96 firebird Trans Am engine Questions.. Help Please!

Question

I have a 96 Trans Am and something inside the engine is leaking. it sprays out between the throttle body and the engine block. I took it to a mechanics and he said about 850$ to fix it and he said he doesn't know what it is, that he would have to take off the top of the engine block just to see what it is. So i was wondering is it worth that much?

I was thinking about doing it myself i have the trans am book that breaks down all the parts and tells me what tools to use i used it already to change my water pump (thats what i thought was leaking but i was wrong) so would it be a pain to take off the top of the block? would i need alot of tools or should i just let a professional do it.

It would help alot if some one actually knows about this problem to actually tell me what it is.

I dont think its my gaskets because no oil is spilling. All it does is heat up really fast and drips water from behind/under were a slit is to connect peaces for the throttle body and in front of the block. so i dont know if it is the block or not.

Answer 1

sounds like your plenum gasket.

Answer 2

From your description, it does sound like the plenum/lower intake manifold gasket would be a good bet. Or if it's one of those plastic ones, it could be cracked. Not sure if yours is, but a lot of newer cars use them.

Might be a good idea to look on some forums for guys who own those kind of cars. Sometimes they know more about them than the typical mechanic who works on all kinds of cars.

http://www.pontiacowners.com/pontiac/ind...

http://www.automotiveforums.com/vbulleti...

http://www.f-bodyhideout.com/forums/

Sign up, introduce yourself if there's a thread for that, and check for previous posts first. They may have addressed this problem 100 times already, and get irritated if you don't bother to look first.