VK T5 L67

[ralcool]

I hope so, the budget can't really cope with replacing it.

We can see that 'new' LIM gaskets have lasted 4000km and have blown one of the coolant passages already... collateral damage perhaps.

The top gasket is the drivers side, and where #3 cylinder is- has melted. Fair to say the head is warped.

And if it got that hot, probably the rings will have lost tension.

Undecided whether to stop now and pull the engine out, or take off the heads and examine the bores...

IMG_6762s.jpg (190.5 KiB) Viewed 4271 times

[Holden202T]

was there any water in the oil ?

the fact that the gasket has melted is worrying though!

although if the head gasket has popped into the valley in that location there would be a bit of combustion heat going into that area!

[HQ355]

Someone might be able to weld that up rather than having to replace it.

I wouldnt bother welding it, looks a bit thin, just get a decent one and put it in. Works out cheaper than a new motor

[Gareth]

Second that

[vlad01]

Thats not melted, thats just material degradation from age and chemical reactions from aging coolant, ie going acidic.

Its fiberglass reinforced nylon. All v6 LIM gaskets degrade like this within 5-10 years. Nylon hates acid, why regular coolant changes of the same quality brand and full flushes are important.

[ralcool]

Those LIM gaskets have been fitted only since September. No age or degradation here. Torqued perfectly, loctited threads 242. But yes clearly melted.

[vlad01]

i just noticed the top left, is that nylon dripping into the valley? if it is, fuck me!

[hsv08]

I don't think it matters what brand of alloy radiator you have. If you have stray current running through them they will fail. I had a brand new Fenix race rad in my vt and that lasted around 8 months before it shot a leak. Turned out I had massive amounts of stray current running through the coolant.
I had to earth the radiator out in several points.
(The vt had a lot of earthing issues before I got it and I've had to add a whole lot of new earths to chassis and block to try calm it down a bit)
I've heard that stray current can also shoot water pump bearings aswell.

[OZ38]

Those LIM gaskets have been fitted only since September. No age or degradation here. Torqued perfectly, loctited threads 242. But yes clearly melted.

Should look to replace those plastic LIM gaskets with the newer metal gaskets. They are a Genuine GM part for these engines & I believe GMH now stock them as a superseded part on the plastic gaskets.

Cheers

[vlad01]

Those LIM gaskets have been fitted only since September. No age or degradation here. Torqued perfectly, loctited threads 242. But yes clearly melted.

Should look to replace those plastic LIM gaskets with the newer metal gaskets. They are a Genuine GM part for these engines & I believe GMH now stock them as a superseded part on the plastic gaskets.

Cheers

i got these and did test fits. pretty shit imho.

The valley seals do not fit at all no matter how hard you force them in, the LIM gaskets are pretty good apart from one problem. The locating pins are made from silicone and doesn't hold the gasket it place and it just slips down when bolting down the LIM. only solution there is to cut them rubber pins out and dowel pin the heads and drill the holes in the gaskets.

but for 44 bucks mexican made genuine gaskets kinda tells you the story. The quality of the aluminium plate of these gaskets is an awful finish not that it matters much, but still

oh and one of the 2 sets i bought had a defect in the aluminium plate. It was bent before having the seal moulded to it so the silicone spread out in the bent spot, I mean it was bent a lot, at 45 angle on the inside of an intake runner.