aluminum Felpro LIM Gasket, it was the second link I posted. Looks like it'll end up costing $52 shipped with my %5 discount from RockAuto and a weekend of labor. Never thought I'd say this but I'm not looking forward to the weekend. Also found another good reference thread on the V6 Camaro forum with pretty pictures.

Intake gasket - FirebirdV6.com/CamaroV6.com Message Board

 

replacing the lim gaskets is pretty easy, especially on the 3800. all you need to do is lower the engine some (theres 6 18mm bolts that hold the sub frame in place. get a floor jack under there, unbolt the sub frame and drop the motor down about 6 inches) now just start unbolting the the intake (obviously theres some vac and electrical that needs to come undone along with the fuel lines)

 

A great step by step with video break down

How To Replace Intake Manifold GM 3800 3.8L: Pontiac Bonneville, Buick LeSabre, Pontiac Grand Prix, Buick Park Avenue « AutoRepairInstructions.com