It'* finally happened to me. That inexplicable loss of coolant could only mean one thing....add more coolant and deny, deny, deny. I was losing a quart every 500 miles and I know it'* not going to get any better. Besides, I'm heading down to Virginia in a couple of weeks and this will not extend the life of the engine. So today I brought The Orphan to a mechanic that was recommended to me and he is going to do the dirty deed of replacing the Intake Manifold Gasket. I also asked him to clean the Throttle Body and replace the Thermostat while he has the intake off the engine. I asked him to put in a 195 degree thermo at this time, I'll probably replace it again in the spring with a 180. Of course he is putting in new coolant(Dex-Cool) and changing the oil & filter. He'll have the car ready for me Monday afternoon. He said that GM has improved the gasket since '91. Is this just a Series I gasket improvement? 'Cause I don't hear many of you saying too many nice things about your Series II gaskets.

Darn - well at least your getting right after it. So if you have a 91 that means you have the old body style right ? Thats a great generation of cars. Would that have the tuned port 3800 then ? L27 ? Thats whats in my 91 Regal. No gasket problems yet that I know of and the original owner put 223,000 and I'm up to 238,000 now.

Yes! This was the last year('91) before they changed body styles. And I would agree with you that this was "a great generation of cars" only because I never had the opportunity to drive the next two "gens" yet and this is my 2nd H-Body. My first was a 1989 Buick LeSabre. I believe I have a Vin "C" L27 engine that is Multi Port Injection with 165 HP. I really can't complain about this car. This is the first major expense I've had with it. The only other component that has failed was the Alternator, which, although they shouldn't fail with less than 100,000 miles, are relatively inexpesive items and are easy to install. I'm glad to hear that we have a few members that have over 200K on their original engines.

Ol' Timer, you have the aluminum upper intake, which I have no experience with. I've helped Jseabert with his L27 Series I plastic upper gasket failure. He had the same symptoms as you, but also had a failed rear head gasket and weeping water pump at the same time.

Yours is the first 87-91 I've heard of with this problem. Might be just an age thing.

Might want Jr's3800 to weigh in on this one. He'* pretty knowledgable with your drivetrain.

Thanks Will, I appreciate your assistance along with all the other associates here at the BC. My present schedule will not allow me to spend time fixing Thee Orphan, so that'* why I farmed out this job to a professional. I'll have the car back by tomorrow afternoon and along with the manifold gasket I asked him to clean the throttle body and replace the thermostat with a new 195 degree unit but I will probably go with a 180 degree thermo next spring. I haven't replaced the water pump yet but I plan to do it myself by the end of this month. I've replaced a water pump on my former 89 Le Sabre so I figure the 91 Royale should be as straight forward as the Buick was. If there is anything else you guys can think of that should be taken care of while I got the manifold off just let me know. And Thanks again.

Vin 1 ? Vin L ? Now you've lost me !

Man I hope my Regal doesnt start having any internal engine problems, between the MAF, fuel pump, new tank, new rear fuel line sections including sending unit I need another year nearly trouble free to meet my dollar per year expectations. I have to replace both rear brake hoses and have a warped rear rotor and a slight leak in one of the front calipers so that better be it for a while.

Old cars - gotta love em !

This should go under the heading "If it ain't broke, fix it until it breaks!" The mechanic replaced the intake manifold gasket, but after he cleaned the Throttle Body and tried to reinstall it, something craked. I don't remember what he said it was. It was either a gasket or the pipe that carries coolant to the Thorttle Body but the replacment won't come in until tomorrow. Oh well, another day driving the old Corolla to work. But like JR'* 3800 said True, I really can't complain. Life without car payments is good. And spending, on average, two car payments a year on an older car is not a lot to keep it going.

amen to that no payment is nice but having a newer car would be nice

The math on the Regal isnt good. 1000 to buy it. Over 1000 in repairs including 2 front tires. I've had it one year. Its still less then the 3144 anually going out for the LSS but I havent had to fix that. Not true 1 water pump, 1 no 2 serp belts not done at same time as water pump because I am a bone head. 2 new front tires on that also.