Well, you guys called it....pulled the LIM and sure enough the gasket was starting to fail...was still holding intact so no coolant loss yet, but some of the edges of square intake seals were bowing in and starting to collapse. I'll try to get a pic if I remember. Now for the bad news....I had to replace with the plastic gaskets. Like a numnuts, I ripped open the Fel-Pro box only to find out they were plastic. When I checked my Rock Auto order, I picked the wrong part # by mistake. Then I see the Fel-Pro box says "Not returnable if opened". So rather than toss $30 out the window, I installed them. Hopefully will give me a couple years....heck the plastic one the dealer installed back in 02 held up for 10 years, and these are an improved design with metal crush collars at the bolt holes, etc. If you believe the Fel-Pro website, the plastic is wrapped around a metal core...We will see.

Worth the effort, though, the valve covers were leaking like crazy so there was crud everywhere....was worth removing the LIM just to clean it up! Also doing the full works like on the 98, including water pump, serp belt, plug, wires, t-stat, temp sensor, elbows, UIM, TB cleaning, etc. Waiting for the injectors to come back from Mr Injector so I can get the fuel rain and re-install the wiring harness.