4 Months later I had to go back into it. It had turned out that it did have a the LIM done previously, they just didnt remember. I was able to read the manufature date off the LIM gaskets I pulled and got a date several years after the car was built. I think it was '05 or '06 they were stamped. This was all in '09.
It kept losing coolant. Any coolant I put into it would turn this dingy brown. I was using Peak Global Lifetime, which it amber or gold colored. It would also have a semi-hard start and would miss for several seconds upon startup before smoothing out. I think I did a compression test and it tested out within spec. I don't have the numbers anymore, but I remember I was having difficulty diagnosing the problem. Finally I got one of those kits to pull air out of the radiator through a liquid that turns colors to indicate the presence of exhaust gases. That did it. Bad head gasket.
I suggested replacing the vehicle, my grandmother decided to go ahead with repair.
The head gaskets had been disintegrating. Anywhere the coolant touched would just flake and fall apart if you touched it.
Some context for this image: I discovered the bottom of the block had a significant amount of sediment. I forget exactly now, but I used some 3/8 vinyl tubing duct taped to a Wet/Dry Vac to suck it out of the block. I didnt get it all, but I got a lot.
Between the LIM change out and the HG swap, it got all kinds of other stuff too.
New plugs and wires.
All coolant hoses got swapped. The one I left was one of the hoses under the throttle body and it failed while I was test driving it after the HG swap.
New belt. Idler and tensioner pulleys replaced.
The head had a full valve job done, new valve seals installed, cleaned up and milled flat.
Lots of other stuff.
Less than a year later My Grandmother passed away and my Grandpa almost instantly traded it in on a Cadillac CTS. So someone is driving around in a Montana with a basically new motor that should never have any of the typical 3400 failures ever again. lol
It kept losing coolant. Any coolant I put into it would turn this dingy brown. I was using Peak Global Lifetime, which it amber or gold colored. It would also have a semi-hard start and would miss for several seconds upon startup before smoothing out. I think I did a compression test and it tested out within spec. I don't have the numbers anymore, but I remember I was having difficulty diagnosing the problem. Finally I got one of those kits to pull air out of the radiator through a liquid that turns colors to indicate the presence of exhaust gases. That did it. Bad head gasket.
I suggested replacing the vehicle, my grandmother decided to go ahead with repair.
The head gaskets had been disintegrating. Anywhere the coolant touched would just flake and fall apart if you touched it.
Some context for this image: I discovered the bottom of the block had a significant amount of sediment. I forget exactly now, but I used some 3/8 vinyl tubing duct taped to a Wet/Dry Vac to suck it out of the block. I didnt get it all, but I got a lot.
Between the LIM change out and the HG swap, it got all kinds of other stuff too.
New plugs and wires.
All coolant hoses got swapped. The one I left was one of the hoses under the throttle body and it failed while I was test driving it after the HG swap.
New belt. Idler and tensioner pulleys replaced.
The head had a full valve job done, new valve seals installed, cleaned up and milled flat.
Lots of other stuff.
Less than a year later My Grandmother passed away and my Grandpa almost instantly traded it in on a Cadillac CTS. So someone is driving around in a Montana with a basically new motor that should never have any of the typical 3400 failures ever again. lol
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