Video tutorial: Lower Intake Manifold Gasket + Lifters in 33 minutes [*]

Originally Posted by DuBob

This writeup on Video Tutoral for Lower Intake Manifold and Lifters in 33 Minutes has been added to the How To section and can be found HERE.

Awesome vid!!

I have some part numbers if you want to go completely with GM gaskets and supplies. There may be some extra stuff on here that you may or may not want to do while you change the LIM gaskets. Several of these I went ahead and changed even though they were probably alright. I used the newer style aluminum LIM gasket kit. These part numbers are for a 98 GTP.
LIM gaskets 89017825
Yellow O-rings 24501563 (part number is for one, you will need 2)
Supercharger gasket 24503911
LIM end cap gasket 24505049 (may not be necessary, but I had my LIM
chemically cleaned so I took everything off of it)
Throttle body gasket 24503648
Coolant Elbow 24503423 (97/98 model only has the upper elbow)
Fuel injector O-ring kit 12537425
Thermostat gasket 24502433
Thermostat and rubber O-ring Purchased from ZZP
Engine Sealant for corners of new LIM gaskets 88861417
PTFE Thread sealant for LIM bolts and Thermo housing bolts 12346004
Valve cover gaskets 24503937 (Not necessary, but might as well change
while you are there, especially the back one if you haven't already, part
number is for one gasket)
New Radiator cap 24506225 (Not necessary, but with 125,000 on the car
I figured it needed changing)
Temp sensor that threads into LIM 10096181
Vacuum line assembly from MAP to Boost bypass 24508742 (I broke this)
1 gallon of Dex cool and 1 gallon of distilled water (if you completely drained
the block like I did)
5 Qts of your favorite oil and filter for oil change after the LIM gasket install
I also bought a cheap quart of oil to pour down the lifter valley to get any excess coolant or debris that dropped down in there, some razor blades to scrap the old gaskets off the LIM and Supercharger, plenty of shop towels, and some starter fluid to clean the surface of the heads and any other gasket surface before install
I am going to change the oil again in app. 100 miles to be for damn sure all the coolant is out.
I just thought I would add this in case it might help somebody. Thanks to Dubob for his help during this install and for making the video and Allen K for filming it.

I just want everyone to know that when I was debating on getting a GTP... it wasn't until I saw DuBobs GTP that I finally decided this was the car for me.

DuBob is the main reason I decided to purchse my baby!

I gotta say that DuBob and Allan K have done the Grand Prix community a great service by making this video. It was instrumental in helping me fix my LIM, and I gotta say it helped me also understand more about my car in general.

Thanks a lot guys!

You're welcome.

Amazing job guys!!!

Great video. Definately clears up a few questions about what needs to be removed. I am curious, does an 04 GTP LIM gasket change differ much from your video. Looks like everything is pretty much the same layout. Also, if lifters and rockers aren't changed, several steps can be omitted. Thanks again, I'll probably plan this in a couple of weeks. Slight smell of antifreeze but no evidence of an external leak has been driving me crazy!

04 is pretty much the same.

Lifters were only replaced because my friend's car that I was working on had lifters that were clogged with some oil sludge and took a long time to pump up.

Look around where your fuel injectors go into the heads, that's about where the gaskets fail and there will be wetness in those areas.

Thanks for the feedback. Injectors look a little wet at the manifold. I'm curious, did you go with the aluminum upgraded gaskets during the replacement. It didn't look like it in the video. Any recommendation on which gaskets to use? Price doesn't seem to be that much different.

Again, great job sharing this common problem.

Get the aluminum ones, the plastic ones only last about 50k miles.

I used the aluminum ones in the vid, I haven't installed a set of plastic ones in 3 years.

Excellent video I must say. Thanks for showing me the details. Looking at the entire setup seems overwhelming but its all just little steps but LOTS of memory where everything goes back together !

Originally Posted by Octane

Excellent video I must say. Thanks for showing me the details. Looking at the entire setup seems overwhelming but its all just little steps but LOTS of memory where everything goes back together !

once you do it once or twice youll never forget it. i had the top end of my motor off more times than i care to explain.

Yeah. These are easy as hell to tare down.

Just did mine. Without this excellent how to I would never have attempted this. Could have gone a lot smoother (dumb mistakes +winter) but I got the job done. Thanks!

I had a bit of trouble connecting to the site to actually see the video. I downloaded it to file just to be safe. Would you like this on YouTube? It'd have to be split into parts, but it's an incredibly helpful video.

Super job on the video. I am tackeling this on my 2000 grand prix gtp. after getting a $1650 estimate. I have never done this before but have been working on cars for 21 years and this video is exactley what I was looking for. hopefully this will turn out ok. I will do a post when I am all done and hopefully I do this correctly. Thanks again and keep up the good work

OMG This is not working now and I have a chit load of stuff ready to do this job. I watched the video but planned on double and triple checking as I went. FWIW the video is great when it was working. This guy is responsible for this I bet!

Done tons of these at work, but i wanted to watch this video to see if there is a better way to do it. What gives the video doesen't work anymore?

Here fellas: https://docs.google.com/leaf?id=0B5O...3ZTk0&hl=en_US

Just a little trick I did, (read it somewhere, so I take no credit for it, but it worked nicely)... to reduce or eliminate the coolant contamination to the engine bay. Not to say that this would eliminate the need to change your oil afterwards, but it does provide a piece of mind.

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You'll need a shop vac, a hose small enough to fit into the thermostat housing and a bucket with a lid.

I took an old bucket with a lid, like a joint compound bucket or I used a pool chemical (empty) bucket that had a tight lid for it.

I cut 2 holes into the lid, one tight to the hose diameter/size and the other the diameter size of the vacuum hose. The holes where placed on opposite sides of the lid. If the holes are a little big it's ok, just use some tape, duct tape if you want to seal it to the lid.

Vacuum hose goes into the lid but not deep into bucket, just a few inches. The hose goes all the way to the bottom.

Start the vacuum and bring the hose you will use to suck the coolant to the thermostat housing. Turn on the vacuum as you remove the thermostat housing and WHOOLA, no coolant leaking all over, then place the hose into the thermostat housing to suck out what is in the lim. As an added bonus, I opened the radiator cap and sucked the coolant to a level BELOW the LIM and when I opened it, I saw absolutely NO coolant in there.

Anyways... just a suggestion. Not really orthodox, adds a little work, but I felt it would be easier to empty bucket than clean up coolant. Also, the coolant does not enter the vacuum, so good there too.


Enjoy!