'02 Impala 3.4L: Intake Gasket Morass

Earlier this year (April), I purchased the Felpro intake manifold gasket set for my Impala from Autozone. I think it ran about $80. Haven't installed it yet. Haven't even cracket the seal on the box! Recently I discovered that there is yet another new OEM gasket set available from the dealer (#19169127) which replaces the old kit (#89017279). This new kit includes the 8 bolts which have the thread locker already on them and sells for $45 (here). Today I stopped by the dealer to take a look at these gaskets and place them side-by-side with the Felpros I have (since I had never seen the OEM gaskets at all). Much to my amazement, the EOM gaskets appear to be entirely made of thin, flimsy, molded plastic - except toward the ends where there are a couple of thumb-tack-sized dimples that appear to (maybe) be metallic. These gaskets bend and twist very easily in your hand - much like those cheap clothes hangers that kids clothing is sold on. The Felpros, on the other hand, are almost entirely made of metal. They look like they were fabricated by cutting openings out of a thin sheet of metal and then lining these openings with plastic! Even though I haven't held them in my hand yet, looking through the plastic window on the box, they appear to be far more substantial because the inner metal web is fairly wide in places.
The question is: should I return the FelPro gaskets and purchase these new OEM gaskets? They're cheap enough. Granted, I'd have to buy the valve cover gaskets separately at Autozone for $13/pair, and maybe some O-rings, but I'd be getting the new bolts (which look awfully flimsy too, by the way) and I'd be using the GM-approved gaskets. The problem is, the OEM gaskets look like junk to me. I thought the new gaskets were supposed to have more metal in them (like the FelPros do). Turns out they don't have ANY! Maybe this is actually BETTER?? - to make the gasket more flexible? Maybe the rigidity of the FelPro might actually turn out to be a drawback?

 

Well, after reading about the FelPro gaskets and realizing these are the latest and greatest design from FelPro, I feel a lot better about them now. It turns out there are different versions of FelPro gaskets still floating around parts stores. I bought my set at AutoZone earlier this year, but I stopped by an Advance parts store recently and discovered that, while they also sell the kit I bought (MS98003T), they sell the intake gaskets separately too. However, this set is a totally different gasket design: no metal, just very cheap and flimsy black plastic like the OEM gaskets, and more importantly - the sealing surface doesn't look as thick as the surface on the kit gaskets.

SO - I would say if you are going to use the FelPro gaskets, use the ones with the metal frames found in the MS98003T (PermaDryPlus) kit. These are FelPro's latest design. For the Impala, they only hit the market last year (the first version was sold in 2004)! You can also read about them on the Web - the chemical composition, and how FelPro stressed tested them with no failures. To me, they really DO appear to be the better gasket design.

If anybody out there has a compelling argument to the contrary, I'd love to hear it.[/align]

 

I know you posted a few months ago so my question is have you installed the new gasket? I have a 2002 Impala with the coolant leak as well..Apparently many people are having the same problem. I have done engine builds but not in qite a few years, just wondering if it is someting I want to attempt or not. If it isn't a situation that I have to tear down the entirer engine to get the gasket on I will consider doing it myself. Any advice or insight would be greatly appreciated.

 

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