hello -

I was wondering if anyone knows whether or not a cracked intake manifold gasket will cause emissions problems? I recently added gasket seal to my radiator which seems to have stopped the coolant leak, but Im concerned about emissions because I have to pass inspection within the next week.

:dunno:

Thanks!

caulfield

Yes it will affect emissions... you're dumping coolant into the motor lol. It should be puffing white smoke.

But in reality, if you are not setting off the Service Engine Soon light and you scan the computer and there are no stored error messages, you will pass since OBDII vehicles do not require an actual tail pipe test in most states.

I would still have it fixed though, if you want to keep driving the car once you have it re-registered.

thanks for replying :). I put gasket sealer in the radiator a few weeks agon, and have not been low on coolant since, I believe this fixed the coolant from leaking. Do you think this would indicate that I am no longer dumping coolant into the engine?

A leak in the radiator would not leak coolant into the motor, it would leak coolant out of the radiator onto the floor. Two very different things... believe me if you were dumping coolant into the motor you would know it (white smoke and horrible smelling exhaust) plus on OBDII vehicles, I'm sure the SES light would be flashing at you there would be so many misfires.

It is probably fine now, although I'm not a fan of gasket sealer or radiator leak stopping products. Your best bet in the long run is the replace the radiator.

hrmm weid, i remember a little while ago my mechanic telling me i had a cracked manifold gasket. . .the coolant was leaking very slowly onto the ground, which is what prompted me to put the sealent in the radiator kind of as a last ditch effort. I have not seen it leaking and have not had to add any coolant in quite a while. My engine runs smooth, and I do not notice any misfires happening. My ses light is on, but that kicked on when the problem first occured. I do notice white smoke out of the exhaust, but this is normally when I first start up in the morning and am warming my car up, it goes away though, and I don't notice any foul smelling exhaust. Oh well, guess I'll keep my fingers crossed. . . at this point I just want to pass inspection and get these problems fixed when I have the $$$$.

Thanks again

hrmm weid, i remember a little while ago my mechanic telling me i had a cracked manifold gasket. . .the coolant was leaking very slowly onto the ground, which is what prompted me to put the sealent in the radiator kind of as a last ditch effort. I have not seen it leaking and have not had to add any coolant in quite a while. My engine runs smooth, and I do not notice any misfires happening. My ses light is on, but that kicked on when the problem first occured. I do notice white smoke out of the exhaust, but this is normally when I first start up in the morning and am warming my car up, it goes away though, and I don't notice any foul smelling exhaust. Oh well, guess I'll keep my fingers crossed. . . at this point I just want to pass inspection and get these problems fixed when I have the $$$$.

Thanks again


Take the vehicle to Autozone and have them pull the trouble code, then have them clear it and see if it sets again. If it does, you will not pass emissions. Have the code pulled then post back and let us know what it was and we'll help you figure it out ;)

Just wanted to say thanks for your help. I went to my mechanic and it was an egr valve and some other fuel related thing causing the light to come on. I got it fixed yesterday, but when i went through inspection, i failed the obd test. The notes say "failed readiness test". Do you know how long it usually takes these cars to go back to ready status? I'm just starting to get nervous now that there's something else wrong because time is ticking down for me until my registration expires, and I just blew the last of my cash getting this other thing fixed.

Thanks again!

CF-Mike,

Thanks again for your input, I finally passed inspection, so i guess it was the egr valve causing me to fail. My check engine light was off all weekend, and still is, but man was I nervous pulling into the inspection lane! Well, thanks again, this message board is awesome!

-caulfield