Chevy & GMC Vans

Finished the front diff gear swap and did a tranny flush and filter change. Also let my new driver, Ben, fill it up with gas and drive home from school. His first time driving an Astro on the road.

The engine started gushing coolant and it's looking like the intake manifold, so guess what I'm doing the next couple days. ](*,)
I'm going to pick up the gasket kit right now ($100).
Are there any must-know tips that this job easier? I'm going to start by removing the seats.

When I did mine had I known or thought about it I would have opened up the plenum to inspect and clean my fuel injection.

ever have a day where you shouldn't have gotten out of bed?

someone hit my van (changed lanes from an on ramp to a road without looking) :(
need a new fender (most likely) a new bug shield (scuffed to hell), new lights (cracked), new running board (half the wheel arch broke off), and a new grille (part under the turn signal is flopping now). Hopefully it gets fixed, because the right front corner of my van looks like total crap now.
guys excuse was "I was looking forward, not back, and didnt see your van". ](*,) he later asked the cop "well shouldn't he have moved over?" ](*,) ](*,) ](*,) #-o #-o #-o

WoodButcher wrote:When I did mine had I known or thought about it I would have opened up the plenum to inspect and clean my fuel injection.

I took off the plenum first and later found out that I didn't need to. It comes off with the manifold. Anyway, the poppet valves look clean and shiny.

I got everything apart today. The job was just like someone else on the forum said, not difficult, just time consuming. The gasket failed around the coolant channel next to cylinder #1. Fortunately, the outside edge broke, not the inside. There were other spots which looked like they were about to go as well. (if anyone is interested, I can post a photo). I didn't have time to scrape all the gunk off to see, but I don't think there will be any heavy pitting. I think I was lucky the failure was so benign. Tomorrow will be re-assembly and I hope it goes smoothly. Wish me luck. [-o<

Good luck, I hope I never have to do that job, but I will keep an eye on it. How many miles were on your van before the gasket failed?

I finally found my roof water leak on the 2000 Astro "El". I kept thinking it must be something I did wrong when I moved the back of the roof forward and welded it to the front. Finally I remembered the back of the van got wet whilst it still WAS a van. Turns out the flat rubber strip across the top of the Dutch door opening that is riveted on was the problem.I cleaned around it with alcohol and added black RTV sealer and in last nights thunderstorm, not a drop leaked in.

okie1: gasket failed @ 160,000 miles (260,000 km)

I got rid of the dexcool about 43,000 miles (70,000 km) ago.

timelessbeing wrote:okie1: gasket failed @ 160,000 miles (260,000 km)

I got rid of the dexcool about 43,000 miles (70,000 km) ago.

Thanks for the feedback. My van has less than 70,000 miles & I have had it for a little over a year and put on about 2,400 miles
so it will probably out live me. Is the dexcool the orange stuff, mine is green?

Yes, Dexcool is orange. You're good with green. Mix in a fresh jug of coolant (concentrated, not premix) every 15,000 miles or so to replenish the corrosion inhibitors and lubricants in the cooling system.

I noticed carbon buildup on the throttle valve and idle air valve too.

took my van to the body shop for an estimate. it has 3400 in damage.

Got mine broken into last night. They got in by cutting a V under the lockset on the passenger's side and popping it out. They broke the steering wheel lock and mashed the ignition switch. Looks like they wanted to steal the van because they left everything in it after they couldn't start it. Dirty bastards- you can't have anything nice for long. All this less than a week before we're supposed to leave for a week of towing our new travel trailer and staying at the Elora Gorge. Looks like that's a no-go now. Sure like to find out who did this- fix'em up real good..

sidecar53 wrote:Got mine broken into last night. They got in by cutting a V under the lockset on the passenger's side and popping it out. They broke the steering wheel lock and mashed the ignition switch. Looks like they wanted to steal the van because they left everything in it after they couldn't start it. Dirty bastards- you can't have anything nice for long. All this less than a week before we're supposed to leave for a week of towing our new travel trailer and staying at the Elora Gorge. Looks like that's a no-go now. Sure like to find out who did this- fix'em up real good..

sorry to hear that, people have no morals anymore, its all about them.

timelessbeing wrote:The engine started gushing coolant and it's looking like the intake manifold, so guess what I'm doing the next couple days. ](*,)
I'm going to pick up the gasket kit right now ($100).
Are there any must-know tips that this job easier? I'm going to start by removing the seats.

Which gasket kit did you get ?? Mine was a small leak 2 years ago, I put in some stop-leak back then and it just started again over the last couple of weeks so I guess its time to dig in and get it done !

I know its been covered a few times here already but do you have any suggestions ??

The one I got was Felpro. Everybody seems to carry it. The manifold gasket was metal with silicone looking rubber seals. The kit also came with seals for the upper intake (plenum), throttle body, valve covers and grommets, distributor, a bunch of o-rings and a tube of RTV. I also decided to change the EGR valve gasket while I was in there, which cost me about $3.

The job was not made easier due to the inch thick layer of grime on everything (from 1,000's of kms of gravel road). I recommend buying an assortment of wire brushes, small to large brass cleaning brushes and pipe cleaners (for the aluminum surfaces), scouring pads, straight blade gasket scraper, razor (window) scraper, Vim, strong solvents, lots of rags and a shop vac. Compressed air also helps big time. It was a messy job at times. Part cleaning solvent didn't work well on carbon deposits, so maybe there's a better chemical for that. You'll also need plenty of light, a torque wrench in the inch-lbs range, deep sockets, extensions, and a helper to lower the manifold into position. Keep track of which bolts go where.