'03 Malibu - blown gasket due to dexcool

[Z26-T]

Read the bulletin last week and bought the kit last week as well and it came with the bolts. The LIM gasket kit part # is 19169127. Inlcudes 4 long and 4 short.

[bszopi]

Yeah, pretty sure that the bolts are separate on GM parts as well as Fel-Pro. I know the Dorman kit does come with the bolts though. The revised tightening procedure TSB talks about the bolts and gives a separate PN for them from the gaskets.

[PCGUY112887]

I got my new gaskets for my 3500 straight from GM, no bolts included.

The new GM LIM gasket sets are supposed to come with new bolts that already have blue threadlocker on them. I've used both (gm and felpro) and personally like the metalic Felpro ones. Almost all the gaskets I've replaced, or have watched people replace at work it because the plastic breaks, rarely is from the actual sealing material. The last one I did was leaking where the dex was starting to corrode away the LIM itself (but this dex was mixed with the green stuff, so that's probably a good possibility why it was corroding).

Yeah, you guys all love the green stuff... it's better, always worked, blah blah. But you guys probably still use blue RTV and 10W/40. Permatex themselves don't recommend using the blue rtv on anything, it's just there for all the ol' folks who grew up with it and don't know anything else.

Reason yours go bad Isaac is all the miles you put on your poor beretta . Gotta open the hood once in awhile and let the poor ol' horse breathe

[Z26-T]

The new GM LIM gasket sets are supposed to come with new bolts that already have blue threadlocker on them. I've used both (gm and felpro) and personally like the metalic Felpro ones. Almost all the gaskets I've replaced, or have watched people replace at work it because the plastic breaks, rarely is from the actual sealing material. The last one I did was leaking where the dex was starting to corrode away the LIM itself (but this dex was mixed with the green stuff, so that's probably a good possibility why it was corroding).

Yeah, you guys all love the green stuff... it's better, always worked, blah blah. But you guys probably still use blue RTV and 10W/40. Permatex themselves don't recommend using the blue rtv on anything, it's just there for all the ol' folks who grew up with it and don't know anything else.

Reason yours go bad Isaac is all the miles you put on your poor beretta . Gotta open the hood once in awhile and let the poor ol' horse breathe

[IsaacHayes]

I didn't on my first LIM replacement, and had no issues. If you are worried re-torque them in the proper sequence with a torque wrench of course after a while and see if they changed.

[talon2swords]

The following is a link to a GM service bulletin that all but admits to the inadequacies of the design.

http://www.autosafety.org/uploads/SB-10001282-8175.pdf

Oh great, I didn't use threadlocker when I installed new fel-pros on my cars. Oh well, I never know which type of "gooh" I should use on what.

[IsaacHayes]

I torqued them proper with a good torque wrench and in the proper order as per GM. I've never had them crack from improper installation, it was warping was the major problem on mine. The plastic gets hot and all wavy looking and boom no longer holds the rubber in the right spot. The first gasket was so dried out and brittle it was like ashes in my fingers if you pressed hard on it.

[85_Olds_Ciera]

Mine has failed twice around both ports...

Tip:

If you are doing a head gasket replacement, do consider these items below...this is used, with a thin coat around water outlets and oil channels, on a cleaned block/head surface:

Hylomar Racing Formula

or

Hondabond HT

*High-temperature silicone liquid gasket.
*Unique formula is non-acidic and won't corrode aluminium like other silicone gasket products will.
*For use in areas not requiring solid gaskets.

[85_Olds_Ciera]

Mine has failed twice around both ports

If you don't torque in the right sequence....guess what?

http://www.autosafety.org/uploads/SB-10001282-8175.pdf

[85_Olds_Ciera]

what's the deal here???

The following is a link to a GM service bulletin that all but admits to the inadequacies of the design.

http://www.autosafety.org/uploads/SB-10001282-8175.pdf

[PCGUY112887]

I think the whole dexcool thing is over rated. Dex cool is in MILLIONS of cars, has been for a long time (over 10 years). If dex cool was the root of all evil and it ate gaskets, then every GM engine would have gasket issues that used dex cool.

Just because GM did indeed have intake gasket issues on the 3x00 engines, does not mean dexcool was the cause. I think it is automatically assumed dexcool is the problem because dex ends up in the oil and it's very nasty, so people assume the dex ate through the intake gasket and got into the oil.

[IsaacHayes]

Mine has failed twice around both ports.... And the original gasket the actual intake ports were failed too causing a vacuum leak/rough idle.

[19Cutlass94]

All the LIM gaskets Ive seen that fail.. all fail around that dumby port for the coolant.... Why didnt GM just make that an actual port?

[IsaacHayes]

Only thing I hate about dexcool is it turns to rock hard sludge. 2 of my friends car's cooling systems were clogged to hell from it. No heat and over heating cars. At least with the green stuff if you let it go too long all you have is corrosion and not epoxy through the whole system. hehe

[White93z34]

so many people love to blame dexcool for all of lifes problems, i personally blame GMs bonus move intake gaskets myself.

then you have the argument that it eats plastic gaskets, and turns acidic.... well uncared for green coolant can do the same thing to metal, but what do i know.