hi guys,

another question, im sure they get old huh!! anyways i dont have alot of knowledge of these motors, but how can i tell if the lim gasket and uim gasket have been replaced in the past? i cant really tell by looking by the area where the uim meets the head if its metal or plastic gaskets. i have no signs of the uim gasket or lim gasket being bad. i dont really have the budget to just replace them if they are not bad but i also want to make sure they are not going to go bad anytime soon. i do throw a code for evap, they say its because of my gas cap seal being bad, this wouldnt have anything to do with the uim lim gaskets would it? its a 01 se with almost 209,000mi i would like to think with that many miles the uim lim gaskets would have been changed atleast once, what do you guys think. also if i do end up doing the uim lim gaskets is there anyone in my area willing to help me? i live in southern mn close to mankato mn. thanks for all advice guys

The easiest place to look at the LIM gaskets are right by the throttle body. Look right under the intake where the LIM meets the head, and scrape the gasket with your fingernail or a screw driver. If it stays black it's plastic, if it turns silver it's aluminum. I'll try and take a picture of mine in the morning if you'd like clarification on the spot I'm referring to. It should be pretty obvious though if they're the metal gaskets, and with that mileage I can guarantee the gaskets have been replaced at least once before.

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Joseph

Current: 2013 Infiniti G37 Journey
1999 Infiniti G20T - Sold
1999 Buick Lesabre - Race Couch - gone but not forgotten

the previous owner is my moms neigbor and she is pretty good at maintaining her cars, she always takes it to the dealer and just gets done whatever they say it needs, she just dont remember anything, she only owned the car 5 years, it was not driven at all for about the last 6 months because of a broken strut and smashed window, i finally got up the nerve to ask her if she wanted to sell, i gave 700 for it so im hoping i got a good deal and wont dump too much into it, im already 300+ into repairs and i would really like to cap this at around 800 so there might be some room to flip. thanks for your help i will take a look in the morning.

More than likely if she got it dealer serviced it PROBABLY has plastic gaskets, and definitely doesn't have a sleeved upper intake. I'd be some money that intake will fail again in the future, not to seem like a downer, but the dealer "upgraded" manifolds have still been known to fail. Hopefully it did get the aluminum lowers though, that could save you some money, but I think the parts for my LIM/UIM kit with everything I needed only ran me like 160 or so plus fluids.

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Joseph

Current: 2013 Infiniti G37 Journey
1999 Infiniti G20T - Sold
1999 Buick Lesabre - Race Couch - gone but not forgotten

my local auto parts store has the parts in stock for 139.56, im just so intimidated by this job, haha. i just did valve covers and coolant elbows and was freaking out. but i cant afford to have a shop do any work so everything is on me. my wife wanted to kill me with how long i spent on valve covers and elbows. thanks for you help.

You don't want your parts store's UIM unless they can show you it has a metal sleeve in it.

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Bye Bye:

RIP sandrock

If your flipping it then don't bother touching them.. unless they are leaking no reason to put money into something you are not going to keep. clean it up and sell it.... i understand fixing it if its broken but no sense fixing it other wise... its a 200K mile car, don't spend the money.

And on my car i keep the engine clean and i can see between the LIM and the heads and its easy to see either black plastic or silver aluminum... mine has been changed with the metal gaskets.

S

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Shane "RedZMonte"
2004 Z16 Z06: Virgin
2000 SSEi: Kenwood DDX512, 3.25" MPS, ZZP DP, PLog, Puck Mount, NGK TR7's, DHP Tuned
1995 Monte Z34: T04e "60" turbo, 42.5# injectors, Borla Catback, OBDII swap, DHP Tuned, Much more...

well i bought it because it was cheap and in excellent visual condition and my truck was on its last leg. i want a sle or ssei so i figure if i can make a little money on this one i can upgrade, but now that my trucks gone it will be a while before i can sell. i degreased the motor today and i can now see they are not metal.

i say run it untill you have an issue... just becuase they are not the metal gaskets doesn't mean they are failing... when i did my moms Lesabre i got OEM plastic ones. if they fail while she ownes it i will know now to get the metal ones but definatly not going to take it back apart to put the metal ones in.

S

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Shane "RedZMonte"
2004 Z16 Z06: Virgin
2000 SSEi: Kenwood DDX512, 3.25" MPS, ZZP DP, PLog, Puck Mount, NGK TR7's, DHP Tuned
1995 Monte Z34: T04e "60" turbo, 42.5# injectors, Borla Catback, OBDII swap, DHP Tuned, Much more...