crawford plenum problem
 

so i put the crawford plenum on my sedan yesterday and ran into a vacuum leak problem. i spoke with crawford before installation and they said that i did not need to replace the gasket and that all i needed was to locktite the longest bolts. so i did.

the leak is coming from the passenger front corner. so i used a gasket sealer type silicone (rvt orange) to see if this will fix the problem. this was all i had for the time. i applied the rvt and snugged the plenum i will tighten the plenum tonight as the rvt should be cured. has any one run into this type of problem?

i thought you could not re-use metal gaskets? and if the rvt does not work, there are six bolts that are in the middle of the lower plenum that i will have to remove to place a new gasket on. i am assuming that these bolts secure the lower plenum to the block, will i have a gasket problem there as well?

to make a long story longer. do you think the plenum is warped? then i would have to have the plenum milled. i thought this was a simple bolt on. but i am not giving up.

I've had the same problem. The usual reply I get is "use two gaskets". It seems to solve it. I haven't had a chance to try it though. And yes, mine is not perfectly flat either. Hopefully you got one gasket with the plenum. Stack that one on top of your oem one and see how it goes. Fortunately, plenums are pretty easy to remove.

I used red loctite on the lower plenum and they were a biach to get off to put the stocker upper back on. Blue would be plenty IMHO

That sucks, sorry to hear about your problems.
I had a motordyne spacer before I got my SC and never had a problem like that.

Is it a cast plenum? With the older ones there was a chance of warping. I would send it back and get a replacement.

dont worry guys fixed the problem and i did not have to use the sealer. so its looks very clean. no goopy mess.

And that fix was????? I'd like to know so I can do the same :)

i called crawford and you are supposed to relocate the wire harness and remove two brackets. i never did this and there are 4 bolts that you have to replace on the lower plenum, did not do this either. i bought this plenum from a local seller and it did not have instructions. so being mr. handyman i thought i could do it without them thinking its only a plenum. well that goes to show you to read all directions before installation. well i took everything apart and cleaned the gasket and the surfaces of the plenums. followed directions and bam no leaks. it sounds great.

Yeah, I bought mine used also. But I downloaded the instructions from Crawford's site.

i had one gasket... it was leaking... I put on 2 gaskets.. no more leak.

yea thats what i did once i found out there was directions

where do you buy a gasket if you only have the stock one?

I assume a dealer would be the easiet but might not be the cheapest. Or contact Crawford or any plenum/spacer dealer. After I read that Crawford stacked like 10-15 of them to see if that would work, I assume they must have piles of them available. hehe

the leak came back!! i am going to the dealer to get another gasket, looks like i am going to run two gaskets. damn

picked up gasket ($30.00) i will try the two gasket solver. report back when done

i know they sell gasket sheets at automotive stores, do you guys think its possible to get one of those and cut one out vs $30 at the dealership? Someone know if they even come in a sheet thats big enough to do a plenum cut out? Just a thought, I'd rather do that.