can the intake manifold be loosened and re-torqued without ruining the gaskets?

 

I did. I have the Fel Pro metal ones.

 

Depends why and if you are removing the manifold. If you already have the felpro metal reinforced gaskets then yes and it will be fine. I have actually removed those from one engine and put on another engine 4 months later. However, if you have the stock plastic junk i probably wouldnt but in theory if you dont move the manifold it should be fine.
My question is why? Do you just want to re-torque them to proper specs or do you need to move the manifold? Either way your silicone on the ends would prevent it from moving much but loosening could also break the silicones bond and cause oil seepage at the front or rear.

In my opinion, 50/50 yes and no
Depends:
What gaskets do you have?
How old are they?
And why do you need to do this?

Also an oil change will need to be done afterwords, if you dont drain the cooling system then some antifreeze could seep into the crankcase when you loosen bolts. Better safe than sorry...

 

well..its a long story that started with her needing the intake gaskets replaced, i will say no more "craigslist mechanics" if you can even call the idiot i sent her to a mechanic. he had my truck for 4 days and kept pushing the delivery time back, when i did get her back the SES was on since he put the distributor back in wrong. i also had a code for my EGR which was put back in backwards (he said he cleaned it as a courtesy, my ***). anyway i got the distributor re-timed properly and EGR in right with new gasket, also had to replace the coil since he broke that too, and replaced a few bolts that he failed to put back in when he was done.

so after that was done fixing his "repair" i was thinking what else did he mess up? so i wanted to re-torque the manifold just as insurance. im pretty sure its the Fel pro gaskets

 

Ok yeah I read that post. At least youre getting it straightened out now...
Anyway, the best thing to do is probably just back them off some then retorque, no need to loosen them completely, just get the proper inch pound torque wrench and follow the tightening sequence and you should be fine, also i would change the oil for good measure, i hope he did that already but an intake job should really have the oil changed twice, once immediatley following the repair and then again soon after to be sure all of the contamination is gone.

 

ok thanks for the info..ya im done with craigslist mechanics guy said he was certified too, certified my ***

 

i have been driving the truck for about 4 days back and fourth to work. if the intake manifold is torqued down wrong am i doing any damage to the manifold itself?

also experiencing a hard start on a cold engine could this be a sign its improperly torqued?

 

Not really, but read the notice here: Probably a good thing to check the intake bolt torque if the guy was an idiot.

 

thanks thats what i was looking for ill tackle it this weekend. do i need to remove everything on top of the motor or can i just get to the bolts?

 

Just remember the torque specification is in inch pounds (not foot pounds) and to use a torque wrench. It goes without saying to remove anything in the way of getting to the bolt heads.

Les