Im driving the car this morning & all of a sudent the car starts to make this wierd noise when I give it gas. I look at the gauges & everything is normal (the temp is at 200). Stoped at a light & the car stalled, all of a sudent I see all this smoke come out of the front. what worries me is that I opened the oil cap & there was a lot of smoke coming from inside the engine. Hope I didnt damage anything major.
& the temp gauge didnt even move a little.
sould I be worried?

Smoke/steam coming from the oil cap means LIM gasket failure. Sounds like you have coolant in your oil. I would get the car towed back to your garage and start tearing it down. The good news is that the repair isn't that expensive or difficult. I did mine about 6 months ago and the only thing I regret is not installing an aluminum UIM when I did it. I used the APN kit which was great, just no aluminum intake, it is standard composite. I would have also ported the LIM while I was in there if I had more time.
Grant

Agreed on the thought of UIM or LIM gasket failure.

Get that oil changed ASAP!

Check PM.

funny thing that I got the car back yesterday from the mechanic. so the oil is about a day old.
So if Im removing the LIM, then I should take the time to port it.
Back to the performance section to post some ?'* about it.

If you are looking for performance increases, yes. I think I read a recent thread where you were looking for more power so I suggest doing it now. According to willwren a fwi, ported LIM, and Hi-flo cat will really wake up an L36. Might I suggest picking up an aluminum UIM as well and porting it while your at it. To port you use a new gasket(not warped from heat) and line it up with the ports and bolt holes. install a few bolts to ensure the gasket(*) are lined up properly. Now mark the material that needs to be removed from the port so that the manifold port matches the gasket port. Remove the gasket and get to work with a grinding stone to remove the material. Go slowly and listen for a high pitched ring. If you hear that, stop porting, you are nearing a coolant passage. Ideally you will never hear that noise. Good luck and report back as to how much power you gained(seat of the pants meter).
Grant
EDIT: I forgot to mention that the intake ports are not supposed to be ported smooth. A slightly rough finish is actually desired for the intake unlike the exhaust. You should be able to find enough porting information on this site: http://www.sa-motorsports.com/diyport.aspx

Got another question. Im starting tomorow & the car will be in my garage for a couple of days till I finish the LIM. should I change the oil tomorow or can it wait until I finish with the LIM & Im about to start the car again?

We're starting to see more and more 2k and newer go south this way.


EVERY SINGLE L36 OWNER on this Forum needs to lose the OEM UIM and fix this before it costs more motors.

I agree. People never think it is a big deal until it goes then they get all pissed off. Don't say we didn't warn you!

To Alex, I would leave the oil in the car while you do the repairs. While removing the manifolds you will inevitably lose more coolant into your oil from passages in the intake. This will contaminate fresh oil if you change it now. Change it when you are finished, run it for a short period and then change it again. Just my .02.
Grant

Dude my car has only 57,000, & it still smells like new. & coolant now.

Mine started leaking last year at only 30,000 mi
More time than mileage related.