Hey everyone! Hope the new year finds everyone well and if not, I wish you my best!

About 2 days ago I was driving to the gym on the road (its about a 10 mile mainly highway drive, takes about 15 min or so) and I smelled a faint smell I know to be ANTIFREEZE! AHHHH!!
So i go to the gym shortly after (I didn't immediately pull over because I did not see any deviations from the norm on my temperature guage) and opened the hood and smelled it some under there but not that much. I noticed the coolant reservoir guage was all but empty. Today i drove it again for the first time since then and I smelled it again (it barely comes out of the vents). I got to my destination (less than 1 mile from home) and I opened the hood and took a GOOD look in the engine bay and finally noticed there was coolant all over my engine on the right side of the intake manifold (below the TPS) and down from that all over the part of the transmission under that including what I think is the electrical cable for the torque converter clutch.

I belive it to be the right side intake manifold seal. I believe that the left has been going out for a long time and is the source of a small oil leak ii have. The righ thasn't given' me problem until now. So my question is: Do you guys think a good RTV (red) seal aroudn the intake manifold should cure this problem? or should I start going directly to planning a removal of the manifold and full seal replacement?

Mike Diaz
1987 Pontiac Bonn!!!!

RTV no....

DO a gasket repair, and get a new on one there. Should be pretty easy on your 3800. You may need an upper intake as well, it may have cracked, but you do have a metal one.....

Get a gasket and take her apart. Should be a fairly easy job, and if you see the intake is bad, get that too.

Thanks for the reply. Looking closer at it as it leaks I noticed that its not leaking from the intake manifold seal but rather it seems to be leaking from the bottom of the throttle body! Looking at my Chilton'* it says that there is a 'Coolant cavity cap' on the bottom of the throttle body and that there is an o-ring in there to keep it sealed. I'm assuming my 0-ring went bad and thats why the fluid leaks. It'* pretty tight to go in there and remove the four screws to take off just the 'coolant cavity cap' to replace the o-ring so I'd better just take off the whole throttle body so i can do it with ease.

Any tips on removing the throttle body? Is it hard to remove the accelerator linkage on top of it?

Thanks for all your help guys.

Mike Diaz
'87 Pontiac Bonnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnevlle!

Everyone listen to him...he knows what he is talkin about

That'* right, admin owns the thread, not the mod...

*runs*

kinda freaked me out, my initial guess was the dreaded plastic intake!

Hey everyone!

Well yesterday i went out and tried to get to it and remove the throttle body. So i went outside removed the intake snorkel, filter box, etc all the way till I had removed everything except the throttle body and accelerator linkage. That'* where I met a problem. I couldn't figure out how to remove the accelerator cables. I removed a black metal plate that sits over it to protect it but then couldn't remove the cables. I noticed that there seems to be a nut that possibly holds the whole fixture down on the throttle body but I can't remove this nut because #1 it has a strange little lock or clip on it that seems to be meant to keep the nut from moving and #2 if I try to turn that nut the whole throttle moves (as if I were hitting the gas). Any hints?
Thanks,
Mike Diaz + his 87 Bonneville