Ls6 intake questions
Thread Starter
On The Tree
Joined: Jan 2012
Posts: 126
Likes: 0
From: Tax free DE
Ls6 intake questions Started my ls6 intake install the other day. Got it off in about an hour. Not to bad but not something that is fun working on in these f body engine bays. Broke the oil pressure sending unit of course.lol I had a new one on order from GM already anyway and tried bringing the brake booster vacumn line around it but pulling it out by yourself is a little tricky and I guess something caught it and broke it. I was replacing it anyway so no big concerns. Also picking up a set of fel-pro replacement gaskets for the intake gaskets and suppose im going too grind the tabs off the bottom of the ls6 intake to retain the ls1 coolant lines.I am having a few problems though....
1. I thought I read somewhere that there are torque specifications for the intake bolts. I have a torque wrench but between the transmission tube and the damn A.I.R. lines running behind the intake I have no clue how in the hell I would be able to torque the intake bolts down with a torque wrench. The tranny tube sits right above the last 2 bolts on the passenger side. Even using a gear-wrench I still had to keep pressue against the tube with my other hand to allow room to lift the bolt up as i backked it out. Was a pita and took about 10 mintes. have no clue how im going to put it back on other than a small 8 mm gearwrench again so how am I suppose to torque these bolts to a specific amount?
2. What size is the opsu? I have lots of big sockets but not many in deep-well so guess I have to go buy one.
3. Can anybody identify this gasket/o-ring in the picture below. Noticed it laying on the valley cover about an hour after I removed the intake. Checked all around and cant figure out where it came from? Im sure its important for something but looked the intake all over and couldnt find anywhere that was missing a gasket?
1. I thought I read somewhere that there are torque specifications for the intake bolts. I have a torque wrench but between the transmission tube and the damn A.I.R. lines running behind the intake I have no clue how in the hell I would be able to torque the intake bolts down with a torque wrench. The tranny tube sits right above the last 2 bolts on the passenger side. Even using a gear-wrench I still had to keep pressue against the tube with my other hand to allow room to lift the bolt up as i backked it out. Was a pita and took about 10 mintes. have no clue how im going to put it back on other than a small 8 mm gearwrench again so how am I suppose to torque these bolts to a specific amount?
2. What size is the opsu? I have lots of big sockets but not many in deep-well so guess I have to go buy one.
3. Can anybody identify this gasket/o-ring in the picture below. Noticed it laying on the valley cover about an hour after I removed the intake. Checked all around and cant figure out where it came from? Im sure its important for something but looked the intake all over and couldnt find anywhere that was missing a gasket?
Thread Starter
On The Tree
Joined: Jan 2012
Posts: 126
Likes: 0
From: Tax free DE
Also noticed a build-up of oil/grease/dirt etc where the valley cover and head meet which id assume is typical on a 115,xxx mile intake. Got a lot out by hand and using paper towels but still some small stuff left over. Im sure theres a cleaner out there just concerned with getting the junk **** down in the intake ports on the heads. How have you guys cleaned this area before and what with?
the Oil Pressure sending unit uses a unique socket as it has rounded corners instead of angled ones. just go to Auto Zone and look for a GM oil pressure unit socket. they have and sell it there, that is where i got mine, this is what it looks like:
It's worth it to buy that socket. I tried using a deep one I had and didn't get too far with it.
As far as the torque for the bolts you can't reach, I just used a small socket wrench and approximated how tight to get it. Haven't had any problems yet, knock on wood.
And yes, I agree the gasket looks like it's from a throttle body.
As far as the torque for the bolts you can't reach, I just used a small socket wrench and approximated how tight to get it. Haven't had any problems yet, knock on wood.
And yes, I agree the gasket looks like it's from a throttle body.
for the intake manifold i do the correct tightening sequence, but never used a torque wrench, just a small socked wrench. i have removed and re-installed my intake 8-10 times already while re-using the felpro gaskets for the last 5 years and no issues yet. no leaks, no oil seapage, nothing.
but if you want to do it to the book, this is from LS1howto.com
or you can read it here for an LS6 intake swap on their web site:
http://www.ls1howto.com/index.php?article=5
but if you want to do it to the book, this is from LS1howto.com
Originally Posted by LS1howto.com
Once all 10 intake manifold bolts are hand threaded as far as they'll go, tighten them down with a wrench and then torque in the order shown in the picture on the left. You need to torque these down in a 2-pass fashion..the first pass, tighten to 44 INCH-lbs, then, on the 2nd pass torque them to 89 INCH-lbs. Again, note those specs are in INCH lbs. If you don't have an inch pounds torque wrench, just tigthen the bolts hand tight...its only about 7 ftlbs of torque on that final pass and the intake seals with rubber gaskets so its doesn't need much pressure at all to seal.
http://www.ls1howto.com/index.php?article=5
Thread Starter
On The Tree
Joined: Jan 2012
Posts: 126
Likes: 0
From: Tax free DE
Ive got a bad habit of never following up my questions with my own answers but figured I finally would for once.
-Ended up using the LS6 coolant lines and sealed the back line with a bolt and some rtv silicone like the write up from the above link did (LS1Howto.com). This way at least they flow from side to side and noticed the car has ran cooler than it did before so maybe it helped, maybe it didnt? Cost about $85 total for both coolant line crossovers but I felt more comfortable doing that than grinding the bottom of my intake.
--Ended up using the shop vac to clean out some of the oil buildup, that seemed to work pretty good and cleaned the rest with a little bit of gas on a rag.
-The oil pressure sending unit socket I would also highly recommend. think it was like $10 from auto zone. I put the socket on the opsu and tightened it by hand though. those things are cheap pieces of plastic in the first place and putting a 3/8 ratchet on that socket is extreme overkill and never needed imo.
-GM wanted way to much money for new intake gaskets so i bought them from auto-zone which were fel-pro's anyway. Stupid cheap like $15 for all 8, figured that was cheap enough while I was there to go ahead and replace them.
--I tightened the bolts down in the proper sequence and used a gear wrench to torque them down until they all felt about the same and hooked everything back up. deleted my egr stuff obviously and got rid of A.I.R system (98 and 99 cars only) at the same time which really claned up my engine bay.
Had to improvise and make a new PCV line since I broke my original lines removing the ls1 intake. I think its just 98 that has this stupid design but be very careful unhooking it from the back of the intake because it is very brittle plastic. Its dealer only I believe and like $125.Luckily mine only broke in the back and I hooked another hose up to it and used a "T" I had laying around. This wasnt a problem for most people though but thought I would mention it. This is also where the gasket came from in the picture above, not the throttle body.
SO........ almost 2 weeks later everything seems good. No leaks from the PCV lines or vacumn leaks. Coolant lines are not leaking any. My oil psi before was extremly scary low but since replacing the sending unit I have noticed it never goes below 40 psi which makes me feel a lot more comfortable driving it. Ive put almost 400 miles on the car since the swap, including a few street races at crusing Ocean city car cruise/show and 6 pulls on a dyno while I got the car dyno tuned so everything seems to have worked out good. I had it tuned for the headers and intake at the same time so I dont know exactly how much power the intake alone made but im sure its helping and will make extra power once I do my cam swap hopefully this winter. If anybody has any other questions feel free to ask or PM me.
-Ended up using the LS6 coolant lines and sealed the back line with a bolt and some rtv silicone like the write up from the above link did (LS1Howto.com). This way at least they flow from side to side and noticed the car has ran cooler than it did before so maybe it helped, maybe it didnt? Cost about $85 total for both coolant line crossovers but I felt more comfortable doing that than grinding the bottom of my intake.
--Ended up using the shop vac to clean out some of the oil buildup, that seemed to work pretty good and cleaned the rest with a little bit of gas on a rag.
-The oil pressure sending unit socket I would also highly recommend. think it was like $10 from auto zone. I put the socket on the opsu and tightened it by hand though. those things are cheap pieces of plastic in the first place and putting a 3/8 ratchet on that socket is extreme overkill and never needed imo.
-GM wanted way to much money for new intake gaskets so i bought them from auto-zone which were fel-pro's anyway. Stupid cheap like $15 for all 8, figured that was cheap enough while I was there to go ahead and replace them.
--I tightened the bolts down in the proper sequence and used a gear wrench to torque them down until they all felt about the same and hooked everything back up. deleted my egr stuff obviously and got rid of A.I.R system (98 and 99 cars only) at the same time which really claned up my engine bay.
Had to improvise and make a new PCV line since I broke my original lines removing the ls1 intake. I think its just 98 that has this stupid design but be very careful unhooking it from the back of the intake because it is very brittle plastic. Its dealer only I believe and like $125.Luckily mine only broke in the back and I hooked another hose up to it and used a "T" I had laying around. This wasnt a problem for most people though but thought I would mention it. This is also where the gasket came from in the picture above, not the throttle body.
SO........ almost 2 weeks later everything seems good. No leaks from the PCV lines or vacumn leaks. Coolant lines are not leaking any. My oil psi before was extremly scary low but since replacing the sending unit I have noticed it never goes below 40 psi which makes me feel a lot more comfortable driving it. Ive put almost 400 miles on the car since the swap, including a few street races at crusing Ocean city car cruise/show and 6 pulls on a dyno while I got the car dyno tuned so everything seems to have worked out good. I had it tuned for the headers and intake at the same time so I dont know exactly how much power the intake alone made but im sure its helping and will make extra power once I do my cam swap hopefully this winter. If anybody has any other questions feel free to ask or PM me.
