'00 Grand Prix GT intake/cleaning ?'s

**blueGT00** · 01-27-2011

Hey guys im fixing my fiance's 2000 Grand Prix GT with 173k.The intake gaskets are bad,rear sway bar is cracked in half,all rotors and brake bads shot,and 2 wheels hubs shot(VERY SHOT).Anyway i have the engine apart and the gasket was in pieces but the intake/exhaust runners are VERY built up with carbon and im not sure how to clean them without getting stuff on top of the pistons.I have engine degreaser and brake clean/parts cleaner.All the other stuff i mentioned are removed and waiting on parts.Anybody have any suggestions?...btw this is the first time this engine has been apart!...heres some pics

**FordMan77** · 01-27-2011

Personally I would just leave the heads alone. Then there is no chance of you getting junk in the combustion chambers and screwing something up. If you have any stuff that is loose then I would use a shop vac to suck it out and leave the rest.

That carbon isn't going anywhere right now, so why disturb it? I'd just clean up the LIM and call it good.

If you aren't aware, pick up the Aluminum LIM gaskets. The replacement ones may be plastic as well and you will be doing this again at some point if those are used.

With that much coolant showing inside the valve covers be sure to wash down the lifters/valley area of the motor before reinstalling the LIM with fresh oil (at least a quart), allowing it to drain back into the pan. Then before you restart the motor, change the oil and use some cheapo oil/filter. Let it run for a few minutes (do NOT drive it, just let it idle), then change the oil again this time using a quality oil and filter. I recommend Wix filters.

Reason being is the coolant is already in the oil and you risk spinning a bearing. I hope that when you get it all back together that it hasn't caused any other damage.

Was the UIM cracked at all? Those are also prone to leaking coolant into the motor.

**blueGT00** · 01-27-2011

Thats what i was thinking with the heads...i might do alittle but ill have my shop vac going at that time incase some carbon breaks off and i can catch it before it goes down...I will be picking up the aluminum LIM gasket,which is around 74.99 but i can get stuff at cost.It was going through about a half a gallon of coolant a week.So your saying put oil down # 5 picture in the middle to get the excess out?...The UIM was in perfect shape,not a crack or anything on it.Before i tore this apart we drove it all the time,the motor ran PERFECT!...other than coolant light every now and then.It NEVER died,overheated,made weird noises or anything.And awesome gas mileage!...heres the UIM picture

**FordMan77** · 01-27-2011

Yep, just flood the entire valley area around the lifter/pushrods and make sure there is no coolant left up there. It should get washed down into the pan, which will come out when you change the oil before you start it up. Did that on my 00 GPGT and it ran fine afterwards.

Don't forget to install new coolant elbows (they're $6/pair at Autozone in the "Help" section) while you're at it. Cheap insurance. Also, when you go to install the new seals for the center of the LIM, make sure you put a dab of RTV where the seal meets the heads, and then another dap on top of the seal where the LIM contacts the new seal. This will ensure that you don't have any leaks. You don't have to run it all along the entire block where the seal sits, just at the corners.

**GrandPrixChris** · 01-27-2011

Blue, I would really recommend that you replace your UIM with a new one. It may appear in decent condition and have no cracks, but it is very common fro the EGR coolant pipe area to erode or deform and coolant very slowly leaks in there (if not quickly). I have replaced several UIM, including a couple that the owners did not have replaced from a previous repair. Just my thought.

**blueGT00** · 01-27-2011

Yup i am getting a new UIM too...im getting everything new and not reusing anything!...ive already drained the oil to get everything out so can i still pour oil down there and put my oil pan down and catch it?...anybody kno what rotors are good?...looking at basic rotors nothing fancy.I have Advance Auto Parts and Orielys in my town.

**FordMan77** · 01-28-2011

I grabbed a set of basic rear rotors from Oreillys. Haven't had an issue with them yet, and it's been over 2 years.

**GrandPrixChris** · 01-28-2011

Originally Posted by FordMan77

I grabbed a set of basic rear rotors from Oreillys. Haven't had an issue with them yet, and it's been over 2 years.

Yep, same here.

**blueGT00** · 01-28-2011

k ill check there...all 4 rotors and brake pads are shot.With the motor,do i need to get everything SPOTLESS or could i leave some in there?

**FordMan77** · 01-28-2011

Just clean out what you can. I would wait to clean it up until you have scraped all the junk from the old gaskets off the heads. No sense in doing it twice. That way you can grab all the loose carbon and old gasket material at the same time.

The motor doesn't have to be spotless. Just free of any loose stuff and leftover coolant. If you want to, wait until you get it running again and then run some seafoam through it.

**blueGT00** · 01-28-2011

The gasket wasnt even stuck onto the head or anything,it just came off.In the pictures i havent done any scraping yet,so it wont be to bad.The gasket was pretty nasty when i took it off,fell apart in pieces.Ill clean it up pretty good and then ill run seafoam thru it when i run it.This is the first time the motor has been apart and the car has 173k.

**FordMan77** · 01-28-2011

That looks pretty clean for the mileage. Must have been somewhat maintained in the past.

My gaskets did the same thing. Just crumbled around the ports when removed. If you don't plan on getting the LIM back on right away I suggest you cover the entire valley and head ports with something to keep debris out. Don't want a sneaky bolt or something getting down the intake runner of #1 and blowing it up, not that I would know anything about that lol... trust me, its not pretty.

And yea, Seafoam will clean it up nicely. Stick a little in the gas tank as well and let it clean the fuel system.

**blueGT00** · 01-28-2011

It is pretty clean...her mom bought it in 2002 and drove it back and forth to work and 3 years ago her mom got a van so this one was used every now and then,so my fiance's grand prix SE broke last year so we got this one to drive until i got power steering pump fixed and so now we have 2 cars that work.We are expecting our first child so i want a good realiabe and safe car for her and the baby,so thats y im fixing this one(and that its a GT,i hate SE).Ive got the motor covered with a towel so nothing gets in there.Ill put seafoam in when im done.

**gtpinsc** · 01-28-2011

seafoam that mofo. id do it in the oil... through the brake booster line and in gas tank. just follow the instructions on the bottle.. that looks awful. im guessing its seen conventional oil all its life? i just did my LIM and my internals looked brand new compared to the pics u posted.

**blueGT00** · 01-28-2011

yup all conventional all its life...that **** sucks.I run Mobil 1 Fully Synthetic in my '03 Silverado.Ill keep good care of it after i do this.You should see all the nasty sludge in the coolant lines.First time the coolant will be changed is when i do this

**FordMan77** · 01-28-2011

Wow, that is way too many miles on the stock Dex. Are you going green after this or replacing w/ Dex.

If there is that much junk in it I would probably flush the cooling system once it gets back together regardless of what type of coolant you go with.

Judging by the buildup in the internals I'd bet your mom's work wasn't too far away. I've seen cars using conventional oil look like that and they were only driven short distances. My 00 GT looked cleaner than that and it gets regular old Valvoline. Mine had 232K on it at the time and showed less buildup. But then again I am a stickler for oil changes since I drive about 1400 miles a month.

**gtpinsc** · 01-28-2011

my motor has a hair less than 100k did my LIM last weekend and it looked like this.

**blueGT00** · 01-28-2011

Her work was about 20 miles each way....who knows if she changed it at time

...i planned on flushing the system when im done.Ill prolly use green when im done with it.I let the car sit for about a week before i did it,so maybe some of it didnt drain out and thats y it looks like that.