Thread: Dirty LIM gasket change

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  1. #1 Dirty LIM gasket change 
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    Good day folks,

    I am in the process of changing the LIM gasket on a vehicle that's just plain dirty. I'm in northern Ontario where they battle ice on the roads with 4 things: sand, salt, more sand, and a bit more salt. To battle the salt, we use undercoating. The result is that the engine compartment is coated in sticky oil-based undercoating that the sand sticks to. Getting this stuff out of all the nooks and crannies of the intake manifold is pretty much impossible while in place. I have cleaned the manifold after removal but during the removal, I'm certain that this sand/oil crap has made its way into the heads through the bolt holes and also through the injector ports. Does anyone have a suggestion on how to best flush this out? The sand/oil mix is paste-like now and isn't particularly sticky but it's in some really hard to reach places.
    At 200,000 miles, I really don't want to try pulling the heads since I'm sure to bust a bolt or two in the process.

    Since I'd prefer not to sand the cylinders, rings, valves, bearings, etc all suggestions are welcome (I may just try them all; well, all the sensible ones anyway )

    Thanks
    '01 Grand Prix GTP Special Edition
    Trying to stay pretty close to stock now. Just a few bolt-ons for fun.
    Trying to keep it alive, pretty, and fun.
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  2. #2 Re: Dirty LIM gasket change 
    GTX Level Member wstefan20's Avatar
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    Sorry to hear you are in that situation! Unfortunately, I've been there too. I used to work as a professional detailer so don't believe those who say this will ruin things. Just be careful and if you follow these instructions carefully, you won't have any issues. About the only thing I've found works on that stuff is first disconnect the negative battery terminal, next use plastic bags and rubber bands to cover any sensitive electronic components (cruise control, ecm, ebcm, alternator, battery, cone air filter, etc.), then spraying the gel type heavy engine degreaser EVERYWHERE and letting it sit for 10-15 minutes. Then either rent a pressure washer (with a fairly wide tip of course so you don't cause damage), or go to your local pressurized car wash, and spray the living crap out of it making sure to try to avoid spraying any electronic components. This gets most of the big grime out of the way so you can see the rest. Now I tend to repeat as necessary, and I'll bring out a quality long handled parts cleaner brush (kind that looks like a giant paint brush). Once you're happy, remove the plastic and take a wet rag and lightly wipe the areas you protected to get everything clean. Then, either use a blower or wait for things to dry, and if you'd like, you can apply a tire shine to most surfaces, making sure to spray onto your rag and not directly onto the headers unless you just really like smoke and fire! Now reconnect your battery and enjoy the cleanest engine in town!
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  3. #3 Re: Dirty LIM gasket change 
    GTX Level Member wstefan20's Avatar
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    lol didn't read at first that you had already taken the intake apart. My advice to avoid issue is to pull the plugs, fuel pump relay, icm connector, and injectors (if you haven't already), then plug the injector holes, intake holes, etc with paper towels. If you have coolant or liquid, wet-vac or somehow clean that up first. Next use brake clean or your choice of solvent (use degreaser if you have a fancy painted manifold) and spray everything down. vacuum if necessary. remove the spark plug paper towels, use a rag and solvent to clean the injector ports and any gasket surfaces (I prefer scotch brite pads with solvent to razor blades). Re-assemble as necessary. If you removed the lower intake, take it to the car wash with engine degreaser and spray the crap out of it and re-install. Once everything is back together, I'd repeat the cleaning process above. And done! Hope this helps!
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  4. #4 Re: Dirty LIM gasket change 
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    Thanks for the quick reply wstefan20. The problem is that I'm already dealing with open heads. In retrospect, I should have done that before pulling things apart but here I am. Intake manifold off, valve covers off, $%!+ inside

    Any suggests for getting the internals cleaned out?
    '01 Grand Prix GTP Special Edition
    Trying to stay pretty close to stock now. Just a few bolt-ons for fun.
    Trying to keep it alive, pretty, and fun.
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  5. #5 Re: Dirty LIM gasket change 
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    Sounds like my Saturday just got burnt I guess better a burnt day than a burnt engine.

    Thanks again.
    '01 Grand Prix GTP Special Edition
    Trying to stay pretty close to stock now. Just a few bolt-ons for fun.
    Trying to keep it alive, pretty, and fun.
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  6. #6 Re: Dirty LIM gasket change 
    GTX Level Member wstefan20's Avatar
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    Sorry! forgot to add that you want to do the spark plug thing cause you're going to crank your engine over to "blow" the crap out the spark plug holes. You might want to spray some carb cleaner down the intake and spark plug at the same time just to be safe. Then all my above applies!
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  7. #7 Re: Dirty LIM gasket change 
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    '01 Grand Prix GTP Special Edition
    Trying to stay pretty close to stock now. Just a few bolt-ons for fun.
    Trying to keep it alive, pretty, and fun.
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  8. #8 Re: Dirty LIM gasket change 
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    Well, I spent 10 hours over the last 10 days with air compressor and paper towels in hand wiping down every square inch. It's all buttoned up, I pulled the plugs and cranked it over a few times, changed the oil, and flushed the cooling system. Now it's just a matter of time-will-tell. I'll do another oil change in a few weeks and probably flush the cooling system again since it looks like it's still contaminated. On to the next problem...

    Thanks wstefan20
    '01 Grand Prix GTP Special Edition
    Trying to stay pretty close to stock now. Just a few bolt-ons for fun.
    Trying to keep it alive, pretty, and fun.
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  9. #9 Re: Dirty LIM gasket change 
    GTX Level Member wstefan20's Avatar
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    Congrats! I know that's not a fun job, especially with the lower intake removed. If you have trouble bleeding the coolant, my trick is the lisle no spill funnel. You just fill it half- way, loosen bleeder screws till they weep, close, start the car with heat on max, let it come up to temp, repeat bleeder procedure, shut down, let it cool, repeat bleeder procedure, remove funnel and top off overflow. Done!
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  10. #10 Re: Dirty LIM gasket change 
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    O
    M
    G

    I've never seen a funnel like this! That's definately in my shopping list now along with a downpipe and cat since mine is pretty much plugged from the failed LIM gasket.

    Thanks again!
    '01 Grand Prix GTP Special Edition
    Trying to stay pretty close to stock now. Just a few bolt-ons for fun.
    Trying to keep it alive, pretty, and fun.
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  11. #11 Re: Dirty LIM gasket change 
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    Haha yeah, that funnel is one of my favorite tools of all time. Oh, and just a warning on the cats, walker is the preferred oem by many here because it works and doesn't throw any codes. Don't go with a high flow cat unless you want to deal with tuning the codes out.
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  12. #12 Re: Dirty LIM gasket change 
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    Walker eh? I was just about to order the ZZP Downpipe w/ Cat and U-Bend delete. I see that they mention that it _may_ throw a code but they make it sound like a low probability or infrequent event. No?
    '01 Grand Prix GTP Special Edition
    Trying to stay pretty close to stock now. Just a few bolt-ons for fun.
    Trying to keep it alive, pretty, and fun.
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  13. #13 Re: Dirty LIM gasket change 
    GTX Level Member wstefan20's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by jeepers View Post
    Walker eh? I was just about to order the ZZP Downpipe w/ Cat and U-Bend delete. I see that they mention that it _may_ throw a code but they make it sound like a low probability or infrequent event. No?
    I can't speak personally for zzp's. hopefully someone will be able to comment on that. (*cough* Billboost) if it does throw a code, you can keep clearing it, but every 25-50 miles or so it'll go off again. If you have emissions in your state, it'll fail. On some gps, you can just remove the rear o2 and use zzp's dummy o2, but I can't remember if it was 00 or 02 that they changed things and the only way to delete the rear o2 is to leave it in and actually pay to have the code tune out. On the newer ones if you remove and tune out it'll run rich. If you have the older ones, then order the cat and get the dummy o2 while you're at it.
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  14. #14 Re: Dirty LIM gasket change 
    GrandPrix Junkie
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    I run a 3" catted DP from ZZP with the rear 02 sensor installed. Has never thrown a code. I also used to have an O2 sim. installed and it worked just fine. This is on my 00 GP. Of course I also live in a county that does not require emissions so not sure if it would pass. Never tried.
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  15. #15 Re: Dirty LIM gasket change 
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    Thanks, FordMan77. I've ordered the same DownPipe from ZZP. I see that they give a $50 credit for the old cat core so my thought was to try it out and if it starts to throw codes, I'll use the credit to buy the sim.
    Yeah, no emissions standards here either. <whew!>. I'll post back once it's all installed.
    '01 Grand Prix GTP Special Edition
    Trying to stay pretty close to stock now. Just a few bolt-ons for fun.
    Trying to keep it alive, pretty, and fun.
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