Intake Manifold Gaskets

[AlcyoneDaze]

My gaskets are original, and I have the manifold taken off right now, my engine has 144k - is it necessarry to replace the gaskets? I'm trying to be cheap since I have no money.. but if I have to do these gaskets, I will. input please

[svx_commuter]

I have been wondering if mine are leaking. The idle speed seems to keep going up.

How stiff is that old gasket?
Any signs of leaking? Black lines across the gasket face? Cracks?

Perhaps it would be okay to use some high temperature RTV on the gasket faces, just a really small bead maybe a 1/32" or less to help it seal near the outside edge.

I have been thinking about replacing mine. How much are new ones?
Did you take apart both gaskets above and below the injectors?

It is not uncommon for the bolts to come loose and need retorquing after many years. Did yours do that?

[AlcyoneDaze]

uh... no.

I took off my intake manifold and, and the gaskets seem alright, they arent cracked or anything, but they are blackened

[subru92svx]

I would just replace them. They are only around $7-$10 each depending on where you get them. That way you won't have to go back and spend more time replacing them later if your old ones don't workout. I usually play it safe because gaskets are not suppose to be a reuseable item.

[AlcyoneDaze]

yeah, i figured as much and went ahead and ordered two new gaskets. A mechanic friend said I'd be taking to much of a chance with using RTV, and would most likely experience crappy idling.

I'll live a happy life if I never see the underside of my intake manifold again

[alia176]

Hey,

Can u shoot a pic or two of the area that's normally covered by the Intake Manifold? I'm just curious of the landscape under there and trying to figure why I'm seeing lots of oil puddles in that area. PCV is dry so it must be coming from somewhere else. Sorry for the hijack

Thanks.

[subru92svx]

My guess is your valve covers are leaking and when you drive around the oil gets blown up on top of your motor cause the small puddles of oil. I had the same thing going on until I replaced my leaky valve covers and cleaned the top of my motor off. Haven't seen any oil out of place since.

[94SubieSVX]

How did you get to the valve covers? It's a pretty tight fit in there.

[subru92svx]

Its a trick and a half to replace the valve cover gaskets I thought. Well at least the drivers side the passenger side wasn't bad at all. As far as it goes for the drivers side I have heard of people loosening the motor mounts and jacking up the motor making it much easier to replace the gaskets, but I didn't do any of that. All I did was pulled the intake, coil packs, removed all the bolts, then I got under the car and directed while my friend who was up top working the valve cover out. We had the valve cover off the car in about 5 mins. It worked out great having me under the car while he worked from the top because every time the cover got stuck I could see why,on what, and could tell my friend how to get past it.

[94SubieSVX]

oh that shouldn't be too bad then. I think i need to replace my gaskets anyway cuz theres some oil on the underside.

[alia176]

Originally Posted by subru92svx

My guess is your valve covers are leaking and when you drive around the oil gets blown up on top of your motor cause the small puddles of oil. I had the same thing going on until I replaced my leaky valve covers and cleaned the top of my motor off. Haven't seen any oil out of place since.

My valve cover seals are new (two years old actually) so this must've been remnant from the old seals. I looked closely around the top part of the valve cover seal and it's dry as a bone. Time to degrease the heck out of it and see if it returns.

Regards.

[alia176]

Originally Posted by 94SubieSVX

How did you get to the valve covers? It's a pretty tight fit in there.

Everyone has their favorite tricks on this one I'd imagine. Mine were pretty straightforward, only the battery tray was removed for ease of access. Other than that, it's a lot of cussing and wiggling In order to save your back, I'd highly recommend parking the car on a set of ramps. In fact, just about any project on this car requires me to park on the ramps or a hoist. This car is very low as compared to my SUVs.

[AlcyoneDaze]

since this topic is originally intake manifold related, i need to ask;

when tightening to 17-20ft lbs for the manifold bolts, i have no torque wrench, and will be guesstimating on the side of caution. Is this possible to pull off?, or do i have to buy the tool?