Okey, well, after a little drive to Chipotle, noticed my temp gauge was around 205. This is not good, I said to myself, as I just installed a 180* thermostat. So, I poped the hood, and saw steam coming out under the cap on the radiator. Also, my coolant was very, very low. If I had an L36, I would be very scared right now, but since I didn't, I gave it some 50/50, screwed the cap back on right (it wasn't put on right the last time), and drove off when the temp cooled down. Well, the temp soon rose to a good 205 again on the ride back, and around 200 with the heater blasting. It felt like the cooling system wasn't working at all.

Then, I tried to pass someone, and the weirdest thing happened, at around 3000 rpm in second, I had absolutely little to no power. This made me nervous. Also, I should mention that I noticed the SES light flash on for a bit yesterday, and I didn't have time to do the trick to get the code. Someone help me, and please don't tell me my engine/tranny'* screwed

anyone know???

Is your coolant level low?

And, just because you don't have a L36, doesn't mean you shouldn't be concerned about the lower intake gaskets. It'* common for them to fail on all 3800s.

It was, I filled it up

How much did you have to add? Any external wetness under the car? If not, it'* an internal leak. How does the oil look? Does it smell sweet?

I'd recommend draining the oil. It'* better to be safe than sorry if the oil was ingested.

And, how many miles are on the engine? Have the LIM gaskets ever been replaced? After nearly 15 years (if they are original) they're likely pretty beaten up.

I'll look at it tomorrow, as I have a ton of work to do, but I won't drive it until I look at it.

Under the car, there're no leaks

LIM gaskets prolly do need replacing.
I had a problem with a slight coolant smell and had mine done back in May at 97K when I did my front struts.
No more problem

LIM and Valve Cover gaskets seem to fail on these cars with:

a) lots of short trips
b) hot city miles
c)time termite - car has low miliage because it sat for a long time not being used.

its the LIM gaskets!!! i know cuz thats what happend to mine!!! change your oil like now

I'd appreciate it if all the Series 2 people would please stop screaming "IT"* the LIM"*"

Series 1 and Series 2 different greatly in gasket design and composition between the two generations of motor.

I estimate roughly 95% of all Series 1'* we have on the club will never change LIM gaskets due to gasket failure, while 100% of the Series 2'* should change their gaskets around 100K miles.

Let'* stop shotgunning parts and actually diagnose it.

If you are running low on coolant again, follow Vital'* questions. Any external leak, on the radiator, right under the SC snout, a hose?

If you are only running warm.. you've added some coolant and haven't bled the air out of the system since it ran low.. That would be a first step.