Scenario:

I'm happily driving home from work yesterday (Saturday), just wanting to get there. I'm about 1.5 miles away from work, and my Bonny is just reaching operating temperature. I pull up to a stop sign, and *pop* I hear what sounds like a firecracker just exploded under my hood. Engine dies. Nervously I think "what was that?" and turn the key forward again; engine starts and my RPM shoots straight toward redline within half a second, and the odor of gasoline becomes overwhelming. I turn it back off, pop the hood, and turn on my flashers.

Pulled the engine cover off, and (most of you probably know what'* coming) the upper plenum on my intake is cracked straight across the middle... from the throttle body all the way to the opposite side. Looks like the San Andreas fault. I guess I should have known this would happen, but I always thought my low mileage would give me a chance to prevent some of this. I've only had the car a little over 3 months, and I now I get to deal with this! :?

I had the Bonny towed to about the only shop that had a Saturday mechanic, and he told me (1) he'* never seen THAT happen, and (2) it'* a dealer-only part, so nothing can be done until Monday. I guess he hasn't worked on too many 3800-II'*.

Questions:

What other damage might have been done by my intake blowing? My coolant levels have been fine lately, and I was planning on cleaning my TB in the next few days to hopefully clear up some rough starting issues (see http://www.bonnevilleclub.com/forum/...ic.php?t=20347). Anyone think it'* all related? Or does my TB still need cleaning? Since I know the Dorman aftermarket kit is available, should I buy it and attempt the repair myself? I have cars I can borrow for the next week or so, but I still have to work and may not have tons of free time on my hands. Any suggestions on these specific questions are forever appreciated!

Sorry to hear about your bad luck! There have been a few similar threads here; in those cases it was caused by a faulty fuel injector or fuel pressure regulator. However, those all happened at startup, so your situation might be different since you were just idling.

Hopefully these will shed some light:
http://www.bonnevilleclub.com/forum/...ic.php?t=13702
http://www.regalgs.org/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=9749
http://www.bonnevilleclub.com/forum/...ic.php?t=14364

There was a recall for exploding intakes, but it was for the 96 models:
http://www.bonnevilleclub.com/forum/...pic.php?t=6251

Sorry to hear about your troubles.
The upper intake is not a dealer only part, any auto parts store should be able to order one up.

The fact that it was a recall for another year, I would try real hard to make the dealership pay for part, if not all of it.

BigJ, thanks a million for those links. There are so many archived topics about bad intakes, I was having trouble finding any situations like mine! This blown intake picture of the Buick Regal is almost exactly what mine looks like:



But I also possibly found some good news... my dilemma might be a recall issue according to NHTSA, for my specific year (199. I did call Pontiac about this when it was first issued a few months back, and I was told my VIN did not meet the criteria. But I BETTER get some consideration from the dealer, because this is exactly what happened to me! See info below:

I'm calling my dealer first thing in the morning. We'll see what happens, and I'll keep you all updated!

Get your lower intake gaskets changed too when you're already into for the upper intake.

a few quick notes:

there'* only two uppers available for order through spo right now - meaning if your dealer has it, it'* a stocked item there. if you had the chance to read my thread on the upper intake gasket, you'll find that it looks like the upper design is about to change to accomadate some better gaskets - the gasket has already been improved and is available for sale, and it comes with a new (much thicker) throttle body gasket. i mean, that thing is prolly about a cm thick. craziness.

but anyway, the current upper intake can't actually use that new throttle body gasket, so since the levels at SPO are so low (part of gm the dealers order their parts from), and given that the tb gasket doesn't work with the old uppers, you can bet there'* a revised upper coming along veeerrry soon - they usually wouldn't put that gasket out there months before half of it was usefull...

just some thoughts...

matt

that would be awesome if you can get the dealer to pay for it. Mine blew and hydrolocked the engine, which came to a $1100 dealer repair bill. Thats probably what you are looking at spending if the dealer wont cover it. Good luck!