I agree with Bill... if you haven't run it for very long, do so. See if the smoke goes away, and keep an eye on the oil and coolant. I wouldn't jump to a conclusion just yet...

But congrats on getting it fixed!

I'll jump on the bandwagon here. I agree with the others. You've done a lot of work and testing. Give things a chance to burn off while you celebrate your victory!

Exhaust smells really sweet. Ran it for about 5 minutes total, smoke didn't go away and it'* a little rough as well.

I've dropped the drain plug and drained out the oil (needed it anyways...)

There'* a leak somewhere, it'* slow, it was happening before all this crap happened, so I'm betting that some coolant just seeped through while it was sitting/doing crank tests and such.

I can get the Dorman intake locally and I think the intake is a 96, but I think it may be the 2nd intake, as I remember the dealer saying that it had been replaced when I bought it.

Oh well, it'll give me a chance to clean up the engine from all the gunk that'* built up. I really can't risk seizing the engine or blowing the bearings due to a coolant leak. Can't afford a new ride...

If you can stand to wait a little longer for the factory-sleeved APN upper instead of the Dorman, it will come with a nice reduced diameter stovepipe that will fit right into your Lower Intake Manifold (LIM) and give you a big insulating gap between the hot stovepipe and the EGR bore. The sleeve acts as a heat shield to protect the plastic from degradation. The Dorman upper comes with a reduced diameter stovepipe that fits 99+ LIMs, but not your car, and the Dorman upper is not sleeved. The APN is a little cheaper than the Dorman, too.

You also MUST remove the lower intake while you have it apart, and replace the LIM gaskets where the LIM seals against the cylinder heads. These gaskets are prone to fail and may well be the cause of your leak. A new upper alone may not fix your problem. Buy the new aluminum frame gaskets from GM. With those and the APN upper, you will have the best off-the-shelf fix available for internal coolant leaks on this engine, and will most likely never need to do the repair again.

See links and pictures in Techinfo Article 38 cited above.

Hmm, okay I'll try calling them, since I'm in Canada...hope it doesn't take too long.

What kind of mod would I need to do to the Dorman intake? Flare the pipe on the intake?

The Dorman intake has no heat shield in the EGR bore to protect the plastic from heat. Dorman provides a .625 x .510 diameter aluminum stovepipe which will press right into the LIM bore of 99+ cars, but will rattle around in your .750" bore, assuming your car is still running the stock LIM. If you press a thin ring onto the bottom of the Dorman pipe, allowing it to fit snugly into your LIM, you can also install a thin-wall .750 OD sleeve on top of the ring in the bore and around the pipe. This will give you a shielded pipe and provide a gap between the pipe and sleeve of .100".

The APN is a sleeved upper with an EGR bore ID of about .755. The (estimated) .505 x .750 pipe from APN will give you an insulating gap of .125." I can sell you the ring and a shield for the Doman for $10, but you'll still have to wait a few days for the parts from me, and you end up with a smaller gap for $140 plus tax. The APN setup will cost you about $125 and will take about the same time to get to you.

I'd be happy to provide you with the parts, but I don't know why you would choose to pay more when less money gets you a better fix.

If you can get the APN in Canada, it really is your best bet. When it comes to UIM replacement, Bill Buttermore is one of the good guys who has been spearheading research here at BC as to what the best replacements are.

Absolutely! Bill has spent a lot of time testing, investigating, and working on various options to solve this problem. He knows his stuff.

Yeah, I certainly know that. Bill is the man.

Just bringing stuff over the border adds time and a fair bit of cost, since most businesses can't be bothered to fill out the NAFTA forms...we'll see tomorrow when I get a chance to phone them.

Yay, APN ships to Canada

Only downside is they only have a UPS account...I'm gonna get reamed by customs.