It's my son's car,  3.1L, under 40K miles, got it from Grandma about 3
years ago, light usage before and since. Slight leak at first,
gradually getting worse.

I've googled the problem, seems to be fairly common. From what I've
been able to determine so far by looking at where the coolant is
appearing, I'm assuming it's the intake manifold gasket issue so many
have had. So far, it's still only an external leak, I'd like to fix it
before it becomes internal.

My question is:

Anyone here done the replacement themselves? I'm dropping my wife's 04
Malibu off at the dealer tomorrow for another issue with that one,
I've asked my service rep to put together a parts list of the things
I'll need. He said there are some updated parts, obviously the gasket,
some bolts/screws and sealant.

Any tips, advice, "watch out for", recommended sequence etc? And
before you ask, no I do not have the service manual...

I'm a fairly accomplished mechanic but I really hate working on a
tranverse mounted V6 in a tiny engine compartment. Yeah, I know, "cry
me a river".

Please reply here and/or use the email address below:

djones <at> LSidaho <dot> com

Thanks!

David