How Much For Repair?

**rbob93** · 09-12-2010, 04:58 PM

Friend has a 2002 Chevy Impala 3.4 6 cylinder.

Has the dreaded intake coolant leak.....What would be a fair repair price, & how long should it take??

Thanks for the info

**KMdef9** · 09-12-2010, 05:15 PM

Damn dexcool! (lol, no debate on coolants needed.)

My mom had this done, but the head got cracked as well, it was somewhere in the 3000 range. It shouldnt be that high b/c they ended up doing it 2 stages, b/c had the manifold gasket done again. Had it for 2-3 days if I remember.

**Cutlass** · 09-12-2010, 05:39 PM

Its been a while since I've done one of those but I think we were charging somewhere around $700 to $800...maybe. Hmmm...for some reason that sounds high. Maybe it was $600 to $700 for a car and $800 for a van(its a little harder to do in a van). On the side I was charging people $300ish

**cpop98ws6** · 09-12-2010, 05:57 PM

600 at my shop

**Cutlass** · 09-12-2010, 06:27 PM

^^^Yeah that sounds about right

**SSTODD** · 09-13-2010, 07:17 AM

Originally Posted by Cutlass

^^^Yeah that sounds about right

The parts are around $105 for the upper and lower intake kit, just had my daughters 2000 G.P. 3.8 V6 done on the side for around $300 as said.

**rbob93** · 09-13-2010, 08:44 AM

Thanks to all for the help.....I'll pass it along.

He got a quote from a shop that wanted to charge $250 just for the gasket set!
I knew he needed our help when I heard this.

**konigandy6** · 09-13-2010, 09:40 AM

6.5 hours labor and $250 in parts from my dealer. That is for upper and lower intake only. Head gaskets is another monster all together.

Roughly around $800-$900

**SSTODD** · 09-13-2010, 09:42 AM

Originally Posted by SSTODD

The parts are around $105 for the upper and lower intake kit, just had my daughters 2000 G.P. 3.8 V6 done on the side for around $300 as said.

I left out oil/filter and coolant which all need to be done also, the $105 was just the gasket kits.

**Cutlass** · 09-13-2010, 04:33 PM

Originally Posted by rbob93

Thanks to all for the help.....I'll pass it along.

He got a quote from a shop that wanted to charge $250 just for the gasket set!
I knew he needed our help when I heard this.

just becareful you guys don't cheap out too much on the intake gaskets them self.
To do the job right, you need:
Upper and lower intake gaskets
New lower intake bolts (per GM service bulletin) or blue locktite for the old bolts
Valve cover gaskets
A couple coolant pipe O-rings
EGR gaskets
Oil Pump drive O-ring (must as well do it while its accessible)
RTV sealer
Oil, oil filter, and coolant

**konigandy6** · 09-14-2010, 04:55 AM

Originally Posted by Cutlass

just becareful you guys don't cheap out too much on the intake gaskets them self.
To do the job right, you need:
Upper and lower intake gaskets
New lower intake bolts (per GM service bulletin) or blue locktite for the old bolts
Valve cover gaskets
A couple coolant pipe O-rings
EGR gaskets
Oil Pump drive O-ring (must as well do it while its accessible)
RTV sealer
Oil, oil filter, and coolant

Thermostat? We always change it out when doing the job.

**cpop98ws6** · 09-14-2010, 08:20 AM

Originally Posted by konigandy6

Thermostat? We always change it out when doing the job.

^^^^^ good idea, there much eaisier to change with everything apart.

**Cutlass** · 09-14-2010, 04:22 PM

Originally Posted by konigandy6

Thermostat? We always change it out when doing the job.

We sometimes do, sometimes don't. It is 10,000 times easier change it when the intake is off though!

**Wesman** · 09-14-2010, 05:00 PM

Those prices all sound in the ballpark. I think a lot of it depends on the area though. In some places, it might be $600, here in NJ, I wouldn't be surprised to see $1000. Many shops here are around $90 per hour, plus list price on ever part, plus shop supplies and taxes, and it adds up really quickly.

I just did a GM 3.8 the other day, lower intake gaskets were leaking coolant externally, which is common. It was for a friends car though, and he helped, so I didn't charge him anything for labor. Just had him pick up the parts and buy me new brake clean and whatever else we used from the shop.

Also note, on a lot of the GM "High Value" V6's (OHV 3.1, 3.4, 3.8) they released revised intake gaskets to replace the crappy plastic ones that they came with from the factory. You can tell the updated version by the design, they are aluminum instead of plastic, and typically have green neoprene inserts instead of orange. If the shop gets them from a parts store that carries Fel-Pro, they will be the shitty plastic ones and it will do the same damn thing. Make sure they get the revised ones if they can, even if they have to come from the dealer.

**konigandy6** · 09-14-2010, 05:02 PM

Originally Posted by Wesman

Those prices all sound in the ballpark. I think a lot of it depends on the area though. In some places, it might be $600, here in NJ, I wouldn't be surprised to see $1000. Many shops here are around $90 per hour, plus list price on ever part, plus shop supplies and taxes, and it adds up really quickly.

I just did a GM 3.8 the other day, lower intake gaskets were leaking coolant externally, which is common. It was for a friends car though, and he helped, so I didn't charge him anything for labor. Just had him pick up the parts and buy me new brake clean and whatever else we used from the shop.

Also note, on a lot of the GM "High Value" V6's (OHV 3.1, 3.4, 3.8) they released revised intake gaskets to replace the crappy plastic ones that they came with from the factory. You can tell the updated version by the design, they are aluminum instead of plastic, and typically have green neoprene inserts instead of orange. If the shop gets them from a parts store that carries Fel-Pro, they will be the shitty plastic ones and it will do the same damn thing. Make sure they get the revised ones if they can, even if they have to come from the dealer.

+1 Very good information to know.

**cpop98ws6** · 09-15-2010, 03:25 AM

Dorman makes a nice kit, come with everything even the intake bolts.

**Smittro** · 09-15-2010, 05:55 AM

3800... Get the dexcool out of it use permatex spray on them, and the felpro gaskets will be fine..(ask me how I know).. On to the 3.4 high feature..

Make sure your friend asks for the updated oil pump drive o-ring it will NOT come in the top end kit.. It's a tan rather than the black o-ring. Other wise it will harden just as the stocker did and leak again.. I will add this as a MUST DO, for the pump drive.. In the drive galley, the oil is presureized, so when they leak they can easily become a huge issue if not taken care of.. Extremely common issue.. Also the reason for the updated o-ring as the tan "O" will not harden over time..