Can anyone tell me if a 2000 Chevy express 1500 350 intake manifold leak is common? I was just told I needed a water pump. So I had it changed. I noticed I was still leaking antifreeze. They now tell me it is the manifold gasket. I though these people were trustworthy. First there is no way to tell if the water pump was bad and second they tell me that the leak is common on these cars. Is this true? Any info would be great.
Leaks are common on EVERY 20 year old vehicle regardless of manufacturer.
Yeah, Gen 1 350 Chevys can leak from the intake but usually it leaks into the engine to the lifter galleries.
Agreed with Mustangman. It’s 20 years old and this could also be one of those weak link in the chain scenarios. Water pump leaks so water pump gets replaced. Cooling system builds up pressure and the next weak link which could be an intake gasket decides to give up the ghost.
Replace intake gasket and then an aged block plug gives up. Or weak heater core…or…
Years ago I replaced a water pump on V6 Chevy for someone. A month or so later it started leaking coolant and what was really irritating to the car owner was that the leak was from a block plug located behind the flex plate. That meant the engine had to come out because of a lousy one dollar plug.
GM could have used brass plugs but that defeats the purpose of mass production; doin’ it cheap as possible.
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Yes it’s at least a common place for a leak. I changed the gaskets once and fixed it.
Does it really matter if it is common or not? If it needs to be fixed, it needs to be fixed.
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I agree
And for what it’s worth, it’s a very common problem on this generation GM small block V8
It’s equally likely to leak into the crankcase, versus an external coolant leak
If it’s a small external coolant leak . . . think seepage . . . you can put off the repair for awhile, provided you monitor the situation and top off coolant as needed
But if it starts going into the crankcase . . . you should plan on fixing it ASAP