Hey everyone, been a while but it's time to wrench on her again.

Will be fixing my leaky intake manifold gaskets in the near future.

I've been lucky since I've owned this truck and never really had to do to much on the motor. Never really wrenched any 4.3 at all in fact.

I have a Chiltons, but don't think much of the detail.

In looking online for a detailed step by step with some good photos to prepare me for the task, I came across the "D-Tips"
D-tips

Looks pretty good to me for a instructional how to.

Is this about the best or are there some others that'll help me out as well.

Never having taken this engine apart before I'd like to have a clear picture in my mind of what I'm going to see and run into BEFORE I pick up any tools.

Thanks again for any and all help...... GREAT FORUM!

Dave

 

D-tips is solid, and doesn't instruct one to do a lot of unnecessary stuff, as others do. The only thing is doesn't mention is the moving of the wiring harness and that you should have two people to place the manifold back into place.

 

Thanks G O N.

Hoping for clear weather next weekend. Garage is too full of extremely valuable trash to get the blazer inside so I gotta do this one on the driveway.

jd

 

Why 2 people, I've changed out two sets on different vehicles alone with no difficulty?

 

Follow Dtips to the letter. the only other steps i would take is to pressure wash the top of the motor before you start tearing it apart to limit the amount of crap that could fall down into the valley. and before you put the intake back on, dump a couple quarts of oil over the pushrods, lifters, etc to wash any dirt down to the base so it will come out when u change the oil

 

Thanks for the confirmation.

I actually spent today cleaning the garage so I could get it back to just that, a garage, not a glorified shed. Hoping to get to the manifold next weekend.

jd

 

I bought the approved GM shop manual from my Owners Manual. You can find the info for purchasing the manual in the back of your owners manual. Just call 18005514123. The Shop Manual is $120 and has all the info youll ever need

 

One other tip, label every wire you pull, every hose you disconnect, etc. I used blue painters tape and a black fine tip marker. Worked wonders for me. Sometimes I would not know the proper name, so I would at a minimum say passenger side, hooks to middle of manifold.....

So much going on, having everything labeled kept me focused on putting it back, not on where this hose went.

The reason for a second person is that the silicone along the front and rear can get pushed out of place if the manifold is not set straight down. You also have the fuel lines in the back that get in the way. I did it myself, and had to do it a second time as I moved the silicone rtf out of place the first time while placing the manifold.

 

should be a pretty simple fix I just did mine over the weekend with no issues, to make it easy as suggested mark all your wires and vac lines, suggest removing both heater hoses, and the EGR valve so it doesn't get hung up when putting the manifold back on and make sure to mark the rotor before pulling it

 

Thanks guys

I'm looking forward to being able to drive this thing without that faint smell of burned anti freeze following me around........ but not really looking forward to the fix itself....... I've grown fond of the knuckle skin I'm about to sacrifice to the "GM gods".

jd