My mechanic tells me I need to replace my intake manifold which has a crack in it. Cannot swing a new one from the dealer and have been checking for an aftermarket one but to not avail. Have located used ones but I'm told this part should be new. Any suggestions where I can locate one??

 

Do you mean the dealer does not have one or do you mean he wants mucho dinero? If he cannot get one, I doubt you will find one elsewhere since they don't seem to have frequent problems. I would go for a used one- fleabay, Coventry West, the local junkyard, etc.
And who told you it should be new and why? Again, there are some, but not too many reports of intake manifold failures, so I cannot imagine a used one would be much of a risk. So few, that I would question to the events leading to a cracked intake manifold diagnosis. What symptoms were you having, or what else was he working on? There are some posts by Gus and others about upgrading the manifold seals.

 

I had a problem with my intake manifold - I never could get it to seal right. I assume it was from an overheat episode, but my fuel trims would go over the limit and I'd get the P0174 and P0172, I think (the full fuel compensation). I changed the seals and hoses, etc. I gave it a smoke test and saw a leak from front left - after new seals. So, I found one on fleabay and now my fuel trims are better, but still not great. Of course I'll pass emission inspection fine. But, the thing about the seals, I must have missed that. Oh yeah, be careful. I bought a used manifold from a guy that said it would fit, but it didn't(big hassle), so make sure it's the right injector config for an AJ27.