I need to clean my intake
 

i took the intake manifold off my blazer to change the gaskets and ran into a lot of sludge and carbon everywhere all over the lifters and everything......how do i go about cleaning it all away while i still have the intake manifold off the top of the engine? and is it suppose to look all smudgy like inside there?

p.s I had a intake gasket leak.. I had antifreeze mixing with my oil...

its the 1992 full size k1500 2dr blazer 350 v8 5.7l L05 model engine and im thining everything is original from the dealer. there is nothing that seems aftermarket

I am redoing it myself and I need a lot of help with this thing any suggetions im thinking put it back together with the new gaskets in place and sea foaming it but from the looks of it its pretty bad

I know its late and over with now, sorry no one answered. This is a great question, and I would like to see it resolved as I too am having a leak in my gasket and am soon to dismantle the thing. I am currently looking at replacing my lifters and cleaning my throttle body while I'm in there. I have seen on other places that people use paint thinner to clean the crud off of the parts. They all mention to use caution as the fuel injectors are very delicate.

Now that it is all done, how did it go for you? Any recommendations?

i had some come out to take a look he said that everything was mainly carbon buildup and that it was suppose to be like that so I just installed the new intake gaskets..and replaced the rotor cap plugs wires pcv radiator hoses starter alternator belt and other small things but the thing hasn't started since I did the gaskets....

It tries to, but its very very lean.. I was told that it was retarted and I would have to bring the number one piston up with a screwdriver but I haven't seen anyone do the job and there isn't much on youtube so I'm clueless at this point....

I just started working on the interior... atleast until I get someone to come set the timing

seafoam will work

There's really not that much to it, and I have a great trick for verifying you're on the compression stroke as well. You'll probably have to have a helping hand to get this task done though.

Take the #1 cylinder spark plug out of the block. I'd prefer to use a wood dowel rod rather than a screwdriver, but a screwdriver will work. Slide it in through the hole and see how far down into the cylinder it will slide. If it won't hardly go into the cylinder the piston may already be up near the top. This would be a great time to grab the hose from your air compressor, attach the blowgun, and check to make sure it's on the compression stroke. Put the blowgun up to the spark plug hole, doesn't have to be a perfect seal, and slowly start to blow air into the cylinder. If you get the blowgun full open and hear the air sound like it's blowing into the engine somewhere it's on the exhaust stroke not the compression stroke. However, if it pushes the blowgun back away from the hole, or tries to rotate the engine it's on the compression stroke.

At this point if you find it's on the exhaust stroke you need to rotate the crank 360 degrees. You can verify it's on the compression stroke again with the blowgun as well. Now that you're on the compression stroke you're ready to verify the piston is on top dead center.

Now this is where that helper comes in super handy. If you can have them turn the engine so you can watch the dowel it would be best, but if they're not capable have them hold onto the dowel. Slowly turn the crank, the piston should come up the bore and push the dowel rod out of the spark plug hole. When the Piston is at the top of the bore the dowel will stop being pushed out and if you go past top dead center it will go back into the hole. If you go a little past it, just back it up and get the piston as close as possible to the top.

That's it. Put the spark plug back in the hole, set the rotor in your distributor to the #1 plug wire, or have it pointing as closely as possible to a mark on the distributor (not sure which your particular truck would have). Now try starting it and set the timing according to the book and you're all set.

I'm fairly certain that all GM small blocks, if not all of the engines period, have the crank turning clockwise so be sure to turn it the right way to keep from getting confused on where it's at in the stroke while turning it by hand.

Hope that helps with that particular task.

that helped alot at first nothing worked then something told me to check the main ground...and it turned out to be bad.

well all in all i got the thing started so thats the great news... bad thing is i have coolant dripping from the heater hose quick connector fitting so bought a new one and put it on but it still leaks a little i dont think i put it on correctly but you can see a major difference but it still running hot im starting to think when i put the gaskets on they slid out of place because steam is coming out from the front of the manifold no coolant though just steam.

if its not one thing its another i will post pics while its running hot to give a better understanding but im clueless once again.

As far as the heater hose connector, they are a PITA and very particular, just disconnect it and reinstall the clip to the hard line and make sure it seats all the way down then reinstall. Sounds like it may not have seated all the way when you installed it. I just did the intake gaskets on my 94 350 too and did the same thing when I replaced my hose diconnect. If the gaskets slipped when installing the intake, the bolts wouldnt have been able to line up with the holes. Most important part when doing the intake is to put RTV sealant on the front and rear corners where the heads meet the block, about 1/2" to 3/4" up the head and onto the block. If you don't do this there will be a leak. The intake gaskets for our year trucks do have blockoffs or restrictors in em for the coolant galleys where they go into the manifold, did you get the right gaskets? Wouldn't cause a leak if the restrictors weren't there but might be the wrong gasket set and the holes not lining up causing leaks. Just a thought, hard to say without being there. As for the over heating.....Try removing the thermostat and running it to operating temp (or till the motor feels warm) and see if it still has the same issues. Also check on the bottom side of the water pump and see if there is coolant leaking from the weep hole, if so the water pump is going bad. Other than that.....only thought is possible head gasket leak on the intake side of the head so when it heats up its just leaking coolant/steam into the area under the intake and pushing out the front of the manifold to block area. Kind of a stumper without seeing it and being there. Do a compression test and leakdown test on the cylinders to see if you have a head gasket leak. Also try a pressure/leak down test on the radiator/coolant system. Just throwing ideas out there. Hope it goes well. Keep us updated.

Well I fixed the front leak it was coming through the bolt hole I guess I forgot to rtv the one bolt when I replaced it back in. The rear leak is most definitely that heater hose quick connect I went out and bought a hose and connector to convert it from the original to a straight hose connect

The one on the truck now is completely corroded

so i go out to my baby to start on the heater hose.... i tried just scraping the the corrosion off the old one first and fully seating it before i changed to see if the leak stopped and sure enough it stopped(still gonna replace the entire PITA hose connect though) but even though its dripping a few drops every its not over heating at all anymore but at the same time the gauge is going higher and higher till it red lines and sits there till i cut the engine off.

could this be because i didnt burp it all after the intake job. i still have to flush it the system also. but im gonna go ahead and start this long job to get the aluminum stock off and put the nice new chrome one i got on iti will upload pics as i go along