no start after lim

[lilrebel68]

LIM Gasket Removal

I am trying to do a LIM Gasket Removal and am a little lost.. its on a 1996 3100 engine... Do you have a step by step article about doing this? as the info i got from autozone.com makes it seem like the only way to do this is to jerk the motor out...

oh and I tried the links for plenum removal and lim gasket removal to no avail... that damn "Page Not Found" message...

HELP HELP!! Is there an easier way to do this.. and the info I have says to use a tool to support the engine, and remove the engine mount....There has to be an easier way to do this.... Isn't there? Again HELP HELP!!!

[IanSzgatti]

i have to re-write this

[IanSzgatti]

Removing the LIM gasket is easy. don't worry. Answer this though, what is your experiance level?

[lilrebel68]

i always do my own maintenance on my cars so i am fairly sound... and, i have built race motors for sprint cars... but having left my wife 9 yrs ago i lost all my tools, and now I am trying to do this with minimal tools.. by minimal, I mean a hodgepodge of tools i had, and a 75 pc toolset from Stanley.. Any help you can give me would be appreciated.

[IanSzgatti]

*first: when re-installing lower intake manifold, leave rocker arm bolts loose. tighening the rocker arm bolts before installing lower intake manifold cause difficulting seating LIM. It will drop right in if they're loose though, so you then get a good RTV seal.

well you'll need a 1/4 in drive ratchet, a 10mm deep/shallow socket, a 1/4 in drive extention, 1/4 u-joint.
you'll need your 13mm, 15mm socket on a 3/8 drive ratchet when you come around to removing the alternator/bracket/pw-steering pump.
You want channel locks too of course, large and small if possible.

I would clean the engine now and then spray everything you see that looks like a tool can be put to it. The injector o-rings will probably be in fair shape,and you don't have to seperate the injectors from the LIM. The fuel lines are secured pretty good to the head with some 13mm bolts, once you get those out you can seperate the fuel lines from the inlet side and the FPR side. There is o-rings there too... might be handy to have spares.

The push rod's on that engine are different lengths, so orginizing them in a box in front of the car is a must. I personally never move the box after i take them out so i know it's all sitting like it would be in the engine.

Theres no real tricks to this one. It's actually a really nice simple motor to work on. To go a little further and pull the heads on these you remove the A/C braket, exhaust heat shields, and then the cross-over pipe. You can leave the ex-manifds on the heads.

I assume you have a torque wrench for ft/lbs and inch pounds? a wire wheel to clean threads? lock-tight for the clean bolts?
The rocker arm bolts you can get away with tightening to 20 ft/lbs and then making an extra 15 d.
The intake bolts need to be eased back in... soft metals. I had tighten these, nothing too fancy, just a feeling I get. It's only being tightened with a 1/4 in drive ratchet, so not loads of torque, just good wrist tight.

Thats about all I got on it. I will say though you should concider using the larger diameter cylinder heads and intakes... is that possible?

[lilrebel68]

thanks IanSzgatti.. i am not a noob to working on cars per se, but i havent worked on a car in 9 years, and until now i havent been one to routinely tear down my engine on the weekend just for giggles. I am trying to get a decent tool set started, but that takes time and money.. usually i fix whats broke and go on.. I know I can do this, i just have to get aware of how everything goes together in these cars.

[IanSzgatti]

I cannot imagine why your ex got half of your tools. brother thats just wrong on all levels.

[lilrebel68]

no brother. when i left i took 4 pairs of socks, underwear and pants, 4 shirts, a few shaving supplies and left to become a truck driver... so i lost EVERYTHING... I hear they had a nice BONFIRE though!!! story of my life.... start over..... there was a pic in one of the threads showing the pushrods as they sit in the engine where they are marked E or I... Do you know who has that pic and can you help me find it.. its getting down to crunch time and i would like to take my car to work in the morning.... oh btw, is it ok to support the engine witha jack and a piece of 2x6?? I dont have the support tool specified by the info from autozone.... thanks for helping me IanSzgatti...

[IanSzgatti]

ok you wont need a diagram... once your at the lower intake on these you can look down the intake runner... so you cant miss which is the intake push-rod and so on. As long as they go in a box in order... no worries.

[lilrebel68]

yeah but that picture made it absolutely "idiot-proof"...