Removed the Lower intake manifold and saw where the gasket had a break in the seal. The break was next to where the coolant flows and created another problem. The coolant was unable to flow because the area where the coolant should flow was clogged with a gritty caked up substance. The substance is thick. It starts on the engine side of the coolant passage and goes through the LIM and into the water pump. Luckily it is only on one side of the LIM and not both. Is there something I can do about all the caked up substance. Attached is a picture so you can see what I am talking about.

sorry its a 97 chevy lumina 3.1 the picture is of the lower manifold bottom view.

Obviously cleaning the LIM is easy when it is off. The engine side is tougher as the debris has no where to go, I would break it up best possible, then do a couple of coolant flushes when the engine is reassembled. BTW, in the future post the year and engine.

thanks for the advice. Its much appreciated. Called my dad he said the same thing. Time to start cleaning.

As I recall the LIM coolant crossover is blocked by design on the front of the engine (water pump end). However the crud needs to be cleaned off. What you have is the result of Dex-cool being exposed to air in the cooling system. To get most of it out of the cooling system you're probably going to need to flush the cooling system out after it's back together with a Flush T kit and cooling flush.

:2cents: Once reassembled use a crystal cleaner such as Drano or Zep to flush cooling system. Be sure to rinse thoroghly afterward.