original UIM or not? how to tell...

[jknight8787]

Just bought a 98 sse with 93k miles and I have no way of telling if it the original intake manifold or not? There only to date stamps one with the day then another with the arrow pointing to the month. Any ideas, I plan on keeping this car for years and want to make sure I dont have any issues.

[RJolly87]

The original should have a stamp for the month and year it was made, using arrows to point. You found the month it sounds like, the year should be close by.

[nos4blood70]

Given your miles, I would guess it is. It is cheap insurance to replace that part anyhow. I would do it. I was very close to destroying my engine when my UIM failed, and it did so at 60k miles.

[jknight8787]

I did notice on the month stamp, there is an an arrow pointing to the month. Then on one side if the arrow is a 1 then other side is a 2. So is that possibly 2012? I cant for the life of me see any ither year stamp. Also the UIM gasket just appears to be black and the lower I notice has an orange rubber that is slightly exposed. The vehicle seems to be really taken car os so I just dont want to replace these things if its already been done

[MKMike]

No.
Here is how to determine the date: http://www.pontiacbonnevilleclub.com/fo ... c1061.html

[jknight8787]

Ok, I still cant seem to find the year date stamp, so to be safe im just going to replace it. Can anyone give me a link to buy the best replacement kit?

Im not very mechanically inclined but I believe im going to attempt the job myself. Are there any special tools required? Also what else is recommended to replace while im at it. Possibly valvegaskets??? What are the best gaskets to buy??? I want this baby to last.