looks like i have the dreaded lim leak
 

only had the car 2 months :-( and i found coolant leaking out on the valley between cylinders 1 and 3. planning on driving it a couple more weeks before i get it fixed that way i can shop around as its not leaking internally (i will be keeping a eye on the oil till then). was sure hoping it would hold out till about 70k but guess it couldn't. looks like it was actually leaking when i bought it but the deal just cleaned it up. seems to only leak about a tsp of coolant every 100 miles mabey less

anyways what is a good price to have these changed ive heard everything from 400-1400 so idk

You could do it just for the cost of the parts. It's pretty much a simple task to do. If you have common tools, it can be done. And with the support here, its much easier!

Have you ruled out doing it on your own? It's really not that bad of a process. I've done it three times now. First time took me around 8 hours, I think the last time we cranked it out in around 4.

Otherwise figure around $200-$250 in parts, and 4 or so hours of dealer labor at $135 or whatever they charge.

im sure i could probably do it but i just dont trust myself enough. everytime i worked on the ga i was tracking down problems i created for the next month. also since i still live at home i would never hear the end of it from my mother if i did this myself

What engine is this on?

L67 supercharged 3800

At autozone....

Lower intake manifold gasket-$75
Upper intake manifold gasket-$9
If you want, replace the throttle body gasket-$4.99.

About $100 in parts. Oh, 1 gallon of 50/50 coolant. and an oil change. So, $110 and change. Done. And you have the satisfaction that you done it yourself. Priceless.

id need to buy a decent amount of tools also. also the 2 biggest things i have ever done are suspension and a radiator. so im just not sure if i have a high enough skill level then its back to me not trusting myself


i do have a question for you and im sure it will sound strange its from my neighbor that works at a gm dealer

everytime i mention doing intake gaskets. he startes going off on a rant saying that anyone other than a gm dealership will ruin the engine as "they dont know that you have to scrape the lim by hand or stuff will fall in and seize the engine" wtf is he talking about makes no since to me?

Just called my mechanic does 600 sound reasonable with him using all gm parts?

When you remove the LIM, gasket material tends to get stuck to the heads. You have to scrape off any remaining material prior to the installation of new gaskets. Otherwise it wont seal.

As far as destroying the engine...huh. That's what filters are for. Its recommended when doing the LIM to change the oil right after completing the task. Coolant will get into the lifter valley and "spoil" the oil. Really, you have 2 filters. The oil pickup screen will grab the big stuff, and the normal filter does its job filtering out the small things.

No worries. Hundreds of mom-and-pop shops do this task all the time.

I don't know what it typically costs to do one of these jobs besides what it costs for parts. But, $500 seems a bit steep. Like I said, I have never had my car in a "shop" besides my own. Only thing I'm not able to do is NYS inspections and alignments.