My L36 engine had over 140,000 miles on it, and I didn't change the gaskets until it was too late! The seals on the gasket broke and destroyed my engine, I've had 3 engines including the one I have now in it. The 2nd engine was a crapper to begin with. So let these pictures be truth to thy own words. Change your gaskets to Aluminum!



Warp Points Circled In Red


This Is My Upper Intake Manifold

Ya, those gaskets were a bad design. My whole top end it getting changed in a few weeks.

I have the APN Upper Intake Manifold now.

That'* good. Hope you have a happy engine. I'm interested in seeing what mine will look like.

when would be a good time to change the LIM gasket? should it be done before there'* any noticable problems? how much coolant must be lost before u should start worrying, not that there should be any missing to begin with. also what are some other symptoms of a LIM failure, does the engine run any different or sound different? my car has 64,000 and i don't know if it'* been done before. so i was just wondering. also i plan on doing some mods....

Any car that has the old gaskets should have them replaced. If you find your oil foamy it'* a good time to replace them. To have a shop do them will cost you. To do them yourself it'* about $100 in parts and a after noon of your time.

That'* about average for gaskets of that mileage. My car'* looked like that at 140K when I did them as well. Only difference was the gaskets didn't cause any problems. Usually on the L36 motor it'* the upper intake that has a hole in the EGR area and fills the cylinders with coolant.

Oh..and BTW your red circles should have been around the whole gasket..it'* entirely warped from end to end..

redeyesbonnie - You're in too deep when smoke is coming out of your exhaust and you can't drive your car anymore ha, ha! Seriously though, change the gaskets ASAP. You only need to change the UIM if you have the L36, as L67'* don't have an UIM. I don't like Dex-cool at all, never trusted it to begin with, so if you're like me you should drain your coolant as well, though getting aluminum gaskets should solve the problem. Also, if your coolant seems to be draining for no reason, then you have to change the gaskets and soon!

BillBoost37 - I figured they were crap anyways, thanks lol! I circled them for fun

Pulled a set off a motor this weekend. Had 100K on them. Looked too familiar

Oh geez..I hear revving downstairs. Better see what they are doing to the fresh transplant (Engine and trans.)

I wish I knew how to do this.