glassvial Posted August 2, 2008 Report Share Posted August 2, 2008 Time for more engine work, joy. I believe there was an "upgraded" upper intake available somewhere, does someone have that link, please? Might as well do it now. I'm guessing I'll be doing the LIM's, water pump, upper intake/gasket, obviously as well. Anyone who's done this job care to chime in with anything else I should be replacing/be aware of? Thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carkhz316 Posted August 2, 2008 Report Share Posted August 2, 2008 I guess I would do a pressure test of the cooling system and go from there. As far as going all the way down to yanking the LIM, don't forget the little 90* coolant elbow that goes into the belt-side of the intake. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew Posted August 2, 2008 Report Share Posted August 2, 2008 http://www.autopn.com/store/pc/viewPrd.asp?idproduct=229679 ZZP has the better LIM gaskets, or get them from the dealer. GMpartsdirect tends to be slow, but offers the best price. http://www.zzperformance.com/grand_prix/products1.php?id=290&catid=103 make sure to get new coolant elbows as well, there are 2 on yours. http://www.zzperformance.com/grand_prix/products1.php?id=370&catid=103 you will want to get injector o-rings too since you have to pull the injectors. http://www.zzperformance.com/grand_prix/products1.php?id=401&catid=113 the work is pretty straight forward. the manual may tell you to drain some coolant first, that is not terribly necessary. not much will spill if you dont, as long as you dont tilt the lower manifold when you pull it. you might also consider getting a throttle body spacer as a little bonus while you are in there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
glassvial Posted August 2, 2008 Author Report Share Posted August 2, 2008 autoapn was the site I was thinking of (that I couldn't remember/couldn't find) so THANK YOU for that. Also thank you to both for the coolant elbow replacement necessity. I'm very familiar with 3100 tear downs at this point (if you remember my past posts about them, what a job that was) but not so familiar with 3800 tear downs, although it sure looks a hell of a lot easier to work with than the 3100. I've already got a quote from the dealer for the LIM's, if the stock GM ones are aluminum like that then I should be ok, I'll also pickup the coolant elbows (either online or @dealer) and of course fuel injector o-rings. Question: throttle body spacer... ? Oh and btw, does anyone have any experience with this site - http://www.wbodystore.com/ ? They have a lot of neat stuff, but I don't know if it's just marketing or if it really is quality merchandise, or a reputable vendor. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew Posted August 2, 2008 Report Share Posted August 2, 2008 the stock plastic LIM's are garbage, those aluminum ones are the upgraded ones GM developed to fix the problem. that site is great!! lots of good stuff there, and they always answered my questions quickly. TB spacer. http://www.zzperformance.com/grand_prix/products1.php?id=631&catid=113 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
glassvial Posted August 2, 2008 Author Report Share Posted August 2, 2008 Looks like the fel-pro's available from the local store are still plastic, thats disappointing. And the throttle body spacer would replace part number 560 in this exploded view, correct? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew Posted August 3, 2008 Report Share Posted August 3, 2008 no, 560 looks like the TB gasket. you'll need one of those and some RTV to seal the spacer. you dont have to get the spacer, it was just a suggestion. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
glassvial Posted August 3, 2008 Author Report Share Posted August 3, 2008 Ah ok I gotcha, that makes sense, the gasket and the spacer look very similar. Does the spacer go on the TB side of the gasket or the intake side? Or, from left to right, intake->spacer->gasket->TB or intake->gasket->spacer->TB, or does it not matter? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew Posted August 3, 2008 Report Share Posted August 3, 2008 Spacer seals to the intake with the OEM rubber gasket. Throttle body seals to spacer with RTV. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
glassvial Posted August 5, 2008 Author Report Share Posted August 5, 2008 Ok, I'll figure it out, I've got some GM RTV from the 3100 job somewhere around here, gotta find it... And I'm really tempted to get this, if I could afford it: http://www.zzperformance.com/grand_prix/products1.php?id=214&catid=113 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Euro Posted August 5, 2008 Report Share Posted August 5, 2008 Is there coolant in your oil? Coming from experience...I hope not!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timm Posted August 5, 2008 Report Share Posted August 5, 2008 http://www.autopartsdirecttoyou.info/?p=37 Used that site for replacing mine. Also replaced the valve cover gaskets. I have to do it again for my cousins 97 lesabre... (I guess the "indestructable" 3800 does have a weak point! Shoddy gaskets) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
glassvial Posted August 5, 2008 Author Report Share Posted August 5, 2008 Coolant in oil, no, thank God, went down that road already with a 3100. Thanks for that site, it might come in handy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Euro Posted August 5, 2008 Report Share Posted August 5, 2008 Thank God for you!!! Happened to me and about 2 months later the motor blew a rod bearing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
glassvial Posted August 14, 2008 Author Report Share Posted August 14, 2008 Hmm...ok, the plot thickens, got home tonight with a puddle of coolant under the car...lovely. Possibly bad lower radiator hose, or the rad itself. Definitely not the overall cause of my coolant leak, I think this was incidental. I was losing quite a bit of coolant before this leak sprung. Looks like I have more work to do than I thought! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pontiacmaniac94 Posted August 14, 2008 Report Share Posted August 14, 2008 good luck man! i got an updated intake set for my sister's 98 lumina ltz from the local o'reilly's auto parts store that fixed the intake failure, it really was a piece of cake to put in, a lot lot easier to do than the intake on a 94 3100 gp. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Euro Posted August 14, 2008 Report Share Posted August 14, 2008 Your coolant line elbow may be bad. Mine was leaking after my LIM gasket was replaced. IIRC you have to remove the alternator and bracket to see/reach it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
glassvial Posted August 14, 2008 Author Report Share Posted August 14, 2008 It's not leaking from there, nowhere near. It looks like it's leaking from the area you'd generally associate with the radiator draincock, the lower radiator area...again not sure if it's a hose or what, either way it's going to be interesting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
glassvial Posted August 21, 2008 Author Report Share Posted August 21, 2008 Ok, little update (finally) the radiator is shot, did a cooling system pressure test, it was leaking out of the top on the drivers side. New radiator is coming in today. Still going to do the LIM job (and water pump too) because honestly I think it still needs to be done, as I didn't start seeing a puddle until very recently. Will try to post back when all done. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
glassvial Posted August 24, 2008 Author Report Share Posted August 24, 2008 Finally (pretty much) done with this job, and what a job it was. Much more straightforward than the 3100 job that's for damn sure...I'm not sure if my next car's going to have a 3100 in it LIM gasket was definitely shot, just as I suspected (see pics). Did the upgraded upper intake with new gaskets, TB spacer, the (much) better LIM gaskets, 180* stat, replaced the non-SC radiator with the SC radiator (dropped right in), new fuel injector o-rings, had to do the CV shaft on the passenger side, had to replace my horns (they were both physically broken somehow, and only one was working), drain/fill the tranny and put the w-body store's shift kit in (no more lazy shifting, and OMG was that fluid terrible in there), did an engine flush and oil change, did the complete TSB for the P0410 DTC code (which is still present, grr) bled the brakes (brake fluid was looking pretty dark too) and probably other things I'm forgetting now. Long story short this car needed some serious work, and now it's mostly done. Now to chase down that damned P0410 code and hopefully knock it out once and for all. Note: the zzperformance "upgraded" radiator does NOT fit this car without modification, so don't do it! Thanks again to all that posted here to help me out, it's greatly appreciated once again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew Posted August 24, 2008 Report Share Posted August 24, 2008 glad you upgraded to the thicker SC radiator. good easy improvement! that shift kit is pretty good. did you use the 1/2 on the 1-2 and the 3/4 on the 2-3 ? BTW if you ever get a tuned PCM with line pressure increases, you will want to remove those spacers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
glassvial Posted August 25, 2008 Author Report Share Posted August 25, 2008 I just installed what the wbody store has, there's no options/choices like the zzp shift kit has, it's 4 nylon spacers, 2 long 2 short, threw em in. Probably won't be tuning the PCM anytime soon, it's expensive enough maintaining the car nevermind getting into any other performance mods. A lot of what I did with this work is to make the stuff bulletproof so I don't have to do it again! The SC radiator was a no-brainer it was like $20 more than the non-SC rad from the rad shop. The dealer listed multiple rad's for the non-SC, but the SC only had 1, so that got confusing. Then had a place around here say no, the SC rad won't fit in the non-SC, blah blah blah...well, I don't like doing business with those guys and there's a reason for that, and I didn't The SC rad from the place I got it from in-town was cheaper than PB/AZ/Parts America, so that works for me. As far as this P0410 code goes I guess I'll have to start a new post, I don't see much mention of it in this forum and google searches are too broad. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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