FZ1riderNY
Moderator
Richie and I drove up to Enfield Connecticut yesterday to have the Pontiac done up by a resident genius when it comes to GM 3800 V6's. This guy is the GM equivelant to Ivan! Unbelieveable to watch him work. When it comes to wrenching, I consider myself pretty competent, but watching this guy tear into my engine was like watching Ivan tear into my bike.
Some guys may know the issues that plague the GM 3800 Series V6's as it pertains to the faulty Lower Intake Gaskets, and the warpage that occurs in the "plastic" Upper Intake Manifold. The lower issue is dangerous as it can drip oil on a hot exhaust manifold causing engine fires. They also use the very same premise as the FZ1 in routing coolant into the Upper Intake to assure that you don't have any "freezing" worries, much like the routing of coolant through the carbs.
Well, FelPro came out with a new Aluminum Gasket Set for the Lower, and Dorman came out with an Upgraded Upper Manifold which is thicker in design, and has metal bushings pressed in the eyelets to curb warping. It's a big job and your basically tearing right down in the motor. Here in the Bronx they wanted $600 bucks for the job and I would be without the car for 3 days. My Pontiac Forum Buddy Bill, will do it in 3 hours for $250 dollars. No Brainer!!! And he came with rave reviews from many guys on the board that live in New England, and have had it done.
Not only did he do the job, but when he saw me post all my other new parts on the forum, he PM'd me and asked me to bring everything I had and he would drop it in as well!
So Richie and I woke up early and headed 2 hours North to Enfield yesterday. I will say that I have been truly blessed for the last five years of my life. How? Well, EVERY person that I have met personally, through my two forums, have wound up being a "Class Act". Bill was terrific! He was so nice to me and Richie, as was two other forum members that were there working on one guy's GP as well. He made us feel as if we had been friends for years. He allowed Richie to wrench on whatever he wanted, work the air ratchet, jack the cars up, which he was happy to do.
Before I post the pics from yesterday, I will list what all he did to the car for that kind of money.....
1- Lower Intake Gasket Set
2- Upper Intake Set-up
3- New Iridium AC Delco Plugs
4- Taylor 8mm Custom Wire Set
5- Coolant Flush
6- Coolant Bypass Mod on Lower Intake
7- New Fuel Pressure Regulator
8- Oil Change with new filter
9- New Crankshaft Position Sensor
10- Engine Mount "Flipped" Mod
***Changing the Crankshaft Sensor meant pulling the crank balancer***
A couple of you know that the car ran great but I had a CEL Light with a P0170 Code that I couldn't get rid of, and I also had an issue of when the car was hot it would stall upon restarting. I had to hold the gas ever so slightly and then it would stay running. So I was hoping that this procedure would fix these issues. Okay, now for the pics!
Once inside his modest two car garage, he and Josh and Brian look over things.
I started with Richie installing the new rear tail lights.
Up front, Bill was already breaking down parts of the motor. Air Box already out.
Richie and I installed the new lights out back and I love them compared to the stockers.
In the time it took me and Rich to get the new lights in, Bill already had the Upper Intake off the car!
Off came the Lower Intake next.
Bill broke out the die grinder and made quick work of the mating surfaces.
Now thats clean!!!!
He was so good, he prepped another Lower Intake from his collection of many, and had it ready to drop in. Good call!!!
New Seals and the new Aluminum Gaskets set in place.
Lower Intake Manifold in place.
Bill already had drilled, tapped, and plugged the coolant passages to cure any warping issues in the future.
This was where we were working. He had a great set-up with plenty of room for two cars to be worked on at once.
New Upgraded Dorman Upper Intake Manifold Installed.
Old plugs out and a set of new AC Delco Iridiums installed next.
Throttle Body installed.
New Custom Taylor 8mm Wire Set installed.
New Crankshaft Position Sensor installed. Bill had the Balancer pulled, sensor removed, new one installed, and balancer replaced in about 15 minutes, and , he showed me every step, one at a time so I could learn!
Fresh Oil Change.
All Done! So he finished everything by 2pm and we fired her up and she ran great. He bled the air from the coolant system and once we had no air I shut her down. Then the big test. I hit the key again and she stalled! Same issue! Bill said hold on!, jumped into his parts cabinet and whipped out an AC Delco Brand MAF Sensor. He pulled mine and found out it was aftermarket, which this particular motor does not like. He hooked up the AC Delco unit and we tried again. Started right up! I shut her down and tried again...started right up!!! Three more times, started every time! Porblem solved!! He said don't worry, it's yours now! My God, what a guy! So, no more check engine light, stalling issue solved, and the car runs like a top! What a great day. I learned a TON about my car, met new gearheads, and had a barrel of laughs in the process. We hung out there until about 5:30pm before heading home.
Here she sits ready for action!
Some guys may know the issues that plague the GM 3800 Series V6's as it pertains to the faulty Lower Intake Gaskets, and the warpage that occurs in the "plastic" Upper Intake Manifold. The lower issue is dangerous as it can drip oil on a hot exhaust manifold causing engine fires. They also use the very same premise as the FZ1 in routing coolant into the Upper Intake to assure that you don't have any "freezing" worries, much like the routing of coolant through the carbs.
Well, FelPro came out with a new Aluminum Gasket Set for the Lower, and Dorman came out with an Upgraded Upper Manifold which is thicker in design, and has metal bushings pressed in the eyelets to curb warping. It's a big job and your basically tearing right down in the motor. Here in the Bronx they wanted $600 bucks for the job and I would be without the car for 3 days. My Pontiac Forum Buddy Bill, will do it in 3 hours for $250 dollars. No Brainer!!! And he came with rave reviews from many guys on the board that live in New England, and have had it done.
Not only did he do the job, but when he saw me post all my other new parts on the forum, he PM'd me and asked me to bring everything I had and he would drop it in as well!
So Richie and I woke up early and headed 2 hours North to Enfield yesterday. I will say that I have been truly blessed for the last five years of my life. How? Well, EVERY person that I have met personally, through my two forums, have wound up being a "Class Act". Bill was terrific! He was so nice to me and Richie, as was two other forum members that were there working on one guy's GP as well. He made us feel as if we had been friends for years. He allowed Richie to wrench on whatever he wanted, work the air ratchet, jack the cars up, which he was happy to do.
Before I post the pics from yesterday, I will list what all he did to the car for that kind of money.....
1- Lower Intake Gasket Set
2- Upper Intake Set-up
3- New Iridium AC Delco Plugs
4- Taylor 8mm Custom Wire Set
5- Coolant Flush
6- Coolant Bypass Mod on Lower Intake
7- New Fuel Pressure Regulator
8- Oil Change with new filter
9- New Crankshaft Position Sensor
10- Engine Mount "Flipped" Mod
***Changing the Crankshaft Sensor meant pulling the crank balancer***
A couple of you know that the car ran great but I had a CEL Light with a P0170 Code that I couldn't get rid of, and I also had an issue of when the car was hot it would stall upon restarting. I had to hold the gas ever so slightly and then it would stay running. So I was hoping that this procedure would fix these issues. Okay, now for the pics!
Once inside his modest two car garage, he and Josh and Brian look over things.
I started with Richie installing the new rear tail lights.
Up front, Bill was already breaking down parts of the motor. Air Box already out.
Richie and I installed the new lights out back and I love them compared to the stockers.
In the time it took me and Rich to get the new lights in, Bill already had the Upper Intake off the car!
Off came the Lower Intake next.
Bill broke out the die grinder and made quick work of the mating surfaces.
Now thats clean!!!!
He was so good, he prepped another Lower Intake from his collection of many, and had it ready to drop in. Good call!!!
New Seals and the new Aluminum Gaskets set in place.
Lower Intake Manifold in place.
Bill already had drilled, tapped, and plugged the coolant passages to cure any warping issues in the future.
This was where we were working. He had a great set-up with plenty of room for two cars to be worked on at once.
New Upgraded Dorman Upper Intake Manifold Installed.
Old plugs out and a set of new AC Delco Iridiums installed next.
Throttle Body installed.
New Custom Taylor 8mm Wire Set installed.
New Crankshaft Position Sensor installed. Bill had the Balancer pulled, sensor removed, new one installed, and balancer replaced in about 15 minutes, and , he showed me every step, one at a time so I could learn!
Fresh Oil Change.
All Done! So he finished everything by 2pm and we fired her up and she ran great. He bled the air from the coolant system and once we had no air I shut her down. Then the big test. I hit the key again and she stalled! Same issue! Bill said hold on!, jumped into his parts cabinet and whipped out an AC Delco Brand MAF Sensor. He pulled mine and found out it was aftermarket, which this particular motor does not like. He hooked up the AC Delco unit and we tried again. Started right up! I shut her down and tried again...started right up!!! Three more times, started every time! Porblem solved!! He said don't worry, it's yours now! My God, what a guy! So, no more check engine light, stalling issue solved, and the car runs like a top! What a great day. I learned a TON about my car, met new gearheads, and had a barrel of laughs in the process. We hung out there until about 5:30pm before heading home.
Here she sits ready for action!
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