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HELP! LIM Gasket, Injector O-rings, Valve Cover Gaskets.....

J

Jones

New member
2002 GTP 110,000 miles

I have had my car for about a year and a half now but I am just now starting to get familiar with it.
I plan to replace the lower intake manifold gasket. My car has fluid puddling around the injectors and in the low spots along side the sc. After a little research I found that a common problem was that the insufficient LIM gasket has a tendency to fail. Also, it seems Injector O-rings and Valve Cover Gaskets are common problems. I'm not sure which one is the leading benefactor to the fluid puddling.

I had planned to replace all 3 at the same time.

My question is:
How hard a repair is this, are any special tools needed and are there any other common problems I should take care of while I'm in there?

Oh yea
I also made the mistake of running 87 in it for a full year before I realized it calls for 91 :th_sign-oops:
 


Do all the top end gaskets. LIM/O rings/ Valve covers. Its not like any of them are pricey or hard to do.

Most of what you need can be done with a 10mm socket and common sense.

I'm not really sure why this thread has "HELP" in the title...

Edit: Don't forget new coolant elbows while you're in there.
 


Thanks for the input
I threw the HELP in there because I really wanted some good insight before I got started on this.....I guess it does seem a bit much now that I look at it.
About how long should I expect to spend on this job?
Its my only car at this time and I cant afford to have it down for too long.
 
LIM gasket is rated 4.2 hours on alldata. If it's your first time, I would expect close to that, you'll want to let the car sit for a few hours afte so the RTV can cure.
 
it took me 5 hours tearing down everything and putting things back... w/ stuff breaking and gettin stuck sooo.... give it a saturday or sunday off
 
I can't or won't give you advice on mechanical stuff but I will say this - make sure to set things in order or in a way that you know where they go back together (labels would not be a bad idea) and if possible take a bunch of pictures during your disassembly to help yourself with the re-assembly. Some of the numerous bolt even though they look the same and go into the supercharger for example go into different holes because of length so before you toss them in a pile make note of which go where. It is not hard to do, but can be a little daunting when/if you have a gazillion pieces out and not sure how they go back in. If you are handy and mechanically inclined, 1 day should be more than enough though I'd guess. If you have not already watched the LIM video by DuBob in the how to section on here that is 33 minutes I would say to do that for sure first also. People on here are great help too, before during and after you do things. Posting pictures and questions together will usually get the quickest and most accurate help if you need it. Good luck!
 
Pooling of fluid on the LIM is most commonly caused by fluid seeping up the bolt threads. The bolts go into both coolant and oil areas. Therefore over years teh sealant on the bolts breaks down. I always clean the bolts and reseal with a pipe sealant with ptfe. You can get some in the plumbing section of Home Depot or you can probably find it at the parts store. BTW you will want to use a 3/8" socket on the LIM bolts. Torque to 15ft lbs when using an aluminum gasket.
 


Thanks for all the good advice guys. Very insightful and exactly what I was looking for. I think I got this under control now. I'm actually a pretty competent mechanic. I just always get a little nervous on first time jobs, especially when mistakes aren't in the budget.
 
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