Symptoms of a failing Intake Manifold Gasket

Check engine warning light is on

You’re smarter than a tiny little light in your car, right? Guess again. The check engine warning light is telling you something. It’s telling you to check your engine before it’s too late. If the intake manifold gasket is taking a day off, then the air-to-fuel ratio will be wonky in your engine, and that will trigger a warning light.

Poor engine performance

Now this one should definitely get your attention. If your intake manifold gasket is busted, your car won’t have a good air-to-fuel ratio, which will impact the performance of the engine. There may be some hesitation or some jerkiness, or you may just notice that it’s a completely uninspiring engine.

Leaks

Cars have a lot of fluids, which means there are a lot of opportunities for leaks. A puddle, or even some drips under your car are a bad sign, but they could be the result of many different things. In some cars, the intake manifold gasket serves to seal in coolant. So, if there’s coolant outside of the car, instead of inside it...well, you can do the math on that one, yeah?

Low fluid levels

Well, here’s a no-brainer for you. If your car is leaking fluid, you’re likely to have lower fluid levels. Hey, if you prefer to leave your fluids up to the mechanics, no judgement here. But we're all about being smart car owners, and it only takes five minutes to check the fluids in your car. If you do it every now and again, you may be able to spot a potential issue before it’s a big problem. I’m just saying. So, if you notice that your car has a low level of engine coolant, you may have an unhappy intake manifold gasket.

Engine is overheating

Okay, so we’ve spent a fair amount of time talking about how a broken intake manifold gasket can cause coolant to leak, and coolant absorbs heat from your engine, keeping the motor at a safe temperature. So, if your car is leaking coolant, then you're risking your engine overheating.