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Upcoming lifter/oil pan/rear cover seal/engine mount etc. etc.

yekimmrt

yekimmrt

New member
2001 GTP
155,000-ish miles, original engine and transmission as far as I know. Got the car with 86,000 miles on it seven years ago.

Not knowing any better as soon as I got the car I put a K&N cai on it, and aside from a few lights and things don't have any other performance modifications except a ZZP catted downpipe I put in when my cat went south a couple of weeks ago. So after a couple years of daily driving ignoring little problems as they come up and doing basic routine maintenace (oil change, tires, etc.) It's come time to pay for my sins. I replaced the LIM, coolant elbows, and valve cover gaskets about four years ago, I did the plugs and wires about the same time. I've replaced the thermostat and gasket, a couple little jobs here and there, wheel bearing, cleaned the throttle body and maf, swapped in a new PCV valve, but now I've got a list of problems that cannot be ignored. They are, in no particular order...

-Oil pan leaking about a quart every three weeks
-Injectors loudly ticking, will probably send out
-front valve cover leaking (again)
-motor and transmission mounts pile of rubbery goo
-coolant leaking from elbows and....?
-lower control arm bushings worn out badly on both sides (also found different brand on each side...mildly concerning)
-leaking steering rack boot
-vacuum leak un-discoverable with throttle body cleaner
-possible water pump leak, hard to tell with the elbows leaking

At first I was going to tackle them a job at a time, but after a lot of reading and a few posts with advice, I've decided to pull the engine and take a real good look at everything and also inspect/replace the rear engine cover gasket just to be safe. I've got a garage to work in and borrowed a lift/leveler and stand from co-workers. I've got my brother and dad signed up to help and allotted three days to pull the engine, clean everything up, do all the work and put the engine back in, and whatever else we can cram into the time. I'll be using my tech manuals, billboosts engine pulling write up, dubob's video, plus whatever other info I can glean from the forums. I'm trying to keep costs manageable, but not cheap out on anything that will cost me down the line.

A general list of parts I think I'll need just for the engine work:

-touch up paint
-Solid motor mount (hopefully) from Rock Auto
-oil pan/pickup gasket
-new plugs
-new wires
-razors for scraping
-valve cover gaskets
-supercharger gasket
-Aluminum coolant elbows
-injector o rings
-oil filter
-lots of oil
-rear engine cover gasket
-new down pipe gasket
-anti seize and thread lock, RTV, etc
-possible water pump/gasket
-replace supercharger oil
-transgo shift kit
-trans fluid/filter

Any recommendations for gasket kits or part sources, things to watch out for? What else should I check for as I pull it out?
I'm a industrial maintenance tech with a naval mechanic background, so cutting/grinding/drilling/welding/assembly/disassembly/lubricating/patching things together with JB WELD and duct tape is my daily routine. I feel pretty good about getting the engine in and out and expecting problems to crop up, I'll continually edit this post and provide pics as the date approaches. Which will probably be in about a month. Any general advice or tips would be awesome. I realize pulling the engine isn't strictly necessary except for the rear engine cover, but uh...I want to do it.
 
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Don't have much to contribute, but I look forward to reading about your progress. My 2001 had 60% of that stuff done to it at 130k as well. Stupid LIM gasket is leaking again at 162k. Has been since about 150k. I do not know if it was a metal gasket or not.
Noticed you don't have GM supercharger oil on the list, found mine cheapest off of Amazon or W-bodystore. WBS also good source for gaskets.
Anyways, good luck with tackling it all.
 
Looks like a solid list. No real need to pull the motor, but if you want to, go for it.

Don't reuse the LIM gasket. I reused mine (had at most 500miles on it) and within 50 miles it started to leak. Don't cheap out on it, get a new one.

A day or 2 before you plan on pulling the motor, start soaking the exhaust bolts you plan to remove with PB Blaster, and heat cycle them. They are prone to snapping, and a total PITA to drill out.

Is the rear seal leaking? I'd not worry about replacing it unless it is, very rare to have it leak.

Rockauto, amazon, or Wbodystore are pretty good with gasket prices. For the price, i'd go ahead and swap out the waterpump while you've got the motor out. I'd also flush the cooling out regardless.

Like Exile said, be a good time to change your S/C oil, and coupler if it needs it.

I'd assume you have a good torque wrench, if not, go buy one.

I don't see any degreaser or brake cleaner, so I'd get 2-3 cans of each. Make sure to clean the subframe around the motor mount really well, along with the motor. If you're going that far, be a good time to paint anything you want to liven up.

Plan on a dropping the trans pan and a fluid/filter change? Possibly a shift kit too.
 
I'll add the supercharger oil, good call. LIM gasket too..i'll try and get a kit that includes it. I feel you on the exhaust bolts. When I replaced my cat 3 out of the 4 snapped...took many hours and drill bits getting the stud out of the exhaust manifold. I think I have a limited lifetime on my autozone water pump, so that'd be a net zero cost. I'll check out the coupler too. I've actually got a transgo shift kit coming monday, and I plan on doing the filter change, I just didn't add it to the list until I felt out how well the main job was going. Torque wrenches and cleaners I'm flush on. Rags...pans...etc. I'll think about the paint too. It'd be sweet, but will depend on how things go. Traildog...Lower Intake Manifold gasket. Try searching for dubob's lower intake manifold and lifters replacement video, it's very informative.
 


Oh also, AC delco vs DNJ lifters? Or Melling, that Auto Zone sells? I'll look through the forums when I have more time, but if anybody sees this do you have any experience with the DNJs? AC delco's are pretty pricey, dunno if they're worth twice the cost.
 
Can't go wrong with ac delco or just get ls7 from ZZP or texas speed since they're now our stock replacements
 
Mmk. I think I'm going to go with the LS7's...I had misread the description to think I needed different springs.
 
machinegunsquid said:
Looks like a solid list. No real need to pull the motor, but if you want to, go for it.

Is the rear seal leaking? I'd not worry about replacing it unless it is, very rare to have it leak.
Click to expand...

its not that you WANT to pull the motor and regasket everything...but that you almost assuredly HAVE to....its not the rear main seal thats leaking (ive never had to replace one because it was the actual leak....the actual leaks are the rear cover gasket.

it can leak oil AND/OR coolant internally or externally...

and after all the motors ive regasketed and worked on....i used to have the odds at 50/50....but the last two motors were both shot...so that moved my odds to nearly 3 in 4 having cracked/pushed rear cover gaskets
this as a 50-60k 06 L26
IMG_1454.jpg


this was a ~75k late 04/early 05 L26...CLEAN motor... but as you can see...coolant was gonna be mixing with oil REAL soon...
IMG_1630.jpg


btw some oil leaks are internal oil pressure sensor leaks where the oil flows through the sensor into the electrical connector...if you unplug the lime green connector and the inside is wet with oil/dripping...replace the sensor
 
Yeah that's the main reason why I went with pulling it. I have some time and want to make sure everything is good when I put it back, I plan on keeping the car for awhile. Thanks again for the info. Also, which oil sensor are you referring to, where is it found, and do you use any sealant on that gasket?
 


that rear cover, billboost always talks about a dab of lock tight on those bolts, iirc he says they are like hand tight when you take the bolts off most of the time.
 
good to know. Also...I was doing some reading and decided to do more poking around with the stethoscope. What I thought for sure were my lifters now seem to be my fuel injectors. One in particular is extremely loud...I unplugged the connector and the noise got a lot quieter. I know it's not dire, but I'm looking around town for someone who'll clean them well, maybe rebuild..I won't have enough down time to send them to that Mr Injector. There is still a faint ticking coming from the block, and when I pulled my throttle body awhile back there was THICK black buildup inside the intake, which I've read could be a by product of a collapsed lifter, or just age. I'm still going to pull the engine to take care of my oil and coolant leaks, but am reconsidering the lifters until I can be more certain. They take a lot less effort to replace than the oil pan and rear cover gasket, I can always do them down the road when I'm certain they're a problem...I'll probably post some pics of the broken things soon just to pass the time on the thread till I get my tax return back and afford all the stuff I'm going to do. I'm probably going to put a PLOG on too while the engine is out, just to make it more fun.
 
they are loose as the paper gasket shrinks and hardens and no longer seals.... the paper relaxes over time

i use permatex super 300/aviation sealer on em
brush it on and it soaks into the paper

the thing is people dont let gaskets set. for the rear cover gasket i dont put the flexplate on for a whole day after is slowly tighten em evenly. my guess is the rear cover is thin enough it flexes if you go "attacking it" with a ratchet and will crush the gasket.
after its tight i let it relax a few hours and then loosen and retighten the bolts and ill get more turn angle at the same tightness. i just use arp lube on all threads.

try it sometime.

i just figure assembly time at the factory had em probably crushing the gasket from the getgo.

i figure its worth taking the time and make some sweet love with her. its also one reason i start with the rear cover/JB weld BS delete first so it can relax as i install the dam and button up the front end (which i also let relax before damper install)

as a mechanic its almost comical to do an in car pan when for a little more time you can do far more.... she's not gettin any younger lol
 


the black buildup is called coking and its the condensation of hot fuel and oil vapors and small dirt particles and can be much worse on an egr equipped vehicle with the addition of all the extra carbon.

its not harmfull. but if you get a couple rubbermaid tubs and 5 gal of kerosene and some misc sink brushes can get em pretty ****in clean
 
Turbo...am I hearing you right, you put the sealant on the the gasket, then let it set for 24 hours before ​you bolt it on?
 
no i put the sealant on and by the time your installing the gasket its soaked in...then i finger tighten with an extension/twofingers on a ratchet and sneak up to tightness no more than a 1/2 turn each bolt, then 1/4 as i get tight. then i let it sit 20minutes and youll get it a little tighter, after an hour you might get a little more but after an hour or two i just loosen each bolt by itself and retighten, usually getting more degrees of turn at the same tq...its also why i use a **** hair of lube on the threads.

its why as i said i have an "order" to my work so tightening is staged and i can final tighten right before balancer/flex install
 
you can sorta see the logic of not cranking one bolt tight faster than the rest with a crushable gasket.

quick tip for rear cover alignment.
clean the pan and install it without the gasket and start a few bolts lightly snug and youll hold that rear main seal and front timing cover pretty darn close to dead center. slight misalignment at the pan rail isnt a big deal but if its hard to gauge the pans a good trick.
after the covers are on and tight youll use a scraper to "shear" off the gasket material that will protrude....i suggest from the inside out (lest you drive to mcdonalds to steal 6 staws (spares just in case) so you can rig up a mini suction device for the shop vac to get that ****er outta the crankcase rofl
 
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