LIM gasket replacement: Cost for shop vs do it myself?

**wmorrison65** · 03-26-2015

So today, I noticed coolant pooling around my injectors. Bad LIM gasket, right? Or can anything else cause that?

Ordinarily, I'd do this myself, and drive my other car while it's apart. But my other car also needs work, and I need to get at least one of them driveable in a hurry. So...

Does anybody know about how many hours of labor a shop should bill for this job? What parts are needed? I think at least the LIM gasket (newer metal one,) supercharger gasket, and coolant o rings. Anything else?

Alternatively, if there's anybody who has experience with this job, who lives near the Hartford, CT area (New Britain, actually,) and could help me get through it faster (instead of spending days figuring it out from manuals and howtos,) that would be much appreciated. If so, for reference, the most involved job I've done is a timing belt / water pump change on my Audi TT 1.8T last fall. So I'm not a total n00b mechanic (just a self-taught one,) and wouldn't ask you over to "help" and then just stand back and expect you to do all the work.

**chrsmi1** · 03-26-2015

New Aluminum Coolant elbows, Lim Gasket, M90 gasket, injector o-rings, formagasket, bottle of coolant, a ratchet set, some new vacuum lines (you'll probably break yours) maybe a torque wrench, possibly valve cover gaskets if yours are bad, and maybe a few other misc things i forgot. That's about all you need to do it yourself. That and about 3 or 4 hours if you take your time. It's truly not that bad.

A shop. Probably $500 with parts. You could do it yourself in half a day.
Read this:
http://www.gpona.com/forums/do-it-yo...de-t29904.html

It's for a N/a, but it's still a great guide. Long story short, do it yourself, save money, be happy.

**Slick2500** · 03-26-2015

Half a day? Should take like 2 hours and a few beers tops.
Watch this

**Timing** · 03-26-2015

I notice your in ct. I could potentially help you for cheap, im in mass. Bill is in ct but he seems to be a pretty busy guy. Also i work at a parts store and getting all the gaskets ect for a 3.8 at half the cost of anything you could get them for locally. If you do do it yourself just take your time research and dont be afraid to ask questions. Make sure you torque everything and you should be ok.

**chrsmi1** · 03-26-2015

The half a day is if you're taking your sweet ass time. Guy said he's a semi-noob.

Take your time OP. And don't pay some shop to do something you could do for just a little time and effort.

**chris99gtp** · 03-26-2015

took me close to a day. I also broke 2 bolts (one was broken before i touched it) and also had to run to 3 different auto parts stores for the upper plenum gasket. Started around 9:30 finished around 5ish. Took about an hour lunch too. Cleaned everything well. Do it yourself.

**Scottydoggs** · 03-26-2015

taking my sweet ass time was 3 hours.

once the fuel rail and wire harness are off theres nothing left but bolts.

**REDCRAPGP** · 03-26-2015

A few hrs if that.. And most of that is being OCD with cleaning and painting a few things and enjoying some beer.

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**bonerjamz03** · 03-27-2015

If you've never done something like this before, block off a day or two just in case. The last thing you want is to forget something because you rushed yourself and have to take everything apart again.

Clean everything really well, and BUY VACUUM LINE!! I wish I bought it before hand since every piece/elbow on mine crumbled.

Also clean the throttle body and MAF Sensor if you haven't done them in a while. Make sure to get a throttle body gasket if you do (just in case).

And have some new razor blades on hand. They work really well if you need to remove stubborn gasket material, just be careful not to nick the surface of what you're scraping.

**TexasTanker19kilo20** · 03-27-2015

Yup, do it yourself. Took my time on mine and even painted the blower while it was off. Also I to recommend vacuum lines and t-fittings in case they are cracked and or crumble.

**BillBoost37** · 03-27-2015

Having done the waterpump, timing belt. This will be a breeze. I pm'd you back and would be willing to come out and give you a hand. It's probably a 3 hour job first time with a hand and adding in a couple of little extras.

**spazzz** · 03-27-2015

Shop quote= new aluminum LIM gasket set,valve covers and grommets + new water pump....=$1700 at a mom and pop
Yep said F that

**bobc455** · 03-27-2015

Well I must be an idiot. I've been working on cars for about 25 years, have a well-equipped garage with air tools and all the goodies, but this still takes me 4-5 hours to do well (spending a lot of time cleaning along the way, etc.).

**BillBoost37** · 03-27-2015

Bob,

It all depends on how you do it/clean stuff. In the past, some of the speed was because I had extra manifolds all cleaned up (pressure washed) and ready to drop on. Quick cleaning of the head surface and it's all going back together. Wire wheel the bolts clean, and off ya go.

**wmorrison65** · 04-13-2015

Sunday, got as far as removing the supercharger before dark. Taking my time, cleaning a few things as they come off, stopping to look up details such as how to disconnect fasteners without breaking them. :P Tonight I hope to drain the coolant and get the LIM off. Then I'll have a bunch of parts I can work on inside, after dark, before putting it back together, hopefully next weekend.

To drain coolant, I assume you have to remove the plastic "skirt" beneath the front of the car? ('01 GTP.)

Things I plan to do while it's apart:

- Clean up injectors, test if possible (got a code for cyl 3 but not sure if it's the injector itself, or related to the gasket leak, or wiring)
- Replace a rattling SC coupler (have a new ZZP one)
- Possibly mod the LIM per BillBoost37's howto

Any other maintenance or upgrade things I could check out while it's apart?

There was some "leaf crud" (leaf particles and oil) around the back injectors, and some fell through an injector hole when I pulled them off. I hope that just goes into an intake runner and can be vacuumed out once the LIM is off, and not straight past a valve into the cylinder. First time working on one of these engines, so not familiar with the exact layout.

**BillBoost37** · 04-13-2015

I don't usually pull the skirt. I have a huge catch pan (under bed storage container from Walmart) and just pull the lower radiator hose at the radiator. Pan catches about 98%

Try a vacuum, if not and it's just a little leaf piece, it'll blow right through w/o a worry.

**TexasTanker19kilo20** · 04-13-2015

Oh, get new injector o-rings, cheap and easy to replace, use a dab of motor oil to lube them up before re installing. Also use the aluminum coolant elbows.

**wmorrison65** · 04-13-2015

Gonna need to repair some mouse damage, too.

**BillBoost37** · 04-13-2015

Nice that you found that. That would have been uglier down the road.

**wmorrison65** · 04-13-2015

I suppose it's very possible that's why my cyl 3 injector stops working intermittently. Checking out code P0203 is what made me notice the LIM gasket leak in the first place. Cleaned out part of a mouse nest when I replaced the air filter a while back, and the rest of it when I took out the airbox for this job.