I just took my car in for tire balancing and rotation, apparently they do an overall check also because there was a note on the Invoice that I have an intake leak, but then again I had to tell them how to re-set my "low tire pressure" light (thank you Monte Carlo forum!)so I didnt hold much stock in the note. I popped the hood, removed the cover and there is a leak somewhere, but the car was hot at the time and it was barely audible.
If it is a gasket leak and I end up replacing them, seeing as I will already have it apart is there a better intake available, or throttle body?I dont race the car, not going to a dragstrip anytime soon, and dont intend to modify a whole lot in the future. But a little morebetter is OK.
Also, I've used carb cleaners to pinpoint vacuum leaks in the past, any other suggestions (just in case I missed something)?

 

Sorry, forgot to say:
2003 SS. 3.8

 

Hey so I have my car Monte at a shop right now and they used a smoke test to check for leaks. Blocked off the exhaust injected pressurized smoke type of product at the air intake and it comes out where ever ther is a bad seal. This is at a performance type shop, others may do it too.

 

what r the benefits of changing the air intake... is it important?

 

Well, way back when, back in the old days, intakes were justa means of mixing the air with the fuel. Some of the older V-8 intake designs had flaws and wouldn't distribute the air/fuel mixture as effiecently as they potentially could. Thats why Edlebrock, and Holley, and Weiand made a mark. Those companys sold a lighter, free flowing intake. More air/fuel means more power. Hey, all engines are big Kirbys.
Now we have ABS plastics and injectors that shoot pressurized fuel directly into the combustion chamber, and not to mention, cam,crank,throttle,and O2 sensors to send signals to a computer so it all mix's right. Sounds confusing.
Old engines relied on the simple air-fuel-spark- and combustion.
More air (intake) and more fuel (bigger carb) meant more performance.
New engines rely on computer feedback on what air-fuel-spark is exiting your exhaust. or, emissions.
Simply put, I asked an uninformed question. In order to have a performance intake I'd have to first make sure the computer would comply with the added volume of air, and it wouldn't make a difference, because the injectors are only going to be able to keep up with their pre-set porameters. Also, in order to suck more air in, it in turn, has to exhaust said air, so havin a stock exhaust and no u-bend delete actually would make putting any type of intake upgrade, like pee'ing on a forest fire. Valves and heads are what move all that air in and out, and those are some very important steps a lot of people skip. Adding more air (not a lot) through intake and better flowing air filter will help, because it still within the set computer specs. The computer will adjust the fuel/air mixture to an optimum.
A "cold air" kit would help, but that has nothing to do with the actual "intake".
So, all in all. I've found no "stock" replacement intake that would provide better reliability or performance. And, if there was an optional intake I'd not buy it because that is like shooting pool with a rope.
k, I'm done.

 

You don't need to make sure of anything- your computer will read the extra air coming through the MAF sensor, and will compensate to keep the correct AF ratio. You are nowhere near maxing your MAF or injectors.

The stock exhaust isn't that restrictive (except the ubend)- you can see a lot of power gain doing other mods to the engine and leaving stock exhaust.

A lot of people 'skip' them because it is an expensive mod. You're looking at least $1k for ported, rebuilt 3800 heads- up to $2k for the best.

You can make more power doing an L67 s/c top swap, for way less money- which is why most skip head work.

The newer stock aluminum L26 intake would probably give better reliability- at least as far as the EGR area goes.

For performance, the HV3 insert is the best bet:

http://www.zzperformance.com/grand_p...&catid=113

Mostly just for moving the powerband up, but does provide decent gains up top.

 

Thanks bumpin.
That zzperformance link was helpfull.
A L67 s/c swap is cheaper? I might consider that.
My point was, and I failed miserably at it, to point out that an aftermarket intake really has no dollar value. A good programmer,cold air kit,or better exhaust is abetter dollar-for-dollar value than upgrading the intake. The U-bend delete, and good cold air kit is a better place to start,not the intake.

 

Much cheaper than trying to build any real NA power. See, the bad thing is- even the most heavily modded NA 3800s are falling just above 200 whp (240ish crank)- with a few oddballs getting up to 230-240 whp (some are sponsored cars)- and that is with a lot of money in mods.

A bone stock L67 does 200 whp / 240 crank, and cheap basic bolt ons easily puts it at 240 whp, with a heavily modded upper limit somewhere around 410 whp on the stock M90 supercharger.

The nice thing is, if you already have an NA 3800 (L36)- you can just do a top swap:

http://www.wbodystore.com/grandprix/...cca0c84fb75969

so it is much less labor intensive. Not to mention, if you source the parts yourself- I've seen people pull this off with fluids and gaskets for under $500- and you end up with something that can beat all but the most heavily modded NA 3800s- and even they can't keep up with another $500 in bolt on parts (rockers, plog, dp, pulley, tune)