Fixing the tow truck

FuzzButt

FuzzButt

New member
Joined
Dec 5, 2003
Messages
694
Location
Waterford, Michigan
Got another coolant leak on my '98 Jimmy. This time it looks like it is leaking from the rear of the intake.

Guess the new waterpump finally took its toll on the intake gaskets. It is going to be a real fun job tearing everything off the top just to get to it.

Any tips for working on the 4.3l V6's?

Looks like the next day I have available to do this is the Monday before Thanksgiving. And unlike the snowmobile my Jimmy does not fit in my garage.
 
I've done a SBC I had in my old Monte Carlo but there was a lot more room under that hood and I did not have all the fuel injection crap in the way. Figure it is about a 2 hour job after you remove all the stuff sitting on and over the manifold.

Real nice thing is I changed my oil 3 weeks ago and got about an hour of total running time on it since. I usually use Mobil 1 5w30 but since it is $7+ a quart I went with Valvoline 10w30 semi-syn for high mileage vehicles and saved about $30 for the same amount of oil. Since now I will need to change the oil again when I am done I am still ahead of the game a bit.

Looks like the fel-pro gaskets are about $80. Plus another 2 or 3 gallons of new Prestone antifreeze at $12 each, and $30 in oil. Guess it is better than the $600 I would have to pay a shop to do it.
 
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Well I sure wish I had the next 2 weekends free to get to it before the weather turns to crap. My company even celebrates Veterans Day next Tuesday but I am on call all day.

I do have the last week of November and the first week of December off so maybe I'll get to it one of those days. Good thing I have a company car.
 
There is a better intake gasket available. I use the aluminum ones. I get them from G.M.
You don't have to remove the upper plemum or valve covers. Don't forget to carefully mark the distributor location.
Also there is a "cheat" to make the job much faster. If you cut a chunk you of the bottom of the AC bracket you can remove the one intake bolt that is obscured by it. I have never seen a bracket fail because of this mod. I don't do this mod myself though.
 
Thanks for the tip.

Unfortunately at 8PM I had purchased the nearly $90 gasket set already. I do have an idea of what your talking about. I like short cuts but actually an thinking about replacing the valve cover gaskets since I have it apart that far. It also gives me a chance to see how things are wearing.
 
nosboy said:
MOPARS don"t do that!!!
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No they just burn up tranny's instead. Our owner owns 1 Bowtie store and 2 Chrylser store(1 Chrysler/Jeep-1 Dodge) and both see there far share of trans work on Rams.

Anyway its scary times for anyone that works at a Chevy or Chrysler dealership, nowadays you never know whats gunna happen in the near future.
 
Yeah man... I worked at a FORD dealer in the mid EIGHTIES as a Trans Tech and I was MAKING 50 hours EVERY WEEK!!! Those Aerostars and also the Taurus' Trannies were BLOWING Left and right.. you could put a low Reverse Band in an AXOD in about 5 hours and it PAYED TWELVE HOURS!!!!! They would LINE them up right outside your bay if you wanted them.. Aerostars you could have the vehicle PUSHED onto your rack at 8am and have that TRANS BACK IN and ready to test drive for LUNCH!!!! 10.9 hours pay... I ABSOLUTELY LOVED working for the FORD DEALER!!!! GOD BLESS THIS COUNTRY!!!
 
Well that was a lot of fun. It was supposed to be mostly sunny and 45 today. We might have hit 40 and I never saw the sun. Started at about 10AM and just finished at 5PM. R&R the intake manifold gaskets, cleaned the intake upper and lower and the throttle body while it was out.

Seeing how I have never worked on a fuel injected vehicle as in depth I am surprised I figured out where everything went after it was all the way apart.

Well got to find the drugs before I stiffen up and can't move any longer.
 
ExpertXViper said:
No they just burn up tranny's instead. Our owner owns 1 Bowtie store and 2 Chrylser store(1 Chrysler/Jeep-1 Dodge) and both see there far share of trans work on Rams.

Anyway its scary times for anyone that works at a Chevy or Chrysler dealership, nowadays you never know whats gunna happen in the near future.
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The Kegger (intake manifold) on the 318/ 360 had their share of problems. I won't even start with the transmission issues. Fortunately my grand cherokee has the AW4 tranny and not eh chrysler designed POS. That Aisin Warner is indestructable......

Now the 99 4.7 grand of my mom's has a great motor and tranny (once I replaced the 2 speed sensors), but I have practically had to re engineer the rest of the jeep electronically wise in less than 75000 total miles. I call that grand cherokee a "limited as to what works today" LOL

I still love that 99 though, mostly because I have had the interior of that jeep apart enough that I know it well, and now it is fixed for good. I think I will buy it from her in spring. That v8 gets over 20mpg freeway, while my Inline 6 gets like 15 now.
 
FuzzButt said:
Well that was a lot of fun. It was supposed to be mostly sunny and 45 today. We might have hit 40 and I never saw the sun. Started at about 10AM and just finished at 5PM. R&R the intake manifold gaskets, cleaned the intake upper and lower and the throttle body while it was out.

Seeing how I have never worked on a fuel injected vehicle as in depth I am surprised I figured out where everything went after it was all the way apart.

Well got to find the drugs before I stiffen up and can't move any longer.
Click to expand...

I hate working on cars when it is cold.

Glad you got it fixed!

Hopefully your 4.3 does not have leaky head gaskets like most do. They either burna little oil and run forever, or need head gaskets. I know, that is not something you want to hear.
 
It seems to be pretty good in that area. Of course if I need them now I will know who to blaim.

Ya it sucks working on it when it's cold. I did the water pump back in February. That was a bunch of fun too. Plus the fan clutch did not want to unscrew from the pump snout. I spent a few hours swearing at it and gave up and put it all back together until I could get the right tool.

I still need to flush the coolant again and put fresh in there. Another oil change might be on tap as well. After Friday at 5:15PM I am off for 16 days. I should have time to get to it.
 
LOL. If I see a michigan licensed XTC coming after me this year it will be because I jinxed you.


Last Fall, after I got done lifting my grand cherokee, I figured I might as well drain the old transfer case ATF, and fill it with new stuff. Of course this is after I worked on the jeep for most of the day and it was night now, outside and droppping temperature.

That simple job got complicated when the drain plug came out, all the ATF was out, and I tried to remove the fill plug. no dice. And it happened to be an odd metric size, like 31mm. The SAE equivalent worked fine to remove the drain plug of th same size, but the fill plug would not budge and was getting mucked up by the not 100% right socket. I ended up drilling the brass plug out in the center, filling the case through that whole, and then I tapped the whole witha 5/16 tap, and put a bolt in it. Not fun, but it did work. If I had been thinking I would have never removed the lower drain plug unless I had the fill plug loose at least.

I am sure we all have stores like that, as things like this happen when you work on your own vehicles.

You reminded me that I need to change my oil on my jeep as well.:)
 
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