Blown lower intake gasket (hopefully) or head gasket

[Hailey]

So, I finally had my first serious issue with Aeraeik, the 2002 SSEi I have had for two and a half years now. It has been sputtering at start up lately, and the check engine light came on, but we haven't been able to get it in for service. Today it started spewing white smoke from the tailpipe. The car has about 60,000 miles on it now, and I read in the common issues thread (thanks for that great thread BTW) that lower intake gaskets can be an issue around this mileage. I should know by tomorrow what it is (the car is in the shop right now). My question is, is this a really hard DIY fix? I know it's going to be expensive and I have the money (thanks to Uncle Sam's tax rebate) but I was saving it for a down payment on a house, so if I can save on this I want to. If it's the head gasket I'll let the pros take care of it, but I'm hoping it isn't that (it's a $1,000+ fix according to my garage).

On top of that, the last week or so I have been feeling a transmission issue at fairly low speeds (20-35mph) when accelerating...it's like the tranny is slipping momentarily. I have to wonder if it is the solenoid problem mentioned in that same thread. Boy, when it rains, it pours.

[Metz]

If your handy with tools and have a service manual, it isn't really that tough to do yourself. I did mine earlier this year. Plan on around 4+ hours if you've never taken the top section off of your motor. Make sure that you take pictures of the vacuum lines and wiring for reference when reassembling.
As far as cost, IIRC my total parts were around $80 to $90. Just make sure that you get the new aluminum framed LIM gaskets (gray and green/teal).
Here is a link to a walk-through (N/A motor) but it is relatively the same.
http://www.autopartsdirecttoyou.info/?p=37

I'm sure the gearheads will have a better walkthrough for you.

[dillcc]

99.9% chance it's the lower intake gaskets. If you haven't done so already, drain your oil immediately. Any coolant in the bottom end can damage the bearings.

Overall it's not a super hard job.

[Hailey]

Thanks guys. The car is in the shop now (has been since 5:00), so I can't drain the oil, but hopefully they will take care of that. They took a quick look at it before they closed for the day and said that is could be the lower intake gaskets, but they wouldn't get to really look into it until tomorrow. I'm just glad they could take it on such short notice.

As for working on it, I'm not particularly handy, but I'm pretty good with diagrams and walk-throughs (I fixed my rear windows when both fell in within a week of each other), and my father-in-law was a mechanic up until a few years ago. He worked for the city so it was mostly police cars, fire trucks, etc, but he's pretty good with most cars. With his help it may be a possibility.

[Hailey]

Just got the final word...it is definitely the lower intake gasket, but it is just leaking, and not a big deal. No engine damage has been done, but we're still going to get it fixed right away. My best quote for the work was $500, which sounds pretty decent to me. What do you guys think?

[JBMark33]

Well it was $60.00 for my gaskets and I did it myself, so it sounds a little expensive to me.

[Hailey]

Fair enough...lol. I am just afraid of doing it myself, but I'll wait to hear what my father-in-law has to say about it. If it is something he is reasonably certain he can do, we might give it a try.

[myfirstbonnie]

It still needs to be mentioned to them to get the oil out of the engine asap.

[Hailey]

Thanks for the tip. They said they couldn't find any coolant anywhere, and the reservoir was still full, so that's a good sign. Sounds like we caught the failure right away, before it got bad.

[Pontiacdad]

Yes good catch.
$500 is not a terrible price to pay a shop to do it.
If your father in-law decides he can do it, be sure to take lots of pics or the vacuum hoses and electrical routing. Will save a lot of time when he goes to put it all back together.

[Karl]

Hopefully they install the aluminum LIM gaskets. You shouldn't have to do this again if they do.

EDIT: Here's the gasket you want....

http://intense-racing.com/Merchant2/mer ... ry_Code=GH

[Hailey]

Well, I talked to my father-in-law, and he isn't comfortable trying to do it. I guess we're going with the shop that quoted us $500, and I'm going to specifically ask what part they are using and make sure it is the aluminum. I definitely don't want to be doing this again later. Os there anything else I should make sure they do? I don't want them doing the bare minimum and then having to go back in again soon to replace other gaskets or whatever.

[00Beast]

Have them do a coolant flush while they are at it, get fresh coolant in there, even if you got rid of that dex already.

[Hailey]

Thanks guys.

[Mark Fahey]

Make sure he is planning to replace the injector o-rings as well as the coolant elbows by the alternator.

[Hailey]

Thanks, I will ask them to.