Cool...well, kinda. Means I got a little bit of work in front of me.

Be careful with using that kit from Ken-co. I bought it and went to install it, only to find out that it was too big for the port in the manifold. They returned my money for the part... If I had to do it all over again, I'd spin out a custom one on a lathe.

I custom made mine on a lathe so it fit like a glove. I can not speak for Ken-Co as I only used their idea and design.

-and, for what its worth, I used the Ken-CO kit, and it worked perfectly. (yes, their parts do fit tightly, -in my opinion, tighter than necessary.)

The above replies that mention the need to get the heat away from the plastic are exactly right on target. Heat from the EGR stove pipe is the whole reason the plastic fails in the first place.

From my perspective, everyone that just replaces the upper manifold with a new one, without the modification, are "resetting the time clock." ,, tick,,,, tick,,,,, tick,,, tick,,,
(-my guess is that their next failure will be about the same mileage as the first one,,)

wait a minute.....
That would mean the 2001 and up guys are waiting for a failure?

SSEBONNE4EVA, "You got it right Dude !!"


- sorry everyone, but that is my suspicion, "and I'm stickin' to it."

(-one thing for darn sure, time will tell,,,,)

One popular opinion (suspicion?) is that the replacement parts are made with a better grade of plastic. -personally, I have my doubts, BUT I hope "they" are right. And if there is any validity to that, then hopefully the "new" plastic will tolerate the heat a little better.

As for me, I chose to not mix exhaust gas heat with plastic.

You are correct on your suspician 57thunder.
The newer Delphi intake put into sevice after the 99'* was improved to a higher
heat resistant material. I verified this through GM service.
Lets put the word out on the board......
Question: Has anyone with a 2000 and up Vin K Bonne experienced burn through
at the EGR pipe?????? This would be an intake marke Delphi below the map sensor..
Maybe we could move this question to the 2000 and up board?

Hey, good idea, and good information.

-now we just need someone with their high mileage '00 or '01 to remove the throttle body, and do a good inspection to make sure that the newer plastic is holding up to the heat.

Thanks for the info.

If this is a Delphi intake on this failure I would say its more than likely a gasket failure. Upper or lower.....