Hey Gents:

Well I had the dreaded pull of the dipstick today, I can start to see some coolant got in my oil/crankcase. This must of happen in the last 20 miles, so I think it did little to no damage to my components (Ihope) she still runs great, but is in the garage until. However I am tearing it open, and doing the LIM gasket this weekend. My question is to others that have done this multiple times, should there be any other routine maintenance that I should be doing while I do this?

I already plan on flushing radiator, changing/flushing oil of course, and doing a few radiator hoses while I am at it. Does anyone do anything else that would be helpful.

Truck has 159K

 

Before pulling the distributor, rotating the engine to Top Dead Center (rotor pointing at cylinder position 1) will ensure the timing is right when it goes back in. It's a good idea to pull the plastic upper intake and clean all of the gunk out, but this is a bit more work. The upper intake seals are reusable, but replacing is cheap insurance. A new thermostat couldn't hurt things also. Since you are doing a flush, check to see that there is coolant in the hole the thermostat sits in before finishing it up. You'll probably be ok since it's not a complete tear down, but when I did an engine rebuild I nearly overheated the engine because no coolant was reaching the thermostat so coolant wasn't circulating.

When you put the heater hoses back on, make sure they are not rubbing against the tensioner or water pump pulleys. I wore a groove in one of my hoses because I overlooked this.

The biggest PITA are getting to the fuel lines. They are just out of reach and close to the firewall. If removing the fuel pipes off the top of the injector (which you'll have to do if removing the upper intake), be careful not to lose the o-rings and washers that seal them. Label your connectors and hoses, and you should be good. Good luck!

 

while you are waiting to do the job. Drain the radiator. so coolant wont find it's way in the motor.

 

Check the dist for any noise or binding while its in your hands! Also easier to replace plug wires at this stage and throw on the new rotor before dropping it back in! Consider a new coil as well(all the parts are already pulled) and always use dialetric grease when putting on new wires! Make sure your re-routing of the hoses (as stated above) and the throttle cables are in correct placement as well!