Took my car to the shop to see why it was hesitating at 70mph under heavy acceleration, they siad it was because the intake gasket was bad and was letting air in. Would a bad intake gasket cause lack of performance??

 

air getting past the maf can cause some weird conditions.

 

Yes, but keep in mind that the LS1 has an o-ring type of gasket on each intake port (8 little gaskets) so the likelyhood of one just starting to leak is very small. I'd look to vacuum hoses and such first.

 

The guy at the dealership said he sprayed a liquid around the intake and found some bubbling, I'll keep ya posted!

 

How would you get bubbles if there's a leak on the intake? Isn't the intake manifold under negative pressure?!?! (vacuum) Wouldn't you need positive pressure to form bubbles!? Also, what type of fluid is the guy using to leak check? I don't think you'd want a bunch of soapy water being sucked into the intake if there really is a leak.

I thought that a way to check for intake leaks is to use something like carb cleaner spray, and with the engine idling, lightly "mist" it around the edges of the intake (or any hoses, etc.) and if there's a leak, the spray will get drawn in and cause the idle to speed up momentarily. Then if you can pin-point exactly where you sprayed to make this happen, you know where the leak is.

 

you got it right captn pete. If there were bubles around the intake that's not it unless you're boosted. Tell the dealership to look somewhere else. Aside from that you'd be the first person I've heard of to have an intake leak on an LS1. The manifold bolts aren't torqued very hard anyway, so it's hard to get the o-ring style gasket to leak. Have them look somewhere else, cause that ain't your problem.

Chris

 

Man... it sounds like they just were in a hurry and wanted to tell you something so you'd leave... that sucks... definately check the MAF... make sure all those damn sensors are plugged in... make sure the rubber boot from the MAF to the TB is fully on the bottom of the TB... ya know... stuff like that..