I can hear coolant bubbling presumably into the crankcase during idling. I'm in the process of tearing it back down, but I'm wondering if anybody else has experienced this before. Also, should I be able to reuse my LIM gaskets? They are not the crush style so I would assume so.


The gaskets along the rails are supposed to be undressed (dry), right?

2001 Lumina 3.1 Felpro ms98003t

You probably have a blown head gasket(s). It's very common for this to happen when the intake gaskets go, especially if the car was overheated or run for a while with the intake issue and resultant coolant loss.

You probably have a blown head gasket(s). It's very common for this to happen when the intake gaskets go, especially if the car was overheated or run for a while with the intake issue and resultant coolant loss.

This was sort of preventative maintenance. I wasn't having any problems with the car other than losing coolant. Oil was clean every time I changed it. Yesterday, I swapped the LIM gasket, and per instructions I found on the web I ran RTV a little way up on the rails past the valley. Upon breaking everything back down, this is clearly where the coolant was escaping. I'm going to reinstall everything with RTV only in the vally portion.

Well, I've finished buttoning everything back up and the oil is clean. :runaround:I've got a little gas leak to clean up, but that is small potatoes compared to my last 2 days.

It is my recommendation that if you are using the new style gaskets not to run RTV under the gasket AT ALL.

A little late on this one, but if the gasket or seal is a silicone type, you never want to use any sealer...RTV or silicone acts as a lubricant against silicone seals or gasket beads, and allows them to easily migrate out of place when squeezed or exposed to pressure from coolant...

A little late on this one, but if the gasket or seal is a silicone type, you never want to use any sealer...RTV or silicone acts as a lubricant against silicone seals or gasket beads, and allows them to easily migrate out of place when squeezed or exposed to pressure from coolant...

NOW YOU TELL ME! haha.

http://d-tips.com/General/Articles/article.aspx?id=/free/How%20to/Chevrolet%203.4%20intake%20manifold%20Gasket/art10.art

I used this article as a guide and it instructs to run RTV under that gasket near where it meets the valley.

Note how the silicone extends up onto the surface of the gasket, it also must extend under the gasket as well.

Do not follow these instructions. I had to redo mine and it wasn't fun.

Also, as a side note. I broke the infamous o-ring on the fuel rail. I went to the dealership and this part wasn't shown on the exploded view and the parts guy wasn't sure which # it was. We wound up speaking with a mechanic and he said it was the same size o-ring that the rest of the fuel line uses. This musn't be true because the one I brought home didn't seal the fitting. I wound up using one of the Help! kits from Advance. I recommend that you pressurize the rail (by turning the key to the on position) before reinstalling the upper plenum to check for leaks.

If anybody has the part number for that o-ring could you post it here for future reference.