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Jim
Grant has been working in the automotive industry for over twenty
years. In addition, Jim is an ASE Master Technician with advanced
L/1 certification. He works as manager and technician in his
family's automotive business in New Hampshire. He writes weekly
automotive consumer columns and is editor of an automotive newsletter
that is circulated throughout North America. |
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Jim Grant's Tech Tips
'98 Pontiac Grandprix, Intake Trouble
Q: Two days ago I changed
both lower intake gaskets on my ‘98 Pontiac Grandprix 3.8 with 86k.
The driver’s side was leaking antifreeze. After I reinstalled everything.
I started my vehicle and it ran fine and sounded good too. But when I
pulled the oil cap off while it was running to check for any internal
anti freeze leaks, the car had a high vacuum pressure as if it didn’t
want the cap to come off. The same thing happened when I pulled the dip
stick too. The engine’s idle changed, the car started purging for
air, then when I drove it gave off this loud awful screeching sound, off
and on while driving............please tell me what you think it could
be....desperate!
A:
I would suggest going back down to the parts store and picking up another
intake manifold gasket set and get set-up to change the intake gasket
set again. Why? Either you damaged or incorrectly installed the gasket.
Having such a great volume of engine vacuum in the crankcase is a sure
sign of an internal leak. The intake manifold gasket on your vehicle’s
engine seals the intake passages. If there is a leak due to damage or
use of the incorrect gaskets a vacuum leak will occur. In your case the
leak is into the internals of the engine. Don’t drive your vehicle
under this condition. Having a vacuum leak of that size into the engine
will cause oil consumption and could damage other gaskets and seals.
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