View Poll Results: was your failed upper a...
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Failled Upper? Sound off:
10-28-2005, 10:56 AM
#51
Guest
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Originally Posted by lash
Originally Posted by jr's3800
OMG another Florida Member... Where in Central Florida are you?
These intake are failure proned... It will happen to most series II 3800'* sooner or later... Its a very common problem... $1300 is a bit steep... Wow... At least you had it fixed in time to save the engine..
These intake are failure proned... It will happen to most series II 3800'* sooner or later... Its a very common problem... $1300 is a bit steep... Wow... At least you had it fixed in time to save the engine..
I spent a few hours reading all the old threads, tech articles, etc. on this before I posted, so I now know how common it is and how much I was ripped. But that ship has sailed and it is just recently that I started taking the time to really learn about my vehicles and started doing most of my own work.
Now I want to tweak the performance a little and keep it running well for another 75-100K miles.
Deltona... I have heard the name soo many times I should know where you are... LMAO
Yeah Tweeks are the name of the game... And don't worry, I didn't know how proned the upper intakes were untill it happened to me... But then most of the first series II cars were only 3 or 4 years old and there hadn't been a lot of problems at that point... But boy did we learn fast... I was luck as mine was repaired under the extended warranty the first time...The Bill was in the $700 area... Not too bad for a dealership... Thank god the warranty paid for it....lol
These cars are responsive to tweaks...
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10-28-2005, 11:21 AM
#52
Senior Member
True Car Nut
Originally Posted by jr's3800
Deltona... I have heard the name soo many times I should know where you are... LMAO
Yeah Tweeks are the name of the game... And don't worry, I didn't know how proned the upper intakes were untill it happened to me... But then most of the first series II cars were only 3 or 4 years old and there hadn't been a lot of problems at that point... But boy did we learn fast... I was luck as mine was repaired under the extended warranty the first time...The Bill was in the $700 area... Not too bad for a dealership... Thank god the warranty paid for it....lol
These cars are responsive to tweaks...
Yeah Tweeks are the name of the game... And don't worry, I didn't know how proned the upper intakes were untill it happened to me... But then most of the first series II cars were only 3 or 4 years old and there hadn't been a lot of problems at that point... But boy did we learn fast... I was luck as mine was repaired under the extended warranty the first time...The Bill was in the $700 area... Not too bad for a dealership... Thank god the warranty paid for it....lol
These cars are responsive to tweaks...
Looking forward to a few minor mods. From what I've read so far, the minor mods get better results on these 3800s than on the 3.0L ford I've been tweaking this past year.
11-06-2005, 03:38 PM
#53
Member
Posts like a V-Tak
I guess I just joined the Cracked Upper Manifold Club! I just recently bought a 95 Bonneville, and its been using coolant. Obviously, the intake is cracked! I just got done doing a head gasket job on my 94 Legend, and now this. This is a piece of cake compaired to the Legend. I've owned about 10 bonnevilles now, and they've all been great cars. I guess GM now is slacking big time. Its kind of funny that GM has never admitted fault for the faulty upper intake, but they come out with a redesigned intake to cover themselves. If it was Honda or Toyota, they would be recalling all their cars and replacing the intake under the recall. I can see why GM is in the situation they're in today. I've always loved GM products, but lately they're quality isn't all there. I ordered a Dorman Intake off of Ebay for $100.00 shipped. I thought that this was a Good Deal! Has anyone else used a Dorman intake to repace their OEM intake.
Jay
Jay
11-07-2005, 11:30 AM
#54
Guest
Posts: n/a
Originally Posted by jrw1234
I guess I just joined the Cracked Upper Manifold Club! I just recently bought a 95 Bonneville, and its been using coolant. Obviously, the intake is cracked! I just got done doing a head gasket job on my 94 Legend, and now this. This is a piece of cake compaired to the Legend. I've owned about 10 bonnevilles now, and they've all been great cars. I guess GM now is slacking big time. Its kind of funny that GM has never admitted fault for the faulty upper intake, but they come out with a redesigned intake to cover themselves. If it was Honda or Toyota, they would be recalling all their cars and replacing the intake under the recall. I can see why GM is in the situation they're in today. I've always loved GM products, but lately they're quality isn't all there. I ordered a Dorman Intake off of Ebay for $100.00 shipped. I thought that this was a Good Deal! Has anyone else used a Dorman intake to repace their OEM intake.
Jay
Jay
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11-07-2005, 11:33 AM
#55
DINOSAURUS BOOSTUS
Expert Gearhead
As mentioned in your thread below. Also change the lower intake manifold gaskets as well. Not doing so would be a mistake. They are not known to be durable over time.
11-07-2005, 11:34 AM
#56
Guest
Posts: n/a
Originally Posted by BillBoost37
As mentioned in your thread below. Also change the lower intake manifold gaskets as well. Not doing so would be a mistake. They are not known to be durable over time.
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01-28-2006, 05:25 PM
#57
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Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: D-troit
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Here'* my vote for Rochester. With pics!
Nim
You can see the actual point of failure at the furthest left of the opening. This is where the coolant was INJECTED into the plenum.
This pretty well shows how the original hole was distorted over the past nine years... I wonder how long it'* been casuing me problems ???:(
Any questions where it came from?
Nim
You can see the actual point of failure at the furthest left of the opening. This is where the coolant was INJECTED into the plenum.
This pretty well shows how the original hole was distorted over the past nine years... I wonder how long it'* been casuing me problems ???:(
Any questions where it came from?
01-29-2006, 11:04 AM
#58
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Great Pics... No supprise there... Now when someone starts having trouble like yourself you'll know exactly what to tell them and have the pics to prove it
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01-30-2006, 11:48 AM
#59
Senior Member
True Car Nut
You know, from the poll so far, there doesn't seem to be a particular brand that fails more than another (with statistical variation taken into account). That would lead one to believe that it was more of a design failure than a manufacturing failure. Of course, this is really a no brainer, once you realize that GM did go back a redesign the UIM to alleviate the problem somewhat.
Then there'* also the way that GM, and any other large car manufacturer for that matter, does business with their suppliers. They prefer to own the design, even if not created by them. Then they bid the final design out to suppliers.
Any other opinions on this?
Then there'* also the way that GM, and any other large car manufacturer for that matter, does business with their suppliers. They prefer to own the design, even if not created by them. Then they bid the final design out to suppliers.
Any other opinions on this?
01-30-2006, 12:00 PM
#60
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Lets look at it this way... Rochester in 98-99 became part of DelPhi so the name on the upper intake changed... The Upper intake has remained the same over the years, but the Diameter of the EGR stove pipe changed in the late years of the 3800II... Meaning that the hot EGR stove pipe was no longer in contact with the plastic upper plenum, there was actually an air gap around it... as opposed to my 95 SE where the stove pipe is touching the plastic... Stupid me, I sould have gotten that smaller diameter pipe when I had the chance... I think that was the single most significant chane to the design to cut down on the failures with the upper intake... So regaurdless of the name on the intake its the same thing...
So far the only unit we know of that has been improved for this application id the Dorman / Motormite unit... This unit is upgraded specificly around the EGR stove pipe area, and the plenum is also reinforced to resist backfires through the intake... While looking over my old unit and the new unit, it seemed that the new unit was constructed better, thicker may be the word I'm looking for...
Almost wonder if anyone could weigh the old unit and the new unit to see if there is a weight diffrence... I swear up and down the Dorman is a bit heavier than the OEM unit... So far for us that have used the Dorman unit, we have had no failures to report yet...lol
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So far the only unit we know of that has been improved for this application id the Dorman / Motormite unit... This unit is upgraded specificly around the EGR stove pipe area, and the plenum is also reinforced to resist backfires through the intake... While looking over my old unit and the new unit, it seemed that the new unit was constructed better, thicker may be the word I'm looking for...
Almost wonder if anyone could weigh the old unit and the new unit to see if there is a weight diffrence... I swear up and down the Dorman is a bit heavier than the OEM unit... So far for us that have used the Dorman unit, we have had no failures to report yet...lol
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