LIM Gasket Replacement

[thebeast86]

Well I am ready for my LIM gasket. My car has been slowly losing coolant for a while now and now recently decided to LOSE it a lot faster. Mine is leaking on the outside all over the place.
Anyways I have gathered my parts:

Fel-Pro LIM Gasket Set
Fel-Pro EGR Valve Gasket
Fel-Pro Throttle Body Gasket
Fel-Pro Valve Cover Gaskets
Fel-Pro Thermostat Gasket
Blue gasket sealer
Thermostat
Six ACDelco Spark Plugs
Borg-Warner Wire Set
5 qts 10W30 Valvoline
4 gallons of Prestone Green Anti-Freeze

I figured since I was going to have the whole thing apart anyways I might as well do some regular maintenance. I figured I would replace the thermostat for cheap insurence. I'm not going to recycle my coolant since it needs replacing anyways. Spark plugs and wires are pretty obvious..LOL

Since I never actually owned a torque wrench of my own I got a nifty new one. Already have all the other tools I will need. Have a floor jack and wood to support the engine with. Have my Chilton's for torque specs.

My one and only question so far, before I begin, is where on this new gasked is rtv sealent required. Fel-Pro sent a nifty tube in with my LIM gasket kit.

Thanks in advance.

Chris

[RocketFast321]

http://img253.echo.cx/img253/7339/3100seal1gz.jpg
Also might want to put some cheap oil in the car first along with a cheap oil filter. Drive about a 100miles or less then drain it and put good oil in. This will wash out if any coolant in the oil system

[Korbendallas68]

Good tip man! Thank you! I'm also changing mine in about 1 week.

thebeast86:

Remember to add distilled water to that mix of coolant. You should have a 70/30 mix of coolant/water for optimum results

[Rayz]

Don't forget to Loctite the lower manifold bolts.
Don't mix up the push rods (exhaust push rods are longer)
Lower manifold bolts are torqued to 120 INCH-LBS Not FOOT-LBS.

Good luck with your project

[thebeast86]

Thanks everyone for all the quick replies. I bought my thread locker and also have a copy of the TSB from GM (TSB 03-06-01-010) which has the revised torque sequence. If anyone wants to see the TSB I can hunt thru my history and find the link.

I am planning on doing this Monday and Tuesday since I am off work. I'll keep you updated plus I plan to take pictures for a possible write up.

WOOT WOOT!

[Bart001]

yeah changing the oil is a MUST, I wouldn't even crank it the first time, without changing the oil.....
THEN i would drive it for about 100 kms, then change the oil again.....
That makes sure you get out all the crap you that goes in the valley and pistons......

TRUST me on this.... or else you could cook your bearings...
then you can pull the whole engine and do the bottom end as well.....lol....

As for the Green Antifrezze, Dont..lol... Go with DexCool... not too much more expensive, and worth it.... really, just bring green back, and get the Red Dexcool... Try and flush the system with water, and then add DEX....
Also check out that pic that he posted... Thank-you btw for the pic...lol... see the round thing.... thats the distributor shaft seal, get a oring for that, cause they can tend to go too...

really this may not really see worth it or seem like BS, but its really worth all its weight in gold...
Also when I did mine 3 months ago... I bought new Head Bolts..
Since the old ones maybe streched.....
Sorry for the length here, ask anymore questions if you got em..lol
I got more tips if you need or want.... email if you want... i'll get back to you within 1 hour on sun or tues.... Mon i'm out ALL day with exams...
Remember why do the job if your not gonna do it perfect...lol..I'm also just a lil anal...lol...

Email if you need it.... Bartnik001@hotmail.com

[thebeast86]

Well I changed my gasket today. WOO WOO. It went rather well, took about 8 hours to get it done. I didn't rush anything and was really proud of myself. No more leaks, new plugs, wires, belt, and thermostat. All new coolant, and already drove it 100 miles and changed the oil again. Runs like a champ. Thanks for the tips guys.

Later

[Korbendallas68]

Awesome. Good to hear.

[RocketFast321]

Do you want to come and do the one in our malibu ? :)

[neo95]

Originally posted by Bart001
Thank-you btw for the pic...lol... see the round thing.... thats the distributor shaft seal, get a oring for that, cause they can tend to go too...

really this may not really see worth it or seem like BS, but its really worth all its weight in gold...


I think thats on the other side of the motor (pass side):
http://blankenshipsrv.com/deuce/LIM/=Valley8%20highlight.jpg
http://blankenshipsrv.com/deuce/LIM/=LIM1%20HIGHLIGHT.jpg
http://blankenshipsrv.com/deuce/LIM/=DSC02940%20HIGHLIGHT.jpg

[SlamedAM]

I kind of have a side question, as a new member I'm expecting good answers (hehe, jk). I'm not expecting anything but any help would be greatly appreciated.

I recently blew a head gasket, and I'm actually a step further than this thread. I actually went passed the lower intake and pulled the push rods and everything to get the heads off and do new gaskets all the way up.

When I pulled the pushrods to get them out of the way, I put them all in a box to keep track of what order they should go back in. However, my dumb ass dog ran into the box and knocked three or four of them on the floor. Needless to say, they are no longer in order.

There's only two size pushrods, longer ones and shorter ones. Can anyone tell me or show me a picture as to how they go back in what order? I don't want to put this thing back together and have some rods bangin around in there or some crazy crap like that.

Please help!

EDIT: Also, I ran like 7 quarts of oil through this thing, some paint thinner, and some denaturized alchohol and I'm still getting chocolate milk pouring out of the oil pan.

I know obviously I'm not going to get all of that crap out of there until I actually run the engine and keep changing the oil. Could someone maybe suggest a safe process to clean this thing while I still have the intake off?

I also had coolant/water pouring on top of my pistons when I took the heads off. I sucked all that crap out of there with a Shop-Vac and minutely scraped the top of them with some ScotchBrite pads (careful not to score them).


Any suggestions would be great considering this is a FREAKING NIGHTMARE ever since my car started eating all of my coolant. :(