99 chevy 350...Fixed!

[Gary H NC]

Re: 99 chevy 350..Fixed!

Re: 99 chevy 350..Fixed!

Its going to get a good flush out then some good old GREEN antifreeze!

Got the job done by 9pm this evening.Was not that bad.One thing good is every wire connection is different,kinda hard to hook it back up wrong.
The factory gasket was shot on the drivers side of the intake.The new Felpro Perma seal gaskets are metal with rubber overlay.The OEM was like a plastic with a rubber bead.Poor design on GM's part.
I could not believe how clean the inside of the motor was.No sludge at all.Says a lot about keeping the oil changed every 3000 miles.
Only two cuts and one busted knuckle...life is good..

 

[Gary H NC]

Re: 99 chevy 350...Fixed!

,,ooopps!

 

[Fish n Geer]

Re: 99 chevy 350...Fixed!

Glad to hear you got it fixed Gary.

 

[TilliamWe]

Re: 99 chevy 350..Fixed!

Re: 99 chevy 350..Fixed!

.The new Felpro Perma seal gaskets are metal with rubber overlay.The OEM was like a plastic with a rubber bead.Poor design on GM's part.

Yet that very same design is on my 1997 Mercruiser 5.7EFI Gen + and in 8 seasons and 550 hours it never leaked. Really makes me think DeathKill is the culprit.

Glad you got it fixed. And glad to hear it wasn't too difficult.

 

[Gary H NC]

Re: 99 chevy 350...Fixed!

Not so sure if the Dexcool was the cause as much as poor design of the gasket.At least it was not dumping coolant in the oil.Not enough to see anyway.Its also strange the Vortecs have bolts only on the outer corners of the intake and the torque specs is only 11 ft pounds.Just seems like thats a leak waiting to happen.
Going to take it out today for a good test drive and get it good and warm and double check everything.It was pouring the rain last night so we just ran it in the garage awhile.Keeping fingers crossed for no leaks,,,

 

[MikDee]

Re: 99 chevy 350...Fixed!

You the Man Gary! Good for you!

 

[Gary H NC]

Re: 99 chevy 350...Fixed!

Thanks guys!! Took it for a good test drive today.Pressure washed the engine and drive train. Drove about 40 miles.Perfectly clean underneath and no leaks anywhere
The whole job with oil change,filter,gaskets,Loctite,Antisieze and the other misc. parts,2 new hoses and coolant.154 bucks! Sure beats about 800 to 1000 that a shop would have charged!I doubt they would have taken the extra cleaning steps i did on the engine and gasket mating surfaces.

I think i owe my neighbor and his wife dinner for the use of the garage and an extra set of hands..

 

[Windykid]

Re: 99 chevy 350...Fixed!

Glad it worked out so well Gary.

 

[JMRuth72]

Re: 99 chevy 350...Fixed!

I think that if I had saved that much I would take them out to a REALLY nice restaurant for dinner. Not to mention the extra hands and warm garage. I had to change the water pump on my parents 90 model Suburban about 14 years ago during one of the coldest thanksgiving days that I know of in San Antonio. It was something like 40 degrees outside and I had almost no tools and I still had it done in under 8 hours. God that sucked to do. I would have just about killed for a garage with tools heated or not, carports suck but are better than nothing. The only thing that I will give Chevy credit for on that job was that the accessory brackets were designed around the pump, not a single one was mounted to it. NICE!!!! Congrats on a job well done.

 

[Gary H NC]

Re: 99 chevy 350...Fixed!

Thanks, I was looking at my water pump and thought the same thing.No brackets to remove.I was tempted to change it out while i was in there but decided not to spend the extra money right here at Christmas.
Yea,I owe my neighbor big! He is the kind of guy that won't take a dime from me.
He also helped when i replaced my transom and hung the motor back on.He did let me buy him lunch one day.Heck of a guy!We all need neighbors like him.

 

[JMRuth72]

Re: 99 chevy 350...Fixed!

I have a very dear friend that was a gunsmith and he lets me have unrestricted access to his shop. I had one of only three keys until it got lost. I think that I gave it to my ten month old because she liked to chew on the bright yellow rubber key fob that it was on and I have not seen it since. He has taught me all kinds of things including how to use his lathe and vertical mill. I love spending time there as I almost always learn something. I don't get to as much since I got married, but I still love when I do. For Christmas a couple of years ago I pulled a good one on him. I was still living in an apartment and saw a parts washing bin pretty cheap in September. I bought it and asked if he would keep it for me until I could get a bigger place. Well for Christmas I told him "you know that parts washer you have been holding on to for me. It is yours Merry Christmas" He had no idea what to say. It has come in so handy that it almost always has something soaking in it. Anytime that I need a tool and can not afford to go buy it I just call him and if he has it I am welcome to borrow it and he always gets it back cleaner than I borrowed it. If I want to borrow one of his many weapons to have something different to shoot, I can. I also get to go up to one of the local Boy Scout camps and help him run the rifle range a couple times of year. I love doing this, nothing quite like it and can not describe the feeling. Everyone needs to have friends like that, it makes life easier. Of course that doesn't even begin to cover the number of questions that I have asked him that he has had an answer to. Really awesome friend and mentor. If we move I will really miss him and his wife.