Replacing intake manifold 2002 SC2

[onlinebiker]

I found a coolant leak on the latest SC2 we bought last month. I missed all the JB Weld on the heater core return and the air seperator line to the burp tank.

Ordered a GM OE manifold online. Got it today. Very nice quality from the looks.

Two questions

The factory service manual says to remove the power steering pump. Is this necessary?

We have 5 cars that use this manifold. Should I stock up now while OE parts are available ($279) or are problems with these manifolds rare??

[cgg17]

Never worked on a third gen, cannot give advice for replacing the manifold.

As for stocking up, you could get the dorman kit to replace the water inlet pipe, instead of all new manifolds.

[N147JK]

Originally Posted by onlinebiker

The factory service manual says to remove the power steering pump. Is this necessary?

I just did mine on an '02 SL1. If I recall, the issue is getting to the bolts that mount the manifold. Some of them are difficult to get to, maybe impossible without moving the PS pump. You only need to move it - not remove it completely. 4 bolts, but leave the fluid lines in place. Just move the pump back out of the way. Not a big deal considering everything else you have to do to change that manifold. BTW, I was able to do the job without going under the car. It's tight, but move some stuff on the battery side of the engine and the manifold will just squeeze out.

[onlinebiker]

Got the new one in.

Not a real painful experience. Only required Tylenol.... The oxycontin wasn' t needed.

And yeah - you pretty much do need to remove the pump for the last bolt on the #4 cylinder. You could do it without removing the ps pump if the drivetrain was out of vehicle...

I have the factory service manual - and the procedure as outlined was one of the better ones. Sometimes they can be a PITA...

The heathen who "fixed" the manifold previously screwed it up royally - so trying a repair kit as mentioned isn't an option.

I think I will order another manifold. The quality is quite good. I used to work in a machine shop/injection mold shop - and can appreciate a quality molded part. It was a hell of a job building the mold for this one... Easily a six figure single cavity....

[termite]

I repaired my intake manifold over 10 years ago with a Car Saturn repair part. They were the first to come up with it but I believe they are out of business now. I ended up working on it not because the plastic pipe failed but the gasket leaked coolant, so I figured while the manifold was off I might as well proactively replace the plastic coolant line with the metal one. So far I have had no problems with it since then.