Quote Originally Posted by Stoner133 View Post
You can't prevent it only watch for it. First sign is a loss of coolant as it will leak into the area between the bottom of the intake manifold and the top of the block. I've heard it is related to the intake manifold being made from plastic instead of being a casting like they used to use on other motors. I have five friends with different GM cars that all use the 3800 motor which have had the problem. On one Buick Park Avenue, one Buick Century and two Pontiac Grand Prix's and one Olds Intrique. The newest one is an 06 Grand Prix. Dealers take you to the cleaners to repair it but if you have any michanical skills its not that hard of job to do yourself. Except for this problem the 3800 is a great running motor, I've seen them run well past the 200,000 mile mark. I wouldn't be scared to buy one myself, non of the five have ever needed a third gasket installed.
Ok that's why I haven't heard of it. My Camaro has a metal intake manifold, not a plastic one.