Question about the infamous 3400 LIMGs

[KingVee]

Well thanks for your answers, guys. It reassures me as to if it would be a good purchase and not have to deal with this problem before at least a year or maybe even two.

Here in Quebec, shit is expensive like you wouldn't believe... Getting that repaired right away, I'd be living on the effin' streets after that...

[GutlessSupreme]

My brother's '04 Grand Am went through two 3400s within a month due to LIM gaskets.. I can't remember the exact mileages but both the original and 2nd motor had between 60-80k miles.

I'm just glad the dealer warrantied the 2nd motor, I'm pretty sure they actually opened up the 3rd one and replaced the LIM and head gaskets before they just dropped it in again

[MMGT1]

This has been a brutal problem for way too many years. GM should refund all of us that had gone through this! At least the first one, some people like me have been through this multiple times. At 1200 a shot here, its no small repair!

[Joseph Upson]

Sounds like something intake manifold studs and addition of a premium sealant to coat the gasket surface would solve once and for all. Blame is being placed on the gasket when the actual problem may have more to do with the angle of the manifold to cylinder head mating surfaces. That is what can become a potential problem when shaving the iron heads as documented in a performance book or two during the pre aluminum head 60 degree debut. I'm pretty sure sticky stuff and a higher clamping pressure would fix it for good.

[WrathOfSocrus]

This has been a brutal problem for way too many years. GM should refund all of us that had gone through this! At least the first one, some people like me have been through this multiple times. At 1200 a shot here, its no small repair!

They did. The cut off for the class action suit was in around 2008 I believe. When my gaskets finally decided to go it was just after that point in time. Then again I was amazingly lucky to go 200K miles on the original gasket and the gasket only leaked from the coolant passage to the outside of the block. The radiator cap must have been frozen or something because it also started leaking at the coolant hard line above the water pump and the thermostat. Luckily it was caught before seriously overheating.

This was a 2000 so it didn't have the little metal tabs in the gasket or the revised torque sequence for the LIM. Lots of people have gone many miles without any problems. If you are already down that far in the engine it makes sense to get the metal gaskets since they cost quite a bit less than the plastic stock pieces and obviously more durable. Too bad they came out with 3500 ones after I already threw down over $200 for the GM top end set.

I'm pretty surprised no one has pieced together a stud set to sell. I have had issues with the bolts going LIM to head not really grabbing much thread and those bolts are at least 5-10mm short.

[no_doz]

i had a 96 3100 lumina & it had a tad over 220,000 miles on it when we got rid of it-never a gasket or tranny problem & i ran the CRAP outta it.

[IsaacHayes]

I went through several, the plastic was brittle and crumbled like dust. Started to warp on some. I used felpro and dealership gaskets until the metal came out.

[tractorman]

The gaskets in my '94 Corsica failed at 124,000 miles- or at least that's when I noticed mayonnaise under the oil cap. In hindsight, I think they had been leaking at least a little bit since 100,000 miles or so, as I was having to top off the coolant on occasion for some time. At the time, only old-style plastic gaskets were available. Replaced those, and they started leaking externally about 30,000 miles later. By then the metal/rubber Felpro gaskets had come out. I installed those a year and a half ago- the car is at 172,000 miles now and has no coolant related problems.

Bought an '01 Lumina for the wife in early 2006. It was a fleet car- had 159,000 miles on it. No mayonnaise under the oil cap- but by then I was aware of this problem and knew what to look for. Let the car sit for two or three days, then pulled the oil drain plug barely out- got a trickle of antifreeze before the oil came out, so I knew the LIM gaskets were leaking. Replaced them immediately with the metal/rubber MS9300T Felpro set, and the engine has been trouble-free ever since. Has 202,000 miles now.

About two years ago, my brother bought a '97 Olds Cutlass with a 3100 engine- very low miles: neighborhood of 38,000. I had warned him about these LIM gaskets, so he knew what he was getting into. He decided to replace the gaskets preemptively at around 40,000 miles. Even though there was no visible mayonnaise, there were visible streaks and buildup where the gaskets had been leaking a slight amount of coolant into the oil.

So, in my opinion, it's a craps-shoot. I like these engines- they're cheap, get good fuel mileage, have decent power. But I learned from my 1994 Corsica that if/when I ever buy another one, I'll IMMEDIATELY replace the LIM gasket (like I did with the wife's Lumina). Because it's only a matter of time until failure- and peace of mind is worth a lot.

[geldartb]

my moms 99 ga had a set a 49K and it hasnt had any since and its at 110K now. also between 1999-2002 the limg was made out of a plastic type material. in 2003 the changed it to a metal material so the hold up way longer. correct me if im wrong thats just what i read on a ga forum

they were still plastic they just added metal tabs on the outer edge of the gasket and in the middle too iirc.

the only option for metal ones were the fel pro ones.

the 3500 gaskets were also made the same way plastic with the metal tabs.

[IsaacHayes]

metal tabs are basically to prevent user error of over torquing the LIM down... They still rot/warp with heat. My first ones fell apart like crispy charcoal. The others were warped and allowed the rubber seal to move away from the port.

[KingVee]

Well that 03 GAGT with 57K miles wasn't so clean... Brakes were metal to metal on all four, and many wires on the engine (plug wires, intake sensor wires, etc...) were chewed by whatever lived in the wooded area back from the Toyota dealer...

However, I found a 04 GAGT with 24K miles. Insane mileage, yeah? I'll try to see it monday.

[geldartb]

thats the thing they think by adding metal tabs its gonna solve the problem of the plastic degrading. the rubber seal on the last set i took off of the GA the rubber was all distorted.

i had a set with the metal tabs in my car back when i daily drove it and they only went 10k miles before they fell apart and took the engine with it.

on the LIM gasket talk the ones that were in the 180k mile beretta, were what looked like the original gaskets and surprising enough it wasnt leaking a drop of anti freeze.
these ones practically fell apart when i took them out. i think all the sludge and shit was holding that thing together.