Intake manifold leaking...

...my father's 1998 Trans Sport has a leaking intake manifold. Oil is leaking into the coolant and crudding up the radiator.

The mechanic says it is a common problem with these vans. I saw that older style Trans Sports have this problem.

Van has 130k kms on it.

Does anyone else have this problem?

Oil and coolant leaks on these engines are common! Usually it will leak externally but sometimes it will leak inrternally. You need to get it fixed before it takes the engine out..

I had the same leak on my Grand Am (same engine). It is a very common occurence on the late model 3400 engines. There are new gaskets available that help reduce the failure. Your dealer will be using the new gaskets so don't worry about asking for them, it's standard procedure.

The intake gaskets are an issue on these engines, but mostly are coolant leaks into the engine and externally of the engine as it is under preasure. It would be hard for engine oil to enter your cooling system but if so you would have coolant in your oil. So if you have oil in your coolant check your transmission cooler in your rad as another possible cause for oil in the coolant.

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Intake gasket leaks are common with 3.4L engines built before mid 2003. Having a 2nd edition of 2003 RDV (which uses newer intake gasket material - so I've been told), I chatted to my mechanic. He said to replace the intake gasket on our 2003 RDV, it would cost between $1,800 to $2,200 CDN. It denpends how much other engine "things" are replaced at the same time. For example, hoses, belts and other things to remove / re-install its intake parts. And, other worn out items that need replacement anyway. When getting the intake gasket replaced, he recommended its Intake be "plained down" (to remove warps) as well. And before tearing into the work, do perform piston compression check. If too many parts need to be replaced and its pistons are worn out, my mechanic suggested a "trade in". Trade in and replace with different vehicle - since total repair costs is more then vehicle's worth. Being an older mini-van vehicle, do compare its "total repair vs trade-in value" as well. Sometimes, doing a trading-in and getting a newer vehicle (even used) replacement is lower cost solution. Especially for older "huge depreciated" 1998 vehicles.

Hope this helps as well....

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