Hey all! I decided to finally tackle the heart of all my issues, the intake manifold gasket on my 2000 Saturn sl1.

so far, we took off the intake, throttle cable, pcv valve.

we were working towards sundown, and managed to use multiple different sized socket wrenches to get EIGHT of the nine bolts holding on the manifold.

the problem is that last nut. It’s the only one that’s alone, and no matter how we shone the light or arranged the ratchet, we could not find that last nut.

I guess What I’m asking is, do I need to remove anything else to find/get to that last bolt? I’m thinking i might have to remove the power steering pump,

one thing I’ll say is that none of the manifold nuts seemed accessible from the bottom of the car, even though it was apparently easier from a guy on YouTube. Does anyone have any tips?

one other thing that’s scary, one of the nuts dropped into the car while trying to take it out and we can’t find it. It didn’t fall through :’(. Does anyone happen to know what nuts they are so that I can order extras, or if it’s a huge issue for a random nut to be somewhere?

I know that replacing this manifold gasket will fix all my issues, but also it’s a really big and possibly complex task. I’m willing to take any advice, as I’m kind of reluctant to possibly **** up anything I don’t actually need to touch.

thanks
-Kyle

 

The easiest way to determine where the intake studs are is to hold the replacement gasket, in the proper orientation, right above the intake that is still attached as though you are going to just slide it down vertically into place. You're not going to do that, but pretend you are. When you have it properly horizontally aligned, simply look for the holes on the gasket and visually translate where they are on the side of the head. Since you already Know the location of the other ones, you should be able to map out all nine and then figure out which one you haven't done. Personally, I found it much easier to remove the fuel rail and to to unmount the power steering pump to have the clearance both to access all of the studs in addition to having clearance to get the manifold itself out. The one you can't find is likely at one end or the other where there are multiple studs.

You really should find that nut. Use a flexible retrieval tool that has a light and is magnetic and probe everywhere no matter how improbable it seems that a bolt would have landed where you are checking. Pay particular attention to the area around the EGR valve base and the plastic shelf area towards the nose of the car.

 

The job is finished! Found the last nut after moving the car and it fell out, got the 9th bolt off after taking off the serpentine belt and power steering pump. Those nuts were a b**** but it’s done. The car idles 800-1000, better than ever before. The old intake gasket was mangled, especially around cylinder one.

My OG intake manifold gasket

 

Those can really be a pain to replace.