Today I noticed I had very little heat, I thought the heater core may be plugged. Upon inspection I noticed the upper rad hose was full of air as to the heater core lines. So I took it to the shop for a inspection (Because it is only 7 degrees today) and he told me the reason there was air in there was because the intake gasket was leaking, i replaced it myself three years ago with help from one of the posts on here which was awsome. I can see where it has a little bit of fluid comming out of the drivers side front corner. I can also see where there is fluid on the air cleaner box like it came from the upper rad hose where it connects to the radiator. He gave me an estimant of $481.00 for the whole job which included having the intake machined for $100.00. I guess my question is (plus any discussion about any other above mentioned items) has anyone heard of having the intake machined? He said its always a good idea to have it done. Just looking for any thoughts. Thanks in advance.

 

lol Never heard of an intake not being straight.

 

I suppose if the intake was not torqued down correctly and or there was an excessive amount of corrosion at the cross over passages then it might need it but unless those things have happened I don't see the need. In my opinion. At that price it doesn't appear he is hosing too bad. $538+/- was an estimate given to me at a couple places without the machine work. I decided to do the work myself.

From some of the things I've been hearing about Dex Cool if you refilled with Dex Cool it may be leading to some of the problem. Quality of the replacement gaskets may fit in there somewhere too.

 

Since the intake manifold is v-shaped if you machine it too much the mounting holes may not line up plus if you look through the hundreds of "I just replaced my manifold" threads I don't remember seeing even one where the manifold was machined.