im stuck in a delima, i have the leaky intake gasket on a 99 venture my delima is that when i have the engine tore apart for the intake would it be wise to change the head gaskets or not . i have no signs that coolant mixed with my oil and no foam on the filler cap.my leak was from under the intake and ran down the block onto my starter and was clearly visable. but for security's what do ya do

That really depends on your situation. Are you doing the job yourself, or having a garage do it? If you are doing it yourself, you could look at the extra time and parts involved to do the job and see if it's worth it to you. Same applies to having a garage do it, looking at the book and seeing the extra time involved and parts charges, and if it's affordable to you. Regardless, you should replace items that you can easily access while the engine is partially disassembled such as the spark plugs, and wires, thermostat,etc. Those items don't cost a lot and are easily changed out now rather than later when you have to go through the steps to replace them and it is much harder to do. When I replaced my intake gaskets, I didn't replace my head gasket as everything appeared to be normal. It all boils down to what you can afford to do at that time, and the "peace of mind" it will bring.

im doing the job myself and money is a big factor (single income 3 kids) but i here about alot of folks changing the intake gasket only and end up having the head gasket go south later. are the head gaskets as poorly designed as the intake?

No, not really. I think it's more just a coincidence. There are many more intake gasket problems then head gasket problems.

If you aren't having any signs of problems with your head gaskets, I probably wouldn't. And this comes from a person that did an intake gasket one weekend and had to turn around and do the head gasket within a few days of that.

I would plan on an extra 4-8 hours of labor to do the head gaskets and a additional $250 for the 4 gaskets (2 head gaskets, 2 exhaust gaskets), resurfacing the heads, and for a variety of broken bolts and studs when removing the exhaust manifolds. Obviously if a cracked head or something more severe is found it would be additional.

It would be interesting to find out those who had to replace their head gaskets after having their intake gaskets replaced, the mileage of the engine at the time. It would seem logical, the more mileage the engine has increases the chances for the head gasket to need replacing also. Some owners have had to change theirs,(including me,) before 65,000 miles, while others are more towards the 80,000+ miles. My head gasket was fine, and still is(knocks on wood) with 105,000 miles currently on the vehicle and 3 1/2 years post intake gasket replacement.

thanks cdru&97 you've helped me decide to leave the heads alone.it's been a good van and this is the first prob. i've ever had with it. 97 says there's over 100,000 on his and no prob. and i dont have any signs such as coolant in the oil,overheating or the foamy filler cap. my coolant was leaking externaly it came from under the intake right under the t-stat housing i could see it when the engine was rev'd up i think i caught it pretty early cause it never lost coolant until the day it gave way. thanks again, if you know of anything i might have missed please dont hesitate to write

oh, i almost forgot GO COLTS

I would probably be inclined to leave the heads alone unless this engine had a history of head gasket failures like some other makes do. Otherwise where do you stop? When you have the heads off would be a good time to do a valve job and replace the valve seals for example. I am not aware of troublesome headgaskets on this engine but it might be wise to do a search to see what turns up.

Greg

The heads have been troublesome, but I can't really say any more then other vehicles. You also have to remember that a vehicle repair forum isn't really an accurate cross section of the entire owner population. Ofcourse there would be a higher number of head gasket failures here then what really is the statistical average.

Would it be worthwhile to call a dealer service department and ask the service writer how often they do 3.4 head gaskets? Or possibly call the parts department and ask if they sell many 3.4 head gaskets to get an idea about reliability?

Greg

thanks cdru&97 you've helped me decide to leave the heads alone.it's been a good van and this is the first prob. i've ever had with it. 97 says there's over 100,000 on his and no prob. and i dont have any signs such as coolant in the oil,overheating or the foamy filler cap. my coolant was leaking externaly it came from under the intake right under the t-stat housing i could see it when the engine was rev'd up i think i caught it pretty early cause it never lost coolant until the day it gave way. thanks again, if you know of anything i might have missed please dont hesitate to write
My best advice would be to keep your eye on the engine after the work has been done and monitor the cooling system level and keep an eye out for any new leaks, keep checking your engine oil for any problems.