Thread: looks like i joined the "lim" club

so as i check my fluids every week or so, ive been noticing the the radiator is a splash low every time, maybe 2 cups worth low, not much, so today its nice and cool out, i check the rad, its low so i top it off, wait for the t state to open, top it off bleed it, and so on.

so i start looking for any thing small as i leave no evidence on the ground. and then i find with a flash light coolant in the middle valley on the lim, on the fire wall side, nice find, everything else is dry. oil is free of coolant, and im not smoking out the tail pipe at all, not even after it sits for a week of no driving.

im guessing its been this way since i got it last year, im planning a rebuild and don't want to waste my time or money on fixing this right now, so being that its an external leak, how long do ya think it will keep like this? build wont be till winter time.

Our gaskets when plastic always look horrible. However an external leak is almost always caused by the sealant on the LIM bolts allowing some seepage.

so maybe i could blow it out(dry it) see if i can even get the bolt out, and if so rtv the bolt and put it back in and then it may hold? or some plumbers sealant?

i also highly doubt i have an original lim gasket i have 213,000 miles, and i can see wrench marks on every bolt on the engine, but they may have been plastic replacements, who knows.

where the lim gasket sticks out on the front of the engine, there's a red line that runs parallel to the lim, does that narrow what kind of lim gasket i may have? probably not. lol

If you follow the aluminun dogbone bracket to the engine. You'll see the lim meet the head. Black or silver?

In theory..you gotta pull the SC/upper to get the LIM bolts off. I'd say pipe sealant. Or just do the LIm gaskets

what i can see from the front side of the engine is a black gasket with a red line on it, sticking out between the lim and block, i haven't looked to see the head to the manifold.

i can see the black gasket from the lim to head, that means plastic right?

and i can now see with new battery's in my flash light that there's no way of pulling that bolt with out pulling the blower.

the evidence is in your oil filter. thats how i found mine. when moisture gets in the oil it causes the filters media to warp. ever since i replaced my LIM gaskets my filter's pleats have been straight as an arrow
My car beat up a PureOne - Bob Is The Oil Guy

see guys the thing is, this engine is not going back in my car. im getting another engine to rebuild and mod the piss out of, so im not sinking a dime or an ounce of effort into this engine. and it has 213,000 miles, see where im going with this???

if i were able to at least remove the bolts and seal it i would but thats not possible,(i feel no need to waste money on gaskets for a engine thats going to the scrap yard when im done with it) so it will continue to leak externally for now, it only needs to last a few more months and im sure i bought it this way last august. so it been this way for a whole year now, i just didn't know it.

granted if this was all i had id be repairing it, no doubt!

Originally Posted by QUICKSILVER462

At least you have that Castillion Bronze metallic Formula to drive when it goes!

i cant believe any one knows what color that is lol that was a car i used to have, i do wish i still had it, its on my bucket list to get another one someday...

ok so the more i looked at this manifold the wetter its looking, so i dumped a bottle of Bar's Leaks Liquid Copper Block Sealer as i plan to not reuse this engine in the long run. did this last weekend, and i drive like 10 blocks to work, if its 1.5 miles id be surprised. so it doesn't get much road time, and maybe 50 miles since last weekend.

so it would seem this stuff really works, the lim has all dried up except for 2 bolts now, the worst one is now a small puddle, and the other one still "looks" wet, but it could just be the shine left behind. and the radiator has stayed full for the last 2 days.

this stuff has suspended copper flakes floating in the coolant now, so i guess it just fills in the voids.

car defiantly has more balls now too.

UPDATE. my lim is bone dry now, not one leak. i check the coolant level every other day and its stayed full for about a week now.

mine had 126,000 or so when i got in back in 86, best test ride ever, i showed up on a 10 speed bike, took it down the block alone, lol hit the brakes let the wheel go, and it stopped straight, then i got a few blocks away, and punched it from a dead stop, and it just lit up the tires, aired it out went back and left a deposit lol

best part was, a guy got it just before he left for collage, was unable to take it with him, and his mother wound up keeping it, so it was a little old lady's grocery getter. nice find for sure.