I have a 1997 rs with the 3800 v6. There is water and antifreeze on top of the intake. I figured it was the intake gasket and the mechanic that I took the car to said that in order to replace the gasket he was gonna have to drop the crossmember and drop the motor out of the car, is this true everything I read says it can be done from the top of the motor, if anyone can help I would greatly appreciate it also how much would this cost he is saying around $1800-$2000.

 

Drop the motor to change the intake gasket? I know for a fact on my 3.4 you don't have to. I would guess you don't have to on the 3.8, it sounds like he is giving you a load of crap. But wait for someone who is more experienced with the 3.8 to chime in.

 

He is either clueless or does not want to do it. Head gaskets and intake gaskets are to of the most common issues with the 3800. They are not easy to do in the car but I have never even heard of anyone pulling the motor to do either repair.

You can head over to the manual section. I do not think there is a 97 manual but there is a 96 and a 98 GM manual and I would bet there is no mention about removing the motor.

My guess is he just does not want to do it.

 

Awesome link here http://www.dxsoftware.com/magnus/v6headscam.htm

An it's not that hard to do it

 

 

Wow! I just did the gaskets on my Grand Prix GTP with the same engine. There's no way you need to drop or remove the engine to do the gaskets. Find a more experienced mechanic. The job shouldn't cost more than $1000.00 total for upper and lower intake gaskets.

 

The Goodyear place only chargers $400 here to do it, I've checked before.

 

I'm in Canada so everything costs 2 to 3 times more lol!