i have a blown plenum (not surprised) but i have the next few days off work and was going to replace the gasket with the felpro replacement form local parts store. i do plan on doing the hughes kit down the road maybe spring (tax time).. would it even be worth it to replace the gasket itself or should i just deal with it till i can afford to do it the proper way

 

also what bypass tube am i supposed to replace the one for the waterpump or the coolant hose?

 

Bypass tube goes from water pump, to intake. Its under the A/C, Alternator bracket, you can't even see the crazy thing till the bracket is off....

If you just do the gasket.... get shorter bolts for the belly pan. Probably 1/8th inch shorter would do it.

If your plenum isn't too bad yet.... I would wait till you could get the hughes plate. Why do the job twice?

 

edit - too slow.

waterpump bypass is on the top right of the waterpump, connecting to the front of the intake. you can only see it when you remove the AC compressor. its about 2 inches in diameter and about 4 inches long.

removing the intake is a good bit of work. unless i was having a specific problem with misfire or fouled plugs, or severe oil loss, or unsolvable pinging, i'd leave it until it could be fixed with the plate.

 

i would wait

because if u start thinking about it you have to buy gaskets twice intake bolts twice and time,,,, that alot a money

just save up the money

 

+1 on waiting if you plan on doing the hughes plate anyway. If you've got severe problems, I'd replace the gasket and set money aside for the hughes plate and hope for the best with the steel plate, but I wouldn't do it twice on purpose.

 

yeah i dont have a crazy bad missfire or anything oil use is only half a quart every oil change. my other problem is i was dumb enough to buy all new exhaust headers magnaflow cat pacesetter cat bac and i didnt think about oil ruining the cat... i just dont want to ruin a new cat and have to end up replaceing it...

 

Just put in a 'test pipe' for the time being, if you can get away with that....... Or, wait until you have the plate done..... Your oil consumption really isn't that bad for the number of miles you probably have on it.

 

yeah she has 227xxx miles

 

If you're really truly broke, you can fix it for the cost of the intake gasket set, a bypass hose, and the cost of some common bolts that match the threads of the manifold hold down bolts.

The belly pan bolts can be reused but do need to be shorted about 1/8th an inch. You can either find matching bolts 1/8" shorter or grind the tips down with a bench grinder. If you use a bench grinder, find a nut that matches the threads and put it on the bolt before you grind. Expose the tip of the bolt and grind it down. Remove the nut and it will re thread any damage from the grinder.

The manifold hold down bolts can be replaced by common bolts of the appropriate length, but you must use loktite to keep them from backing out.