Does the impala 2002 engine have gasket problems?

Answer 1

The GM 3100 and/or 3400 series engines have had a major problem with intake manifold gaskets for years. GM incorporated a hard plastic gasket with rubbers on it to seal the manifold. While these gaskets worked ok for awhile, as temperature differences in your engine takes place, i.e. running the car, shutting the car off, etc., the rubber material seperates from the plastic and the gasket fails. Normally you will not experience an external leak. Check your engine oil - if it looks like chocolate milk or if there is alot of milky buildup on the bottom side of your oil filler cap then you probably have antifreeze mixing with your engine oil. It is best to not drive your vehicle until you get this situation fixed. Also note that about 1 out of 10 vehicles that exhibit this condition may also need to have the cylinder head gaskets replaced - this is normally the case when the intake manifold is removed and the original gaskets do not look too bad.