Coolent Leak????? HELPP!!!!

Pass · 02-07-2005, 07:37 PM

Hey guys,

I own a: 2000 GT/3.4L

I had my car under some bright lights recently and discovered a coolent leak coming from the right side of the engine. I'm not what you would call a "guru" of cars so any help would be appreciated.

Is this problem serious? Some people tell me that its so minor and not to worry about. It drips half of a 600ml water bottle a month of coolent. Hope these pictures help.

thanks guys for any help... Pass

badboy2451 · 02-07-2005, 07:46 PM

HOW TO: Identifying LIM Gasket Problems

just read up on that bro

H.O. Driver · 02-07-2005, 07:54 PM

Nice GA, but you have just found out first hand on how bad the LIM Gasket sucks

I would get it fixed asap, other wise if it mixes with the oil you are going to get a new motor, not by choice either

Pass · 02-08-2005, 09:09 AM

Thanks for the info....

I'm fortunate that I have a friend that is a gm machanic that I'm hoping will help me with the problem. How long do you think this process will take and how much for all the parts?? (i know nothing about cars... but im trying to learn). I also have a heated shop with every tool in the world. Were going to attempt to do this on sunday morning and I hope we have it done Sunday some time.

give me your intake guys....
thanks for the help once again... you don't know how much I appreciate it.

Pass

Pass · 02-08-2005, 10:47 AM

Hey guys again,

I just talked to my brother a bit ago. He owns a 1994 dodge ram and he says his has been leaking externally since the day he bought it. Never has touched it. But he is certain no coolent and oil are mixing and that it is for sure only an external leak.

Now taking that information that I have, I flush oil and coolent to see if there are any mixes what so ever. And taking that there isn't any. Is it OK just to have a dripping leak like mine is external only.

I'm just trying to figure this stuff out... like I said I have someone who can help me do this but I don't quite have the funds at the time and would have to borrow the money. So if I can hold up a couple months and take care of it later I will. Let me know what u think i should do... thanks again

Pass

eaglesrealm · 02-08-2005, 11:28 AM

Pass - in my opinion, you are playing with fire if you wait it out thinking it is just an external leak. If you did a search, you would see multiple threads on this issue. This is a well known and often expensive problem with these engines.

Mine was external leak only as well, but I still had GM repair it and not risk damage to the internals of the engine. How many miles are on the car?

I had mine replaced at 70,000 miles and GM covered all but $150 of the cost. I am sure you can get GM to pick up some of this cost, given the nature of the problem with thier bad LIM gasket design. Hopefully the dealer will go to bat for ya.

Pass · 02-08-2005, 01:33 PM

theres 83 000 km on it....

GrahamKracka · 02-08-2005, 01:34 PM

yea....you might wanna get it checked out and get the LIM gasket replaced with the new style....its a VERY common problem with this engine to leak coolant into the oil and cause major damage

Infernall · 02-08-2005, 09:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pass

theres 83 000 km on it....

Hey Pass, nice to see a local around here

Im just in Windsor. Do you ever go to Gus Revenberg? If so, opionion of service dept?

Pass · 02-08-2005, 11:25 PM

I have never been there before... this car was purchased through a private deal so no dealership.

The only pontiac dealer I've been too was the one in Essex. Nice guys for info... I think it was the service desk I went too, good information for me about my problem and what options I have.

Inernall... see yah around man (nice ga)...

Pass

RedFire99GT · 02-09-2005, 07:38 PM

*New to the forum* I was going to ask the very same question that I have with my GAGT. It was leaking severly off the bottom right side of the motor. I figured the water pump was out (94k miles) However, I noticed I had moisture outside the LIM and the cyl head. If this has been a recurring issue with the LIM gasket. Why hasnt GM issued a Recall for this?

What is the level of difficulty to remove the UIM and the LIM to replace the gaskets?

Thank you all for your time.

Armando

eaglesrealm · 02-09-2005, 08:01 PM

Armando, the second post of this thread offers a link to a thread on here showing you a lot about this issue. To answer your questions in short :

1) It is a big issue with these engines and there is no recall. There is, however, a TSB which all GM dealerships are very aware of and they have all fixed their share of LIM's I am sure on these cars

2) It is very labor intensive - the actual materials do not cost that much. Like I mentioned earlier, it was worth it for me to take it to a dealership and have them go to bat for me and get GM to pay all but $150.00. (Car had 70K on it)

Pass · 02-10-2005, 09:22 AM

See, I would rather go through a dealership to get this done. But my problem is, I perchased my GA through a private deal. He purchased it private from the orginal owner in the states. So I would have to go through the dealership in the states and I think thats going to go no where (lost cause).

So do I fight a local pontiac dealership around here or should I call the GM customer complaint line and tell them my situation????

Pass

StephenM · 02-10-2005, 12:34 PM

I bought my car with 28,000 miles on it. I've had the coolant light come on about 2-3 times a year. I change my oil regularly, and put coolant in whenever the light comes on. I've never had engine problems, I've checked the oil for mixing and nada. My car now has 70-something thousand on it, and I don't plan on spending the 1k to have it fixed if it hasn't caused me problems yet.

pontga00 · 02-10-2005, 12:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pass

See, I would rather go through a dealership to get this done. But my problem is, I perchased my GA through a private deal. He purchased it private from the orginal owner in the states. So I would have to go through the dealership in the states and I think thats going to go no where (lost cause).

So do I fight a local pontiac dealership around here or should I call the GM customer complaint line and tell them my situation????

Pass

You should be able to go to any Pontiac/GM dealership (even in Canada) to get this fixed, regardless of where you bought it from. Since it is out of warranty, it doesn't matter. If they can't do it, then they're useless.

Now having GM recoup some of your costs, thats a whole other issue.

Draug · 02-10-2005, 03:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by eaglesrealm

Armando, the second post of this thread offers a link to a thread on here showing you a lot about this issue. To answer your questions in short :

1) It is a big issue with these engines and there is no recall. There is, however, a TSB which all GM dealerships are very aware of and they have all fixed their share of LIM's I am sure on these cars

2) It is very labor intensive - the actual materials do not cost that much. Like I mentioned earlier, it was worth it for me to take it to a dealership and have them go to bat for me and get GM to pay all but $150.00. (Car had 70K on it)

How did you get GM to cover some of the costs? Being that I bought my car privately, and it is well of warranty, I didnt even consider that. I just fixed it myself. But, now, my friend who has a 2000 GA GT, also purchased privately, has had his gasket go. Is there anything he can do to get GM to cover some of the costs?

intence · 02-10-2005, 04:01 PM

It's not safety related, so technically they don't have to recall it if they don't want to. It doesn't cause fires, or won't make you crash, even though it might screw up your engine

You can try Pontiac Customer service, and they might be able to help, of course you're more likely to get Pontiac/dealership help if you had your car regularly serviced there. Anyway, you can't lose anything by calling.

It doesn't matter if your car is from Canada/US they'll be able to lookup the VIN and get all the info. Even if it was under warranty, I believe the GM warranty has you covered for all of North America.

eaglesrealm · 02-11-2005, 09:18 AM

Draug,

I pulled my car into the local Pontiac Dealership and told them what I saw. I explained to them that I was educated on this issue and felt that I should not be forced to bear the full burden of paying for this. They made the call into the Pontiac Customer Service line for me and called me later that day to say Pontiac agreed to pay all but $150.

Pass · 02-11-2005, 11:38 AM

I went to the local pontiac dealership yesterday and talked to the head service guy. He told he could help me but then he found out my car was out of the warranty date as of lasst nov. So he said makign the call would of been pointless. He said i could try it on my own and see how it works out but he said more then likely they won;t help me.

He gave me the quote on the kit and it was 360 bucks canadian of course. i was like holy crap dude.... so I dind;t buy the kit from him. Finding out later today if I can get everything i need from my gm machanic i know.... hopefully he can get me a better deal

just my 2 cents
Pass

Vince · 02-11-2005, 12:07 PM

I don't know how much 360 is Canadian, but I didn't spend over 90 US bucks doing it myself. I may have spent under 85, but it does take along time to do though. I did it by myself so it took me two days just trying to keep track of all the parts and taking them off, and so on. Good luck if you do it.

02-07-2005, 07:37 PM	#1
Pass GAGT - Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Essex, Canada Age: 37 Posts: 44 Vehicle: 2000 Grand Am GT	Coolent Leak????? HELPP!!!! Hey guys, I own a: 2000 GT/3.4L I had my car under some bright lights recently and discovered a coolent leak coming from the right side of the engine. I'm not what you would call a "guru" of cars so any help would be appreciated. Is this problem serious? Some people tell me that its so minor and not to worry about. It drips half of a 600ml water bottle a month of coolent. Hope these pictures help. thanks guys for any help... Pass Attached Thumbnails

02-07-2005, 07:54 PM	#3
H.O. Driver I drive a V6 H.O. AKA: Timmah! Join Date: Aug 2002 Location: Boyne City, MI Age: 38 Posts: 2,694 Vehicle: 99 GT, 03 DTS, 04 SRX	Nice GA, but you have just found out first hand on how bad the LIM Gasket sucks I would get it fixed asap, other wise if it mixes with the oil you are going to get a new motor, not by choice either __________________ 1999 GA GT - lots of mods - Sold and missing it... 2001 GP GTP Special Edtion - Sold 2002 T/A - T-Tops, AT, LS6 intake, mainly stock - Sold 2003 Cadillac DTS - Gangsta Grandpa car - Gone 2004 Cadillac SRX - Baby hauler -Sold and missing it Life is too short to drive boring cars....why is that all I have now??????

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02-07-2005, 07:46 PM	#2
badboy2451 GAGT - not so n00bee AKA: Zac Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: City of 3 rivers and 5 rings Age: 36 Posts: 1,426 Vehicle: 99 gt coupe	HOW TO: Identifying LIM Gasket Problems just read up on that bro

02-08-2005, 09:09 AM	#4
Pass GAGT - Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Essex, Canada Age: 37 Posts: 44 Vehicle: 2000 Grand Am GT	Thanks for the info.... I'm fortunate that I have a friend that is a gm machanic that I'm hoping will help me with the problem. How long do you think this process will take and how much for all the parts?? (i know nothing about cars... but im trying to learn). I also have a heated shop with every tool in the world. Were going to attempt to do this on sunday morning and I hope we have it done Sunday some time. give me your intake guys.... thanks for the help once again... you don't know how much I appreciate it. Pass

02-08-2005, 10:47 AM	#5
Pass GAGT - Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Essex, Canada Age: 37 Posts: 44 Vehicle: 2000 Grand Am GT	Hey guys again, I just talked to my brother a bit ago. He owns a 1994 dodge ram and he says his has been leaking externally since the day he bought it. Never has touched it. But he is certain no coolent and oil are mixing and that it is for sure only an external leak. Now taking that information that I have, I flush oil and coolent to see if there are any mixes what so ever. And taking that there isn't any. Is it OK just to have a dripping leak like mine is external only. I'm just trying to figure this stuff out... like I said I have someone who can help me do this but I don't quite have the funds at the time and would have to borrow the money. So if I can hold up a couple months and take care of it later I will. Let me know what u think i should do... thanks again Pass

02-08-2005, 11:28 AM	#6
eaglesrealm GAGT - Member AKA: First Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: Michigan Posts: 137 Vehicle: 2001 Grand AM GT	Pass - in my opinion, you are playing with fire if you wait it out thinking it is just an external leak. If you did a search, you would see multiple threads on this issue. This is a well known and often expensive problem with these engines. Mine was external leak only as well, but I still had GM repair it and not risk damage to the internals of the engine. How many miles are on the car? I had mine replaced at 70,000 miles and GM covered all but $150 of the cost. I am sure you can get GM to pick up some of this cost, given the nature of the problem with thier bad LIM gasket design. Hopefully the dealer will go to bat for ya.

02-08-2005, 01:33 PM	#7
Pass GAGT - Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Essex, Canada Age: 37 Posts: 44 Vehicle: 2000 Grand Am GT	theres 83 000 km on it....

02-08-2005, 01:34 PM	#8
GrahamKracka WannaBe Fat Kid AKA: Richard Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: San Antonio, Texas Age: 36 Posts: 1,517 Vehicle: 2005 Nissan Titan	yea....you might wanna get it checked out and get the LIM gasket replaced with the new style....its a VERY common problem with this engine to leak coolant into the oil and cause major damage

02-08-2005, 11:25 PM	#10
Pass GAGT - Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Essex, Canada Age: 37 Posts: 44 Vehicle: 2000 Grand Am GT	I have never been there before... this car was purchased through a private deal so no dealership. The only pontiac dealer I've been too was the one in Essex. Nice guys for info... I think it was the service desk I went too, good information for me about my problem and what options I have. Inernall... see yah around man (nice ga)... Pass

02-09-2005, 07:38 PM	#11
RedFire99GT Mastr Bacon Detector AKA: Armando Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Riverview, FL Age: 45 Posts: 9 Vehicle: 1999 Grand Am GT Coupe	New to the forum I was going to ask the very same question that I have with my GAGT. It was leaking severly off the bottom right side of the motor. I figured the water pump was out (94k miles) However, I noticed I had moisture outside the LIM and the cyl head. If this has been a recurring issue with the LIM gasket. Why hasnt GM issued a Recall for this? What is the level of difficulty to remove the UIM and the LIM to replace the gaskets? Thank you all for your time. Armando

02-09-2005, 08:01 PM	#12
eaglesrealm GAGT - Member AKA: First Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: Michigan Posts: 137 Vehicle: 2001 Grand AM GT	Armando, the second post of this thread offers a link to a thread on here showing you a lot about this issue. To answer your questions in short : 1) It is a big issue with these engines and there is no recall. There is, however, a TSB which all GM dealerships are very aware of and they have all fixed their share of LIM's I am sure on these cars 2) It is very labor intensive - the actual materials do not cost that much. Like I mentioned earlier, it was worth it for me to take it to a dealership and have them go to bat for me and get GM to pay all but $150.00. (Car had 70K on it)

02-10-2005, 09:22 AM	#13
Pass GAGT - Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Essex, Canada Age: 37 Posts: 44 Vehicle: 2000 Grand Am GT	See, I would rather go through a dealership to get this done. But my problem is, I perchased my GA through a private deal. He purchased it private from the orginal owner in the states. So I would have to go through the dealership in the states and I think thats going to go no where (lost cause). So do I fight a local pontiac dealership around here or should I call the GM customer complaint line and tell them my situation???? Pass

02-10-2005, 12:34 PM	#14
StephenM The Kangaroo Is Mine Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: Shepherdsville, KY Age: 40 Posts: 377 Vehicle: 2000 GT Ram Air	I bought my car with 28,000 miles on it. I've had the coolant light come on about 2-3 times a year. I change my oil regularly, and put coolant in whenever the light comes on. I've never had engine problems, I've checked the oil for mixing and nada. My car now has 70-something thousand on it, and I don't plan on spending the 1k to have it fixed if it hasn't caused me problems yet.

02-10-2005, 04:01 PM	#17
intence GAGT - Member Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Dallas, TX Posts: 81 Vehicle: 1999 GA GT	It's not safety related, so technically they don't have to recall it if they don't want to. It doesn't cause fires, or won't make you crash, even though it might screw up your engine You can try Pontiac Customer service, and they might be able to help, of course you're more likely to get Pontiac/dealership help if you had your car regularly serviced there. Anyway, you can't lose anything by calling. It doesn't matter if your car is from Canada/US they'll be able to lookup the VIN and get all the info. Even if it was under warranty, I believe the GM warranty has you covered for all of North America.

02-11-2005, 09:18 AM	#18
eaglesrealm GAGT - Member AKA: First Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: Michigan Posts: 137 Vehicle: 2001 Grand AM GT	Draug, I pulled my car into the local Pontiac Dealership and told them what I saw. I explained to them that I was educated on this issue and felt that I should not be forced to bear the full burden of paying for this. They made the call into the Pontiac Customer Service line for me and called me later that day to say Pontiac agreed to pay all but $150.

02-11-2005, 11:38 AM	#19
Pass GAGT - Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Essex, Canada Age: 37 Posts: 44 Vehicle: 2000 Grand Am GT	I went to the local pontiac dealership yesterday and talked to the head service guy. He told he could help me but then he found out my car was out of the warranty date as of lasst nov. So he said makign the call would of been pointless. He said i could try it on my own and see how it works out but he said more then likely they won;t help me. He gave me the quote on the kit and it was 360 bucks canadian of course. i was like holy crap dude.... so I dind;t buy the kit from him. Finding out later today if I can get everything i need from my gm machanic i know.... hopefully he can get me a better deal just my 2 cents Pass

02-11-2005, 12:07 PM	#20
Vince GAGT - Member AKA: GAGT2 Join Date: Apr 2003 Location: Tx. Posts: 111 Vehicle: 2000 Grand Am GT	I don't know how much 360 is Canadian, but I didn't spend over 90 US bucks doing it myself. I may have spent under 85, but it does take along time to do though. I did it by myself so it took me two days just trying to keep track of all the parts and taking them off, and so on. Good luck if you do it.