Keep an eye on the underside of the oil fill cap. If it starts to look like a chocolate milkshake, coolant is leaking into the oil, don't drive it. Get that sealer stuff out ASAP. Flush & fill with Dexcool and distilled water 50/50 mixture. As long as you don't let it run low on coolant, it should be fine.

Felpro gasket MS98002T will not leak if clean up is done properly and tightening sequecnes and torque specs are used. Before you remove the distributor, there is a simple procedure, (unlike older vehicles) to make sure it goes back in correctly. After it's reinstalled, you will need camshaft retard checked and adjusted if necessary, (done with a capable, high end, scan tool).

 

Ok I'll check it tomorrow.
I had a lifter tick off and on until my last oil Change when I switch from conventional to partial synthetic oil if that means anything and it hasn't ticked since. I know that usually means an internal leak.

My amazing mechanic once again told me it was because I didn't Change my oil often enough and the lifters got gunked up with crap (I don't remember exactly what he said). But I still had that feeling it was the LIM and I'm thinking I was right it's way to coincidental that it started at the same time.

 

Stay away from any kind of stop leak. Your intake is probably leaking at back corner, right? Your Mech sounds like he just doesn't want the job. This is definitely worth fixing and doesn't justify junking it. Watch your fluid levels and you'll be ok for awhile though antifreeze can get expensive. I just did mine last fall on a Saturday in my garage for around $125. With experienced help you can get it done in a day or at longest a weekend. The toughest part is locating your Alt bolts. Make sure you clean your mating surfaces and use a quality torque wrench for re-assembly. Torque & sequence is vital. No other special tools are required. A 4" crescent will enable fuel line separation up top.

 

It's possible in some cases that it's leaking internally but not getting into the oil. If it's a drip leak that doesn't start until the engine warms up and pressure builds in the system then it drips into the solid portion of the valley and burns off instead of dripping into the oil pan. This can continue for a long time until it blows out completely and you wind up with a gallon of coolant in your pan. I was putting a quart of coolant in mine every week and never had any sign of leaking outside the engine. I was lucky in that it blew about 1/10 mile from home. It took me 2 days to do the job by myself mainly because I had never done it before and I'm an old fart. It's been over 3 years so I guess I did it right.

 

I did mine two days before Christmas 2013. Took me 12 hours. All day. Been fine since. Only cost me ~$50... gaskets and coolant replacement.

Mine consumed 2.5 gallons of coolant in a 10 mile journey! Had milkshake in the intake! Internal leak up front, both sides.

 

It's leaking in the front right in the center

 

The repair is not all the difficult; does require a bit of time and attention to detail. Should be an easy job for any qualified mechanic. The only really tricky item is putting the distributor back in exactly as it was removed. Everything else is just basic removing of parts with no special tools required.

Driving it can be done as long as the oil condition is checked daily. Failure to note when the coolant has entered into the oil will likely cost you an engine or worse depending upon if the engine seizes and where this occurs....could be a dangerous or even fatal event....at the extreme.

Suggest finding a mechanic that knows how to do the job and will not over charge. It does take a better part of a day to just do the intake gaskets. However many that do their own repairs will also do other things at this same time...the "as long as I am here" which adds time. Things like valve cover gaskets, cap, rotor, plug wire, plugs, etc...plus lots of cleaning.

Good luck with it.

 

every place i ever worked for we've put stop leak in cars. the problem is no one ever wants to fix or put money into their vehicle so they want the easy way out, but yeah in this situation where you wanted to fix it it should have been fixed. but it will usually clog up everything else in the engine over time.

s10 intakes are pretty easy compared to a lot of other makes/models. the place i work for now is really small with only two lifts and if something comes in we dont want to deal with, like a bigger jobe, engine overhaul, etc we will just tell refer them to another shop instead of just saying dont fix it.

i actually miss doing some of the bigger stuff but holding up a bay for a day or two is kinda hard to do

 

Yeah he just opened is own shop so he's probably looking for the quick cash right now I think he's got 3 lifts

 

I don't know if this is a Simpson or noT of LIM leaks but my heat has been retry crappy this winter I've done the garden hose flush a couple times and it helps but it slowly get crappy again. Which is part of the reason why I wanted to flush the cooling system when I had my oil change. So any ways my heat usually gets even crappier when I need to add antifreeze I know that's normal when antifreeze gets low but could that be it or could things just be going wrong and piling on top of each other?


It's been a rough winter :/

Heat, LIM, water pump