New guy having some problems

Thanks again to everyone for their responses.

In my 40 point checklist the tech put the intake leak under the "needs attention" category as opposed to the "needs immediate attention" category. Hopefully I can sit on this for a bit. I'll go to the dealer and get an officiail detailed writeup of the problem with an estimate to repair. Once I get the $800 shock I'm gonna call up GM and try and goodwill some of the cost through them. If they say no then I'll go and visit my private mechanic. Which brings me to my question.

My private mechanic is a good guy. He did a lot of work on our older 1988 cutlass ciera when we had it. Is the Alero more/too technologically complex for a private mechanic?? He doesn't have any diagnostic equipment that I know of. He usually goes with his gut, experience, and the sounds he hears. He's pretty good at it though. But I don't wanna be cheap with labour only to get a poor job in return. If this is a dealer only thing, then I'll go there and just get it done.

Thanks guys!

He's replacing some gaskets, not tuning the PCM...

It's up to you though, if he's an experienced and competent mechanic and he can save you a bundle on labour costs go with him, if you don't think he's able to replace some intake gaskets, bring it to the dealership?

Your private mechanic should be ok, just make sure you get him the proper gaskets FROM THE DEALER. This is VERY important, as I've never come across an aftermarket intake gasket set that had all the right little keepers to hold it on the cylinder head side, and one set from AutoZone didn't have all the coolant passages it should have had. As I said, you'll need the plastic and rubber molded lower intake gaskets, paper upper intake gasket (just replace it, you can never keep the old one from ripping), rubber valve cover gaskets, grey sealer, and an oil pump o-ring (REPLACE IT while he's in there- it takes 30 seconds, but if it fails later you have to take it all apart again!) You'll probably need an EGR valve gasket too.
Also, if you bought your car at that dealership and are just out of warranty, they will sometimes 'goodwill' the repair to you- I do it all the time. As ong as you've been a good little customer and bought some of the stuff they've tried to sell you- maintenance, tires, etc.- they'll probably at least split it with you. Try this BEFORE you call GM, as it will help your relationship with the dealer immensely if it works. If it doesn't, feel free to call GM and :wah: about it. :thumbsup: