Timing cover Coolant leak and Intake swap help

[beretta]

My 96 Z has sprung a leak. I dont drive it often anymore but my gf drives it every day.

She went to go somewhere tonight and there was a puddle, and i thought it was my power steering return line again cuz it popped off at the bottom a couple weeks ago and i had to repair that.

So i jacked it up some and got under it in the dark with crapy lighting. i could see it dripping at the harmonic balancer cover. i pulled the cover to see behind it. its running down the front of the block near the tensioner pulley.

Only thing i can think of is the timing cover gaskets where it meets the head.
I have a new timing cover and new water pump if there happens to be a crack or something but im guessing the gasket has just let loose.

My temp gauge never ever never goes past 1/4 but the engine is always super hot to touch almost burning hot on the top of the intake. never seems to be over heating or anything, its run like this since the day i got it. probably just normal.

So this weekend my project is to tare it apart and replace...
Timing cover coolant gaskets
water pump gasket
main seal

And i want to swap my 3400 lower and upper intake on it and do intake gaskets at the same time.. im already going to be taring into it that far i might as well do it all in 1 shot because i know its going to start leaking someday. the car has just rolled 310,000 KM and it had 224,000 1 year ago when i bought it.

I need some help with my intakes.. i have only 1 3400 lower.. and 2 uppers.
1 upper has a different style egr, the other has the same style as the 3100. what im not sure of is the port size.. are they all the same ?

i think im ok with using the upper with the same style egr and the only lower i have. i couldnt tell you what year they came off, not even sure where i got them from now, probably at the wreckers and one of the uppers musta came off something else.

For the timing cover gaskets.. if i get the timing cover gasket kit that should come with the water pump and front seals ?
and the intake i need felpro gasket kit, and new bolt kit ? or can i re use the old bolts?
I already have a 3400 throttle body so i dont need to do anything there. should be able to just bolt it on and go, im going to try getting away with re using the injector O rings cuz those normally just pop out easy and ill oil them before going back in to help them re seal.

this is what i have........

[spacecadetz26]

look under the ps pump to see if the intake gasket sprung a leak and is just running down that way. the timing cover gasket doesnt meet the head on a 3100. it only bolts to the side of the block, but they do leak. i had a massive problem with my z26 with timing cover gaskets (i did about 5 of them before i let it go and the motor overheated) my engine wasnt original to the car though.

does that lower manifold have threads to put in the heater core outlet? if not you will have to get a pipe tap to use your original heater core pipe.

they have a felpro kit that has all new bolts and gaskets, but if i recall its somewhat pricey. i would change all the bolts because otherwise you will spend half your lifetime cleaning everything when its just easier to buy new.

use the upper intake with the same style as yours EGR. you can use your original egr pipe and bolts gaskets.

[Money pit Beretta]

Look inside the upper that has the EGR like yours. There is a huge wall in there and that is a flow killer. The rule on 3400 intake swaps is to use all 2000 or up.
Upper in the first photo is a 2000 by the way.
http://wot-tech.com/shop/articles/choos ... at_64.html

[spacecadetz26]

shows you how long i've been out of the loop.

you'll need the egr pipe for the 2000 manifold. for some reason i couldnt remember if the 2000 egr plugged in a 96 so thats why i would have opted to use the 99 manifold.

[3X00-Modified]

yeah the 96 has the same EGR plug as an 05 engine... thats what I'm running.

[beretta]

i picked up intake gasket set, and timing cover gasket set.

I got bolts, but they gave me head bolts not intake bolts, wondered why my bill was so much LOL...

I need to get it together like yesterday when it broke down i dont have time to run around for more parts and my truck is off the road as of tomorrow since my temp permit runs out so the car is coming apart tonight and possibly back together tonight depending how far i get with it.

Can i re use my old bolts ? i cant see why not, i can see head bolts but the intake bolts should be fine since they really are not torqued very tight anyway..

And.. i dont have a torque wrench so do i just torque them to tight ? LOL just snug them and then a 1/4 turn maybe at the most ?

Im going to use the 3400 lower that i have. and the upper with the same style egr.. its just the upper thats different inside ? and if thats the case i can always swap the upper pretty easy later on once i get all the egr swap parts.

The intake gaskets i got are plastic they dont have felpro ones just whatever brand car quest carries, i called around every auto store in my area no one else has anything in stock and want a deposit to order them and the car being my only transportation at the moment does me no good. so i had to get what i could just sucks they are plastic.

[DTMAce]

I reused my intake bolts just fine. But I also knew they were only used once from the factory. I'm not sure I would use them more than that. Just my thoughts.

[beretta]

i got it tore apart... ran into a couple problems i need some help asap i only have till noon tomorrow to hit up the parts store and or wreckers..

So being rushed with time i had 5 minutes till closing when i got the gaskets.. not thinking i need them for a 3400 not a 3100 for the plenum.. so i have to exchange those tomorrow.

They gave me head bolts instead of intake bolts.

The timing cover gasket kit i think is totally wrong.... i have a timing cover and pump from a 05-10 3100 and its way different then the gasket i just got.

And... i broke the heater core coolant line... where it screws into the lower intake near the stat housing.... it was corroded pretty good there, there was dryed baked on coolant all over the engine under it so its been leaking slowly for some time there, it literally fell off when i touched it with pliers ..
What can i do about the heater core line.. on the 3400 lower i have its not threaded... is there a fitting i can buy to make it connect to the beretta line ? or do i need to go wrecker shopping and find another 3100 threaded piece and hope to get it out without breaking and thread the lower intake for it ?

this is the timing cover kit i got.. the front seal is like half the size, i dont even know what the heck that can be for..


....................







And oh ya.... this car has had intake gaskets done before im assuming.. it has felpro metal gaskets... and i dont think thats where it was leaking from.. seams pretty dry at the top end so im pretty sure it was the timing cover leaking.

Ive been debating the 3400 intake swap since day 1 i just been waiting to come across a good cheap 3400 and do a complete swap so ive been putting the intake off. but apparently i have to do the gaskets now so its a good time to get it swapped lol.

[beretta]

anyone have a fix for the coolant pipe fitting when they snap off from corrosion ?

If i have to i have a 99 lumina thats been parked for a couple years i could steal it off it and replace it later. thats if it will come off

[beretta]

i got the 3400 intake gaskets, returned the head bolts lol. and i got the fitting for the coolant pipe im surprised they have those.

Now i just need to figure out how to tap the threads without a tap

[beretta]

well ive spent the whole day port matching, grinding/polishing cleaning everything. i finally go the coolant pipe connected threaded in, i very carefully used my dremal and made the hole a little larger, then took a cutting disk and cut sort of threads into it until i could get the piece to thread in. its in almost all the way seems to be catching good and its supper tight, put some rtv silicone around it since i cant find my pipe stuff.

Time to start putting it together to find out my timing cover is still leaking lol.

With the 3400 lower intake i dont have to grind anything for clearance with the roller rockers ??

[Money pit Beretta]

Damn too much info. You have a 96 so no you do not have to grind anything. You need to over torque the intake bolts because they stretch. Just a a little, not more than five(normal is 15lbs/ft). I didn't do that and it started leaking again.
That upper will make your port work almost useless. You need to use that 2000.
Don't ever use RTV to stop leaks on a cooling system. If it gets into the system it can clog things up. You can use PTFE tape too.

[beretta]

ya i didnt have any tape and no way to get anywhere to buy any. so i done what i could with what i had.

Almost back together now. and i know it runs at least. i had to wait for my dad to bring me timing cover gaskets today cuz the auto store here gave me the wrong ones and not open sunday.

I will be putting the other upper on when i get the other egr pipe, i have the egr valve but need the other pipe for it.

the intake bolts i didnt have a torque wrench. so i torqued them to tight. i snuged the top ones first then the side ones side to side then around again, and then once more just a touch. i only used my 1/4 inch drive ratchet and held it close to the head so i didnt have a ton of leverage on it, should be fine, they are just snugged and then a little tiny tad.

Pretty sure they wernt leaking to start with. it had felpro gaskets in it. the timing cover gasket is what i suspected that was leaking and the gasket on it fell apart when i pulled the cover off so 100% sure thats where it was leaking to start with.

I dont know if you should thread lock the intake bolts but i couldnt find my dam thread locker, and i did find it right after i put the bolts in already lol.. i did put some oil resistant gasket maker around the top of the bolts how ever.. not on the threads but at the top because the holes are a little larger then the bolt and crap gets down in there over time there was cruddy crap all over the tops of the bolts when i took them out



Almost back together now... the 99 upper should still be better then the stock 3100 even though it restricts some air to #5 and #6.

[beretta]

working perfect now.. was running hot but it was just air in the system since it was completely drained had some trouble getting all the air out.

[Money pit Beretta]

I'm sorry man I dropped the ball. There is a torque sequence to the lower. You may end up with leaks.
Cool on the EGR tube, I know that you just need to get the car on the road.