Successful Intake Manifold Gasket Replacement?

[jmusser218]

I know that changing the LIM gaskets are a matter of not if, but when you'll need to on these engines. It was my time fairly early because of how long my car sat, so I did the repair yesterday. Everything went very smoothly and as I suspected, the old gaskets were flattened and broken. I replaced them with the Fel-Pro Permadry Plus gaskets and reassembled everything. The first test drive was about a 5 minute round trip just to get some oil since I was low. I got back and there was smoke coming from under the hood. That turned out just to be some WD-40 burning off the crossover exhaust pipe bolts. Second drive was today for another 5 minutes. After a few minutes of idling, there was a bad burning smell in the cabin. It seemed to be coming from the front of the engine in between the engine and radiator. It went away when I drove but was stronger from outside of the car when I got out. What could this be? Could it be residual and just needs to burn in? I know a lot of you have had to do this so I figured I'd ask. Thanks!

[Jfridge92]

I know when I did mine the first time I had some coolant and PB Blaster that needed to burn off, but that all went away pretty quickly. If you're still smelling burning after a long drive, take a look and make sure nothing is hitting the exhaust and that nothing underhood is actually burning. Try and get in there and track down where the smell is coming from.

Does it smell more like burning coolant, burning oil?

[nos4blood70]

My car smelled funky after I did the gaskets too, but it went away after 2-3 days.

[jmusser218]

It smells like something burning, but I'm not sure what. I'm not familiar with the smells of burning coolant and oil, so I can't describe exactly what it is. It smells sort of like it did before, which I'm assuming was burning coolant and oil because of the gaskets, just stronger. But nothing seemed out of place going back together, so I'm hoping it's just some new gasket type smell or spilled coolant on something and will go away. The car seems to be running much smoother than before, so I don't think anything is leaking internally. I'll monitor my coolant and oil levels and see if anything seems off.

[jmusser218]

Well I found the source of one smell. There was a small coolant leak that I fixed. Bad news, I found milky oil on the bottom of my oil cap this morning after a 20 minute drive. So right now, I'm not a happy camper. I'm praying its a little coolant that spilled when I replaced the gaskets. My coolant and oil levels are holding steady so I'm just confused at this point. I guess the next thing is an oil change.

[Jfridge92]

Yeah definitely change the oil, most of the time a little coolant will get spilled into the pan during the LIM portion of the swap. Also, I know depending on your climate, if it's cold where you are, it could be condensation building moisture up on the inside of the cap. But first things first, change the oil asap and then report back after a bit of driving

[jmusser218]

It's like you're psychic or something. It is very cold here, and every time I open the oil cap, there is condensation that drips off. Haha. I will get it an oil change tomorrow and post an update after a little while. On the bright side, the engine revs much smoother, the power feels more evenly distributed, and the gear changes are finally smooth. Now just to do the brake job and get the Magnaflow cat installed and Bonnie should be feeling like new. I've said this before, but I really don't know what I would do without the people on this forum. Thanks everybody!!!

[jmusser218]

Okay so I just got an oil change and have driven the car for a couple days. So far, everything seems okay. The coolant and oil levels seem to be holding steady, however there's still a smell coming from under the hood that I can't identify, but it's gotten weaker and can only be smelled faintly if the air is on in the cabin or if you open the hood and stick your face in. The engine doesn't seem to rev as aggressively as before, but that could be a good thing, I'm not sure. It seems to have the same amount of power as before but with using less revs, which is good. Gas mileage is the same as before as well. I have a new oxygen sensor and catalytic converter waiting to be put on and I have a feeling that will bring Bonnie back to life. Thanks everyone!

[walnut777]

I remember my 01 SE had a smell from the engine for a few days or maybe a week or more after I replaced my LIM gaskets and Upper INtake.