Rough start and leaking coolant

[presstdt589]

Within the last week, my 2002 Bonneville SLE has been starting up pretty rough in the morning. When it's warmer the ticking isn't as bad. Once the car warms up the ticking stops and it doesn't do it as bad the rest of the day when I start the vehicle again. I am worried this has something to do with the intake manifold gaskets. I am constantly having to add coolant to the overflow. At least once a month and am worried it is all leaking through the gaskets. My next question is what gaskets should I get off ebay. I want to make sure I get a good gaskets off of ebay because I am going to perform the procedure soon. In the meantime can someone please tell me what the heck that ticking noise means. Thanks again.

[skregal]

It sounds like you have a couple issues that really need to be looked at and repaired as soon
as possible.

The coolant leak can eventually ruin your engine if it gets into your cylinders and contaminates
your oil. Then your oil is not going to keep the engine lubricated. I hope the ticking noise is
not associated with an oil problem.

If you are mechanical, get an engine stethoscope to listen exactly where the ticking is coming from.
Hopefully it is just a pulley or something and not internal in the engine. Be careful of moving parts
when using a stethoscope (they're not expensive BTW). If you have to have a
mechanic look at it, then pay the price, as it could be the start of something bad.

The gaskets must be changed if you want to keep the car. Do a search on this forum for the
gasket type you need, and also the procedure (if you want to fix it yourself). A shop will charge
$800 or so to do intake manifold gaskets.

Like I said, I don't believe you can keep driving the vehicle while you have these two
issues and not expect something bad to happen to the engine. I'm not trying to scare you,
just these things don't fix themselves. If you must drive it, check the oil often and make sure
it is clean and not like a milkshake.

[MKMike]

The fact that you have to keep adding coolant, if you don't see any leaking, is a very bad sign.
Once the intake gaskets are leaking, you really can't delay replacing the gaskets, unless you are getting rid of the car.
As skregal said, the coolant, when it mixes with the oil, ruins the engine rather quickly.
http://www.pontiacbonnevilleclub.com/fo ... c3591.html is the how to guide for replacing the LIM gaskets and UIM .
The ACDelco metal gaskets or the Felpro metal gaskets are the preferred LIM gaskets here.
If you buy from Rockauto, they will give you a discount for being a Pontiac Bonneville Club forum member--and their prices are already very good.
Look for the code in their Pontiac Bonneville Club Vendor's forum post.

[presstdt589]

Thanks for the response guys. I am going to do this on the weekend. Do I need to do the lower intake manifold gasket as well. Or just the upper? Also, I have been watching the YouTube videos do I have to purchase the entire intake manifold new or can I just buy the gasket kit. Appreciate the response.

[MKMike]

You definitely need to do the LIM gaskets and replace the upper intake manifold (unless it had already been replaced with an upgraded UIM aka plenum).
An upper intake gasket alone won't solve the troubles.
Read this link for further details on how to replace these http://www.pontiacbonnevilleclub.com/fo ... c3591.html

Read this link to understand why replacing just the gaskets of the upper intake isn't good.
http://www.pontiacbonnevilleclub.com/fo ... =53&t=1061

[presstdt589]

Mike and Skregal I wanted to say thanks so much for the information and links. I feel I am more than ready to tackle this project now. From what I read I have one more question. I am looking at Ebay and they have a "NEW Dorman Redesigned Upper Intake Manifold Plenum / FOR GM 3.8L 3800 Series II (Fits: 2002 Pontiac Bonneville SLE 3.8L)." When I buy a new intake manifold is this a good one and a good price at $109.99? It is $40 more than an average oem intake manifold on ebay and want to know if it is worth the extra money. Second, is the gasket that comes with that manifold decent or will I need to buy a different one? Along with the metal Fel-pro lower manifold gaskets I feel like this will be a suitable fix for my issue. Thanks again for your help in this time of crisis.

Here is the link
http://www.ebay.com/itm/NEW-Dorman-Rede ... UO&vxp=mtr

[skregal]

You can get that exact Dorman part number #615180 from RockAuto.com for $66.
I personally don't use ebay for car parts unless I have researched all the other
sources first and then someone there has the exact part number cheaper, which only
happens some of the time. You can get an AC Delco one for $109, although
I haven't had very many issues with Dorman parts. Rockauto is hard to beat,
and the Bonneville Club has a 5% discount code that helps with shipping costs.

[MKMike]

You can get that exact Dorman part number #615180 from RockAuto.com for $66.
I personally don't use ebay for car parts unless I have researched all the other
sources first and then someone there has the exact part number cheaper, which only
happens some of the time. You can get an AC Delco one for $109, although
I haven't had very many issues with Dorman parts. Rockauto is hard to beat,
and the Bonneville Club has a 5% discount code that helps with shipping costs.

Agree 100%
That's why I wrote, earlier in this thread ,"If you buy from Rockauto, they will give you a discount for being a Pontiac Bonneville Club forum member--and their prices are already very good.
Look for the code in their Pontiac Bonneville Club Vendor's forum post."

[redfury]

Couple of things in regards to the ticking noise. When you pull the intake manifold, you should pull the valve cover gaskets off as well. You can then grab each of the rocker arms and see if you have any play ( you shouldn't ). IF you have play, then you may have a lifter that isn't holding pressure. Now's the time to replace lifters if coolant has gotten to them and caused problems. Another source of ticking can simply be a noisy injector. Try to find the source of the noise before you start taking things apart so you know where to look. If you suspect a noisy injector, try moving it to a different location when you pull everything apart...the noise will follow it. If you suspect the lifter, you can rotate the motor and see if any of the pushrods feel loose as each cylinder closes each valve. You won't hurt anything, though I'd pull the plugs to make it easier to rotate the motor. Another possible source of noise would be piston slap, and there's not much you can do about that. Piston slap is annoying, but unless it's severe, it's usually not a problem...( the 3100 motor is notorious for cold start slap, but it was built a little loose that way from my understanding...it's supposed to tighten up at temp ).