...was thinking of just replacing the upper since the lower is a much bigger job. I don't have a coolant leak off the lower and I know it's a high-failure stock part, but I bought the car with 100K on it and it now has 225K. I'm thinking that they replaced the lower gasket and didn't replace the upper possibly....I guess I'm wondering if the upper gasket is reusable. I know there was a class action suit on this, but I didn't even know about it. I'm wondering if the owner before me already had the lower fixed. The upper seems like a real easy deal without getting into a lot, but I wanted to get someone else's take before buying both upper and lower and getting into that job. I know I could do it but don't want to if it's already been done. Is there any way of telling if it's already been repaired with the updated gasket design without taking it apart? Thx in advance!!

 

What is leaking? The reason I ask is because coolant does not pass through the upper plenum. If you have a coolant leak, rest assured that the leak is caused by the lower intake manifold gaskets.

The gasket (more like an o-ring) for the upper plenum can be reusable, but should be fully inspected and cleaned before attempting to do so.

As far as the updated gasket design goes, the carrier will be aluminum as opposed to plastic which was used in the original design. If you can clean the area between the intake manifold and the head, you should be able to tell if it is plastic vs aluminum.

 

Right on, thx for the tip on detecting new lower gasket....it's not leaking out it's leaking in. There's a leak in throttle body....after the car is warm you here it "whistling." Used some brake cleaner by throttle body and it wanted to die so there's a leak somewhere by the plenum, thought it was the upper, it looked reusable and I thought maybe they reused the upper when they replaced the lower and it's just time for a new one @ 225K? Thx for reply!! Let me know what you think!!